Yesterday was the first Queens County Farmers' Market in Caledonia.
Actually, there used to a regular farmers' market in in Caledonia about 20 years ago, before Farmers' Markets were generally fashionable. There were a few growers in the area at that time, and the market was a popular social event. Caledonia used to be an important growing area, in fact. If you look at historical records, this area was the main source of fruit and vegetables for the South Shore and further afield. Boats shipped produce out from Liverpool, which had been grown and carted from Caledonia and North/South Brookfield.
When we were scouting for a farm to buy several people 'in the know' told us that the micro-climate in Caledonia meant that we were out of the snow belt and probably had the best growing climate in Nova Scotia, after the Annapolis Valley. That, coupled with the fertile (if a little rocky) soil of a glacial drumlin on which the farm is situated and the south/south-east aspect, gave us high hopes.
We don't have a huge amount of produce yet, so we supplemented our offerings with some of Cindy and David's Pleasant Hill Farm Organics. They sell at the large Hubbards Market on a Saturday morning and it will be a while until Caledonia can rival the city for well-healed customers paying top dollar for organic produce!
The first market went really well. There were around a dozen vendors selling baked goods, garden produce, jewellery, stick furniture, raspberries - many vendors were sold out by 10am having underestimated the number of folk that would turn out to buy. All I spoke to were really pleased and said they would be back next time. The market is to run every other Saturday until end-October, so see y'all on August 2nd!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Bugs!
We can't let the spring pass by without pausing to contemplate the entomological paradise that Nova Scotia is at this time of year. In other words, there are so many different kinds of annoying bugs, it is unreal.
There are the plain old short-lived blackflies, that bite like hell whenever the sun is shining, and then three weeks later they are gone. Just like that. But alongside them are the sneaky wood ticks, much faster and more wily than the lumbering scoottish sheep tick. Oh yes, you'll find them in your hair, belly button, between your toes, and even, ouch, on your nipple. First hand knowledge. Thankfully, they too are short lived and have bid us goodbye till next year.
Then there are the enormous stump-lifters, a large elongated beetle with great long scary looking antennae; appropriately named as you certainly know when they arrive as you feel a thud on the back, or head. They take a little more killing than even a tick, and supposedly give you a hell of a bite, though so far I've managed to calmly remove them (run screaming and flapping and jumping up and down upon the beast) before they have done any harm. And now we have the mosquito, who saunter out at closing time to spoil an otherwise perfect evening, and by day the poor horses are driven demented by horseflies, moose flies and deer flies, all different but equally irritating in their own special way.
Supposedly the bug season will soon calm down, and despite various lumps and bumps it hasn't been too bad given that I've spent most of the spring outdoors, not used repellent at all, and only had a bug suit on for the worst of the blackflies. And there are lots of interesting nice bugs too. Well maybe nice is not the right word to use. But interesting. Like I said, an entemologist's heaven...
There are the plain old short-lived blackflies, that bite like hell whenever the sun is shining, and then three weeks later they are gone. Just like that. But alongside them are the sneaky wood ticks, much faster and more wily than the lumbering scoottish sheep tick. Oh yes, you'll find them in your hair, belly button, between your toes, and even, ouch, on your nipple. First hand knowledge. Thankfully, they too are short lived and have bid us goodbye till next year.
Then there are the enormous stump-lifters, a large elongated beetle with great long scary looking antennae; appropriately named as you certainly know when they arrive as you feel a thud on the back, or head. They take a little more killing than even a tick, and supposedly give you a hell of a bite, though so far I've managed to calmly remove them (run screaming and flapping and jumping up and down upon the beast) before they have done any harm. And now we have the mosquito, who saunter out at closing time to spoil an otherwise perfect evening, and by day the poor horses are driven demented by horseflies, moose flies and deer flies, all different but equally irritating in their own special way.
Supposedly the bug season will soon calm down, and despite various lumps and bumps it hasn't been too bad given that I've spent most of the spring outdoors, not used repellent at all, and only had a bug suit on for the worst of the blackflies. And there are lots of interesting nice bugs too. Well maybe nice is not the right word to use. But interesting. Like I said, an entemologist's heaven...
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Chickens vs. Humans - Part #237
Hurrah! We have cleared the house of chicks!
First, there were the layer chicks in a home-made brooder (cardboard box) in the mud room. Once they were a few weeks old we put them out into a new hen house with run attached, in time to take delivery of the meat bird chicks into the same but different cardboard box brooder.
They have grown exponentially and needed to go out, so we have had to be inventive and build another hen house quickly. That's where building with straw bales has the edge. It looks horrible and dark in there, but it was quick and cheap to build.
At the same time, we took the run away from the layer chicks and after clipping their wings and surrounding them with an electric net, we let them free range. Not before we tested the fence. And how did we do that? We got Jane to take off her shoes and stick a finger on it...
Apparently, her brother and sister used to do this for fun when she was little, and as a form of entertainment, I can heartily recommend it. Laugh? I nearly did.
So the meat birds are in the run for a few days, and the layers are running around happily and peace descends, albeit briefly, on Kilbrannan Farm.
First, there were the layer chicks in a home-made brooder (cardboard box) in the mud room. Once they were a few weeks old we put them out into a new hen house with run attached, in time to take delivery of the meat bird chicks into the same but different cardboard box brooder.
They have grown exponentially and needed to go out, so we have had to be inventive and build another hen house quickly. That's where building with straw bales has the edge. It looks horrible and dark in there, but it was quick and cheap to build.
At the same time, we took the run away from the layer chicks and after clipping their wings and surrounding them with an electric net, we let them free range. Not before we tested the fence. And how did we do that? We got Jane to take off her shoes and stick a finger on it...
Apparently, her brother and sister used to do this for fun when she was little, and as a form of entertainment, I can heartily recommend it. Laugh? I nearly did.
So the meat birds are in the run for a few days, and the layers are running around happily and peace descends, albeit briefly, on Kilbrannan Farm.
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