We spent the weekend selling fresh vegetables and herbs at the 70th annual Dundas Plowing Match in Eastern Kings County PEI. It's a lovely old time affair celebrating local Agri - Culture and the local traditions and skills of farming. We go there each year to sell a bit of our organic produce, meet the neighbors, watch the horse teams and plowing competitions and generally enjoy a traditional country fair.
Today, at our market table, I was slicing off samples of our just-picked cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh herbs.
I offered a taste of our finest produce followed by a dab of fresh herbs...just to give fair goers a chance to put the taste of fresh, real, whole food on their palates.
A darling young girl of about 8 years came up to the table and looked over our selection. Then she shyly asked if she could have a slice of cucumber. I said, "of course". She picked one up, popped it into her mouth and scampered away.
A Francophone couple from New Brunswick came to the table and I offered them tastes of our lightly flavored Mediteranian cucumbers, our orange cherry tomato, and a bit of fresh basil. The gentleman came back a few minutes later and asked me if he could have another basil top, "Because it smell so good!"
A bit later, a couple with several young children came up. I offered them a taste of a just-picked ripe tomato,
a bit of fresh cilantro and a taste of basil. I joked with the parents that I was "subverting their children". I said,
"Once they learn what fresh food tastes like, they won't want anything else."
I was kidding. Until I thought about it.
Maybe it really is subversive, an act designed to overthrow the establishment, to offer fresh, clean, naturally grown food to people.
Powerful forces in our economy and our governments are continuing to move against small producers. And new legislation is pending in the states that could make it impossible for homestead and market garden producers to supply their neighbors with healthy local food.
The premise of the new regulation is food safety, as though selling a few hand raised tomatoes to a neighbor is as risky as shipping e-coli tainted hamburger to 12 states. It seems to me that the real risk is that we will continue to reduce the number of producers until no small farms are left and government has only a handful of "too big to fail" producers to support as rural communities die. I've met senior farmers who nearly go to tears when they tell me that after 5 generations, they are retiring off the land because the kids don't want the farm. In many places today, its just too hard for our young people to make a go of it.
But that all seems too grim on a day when local people stepped up to buy a few beans, some herbs, a bit of squash and to take a moment to share the news in the Farmers Market at The Dundas Plowing Match.
.
Showing posts with label Dundas PLowing Match. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dundas PLowing Match. Show all posts
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Fear is a Learned Behaviour and other Lessons From Earth
It is Spring at the farm.
This is my second Spring of 2010. The first was in California, where rain stops falling in March or April and the sky is clear almost every day. That means outdoor living is well under way and the under dressed (or undressed) can streak out of the house, cross the breezeway and dash into the garage for that pair of pants (or underpants) that never quite made it from the laundry into the house.
Here, in PEI, in Mid May, spring meant settling into bed last night, and then realizing that I hadn't put on the space heater in the greenhouse and the forecast was calling for a low of 2 (about 34F). I seriously considered nodding off to sleep anyway...then realized this was not an option. I have invested in planting the hundreds of seeds in flats that are just now sprouting with this year's harvest. They are particularly sensitive to cold now - and I was afraid that letting nature take it's course would be crippling to our plans and our investment in time, money and labor. What to do?
I got up, went downstairs and put on a sweatshirt, a hat and a pair of rubber boots and sprinted out the door.
If you had been driving by Dunn Creek Farm at about midnight last night, you would have seen this farmer sprinting up the yard in his tighty whities to flip the switch on the heater and then dash back to the house.
Mission accomplished and this years crops saved!
Yesterday I hitched up my ugly old 3 sod trailing plow and tilled new ground between the peach trees in our little orchard. I have a history with that plow that includes a spooky horse trying to flip it over onto me and some pretty ugly plowing when I didn't know what I was doing. Call it a general lack of operator ability. I was pretty frustrated and afraid I'd never measure up. That awkward experience comes up each time I hitch up the plow.
Yesterday I lined up my plow, set the points and laid out some lovely rows of nice turned earth which will
be planted with dried baking beans and potatoes for this fall and winter. The plow was flawless and this plowman knew how to hitch the plow at the proper angles and set the points for turning the sods together
into the center of the row. Thanks to my neighbor, Glen, who patiently gave me my first instructions a few years ago and by paying attention at the Dundas Plowing Match for the last few Summers, I knew what I was after. And I congratulated myself for this basic graduation.
I'll never forget my first try at plowing with Glen. After looking at my field and then at my plow he said, "That's a tough contract". A few days later he said, "I talked to a few of the lads in the neighborhood and they said you did not too bad a job for your first time plowing". Glen is now about 80 years old now and a lifelong bachelor farmer. I'm so lucky to have had elders like Glen in this community offer their help and a lifetime of experience.
Warren Brush at Quail Springs said, "A community is a place where each person is needed." I like that.
But I'm still trying to figure out how I can be needed in our community. I know I need my neighbors, like Glen. And Nancy, who took my seed orders and planted early starts for me in her greenhouse and my neighbors who continue to offer me their welcome home and suppers at their houses. Like my friends who come to weed asparagus and visit while we work.
A Change is going to come even as the world outside argues and frets.
Many people say,
"We can't change what's wrong".
"We can't choose what is best for us".
"Government is cporrupted"
"Business can't be trusted"
Fear is a learned behaviour and it has become a crippling force. We are afraid to be wrong, afraid to make change, afraid of failure, afraid to be cold, afraid to be ridiculed, afraid to be alone and afraid of being hungry.
But I've learned that our friends will come forward and teach me. They will cheer our success. I will choose to be cold to save our seedlings and our neighbors will put a hot, home cooked meal in front of me. Being wrong teaches me more than being right. When you're right you don't need anybody. When you're wrong you need your friends.
In the past 10 years I've learned to fear less and do more. And I realize now that I have less to fear from the people around me than I do from the big anonymous world that wants everything I have - in exchange for my life.
And I'm so much more impatient now with those who say, "No we can't".
This is my second Spring of 2010. The first was in California, where rain stops falling in March or April and the sky is clear almost every day. That means outdoor living is well under way and the under dressed (or undressed) can streak out of the house, cross the breezeway and dash into the garage for that pair of pants (or underpants) that never quite made it from the laundry into the house.
Here, in PEI, in Mid May, spring meant settling into bed last night, and then realizing that I hadn't put on the space heater in the greenhouse and the forecast was calling for a low of 2 (about 34F). I seriously considered nodding off to sleep anyway...then realized this was not an option. I have invested in planting the hundreds of seeds in flats that are just now sprouting with this year's harvest. They are particularly sensitive to cold now - and I was afraid that letting nature take it's course would be crippling to our plans and our investment in time, money and labor. What to do?
I got up, went downstairs and put on a sweatshirt, a hat and a pair of rubber boots and sprinted out the door.
If you had been driving by Dunn Creek Farm at about midnight last night, you would have seen this farmer sprinting up the yard in his tighty whities to flip the switch on the heater and then dash back to the house.
Mission accomplished and this years crops saved!
Yesterday I hitched up my ugly old 3 sod trailing plow and tilled new ground between the peach trees in our little orchard. I have a history with that plow that includes a spooky horse trying to flip it over onto me and some pretty ugly plowing when I didn't know what I was doing. Call it a general lack of operator ability. I was pretty frustrated and afraid I'd never measure up. That awkward experience comes up each time I hitch up the plow.
Yesterday I lined up my plow, set the points and laid out some lovely rows of nice turned earth which will
be planted with dried baking beans and potatoes for this fall and winter. The plow was flawless and this plowman knew how to hitch the plow at the proper angles and set the points for turning the sods together
into the center of the row. Thanks to my neighbor, Glen, who patiently gave me my first instructions a few years ago and by paying attention at the Dundas Plowing Match for the last few Summers, I knew what I was after. And I congratulated myself for this basic graduation.
I'll never forget my first try at plowing with Glen. After looking at my field and then at my plow he said, "That's a tough contract". A few days later he said, "I talked to a few of the lads in the neighborhood and they said you did not too bad a job for your first time plowing". Glen is now about 80 years old now and a lifelong bachelor farmer. I'm so lucky to have had elders like Glen in this community offer their help and a lifetime of experience.
Warren Brush at Quail Springs said, "A community is a place where each person is needed." I like that.
But I'm still trying to figure out how I can be needed in our community. I know I need my neighbors, like Glen. And Nancy, who took my seed orders and planted early starts for me in her greenhouse and my neighbors who continue to offer me their welcome home and suppers at their houses. Like my friends who come to weed asparagus and visit while we work.
A Change is going to come even as the world outside argues and frets.
Many people say,
"We can't change what's wrong".
"We can't choose what is best for us".
"Government is cporrupted"
"Business can't be trusted"
Fear is a learned behaviour and it has become a crippling force. We are afraid to be wrong, afraid to make change, afraid of failure, afraid to be cold, afraid to be ridiculed, afraid to be alone and afraid of being hungry.
But I've learned that our friends will come forward and teach me. They will cheer our success. I will choose to be cold to save our seedlings and our neighbors will put a hot, home cooked meal in front of me. Being wrong teaches me more than being right. When you're right you don't need anybody. When you're wrong you need your friends.
In the past 10 years I've learned to fear less and do more. And I realize now that I have less to fear from the people around me than I do from the big anonymous world that wants everything I have - in exchange for my life.
And I'm so much more impatient now with those who say, "No we can't".
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Blog Clog - Getting Caught Up!
CLICK - HEAR for Farm Podcast 17
I've been late getting things posted this week as the pace of farm work has picked up and the weather has been fair and warm. I'm outside most days and falling into bed at night.
Some more highlights from the Dundas Plowing Match -
Draft Horse Pull
The Lovely Heather MacDonald - Queen of the Furrows 2009! Be sure to listen to the podcast for an EXCLUSIVE interview with Heather.
A Family Pack of produce, picked, cleaned and packed was delivered to the winning bidder of our silent auction item. We donated a gift certificate to support local 4-H kids.
Grubby Farmer John gets a kiss.
I've been late getting things posted this week as the pace of farm work has picked up and the weather has been fair and warm. I'm outside most days and falling into bed at night.
Some more highlights from the Dundas Plowing Match -
Draft Horse Pull
The Lovely Heather MacDonald - Queen of the Furrows 2009! Be sure to listen to the podcast for an EXCLUSIVE interview with Heather.
A Family Pack of produce, picked, cleaned and packed was delivered to the winning bidder of our silent auction item. We donated a gift certificate to support local 4-H kids.
Grubby Farmer John gets a kiss.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Hurricanes and Harvesting
CLICK - HEAR TODAY'S PODCAST
Hurricane Bill blasts the sunflowers in the front field
Sunflowers do impression of Marcel Marceau - mime walking in the wind
Harvest packed for the farmers market in Dundas. Beans, 2 types of cucumbers, scarlet nantes carrots, red and white new potatoes, zucchini and yellow summer squash. Also beets and lettuce (not shown).
The plowing match includes competition with horse drawn plows. Each contestant is given a measured plot to plow. They are judged on how straight and even they make the sods and how
square they make their lines. Difficult to do with a tractor, but even more challenging with horses pulling a single sod plow over unfamiliar ground. Skills include controlling the depth of the sod cut and the angle of the plow, plus driving a team.
Old school rigs like this riding plow and hand plows were seen during today's competition.
Antique tractors and other horse drawn equipment are also seen working in the field.
Now that's plowing!
We did OK at the farm table but attendance seemed down from last year and demand for produce was off. A lot of people planted big gardens this year. Everybody feels that cash is a bit scarce this summer. It's a a sure sign of the times.
Hurricane Bill blasts the sunflowers in the front field
Sunflowers do impression of Marcel Marceau - mime walking in the wind
Harvest packed for the farmers market in Dundas. Beans, 2 types of cucumbers, scarlet nantes carrots, red and white new potatoes, zucchini and yellow summer squash. Also beets and lettuce (not shown).
The plowing match includes competition with horse drawn plows. Each contestant is given a measured plot to plow. They are judged on how straight and even they make the sods and how
square they make their lines. Difficult to do with a tractor, but even more challenging with horses pulling a single sod plow over unfamiliar ground. Skills include controlling the depth of the sod cut and the angle of the plow, plus driving a team.
Old school rigs like this riding plow and hand plows were seen during today's competition.
Antique tractors and other horse drawn equipment are also seen working in the field.
Now that's plowing!
We did OK at the farm table but attendance seemed down from last year and demand for produce was off. A lot of people planted big gardens this year. Everybody feels that cash is a bit scarce this summer. It's a a sure sign of the times.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Summer on the Farm
When winter goes so slowly it seems impossible that summer could fly so fast, but here we are headed for the end of August already!
We started with weeks of dry weather. But the last week of July flipped us into a pattern of rain every day for the last 3 weeks! This has been tough on us since picking was first delayed and then became impossible to put off, regardless of the field conditions. Also, plant diseases become a problem when the leaves can't dry out for days on end. We had two consecutive days last week when it rained 12 hours straight each day. I guess when the poles melt the water has to go somewhere.
This weekend we'll be setup at the Provincial Plowing Match in Dundas, Prince Edward Island. We'll be picking and packing for the next few days to get ready for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday Farmers Market. If you're in eastern PEI we hope you'll stop in for the fun.
For those of you, "from away" this event is a good old fashioned country fair with a carnival midway, music, animal showing, craft judging and etc. And yes, the event is centered around the plowing competition and the naming of the "Queen of the Furrows".
To win, this lovely young woman must not only have charm and poise. She must be able to plow a furrow. I'd like to see Miss America try that one on for size.
Here are some pictures from the past few weeks on the farm:
Blueberry Pickers
Wild Raspberry Dude.
Annie Picks (and eats) berries
Cherry Pickin'
We started with weeks of dry weather. But the last week of July flipped us into a pattern of rain every day for the last 3 weeks! This has been tough on us since picking was first delayed and then became impossible to put off, regardless of the field conditions. Also, plant diseases become a problem when the leaves can't dry out for days on end. We had two consecutive days last week when it rained 12 hours straight each day. I guess when the poles melt the water has to go somewhere.
This weekend we'll be setup at the Provincial Plowing Match in Dundas, Prince Edward Island. We'll be picking and packing for the next few days to get ready for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday Farmers Market. If you're in eastern PEI we hope you'll stop in for the fun.
For those of you, "from away" this event is a good old fashioned country fair with a carnival midway, music, animal showing, craft judging and etc. And yes, the event is centered around the plowing competition and the naming of the "Queen of the Furrows".
To win, this lovely young woman must not only have charm and poise. She must be able to plow a furrow. I'd like to see Miss America try that one on for size.
Here are some pictures from the past few weeks on the farm:
Blueberry Pickers
Wild Raspberry Dude.
Annie Picks (and eats) berries
Cherry Pickin'
Monday, March 31, 2008
What's On the Menu?
I'm often asked, "What do you grow?"
Unlike the commodity market producers who can answer, "Potatoes" or "Wheat" or "Corn", our answer takes a bit longer. We have been working since 2000 to create a diverse "market basket" of selections that include hand raised vegetables, fruits and flowers, all of which are MCOG certified organic. We sell from our farm gate in Murray Harbour North, PEI and we distribute produce to several locations including Nabuurs Garden Center in nearby Montague and periodically in Murray River.
We rely a great deal on Vesey's Seeds in York, PEI. I really appreciate their support of local organics and the fact that they run their own extensive trial gardens in the same climate and soil conditions where we work. The trial gardens are open to the public and are a wonderful local resource.
Here are a couple of Highlights:
We'll have our first full season of Jersey Giant Asparagus starting this spring! A welcome early spring vegetable, we anticipate being able to extend the harvest this year so that more of our friends will have a chance to enjoy the delicate taste of really fresh asparagus!
Our popular California Mesclun Salad greens will be back again. This mix was selected by Margaret Prouse to be featured in the PEI Linking Land and Sea demonstrations last summer at the Provincial Plowing Match in Dundas.
One of the ingredients in our mesclun salad mix, the edible nasturtium blossoms, add a splash of color and a lightly spicy flavor to the greens. They also add taste of history. The seeds we use on PEI to grow our old fashioned trailing nasturtiums were originally wild harvested in Santa Barbara, California, where nasturtiums are hardy and perennial. This particular plant was an escapee from somewhere along the wet-weather creek in the foothills behind our home. It's not unusual to find these heirlooms growing wild in the canyons near places where homesteaders once farmed or ranched. They were often planted as a salad cress or green and may have been brought here by Spanish Colonists. Historically they were also a popular feature in traditional English culinary gardens.
* * * * *
We've done a lot of experimenting in the past couple of years to find the best varieties of island favorites and last year we had a booming good season for yellow beans. Thanks to Vesey's, I think we've found the perfect variety to keep islanders happy during "bean season" this summer!
Last year we introduced Lemon Cucumbers at Dundas. This heirloom from Australia looks like a lemon and has a nice light flavor that makes it a great slicer for fresh eating! We expect to have 5 varieties of cucumber this summer so be ready to crunch, slice and pickle to your heart's content.
That's all for now...
We'll have time to enjoy a bit more hot stove farming before the snow melts and it's time to work the soil again. Meantime, I'll put another stick in the fire if you'll put the kettle on!
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