In the annals of history, there have been many famous battles, many celebrated victors. Few indeed were as grimly fought as on the fields of Fernwood Farm, nor their heroes so unsung. On this weekend beneath a slate grey sky, one man stood alone and said “No! You Shall Not Grow!” to the rising tide of weeds. One man saved the strawberry plants and rescued the onions from the inexorable onslaught of untamed wilderness. One man stepped forward to answer…
The summer solstice found us sitting on a boat, celebrating a wide expanse of blue sky and cool breezes with happy faces turned to the horizon. We took my Dad to one of our favourite places, the Thousand Islands in Gananoque, it is beautiful and at the very least worthy of having a salad dressing named after it. Even waiting for the boat became a fun adventure before we headed off in search of pirates and sharks in the choppy…
June has been rather frantic. As well as stressing about my fantastic hives of bees, my weekends and evenings have been all about the veg. When I planted a 180′ row of potatoes with my Dad back in May, I wasn’t really thinking ahead. For example, I wasn’t thinking about how each row has two sides, so that would be 360′ of potato row to hill up. Twice. Nor did I consider that come the fall, I’ll have 180′ of…
On Saturday Stephen went out into the fields all beekeepered up and did some hivekeeping work. A friend of ours came over to help (our friend is also a beekeeper, we have some very cool friends) and they worked away, intently, in a cloud of smoke at the bottom of Home Field. Stephen added supers to our brood boxes as we now have a lot of baby bees in there and they really need to move on up and start…
For anyone who has been living on the moon or hiding in a concrete bunker hoping to ride out the Eurozone crisis with their epic store of feta in tact, it is strawberry season. On day one of our local pick-your-own we were there, baskets in hand, ready to pick some berries. Despite some libellous suggestions made to the contrary I do actually allow my Dad to leave the fields and go into the world sensibly dressed and free of shackles. On…
As the summer progresses our garden is growing apace. The earth here has rested for an undetermined amount of years and seems to be enjoying the opportunity to throw veggies out of the ground and a rapid rate of knots. Stephen has worked so hard ploughing, re-ploughing and planting this last month and his work is really starting to show. We have peas, beans, carrots, parsnips, cabbages, potatoes, spinach, lettuce, romaine as well as squashes, melons, turnips, bok choi, swiss…
After a day of solid rain on Tuesday, Wednesday dawned sunny and bright so we took advantage and headed to a nearby park. It was lovely to watch the boys play while we soaked up the sun under a beautiful blue sky. Neirin was a pirate, Grampa pushed the swings and Mummy sat on the bench. Bliss.
There really is nothing like doing some work in the kitchen to make me feel settled, grounded. Drifting back and forth for ingredients, trying out new combinations and revisiting familiar ones; all with the joyful anticipation of tasty foods to put in our tummies. The last two months has seen some quite significant changes in our eating habits and has made me think more carefully about what we are eating and how to get it all done. Having now two…
I remember being a fresh-faced 12 year old walking to school, wondering what the year 2012 would be like. I’d imagined dark storm clouds, flickering lightening, the faint cries of tortured souls whipped away by the ever present cold winds. You see, the year 2012 has long held a dark fascination for me. No doubt some of you are thinking Mayan End of Days. Perhaps, like others, you’re wondering if I’m obsessed with the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse and have secretly been…
Each day (two or three times a day in fact) we walk a now familiar trail across our fields. ‘We’ is me and the dogs, them bounding, me striding, through the increasingly tall hay in bottom field. Along the way we check on animals, bees, vegetables; we patrol this place of ours, checking each piece is as it should be. I wonder, as we walk, about other trails that may have criss crossed this land, faded long since just as…