Sharing knowledge; and, our grand plans for 2013

As we take in as many farming workshops as possible, I begin to think: there must be a way to share this information. We can't make it to every workshop (both of us are still working full time, remember) and we've begun to recognize faces that are attending the same workshops and we've noticed that sometimes they are missing some workshops too. Being a library person, I am first and foremost a helper person - everything I do I want to share with people. Knowledge is meant to be shared; what's the point of knowing something if you can't tell someone else and help them improve their situation?

I stumbled across a post on FarmHack about a month ago that really got this all started for me: encourage each farmer in the community to set up a specialized workshop, one farmer per specialty, and visit whoever has the equipment you need. One can set up a welding/fabricating shop, one can set up a mechanic's shop, one a woodworking shop, etc. That way, each farmer does not need to purchase the same equipment - this will definitely give the best bang per buck, while encouraging a sense of community and camaraderie among the farmers. Of course, it would only take one bad apple to ruin it for everyone, but if we're all in this together, why not help each other out? And why would you want to piss off your neighbours anyway?!!


Along this same train of thought, I've wanted to set up some sort of knowledge collective, where new and young farmers in the region can build a community and share knowledge and ideas. I have no idea how to go about this - at the moment, I'm sharing my Google Doc of event notes, but in order to encourage others to contribute, I was debating the merits of a blog, or a wiki, or a forum, or.... I really have no idea how to get this started, but I want it very badly. I started writing this post over a week ago, and at that point, I'd already been mulling it over for weeks. As I've also been researching seed saving, I came across a guide to growing for seed production, put out by Farm Folk City Folk. So, as I'm currently waiting for delicious things to happen on the dessert front (preparation for another game day tomorrow, and we're doing it potluck style this time! I, of course, claimed desserts, as I am a terrible cook... but, I digress...) I decided to quickly check out the Farm Folk City Folk website.  It's much like what I was hoping to set up!  They also have a Young Agrarians site - again very much like what I was thinking of! Brilliant! It's exactly these moments that give me that growing-heart sensation - knowing that there are like-minded, friendly folks out there who also want to build a community to help newbie farmers. It's very re-affirming: we can't be completely off our rockers if other young people are doing this too! This is something I knew already, as quite a few people I'm starting to recognize from local farming events are about our age, but I am always thrilled to find someone with similar interests (be it board games, raves, or heritage chickens). So now, we just need to get Prince George on the FFCF/YA radar! Who's with me?

 On to a more specific update: we've been planning. And planning, and planning, and planning. And we're getting tired of just planning. Today I realized why people do "spring cleaning": the days are longer, the sun is out, and we're itching to move, to accomplish something, to come out of our dormant winter state, but it's still too darn snowy to do anything outside. I cleaned the floor and the lower cupboard doors/outer structure today. This wasn't a planned event, like most of my cleaning, it was "ugh I need to do SOMETHING and it's still only +1 out and it's starting to cloud over....."

 As for our plans: they're a constantly shifting target. Our biggest variable right now is money. Jordan just started a new job here in town, so we'll be spending MUCH less on fuel (yay!!!!!!). His pay is also higher, but there are potentially more deductions, so we're waiting on a full paycheque to estimate how this will change our budget. A (not so) brief list of our current hopes for this year:

• Do something with the roof. It's still leaking (although it's not as bad if we keep it shovelled) and we're still discussing the best way to fix it without spending a small fortune to get it fully replaced. We could rip the tin off, replace whatever insulation needs replacing (if it's water damaged beyond salvation), lay Tyvek and screening, and put the tin back on properly, including replacing any flashing for vents and the chimney and overlapping the tin properly around these vents. We could also raise the roof over the bedrooms and put in a loft. I feel it's likely that the former will be what happens, as we can do all that ourselves in a weekend. We also need to increase the ventilation, and likely trim back the eaves - this will be interesting, but we can manage. After we fix the roof, we have to... 
• ... fix the bathroom wall. There's a decent leak happening behind the drywall and tub surround in the bathroom. It's bad enough that we have dampness and mould growing on the log walls on either side of the bathroom. Fun. I'm really concerned about opening it up - who knows what we'll find back there. Plus it means no showers for two weeks as we let the logs dry out so we can... 
• ... chink the house. Our heat bill is absolutely ridiculous. We can do the chinking ourselves - it will be a steep learning curve, but I'm not scared of that. A bigger concern: emptying and moving the huge food shelf to get at that wall. 
• Rebuild the root cellar. Right now, it's railway ties, which will leach creosote and who-knows-what else into whatever we store in there. Not cool, and quite counterintuitive; why bother growing organic food if we're going to store it in there? So we're researching, and planning, and trying to figure out the best way to do this on a budget. If we get really desperate, we can probably harvest some trees and build it out of those. Hopefully we can come up with something better than that. 
• Grow some food! We've got some seeds, and we're looking forward to planting them :) We'll have to create some more garden space somewhere - if we'd been thinking in the fall, we should have done it then. Oh well. Also, we only have one tiny south-facing window... I have no idea how we're going to start seeds. Under grow lamps? We'll figure something out. That reminds me, I wanted to do a post on seeds.... 
• Move the greenhouse. Who builds a greenhouse on the North side of a building??? 
• Grow some green manure on the hay field. It's starting to look like we'll be using part of the hay field to grow our market garden - it's relatively flat, and very easy to get to. If we want quality hay off it, it needs to be reseeded anyway - may as well till in a cover crop in the meantime. Hopefully we can get the farmer we leased it to to help us out. 
• Harvest rainwater. We've got eaves troughs for the house, they just need to be installed (see: fix the roof). I have a rough plan to hook up a bunch of barrels in a sequence so we can fill multiple barrels at once. Once I finalize it and get the barrels, I'll post some plans and pictures. then we can install a similar system for the shop, the longhouse, and the barn. We'll need to get eaves troughs for all of those, of course. 
• Get some chickens. At this point, we'll likely stick to meat birds. That way, we can build a quick chicken tractor (smaller movable coop) and move it around the yard with some fencing. The minimum order of heritage birds from the hatchery is 25 chicks, and we have a friend interested in going in with us so she can have some too. And if she buys the chickens when they're alive, then they're her chickens, and we can get around the 'no farm gate sales' law I think. Sneaky? Maybe, but that's how folks are circumventing the 'no raw milk' law - they buy shares in a cow, and 'pay' the farmer to look after it and milk it. Then they show up and collect their share of the milk. 
• At some point, we need to fix the vehicles. The car is leaking oil, and the truck's exhaust rusted through at the manifold connection. Jordan is getting dirty looks from people when he starts the truck, because this huge plume of exhaust erupts from underneath the cab. 
• We will likely also have to replace the well pump and pressure tank this year. We've noticed a decrease in pressure, and the shower squeals when it happens, so I think it's probable that we've lost one stage of the pump. And we know the pressure tank is shot. 

There is also a very very long list of "wouldn't it be nice if we could..." including fencing, clearing out the area around the pond, fixing up the longhouse, fixing the ceiling in the stalls of the barn (though we might have to just rebuild that side if we want stalls big enough for draft horses), and continuing to clean up the shop (which Jordan has already started). This is going to be a very, very busy year - and that's precisely why we went East to visit with my family last year. We might be able to sneak away from the garden (I bought hose timers last year for our vacation!) but there's no way we can leave the chickens overnight. So we're hoping for a quick trip or two back to Alberta in the spring (it's my 10-year high school reunion this year - time flies! - and I'm still debating if I'll go) and then if anyone wants to visit, they'll have to come here. Looking at the list above, I'm noticing a challenge about blogging about farming: in the winter, there's lots of time to blog but nothing to blog about; in the summer, there's lots to write about but no chance to actually sit still for 5 minutes!

Cupcakes!!

Every month, we have a birthday celebration at work.  This month (Feb) I volunteered to do the baking.  I decided on cupcakes (each is a serving!  they're cute!  and they can be eaten without knives, plates, or forks, which means less waste and dishes!) so on Friday, I fiddled around with an idea for rainbow-themed cupcakes.  I quickly realized that I couldn't fit 6 colours in one cupcake, so I settled on three: red, yellow, and blue.  I used a vanilla cupcake recipe that I love, added the food colouring, and baked them - they came out perfect!  I piped on some from-scratch chocolate frosting, added some sprinkles, and viola! Beautiful :)

After eating a few, though, I realized a few things: the colours didn't come out as bright as I had hoped.  And in mixing in the colouring, I deflated the batter, so the resulting cupcakes were quite dense.  And the chocolate frosting was nearly overpowered by the taste of the brown sugar I used.  So, back to the drawing board.  I'm glad I did a test run, but now I had to try a new recipe Tuesday night, when it counted, and this was what I had been trying to avoid with the original test run.  Oh well, nothing to do for it now!

On Monday, I read Rhonda's blog post in which she introduces the "the best moist chocolate cake recipe" she has ever tried with the following sentence: "Just so you're well aware that it's not all angels, love hearts and sweetness in my kitchen, here (below) is the beginning of the ugliest cake I've ever made."  Immediately, I was hooked!  She provided a link to the recipe, and I decided to give it a go (especially as the recipe's author had conveniently included cupcake directions too).  Jordan and I ate dinner as the cupcakes cooled, and just before bed, I iced them with a simple buttercream frosting (recipe below) and broke out the same fun sprinkles.  I tried piping the icing at first, but quickly realized that it was much too stiff (as it burst through the sides of the bag!) so I switched to simply spreading the icing with a knife.

They turned out fabulous!!  Definitely very moist, and the coffee added just a subtle flavour.  I'll definitely be making these again, though maybe not for little kids :)

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Frosts about 24 cupcakes - maybe a few more :)

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
6-8 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. In an electric mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter for a few minutes until smooth and creamy.
2. Add 4c of the sugar, all the milk, and the vanilla and mix on low speed until combined.
3. Add another 2c of sugar and mix on low speed until light and fluffy.  Add remaining sugar if needed to reach desired consistency.

Store in an airtight container out of the sun or in the fridge.  It sets very quickly, so add additional decorations promptly.

Tip: to avoid filling the air with powdered sugar, place a clean tea towel over the mixing bowl.

Hope

We've had another busy few weeks, and we're very excited about what we've learned recently. Here's a bit of what's been happening:

How to be an organic farmer

We recently attended a farming session hosted by Gary and Wendy Lowe. In this session, they provided us with a list of things we need to be successful, and a roadmap of how to get there. They have worked with organic distributors over the years, and as such, they were able to provide a snapshot of just how big the market for organic produce in BC really is, along with how much of that market is currrently being fulfilled by imports. This did not include more warm-climate items such as peppers, lemons, and kiwi - the list was made up of root crops such a potatoes, onions and garlic that are easily grown in zone 3. They shared some great information, and we are excited about it all over again.

As the session came to a close, we realized we will not be farming this year. Of course, we'll be doing many of the things organic farming will entail (green manure, field prep, planning, researching, learning, etc.) but instead, this year we will focus on feeding ourselves. If we have extra, we may be able to share or sell it, but we can't focus on growing for a market this year. The house needs to be fixed (or at least improved), we need to do fencing and outbuilding maintenance (and at this point, it's looking like we'll be replacing the root cellar completely - I am not eager to have the creosote from those rail ties leaching into our dinner), and we have a million things to learn. Feeding ourselves this year will give us the opportunity to become acquainted with our land - the soil, the water and drainage, the sunny spots, and the veggies it can support. Up until now, I had half-formed hopes of getting up and running fairly quickly, but both Jillian and the Lowes have cautioned us that this will not happen overnight. Gary said in the session that you need successes to stay motovated and passionate, even if they are small successes. This has really reinforced my goal of "potato self-sufficiency" for this coming winter.

Seedy Saturday

This past Saturday was Seedy Saturday - an event that brings together people of all walks of life that have one thing in common: interest in heirloom plants.  Heirloom plants are open-pollinated varieties that have been preserved and kept pure (hybrid free) for generations.  The seeds, if kept pure, will consistently produce plants identical to the parent plant - this allows growers to save their own seeds and continue to grow favourite varieties.  If done right, a gardener will only need to purchase seeds once, and the plants will slowly adapt to the local growing conditions.  The Sweet Siberian Watermelon is a prime example of this - a farmer in Siberia desperately wanted to grow melons.  He tried many different varieties, and eventually, he managed to get one melon to ripen fully.  He saved the two seeds in the tiny melon to plan the following year.  Then he saved seeds from those melons, and the year after, and the year after... until finally, he had developed a melon that would reliably grow and ripen in Siberia.  Siberia is the last place I would think could grow melons, but by saving seeds from plants that did well in that climate, the farmer was able to develop a variety that was perfectly adapted to local conditions.

Anyway.... I attended three information sessions at Seedy Saturday: Herbs to know, sow and grow; Growing for seed saving; and Sustainability and reducing our dependence on Southern growers.  The herb session was informative but not very pertinent to what we would like to do.  The seed saving session was AMAZING, and I am very glad we were able to catch that one.  And the sustainability session was put on by the Lowes; while I did learn a bit, most of it had been covered in other sessions we had attended.  That being said, if Gary and Wendy are going to put in the time and effort to come talk to us (as they'll have a two hour drive and 30 miles by snowmobile to get to Prince George... then they have to do it again to get home) then I can put in the time and effort to show up.  they recognize us when we walk in, which is great - we are building a community of like-minded folks around us, and they want to help us succeed.

I've started typing up my notes (so I can at least keyword search them... it's a library-person thing!) so if you'd like to take a look at what I wrote down, you can find those here.  I'll be adding notes from past events in the next few weeks.

We also spent about $100 in seeds for us and Tessa.  Sounds like a lot, but if it works out right, it could be just a one-time investment, and if we eat only half of what grows this year and save the rest for seed..... we can easily keep growing indefinitely without needing to purchase more seed.  Sounds like a good investment to me :)

The House

As you know, we've had a leaky roof this winter, especially as the temperature swings wildly and we get more snow.  This afternoon, a local log home builder came out to talk to us.  Things are much better than we thought!  He is 80% sure that we have no to minimal rot, and advised us against building a new house because this one is still in really good shape.  We have one corner that's sinking (a different corner than the other guy told us - weird) but he said that it would be easy and cheap to build a loft over the West half of the house.  "6-8 friends, you two, and me, we could strip off the roof, raise it, and put it back on in 2 days, for just a few grand."  Well that sounds pretty darn good to me!  So that's something we'll be thinking about this coming year.  Then, next year or the year after, we could life the house and put in a basement.  Our current square footage is less than 800 square feet; a loft would add about 350, and basement another 800-ish, so we could easily more than double our living space over three or four years for less than $40,000 (this is a very high estimate - it could be as cheap as $23,000).  Comparatively, the cost of building a new house (with unfinished basement) is about $150 per square foot, and we'd need to redo the septic (as we wouldn't build the new house where this one currently sits - we'd replace the trailer, which has non-code septic and possibly a broken water line) for about $30,000 - it makes much more sense to stay in this house and fix it up.  So now that we have some numbers, we can start planning - once we get a second opinion, we can set some concrete goals.

So, with these three recent developments, we remain very hopeful for the future.  There are a few distant points on the horizon: a comfortable, safe, beautiful home; an abundant garden; and far off, barely visible, is the possibility that we will eventually make enough from growing food that at least one of us can quit our off-farm jobs.  This will not be an easy journey.  There will be long days, sleepless nights, sore muscles, failed crops, bad weather, and predators.  But there will also be purpose, fulfillment, community, and contentment.  I am reminded of the Grinch who stole Christmas: my heart is getting bigger, and I can't contain how hopeful and happy I am.

As well...

I've added a few subscription options along the right: email and RSS.  Sign up to either to get updated when we have a new post!  (Thanks Terry for the suggestion!!!)

Events!

Between being busy and still being buried in snow, I haven't found time to write - sorry everyone!  I'm here now, with an update :)

Events

Last post I mentioned we were going to see Jillian about getting started with farming.  She cautioned us to take it slow and not to rush in to things - it is definitely more important to fix the house first.  But she was able to give us some ideas for funding, and some guides to help us get thinking about a business plan and all that, so it was great to talk to her.

The next night she put on a networking event.  We attended and spent most of the evening talking to Karen Kellett (who was at the Barnyard Business session that got us interested in this farming thing).  The majority of the session was networking, and Jillian had set up questions around the room for experienced farmers to answer - stuff like "When do you calve/hatch/purchase new animals?", "How do you finance your machinery?", "Where do you find your labour?", "Where do you get your soil tested?"  Jillian was taking the session to a few other towns, and hopes to compile the answers for new farmers to use as a starting point.  We also met two more newbie farmers, Asia and Craig - I later found out that Asia is a coworker's stepdaughter.  Small world :)

The following week, there was a film screening and chat at the university.  Jillian was there to give a quick presentation about the beef value chain - it was very informative, and highlighted parts of the process that I wasn't even aware of (for example, there is only one chicken abattoir in the entire northern half of the province, and it's in the next town over - and there are I believe only 2 beef abattoirs).  Then the film Fresh was shown - it was a good look at some initiatives in the US for bringing fresh food back in to the community, especially poorer areas where it is cheaper to buy an entire meal of fast food than it is to buy two apples.  After the film, a local new farmer got up to say hi - Jeannine from Ravenfield Farm.  And, it turns out, she is breeding heritage chickens, turkeys and ducks!  Even better - she is starting Chanteclers, the chickens I want, in the spring!!  Yay!!!!  Now I don't have to fret about spending $125 plus overnight courier to ship 36 one-day-old Chantecler chicks from Ontario.  Whew!  I had been hoping to start with a smaller flock, likely 10 at most - even straight run (unsexed) chicks would likely leave us with 4-6 hens for eggs, and 4-6 cockerels for the freezer (and one to keep with the hens, so we could breed more for us as well if needed).  I was so excited that I called Jordan at work to tell him I had found someone nearby with an interest in these chickens :)

Home

Jordan shovelled off the roof and is attempting to melt the ice off the roof so we can stop the leaks.  We had a tin roof guy come out (apparently there are only one or two companies in town that do tin roofing) and he said that the leaks were caused by melting snow having nowhere to go (due to the ice dams and the other snow) so it was seeping in through the valleys in the roof and running along the top logs to leak into the house.  Since Jordan shovelled, we have only had a few small leaks - nothing like the 4+ L we got from one bucket in 24 hours in the week before.  So if we keep the roof shovelled, we can make it to the spring and then figure something out for the roof - I get the feeling this will involve a lot of work, but stuff we can do on our own.  We need to do something to the roof anyway, to keep the bats out in the spring, so..... the adventure continues.

When the roof guy was out, he noticed that it appears the living room is sinking.  Wonderful.  Apparently this is why the front door has been nearly impossible to open some days.  So there will be some hard discussions coming up in the spring.  The roof guy is with a construction company, so he'll be back in a few weeks with his log home guy, so we can get a better picture of what's going on.  Then we'll get a few other opinions, and come up with a plan.  Oy vey.

Due to the sticking door, the doorknob has become increasingly loose, so I picked up a much better doorknob at the local ReStore last weekend.  This morning, I changed the doorknob (which required a drill.... nothing is straightforward around here, especially when it comes to my harebrained ideas) so hopefully we won't need to wrap Zim's leash around the knob to get out anymore.

Last month, we were also able to get partial farm status for 2013 by officially leasing some of our land to nearby farmers who took our hay off last year.  This is fabulous, as it will keep our property taxes low (they would have more than doubled).  And the lady at the BC Assessment office was absolutely wonderful - proof that government employees really can be awesome, and that it's not all bureaucracy.

The leak has caused some interesting 'works of art', such as the entire contents of a shelf being frozen to the shovel; the new doorknob; snow on the barn; and Dad was wondering how we're moving the snow, so here's the quad with the blade (and Zim trying to eat the tire, because it was running at the time)

Create

In November, I started crocheting a pair of sleeping socks for me.  My feet are always cold, so I sleep in fuzzy socks - however, Mander has a fuzzy-sock fetish, and is slowing eating his way through my socks.  In an effort to deter this, I thought I'd try real wool socks.  Three months later, I finished them :)  I just have to weave in the ends, then they're good to go.  In my customary fashion, I couldn't figure out the heel so I made up my own pattern for the heel.  It's not perfect, but it will work for sleep socks :)  The socks themselves are just a touch too long, but I'll keep that in mind for next time.

I also picked up a used serger at the local (and locally owned) sewing centre.  The girls there smile whenever I come in, and Ken, the owner, happened to have a used serger come in, so after a tune-up, he was kind enough to sell it to me for a bargain :)  That has amped up efforts to create my shirt pattern, and I'm nearly done - I just have the sleeve left to trace onto the paper, then I can transfer the pattern to the new jersey knit fabric, serge it all together (following the detailed notes I made as I took it apart), and have a white longsleeved shirt back in my closet.  If this works, I can also remake other favourite shirts as they wear out.  Awesome :)

This past weekend, I also made Lemon Bars and a Cranberry Orange Loaf - both turned out fabulously, and were consumed before pictures could be taken :)

Creating a pattern; my new serger; crocheted socks

Rescue

Of course, I'm still heading to the rescue as often as possible.  They were under quarantine for a while, due to a sweet mare who came down with a case of strangles (a very contagious bacterial infection), but the quarantine was lifted yesterday, and nearly all the horses have been adopted!!  I think there are only two horses left, and even Amy may have a home (Amy was the one who came in practically feral - she now happily walks up to me whenever I am there, hoping for treats - she's come a long way!).  This also means that my favourites, Darcy and Dominic, have been adopted as well.  Of course, I'll miss them both, but they're off to fabulous homes.  Rosco, a large lab-type pooch, is still there, as are the pigs Morris, Teddy, and Hamilton; Stewy the yearling sheep; Daisy the goat; and Smiley, Charlie, and Saddie the puppies.  As well, PGEAR is having an online auction on Facebook right now until the 13th - I've bid on two items, I should check and see if I've been outbid.

Darcy and Fin, eating their dinner :)

Fun

A week and a half ago, we had a games day with Kim, David and Doodle - it was fabulous :)  We spent an entire afternoon playing board games while the boys wrestled and chased and destroyed some more stuffies.  We'll be doing it again this weekend, and our coworker Nic and his partner Amanda will be joining us as well!

Upcoming

On the horizon, there is an event coming up on Feb 17 about starting to farm organic veggies, hosted by Garry and Wendy Lowe of Twin Meadows Organics (the farmers who peaked our interest at the Barnyard Business session).  Tessa will be there, so it will be great to hang out with her and talk to the Lowes.

The following weekend is our local Seedy Saturday - where the gardeners in town get together and exchange or sell seeds they've saved from last year's plants.  I am super excited for this as well!!!  There will be some presentations on gardening in the North (we're zone 3 - slightly warmer than frozen wasteland (lol) with about 90 frost-free days).

A few days after that, the University is hosting another food film.  I don't recall the name off the top of my head, but I'll be attending that screening as well.

Early in March, the Rescue is having a pancake breakfast/tack sale fundraiser.

The fun never ends :)