Looking through new eyes

It has been REALLY busy here over the last little while. It always seems that the gardens go without a lot of change for a few weeks then…WHAMMO, everything is ready all at once. Which of course means doing something with the bounty of the garden. Along with the bounty ay issues also come up. Alas, we have a return of the dreaded late blight.  It has hit our tomatoes, potatoes, but thankfully not the peppers so far. Last year was a real lesson about tomatoes. We planted a ton of tomatoes and lost almost all of them. We didn’t repeat it again this year, but losing anything to such a nasty problem is disappointing. Despite this it has been a great year for squash, OUr cucumbers are going mad and I can’t imagine how we are going to eat all the squash we will have this winter. 

A couple of tours have happened here as well. Living here it is easy to take a lot of what we do for granted. Having people come by and visit is great because they always help us see things through new eyes.

Most recently we had Heather, a masters student at York University come and talk to us about vermicomposting. Although we only have two vermicomposting bins they are doing quite well. It was great to talk to her and research on apartment agriculture and worm bins.  Heather may soon be know as the worm whisperer as she has done a lot of work with her bins.We are eagerly awaiting her final thesis.

 The other weekend we had S.O.N.S.I. (Southern Ontario Nature and Science Illustrators)come by for a tour. Of course I (jennifer) am a member so it was low key and a lot of fun to have good friends round. It ended up being a really delicious pot-luck, and SONSI member Emily, makes an amazing zucchini crumble.

It was a fun afternoon of eating, talking and sketching. Steve took some photos. He has managed to make our chickens look beautiful. Thanks Steve!

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St. Catharines to allow urban chickens

Chickens are once again taking over Canadian cities. St. Catharines is the latest Ontario city to allow urban chickens. Read more…

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It’s all about R E S P E C T…

Curt Pate is a new breed of cowboy. He is one who knows about the animals he is working with beyond just breed and purpose. He knows about how they act and what their natural signals are. Curt realizes that there are brains in those big head and behind those big eyes. Curt respects the animals he is working with. Curt is a Cow Whisperer. He is one of a growing number of new style farmers.

Many of the techniques used by animal whisperers’ are traditional methods of animal husbandry that comes from both book knowledge and, most importantly time spent with animals directly observing them. Spending time with an animals can teach much more than an entire book on behaviour. Often the biggest challenge for farmers is having tine to really stop and watch their animals. Not only is time an issue, but in large scale factory farms animals are not given the chance to exhibit natural behaviours.

Temple Grandin is a pioneer in livestock behaviour and using an animals natural tendencies to make their farm lives a better experience from birth to death. 
This Aug. 4, 2010 photo shows cowboy Curt Pate demonstrating stress-free handling of cattle on the Siben Ranch outside of Helena, Monana. Man at right is employee, Jon Selby. (AP Photo/Janie Osborne)

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Cukes for pickling

Part if this weekend will be put aside for some more canning. In the past it has been challenging to get enough produce all at once to use an entire box of jars. This year it seems quite certain that there will have enough cucumbers to make some more pickles and hopefully some sort of chutney.

Unfortunately the best egg plant we had was blown off it’s plant by a gust of wind.

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Haitian farmers reject Monsanto seeds

Despite their desperate need of seed, Haitian farmers know what is good for them long term. After the earthquake much of the seed farmers were saving for planting went to feed people when they fled to rural areas in search of safety. 

With such a small seed supply to grow more food some was needed. In stepped Monsanto to donate some hybrid seeds. These seeds, of saved the following growing year will not grow true to the plant that they were collected from. This means that farmers would have to go back to Monsanto to buy more seed the following  year, and the following, and the following. 

Benoit Griouard of Union Paysanne (a  called Monsanto’s donation “…and attack on Hatian farmers and the future of their local seeds.” Chavannes Jean-Baptist of the Peasant Movement of Papay called on farmers to burn the Monsanto seeds. 

The article is fascinating and gives one a lot to think about. Download the rest of the National Farmers Union article.

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