A New Year; plus books, lists and films

A shot of the book, The Dirty Life. Image credit.

It’s a new year and I don’t have a lofty list of resolutions to post yet. It’s coming though. In fact, the group of us here on the farm are planning on creating dream boards together as a group visioning exercise, and I’m looking forward to sharing how that goes on this blog. In the meantime, for myself, 2013 has already been luxuriously rich in inspiring books, motivating lists, and hopeful expectations for upcoming films.

The Books

When I shared my resolutions last year, reading books was at the top of my list. It took 11 1/2 months for me to reach my goal. That is totally pathetic, BUT I am happy to report that once I finally sat down to dedicate time to books, my desire to be in front of my computer melted away lickety split. In the last month, I’ve spent most evenings and mornings with my head in a book. And it’s felt SO good. Like, reminiscent of my pre-internet life good.

I read Home: Tales of a Heritage Farm by Anny Scoones (big thank you to a tutoring colleague who picked it up for me for .50c at a library book sale), and then I read The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball (HUGE thank you to my friend Donna at Duende Farm for the recommendation), and now I’m reading All Creatures Great ad Small by James Herriot (thank you to my partner Chris for putting this classic on our bookshelf).

I’m reading again. This makes me so, so happy. Also, I cannot praise The Dirty Life enough. The book is so, SO good that I’m going to dedicate an upcoming blog post just for it, complete with an attempt at a condensed list of quotes I copied down while reading it.

The Lists

Although this post is less about resolutions and more about what’s been going on, I did put ‘make daily to-do lists’ on my resolution list. I’ve reignited my love affair with lists and my directly related productivity levels have come fast and furious. Garage is cleaned and organized, materials for spring cold frames have been purchased and collected, the pig house has been renovated and turned into a new and much-improved duck house, craigslist ads get scoured daily, onion and leek seeds have been planted in seedling trays, herb propagation experimentation has commenced, CEED Centre Board member admin responsibilities have been getting met, etc, etc, etc. Lists, for me = productivity. Thank you lists for channeling my inner teachers-pet leanings of brilliantly and efficiently getting all my shit done, with i’s perfectly dotted and t’s smuggly crossed.

The Films

This is a mark-your-calendars note. Chris K and I have been invited to sit on the discussion panel at this month’s local Cinema Politica film event. The film, Edible City, will be shown at City Hall on Thursday, January 24th. Hope to see you there! (trailer posted below)

Also, I just saw this video project online this morning and have already made a donation in support of it. Check out SEED: The Untold Story project here. An important topic that looks like it will be very beautifully presented.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=336p7Yo8Zww?wmode=transparent]

Merry Christmas!

The common question I’ve been getting at holiday parties is, “How are things at the farm?” and my common answer is, “Great! We’re hibernating.”

We haven’t spent much time outside this month. Other than animal care, composting and the mulching of a few garden beds, our time has been spent indoors with fires burning in fireplaces, homemade bread and crackers in ovens, books, movies and other human hibernation-worthy activities. None of which have included blog udpates apparently :)

When asking farmers we met this summer why they don’t sell produce year-round (something that is doable here on the west coast), their common answers involved needing and wanting time off. Farming, even on small market gardens like ours, is a lot, A LOT, of work. I didn’t really understand their answer to my question until mid-November rolled around, our plants shrivelled up and died, and the rains and cold temperatures came. Pretty quickly I understood the pleasure in being able to stay indoors, put feet up on coffee tables and read, bake, and watch things without feeling like I should be outside weeding, planting, harvesting, etc.

So, all that to say, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this month off (for the most part) gardening duties. It’s been relaxing, restful, and peaceful. And I’ve really enjoyed taking time to experiment with new recipes in the kitchen, make homemade Christmas gifts and catch up on some novel-reading.

On that note, myself and the rest of the crew here on the farm would like to wish everyone a very merry, joyful, peaceful, love-filled Christmas!

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.” ~ Edith Sitwell

Teaching Kai To Grow Mushrooms (not that kind)

A couple weeks ago Kai and I chopped down an alder and inoculated it with oyster mushrooms. The basic process is to drill holes in a long that are a little deeper than the dowel plugs. The dowel plugs are the inoculant and are inserted into the holes. Grafting wax is melted over the plugs to protect them from insects or competing fungi. Finally, logs are placed in a shaded area. We’ll keep them watered over the summer and in 12 to 18 months they should start producing mushrooms. If we have done it right, they should produce for up to 5 years. There are quite a few factors that contribute to quality mushroom production so I hope that I don’t mess it up.