An Eye-Opening Meeting

A few weeks ago, I went to my first Cowichan Agricultural Society meeting. (CAS for short). What an eye opener that was! There are things that are going on behind the scenes in our wonderful country that people need to know about, and we need to get informed about. Yet, most people (myself included) are not even aware we need to be aware!
The two things that really stand out to me are these: 
1. The government, in all their wisdom, wants to start metering the water we take out of our own wells. I get that we all need to conserve, and watch how much water we are using. The last two summers have taught me that much! BUT, as a farmer, we make so little money as it is, now we have to not only PAY to have the wells dug and maintained, but then have to continue to pay for what we need to make a living? There is also some other issue to do with selling water rights on your land to another user. I have forgotten the details of that, but it didn't sound so friendly, either. My take is this: we need water to survive. If you are in the city, and the city has paid to get water to your home, then paying for what you use is acceptable. Water is a necessity of life. We need it. The government does NOT own the groundwater. The people as a whole own the groundwater, and we should have a say in how it is used.

2. The government also wants to track each and every animal we have on our farms. I can understand a bit, as there have been problems with egg recalls (salmonella) and beef recently. These recalls have originated with those so called 'farmers' who have feed lots, and caged birds. I've never heard of a person getting sick or dying from a home-grown, healthily raised animal from a small farm. Tracking each and every chicken and duck would put even more financial pressure on the small farmer, more paperwork, more time, when really what the government needs to do is crack down on the business' that raise their animals in an unhealthy way. Caged chickens that barely have enough room to turn around in, and cows crammed into a feed lot, being fed unhealthy corn and living in their own feces. It seems to me that the government needs to separate feed lot operations from the small farmer, and have different rules and regulations for both. It just doesn't make sense to lump us all in together.

So, I ended up joining the CAS, and will be attending every meeting I can get to throughout the year. I feel a growing need to get informed, and maybe even be a voice for doing what is right, and taking action for raising and growing our food in as a natural and healthy way as possible.

I sort of feel like my life may be turning in directions I have never even considered, and being informed of these issues can only help me in my new farming way of life.

Fall is here

Well, it definitely feels like fall around the farm these days. A lot has happened, and I haven't been keeping up with the blogging as well as I should have. My bad.
At first, it was soooo frickin busy on the dogboarding end, that I could barely breathe. Now, it's so slow, I am entering panic stage. I am trying hard NOT to panic, but sometimes it just sneaks up on me.

When I bought this farm, it was because it was my dream to live off the land, sustainably, and grow my own food before I was 40 and I got too old to enjoy it.
Last month, I hit the big 4-0. EEEEKKKK! What a scary thing! I only feel like I'm about 28, so now I tell everyone that 40 is the new 20, and I am still young. Which I feel young, so really I guess that's about all that matters.
The Universe was a big meanie to me on my birthday, however. I was lucky enough to get stung by a wasp the day BEFORE my birthday, then again on the day OF my birthday, then AGAIN ON THE DAY AFTER my birthday. I couldn't believe it! My arm and leg all swole up, and the only reason it didn't get worse was that I was at home when it happened, and was able to get benadryl into me within moments of getting stung. I was not impressed!
Honestly, this farm was the absolute best thing I have ever done. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the life, and how every day is an adventure, and you never know what is going to happen, or what challenges you will face. The finances are still scary at times, but if I think back to 2 years ago when I bought this place then immediately lost my job.... I've come a lonnngggg way. At least I don't cry every night, wondering how I am going to pay my mortgage. I will never starve, as all I need to do is go into my backyard, and pick some veggies. I am learning how to preserve food the traditional way, and I even cook proper meals for myself. Cooking is NOT my thing, so this is actually a big step for me! I am learning all about keeping chickens and turkeys, and researching into having pigs and maybe a milk cow one day.

Ooohhh, I want a milk cow sooo bad! I am on a cowshare, so I get raw milk each week from a lovely little Jersey, and it is so delicious. It is never enough for me, though! I make my own butter and yogurt from it, and will be trying cheese when I have more time on my hands. I keep thinking about getting my own little Jersey, but if I did that, I wouldn't ever be able to go to another dogsport function again. That little cow needs to be milked every day, twice a day. I am considering having my own cowshare, but done a bit different. If I could find 4-7 people who want fresh, whole milk each week, and we all go in on the cow together, then each one of us will milk once or twice a week. I think this is a fantastic idea, because we would all share in the expense of the cow, and I could make sure I got weekends off milking to go have some fun;-) My only major stumbling block to really going forward is that I am afraid I will get someone who doesn't take the milking seriously, and forgets... then the cow really suffers. In the meantime, I will keep planning and collecting names for interested parties.

My well went very, very dry a few weeks ago again. It was dry for over 3 hours. That was by far the longest time it went dry. It was scary. Luckily, it started raining the very next day, and the well is full again. It is astounding to me how much water I use just irrigating the gardens. When it filled up at the beginning of August, I thought I was set for the rest of the summer. I had a week off watering, which was wonderful, then it was hot and dry again, so I had to start up. The well was depleted in a matter of 3 days. It really puts the whole water thing into perspective, and I have to make it my priority to always be conscious of how much I use. Even in the winter when we have 'lots'. I FINALLY got one of my water tanks hooked up to the downspout, so when it rains again in the next day or two, it will fill up. I am going to use that for the livestock on a regular basis. I'm not going to take from the groundwater as much anymore! The best thing I did with the gardens is the hay. It saved me hundreds of gallons of water... and hours of watering. Now, I am just automatically planting everything in a hay or mulch. If I start now, by next spring it will be starting to compost, and should be even more water efficient.

On Sunday, it will be my second anniversary on my little farm. What a landmark! And, to top it off, my Aunt and Uncle are coming to visit. I haven't seen them for 15 or 20 years. They used to have a 20 acre farm in Victoria, of which I spent alot of time on when I was just a wee one. I had such wonderful times and memories of their farm! I'm certain this is why I wanted a farm of my own so bad. And I'm pretty certain I can blame my dog obsession on them, too! They had border collies - they were working dogs, and so amazing and smart. I remember they had puppies one time, and oooh, did I want one of those bigtime! My parents were wise in not letting us have a BC on a city lot - that poor dog would've been bored to death. But, my obsession grew from there, and got me to where I am today. Dog obsessed, and farming! I can't wait to see them and catch up on fun times, and have someone to talk to about my two favourite topics... dogs and farming.

Panic averted... for the moment

Well, it took about an hour, but water started coming out of my hose again. I didn't put my head under the covers like I threatened to do, but was it ever tempting! Instead, I started looking at Craigslist, UsedNanaimo and Kijiji. Low and behold, a guy just over in Chemainus (about 10 minutes from here) was selling some used 100 gallon water tanks! So, I ran right over and bought the 2 he had left. They aren't the full solution, but they will help! I go over tomorrow to pay him and help him load them up... he is going to deliver them for me. I am going to arrange them under the rainspout, so they will fill up (IF we ever get rain again) or if the worst was to happen, and I run out of water, at least if I have to get some trucked in, I will have somewhere for the delivery guy to put it!!

I decided not to give up on the gardening thing. Last year, I panicked, and started harvesting everything early, afraid I was going to run out of water. This year, I am just going to be very frugal with the water, and hope it lasts until the rains come again. I planted 3 beds of kale, some kohlrabi and some beets this morning - hand watered everything, so not a drop was wasted. It will take alot of my time, but I will continue to hand water until the bitter end...

I am also starting more seeds for my fall/ spring crops. I wish I had more seed trays, but I am just making do with what I have right now. I have been using my EM and my mycchroizzal fungi with everything I have planted, so we'll see how big of a difference that makes! I also went around the entire garden the other nite, and sprayed EVERYTHING with the EM. We shall see!

While I was having my panic attack yesterday, I saw the coolest thing... a snake zooming away with a huge slug in it's mouth! I ran in to grab my camera, but of course when I got out, the snake was gone. No wonder there are so many big, fat snakes around this year... easy pickings with all the slugs around here! It would've made a great picture, though.

A few days ago, I suddenly remembered I had planted a grape plant last fall. I had completely forgotten about it... bad farmer! Expecting the worst, I went to check on it. It was completely covered with weeds and grass, but I think that's what saved it - shaded it from the worst of the heat. It was alive! And looking healthy, to boot! Amazing. I watered it, and talked to it for a while, telling it it was a good little grape plant, and hopefully it will continue to flourish, and I'll get some grapes in a year or two!