Books of Interest for Co-operative Farmers

In case you're interested in co-operative farming and looking for some summer reading, here are a couple of books I would recommend.

First is Everett Baker's Saskatchewan: Portraits of an Era (2007, Fitzhenry and Whiteside). This is a collection of Everet Baker's photography that documented the birth and growth of Saskatchewan's Co-operative movement in the 1950s.


Part of the growth of the co-operative movement was the establishment of co-operative farms. The co-operative farms were established by the CCF government of the day in order to provide land to WWII veterans returning from war. The only remaining farm from the era is Matador Farm.

Baker's photography provides an insight into a period of the province's history during which rural life was vibrant and modernizing quickly. The photos show both the work life of the farms as well as the social events, many of which were part of other co-operative-related events and celebrations.

Of relevance to today's co-operative farms is the reasons for which the farms were established and for their eventual demise. The farms thrived because individuals were looking to farm. They declined when the young men married and were able to find land of their own. The primary function of the farms was to enable farming; when this function was no longer necessary, the farms began to close.

For anyone interested in further reading on the co-operative farm movement in Saskatchewan and Matador Farm, in particular, an article from the University of Saskatchewan's Co-op Studies program provides further insight.

The second book I am recommending is I Am Hutterite by Mary-Ann Kirkby (2007, Polkadot Press).
Kirkby's book is a compassionate account of her family's life at and eventual departure from the Fairholme Hutterite Colony in Manitoba. Her story provides a glimpse into a way of life that remains a mystery to most of us, despite the presence and proximity of many Hutterite colonies to prairie dwellers.

Of importance to those with an interest in co-operative farming, Kirkby demonstrates the challenges and benefits of community within the context of farm life. Despite the hierarchical and patriarchal structure of the colony and her family's difficulties within the community, Kirkby retains a strong connection with her Hutterite community. Compared against the co-operative farms of Saskatchewan, Kirkby's description of the Hutterite Colony shows a place where the community is as important as the farming itself.

If you have any summer reading suggestions, related to agriculture or not, feel free to suggest them in the comment section or e-mail me directly.

Chickens in the Night

Jeremy, me, and chickens; barreling down the #1 Highway.

The stars peek curiously at us in the early darkness, the moon grins on the horizon.

Who would have thought that I, an urbanite not 3 weeks ago, would be a part of a midnight chicken run."They're Hy-Line Brown" the man had said as I watched, captivated as the chicken catchers in their full body jump suits and loose plastic foot coverings put aside their cigarettes long enough to chase down 300 chickens. Now there's a job I didn't know existed.

The barn sits ready, the new hay and wood shavings still settling in the air from our earlier "interior decorating". It's a pretty swanky place for a chicken, several times the size of my tiny home on the farm (I could take this the wrong way, but instead, comfort myself in the fact that they will each have 299 flatmates).

Soft clucking and an atmosphere of confusion permeate the air as we unload 30 crates into the barn, the chicken's heads poking out the sides like hopeful inmates.I open the first crate and shine my headlamp onto our newest residents. The chickens maintain their positions, side by each in the crate. I had hoped that they would all just, you know, get out when I opened the lid.

The next half hour consists of flying feathers (and chicken poo), squawking, scratching, and attempts to roost on my fingers, arms, and whatever is within claws reach. My visions of a Snow White-like relationship with the animals on the farm slowly melt away.

Finally, the crates lay empty and a quiet sense of relief passes over me (and the chickens) (and Jeremy (although he appears the least ruffled of all of us)).

Not the most bizarre Friday night of my life, but certainly up there.

Guest posts coming soon

As readers of this blog may have noticed, it isn't being updated weekly quite yet. Some of this is due to time availability, but it's also due to a lack of deadlines -- once the CSA starts it'll be updated weekly without fail.

In the meantime, there will be some guest posts. Given that Glen Valley Organic Farm is made up of many shareholders in the Co-operative that owns the land as well as a dynamic farm team that operates the farm businesses, there are many voices and perspectives within the farm.

Coming in the next few days will be a post from Cat, one of our summer apprentices. Cat will provide regular updates on her experience over the coming months. I have also invited some farm shareholders and customers to write about their connection to the farm and their visions for small-scale, sustainable agriculture. These posts will be shared in the months ahead.

Thanks for checking in. Things are busy on the farm these days and I'll look forward to updating the blog with all of the activities soon.

Things are growing everywhere

Not only are the fields filling up, but our tractor has started a garden of its own. None of the owners manuals discuss growing on your tractor, but our has accumulated enough soil that some hardy weeds now call it home.

Luckily more than just our tractor is growing.

It's now light out at 5 a.m. and the sun is up over the mountains by 6 a.m. when we start milking the goats. What a difference from a month ago when we were doing chores in the dark.

Indeed, we're now on the brighter side of season. May 1 marked the half-way point between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. The days are getting longer quickly and the plants are responding accordingly.

All of the onions, shallots and greens are established and growing quickly now. The rhubarb is being harvested, but has actually had a slow start to the season. March and April have been cool, so things slowed down after the early February start.

As of the beginning of May we also have all three of our 2010 apprentices working full time. They might contribute the occasional blog post about their experiences over the next few months -- time and weather permitting.

All of our CSA subscribers are now signed up and we're awaiting sufficient produce to start sending out their weekly boxes. Farmers Markets are getting under way this month -- three have already begun and almost all of them will be underway by the end of the month.

Our first deliveries of salad greens and rhubarb are now going into Aphrodite's Organic Cafe and Pie Shop in Vancouver.

Weeding is, remarkably, under control thus far and seeding is on track. Jeremy is installing the irrigation pump today and there is province-wide talk of drought this year. The low snowpack and dry winter means both surface water and groundwater sources will be stressed this summer. The long range forecast is for warmer and drier weather than normal.

Our "things-to-do" lists are growing steadily. This is an exciting time of the season when we all still have a lot of energy and work is still manageable. It seems hard to believe that there will be a time when we won't feel on top of things!

So, the season is getting busier by the moment and we'll anxiously await the coming weeks.

Weekly round-up

Just a few quick notes about farm activities this week . . .

The fields finally dried up and we've been composting beds, transplanting and seeding. It's always a huge relief once we can start getting things into the ground. We're slightly later this year than we were last year, but there are so many factors that influence how fast things will grow.

Now we'll wait and see how long it'll be before we have to start irrigating. After the winter rains it doesn't take much time before things dry up sufficiently to require regular watering.

We cleaned out the chicken coop today to make sure it has a chance to be washed and aired out before the next flock arrives in May. Cleaning the coop is never first on anyone's list, but it's never as bad as we expect. It stinks, but it went relatively quickly.

Some of the other tasks for this time of year include making sure we have all of the supplies we need before the season starts getting busier. Yesterday I picked up some of the floating row cover we'll use on carrots this season. The cover prevents the carrots rust fly from doing damage to the carrots that would otherwise make them unmarketable.

We're also getting ready for farmers markets. This means organizing supplies, making sure signs are ready and lining up helpers for each market. Not many days left until the first market -- hope the rhubarb grows so that we have something to sell!

Two apprentices arrive on 1 May, so there are preparations to do to make sure their living spaces are ready and that we're organized enough to have work lined up (there is work, we just have to be prepared to do it).

Milking the goats is going well. The three goats that we're milking have been nervous on the milk stand and upset about being separated from their babies at night. But they're gettting into a routine. Rob started playing meditation music for them the past two mornings. They've increased their collective milk output from 1/2 gallon a day to between 3/4 and a full gallon this week. We now have a batch of feta aging in the fridge and an attempt at chevre on the go, not to mention a few batches of yogurt finished.

So, that's a summary for the week. Lots coming up and I'll try to keep the blog up to date.

Ready to Plant

Below are a series of photos taken just before we started transplanting seedlings into the fields. It's always spectacular to see the full trays . . . and in no time at all the space is empty!

A peak inside the start room -- mostly tomatoes waiting to go into the coldframes.

Salad starts -- beets, kale, lettuce and chard.

One of two rows of transplants in one coldframe.

Cabbage and kale transplants were moved outside to make more space in the warmer coldframe.

Storage onions, sweet onions, shallots and leeks. This is a good example of why tags are crucial for every tray. It's impossible to tell the difference at this stage of growth.

Waiting for the sun

I've neglected doing a posting for a while amidst various other tasks and taking some down time before the start of the season. Here's a summary of what's happening on the farm these days as we get into the spring season.

Most of the potatoes went into the ground a couple of weeks ago. There's one bed's worth of spuds still waiting . . . the weather changed faster than they could be dealt with. Kale and Collards also went in.

In fact, I was away for the planting. A good friend was getting married in Ottawa (he must have wanted farmer friends present, because March is a great time to attend weddings in terms of workload and schedule adjustments, not to mention airfares and hotel costs). That means Jeremy was hard at work doing much of the work solo. Word is that we was in the field one evening, working on the tractor in the dark with spotlights on trying to beat the rain.

Since then we've been waiting on the weather to dry up and warm up again. The early start we had in February has evaporated and we're back to a slow start similar to the past couple of springs.

Nonetheless, the warm February has brought about an early crop of flowers. The daffodils are almost finished and tulips are in full bloom. We purchased hundreds of bulbs this past fall when they were on discount (end of season) from a bulb company. As a result, we have a whole new array of spring colour on the farm. This adds to the multitude of daffodils already present, planted by farm shareholders in past years. The results are visible in the photo at the top of this post.

Our 2010 CSA is now full with a small waiting list. We'll consider whether or not we can accommodate the waiting list later today.

We had the chickens slaughtered on Thursday, which means we have a freezer full of stewing hens and a break from the daily chores related to feeding, collecting eggs, packing and such. I'll have another blog post finished soon about slaughter day (I'm sure you can hardly wait). Thanks to BC's meat regulations we can't sell these birds because they were slaughtered on-farm.

The other major event has, of course, been the arrival of the new baby goats. Six kids (four male, 2 female) were born to four does in mid- to late-March. It's a manageable number. It'll give us the ability to increase of milking herd in the next year or two with the two females and provide us with a good supply of farm meat next winter from the boys.

New goats bring about a whole set of tasks ranging from monitoring feeding from the mothers to removing horns and castrating. As of this weekend we're also milking three of the adult goats -- a daily event at 6 a.m.

Milking got off to a shaky start. We put the kids in a separate pen overnight. The first night is noisy across the farm. Babies cry much of the night and does make their displeasure known. By morning the maternal instincts lead some of the goats to fight us for the milk.

Last night, however, the kids seemed settled into the new routine (they pile together under the manger) while the mothers realize that they get a full 10 to 12 hours without babies -- not bad for a break. They aren't as uncomfortable with us milking in the morning either. The kids still feed all day, so everyone is happy.

I recalled the other day that at their last farm the goats listened to the CBC during milking. Having constant voices seems to sooth them, but I wonder if they will produce differently based on the host. I imagine they would prefer Radio 2 over Radio 1, especially at 6 a.m. We'll have to give this a try!

The one last activity of the season is to do taxes. Agricultural taxes are a bit more involved than I did in my past, but I still refuse to pay someone to do my taxes. I'm really trying to get this done in the next few days of heavy rain. Once the weather turns it'll be too busy outside to worry about catching up on paperwork.