Life and thoughts from a small-scale organic farm . . . and its farmers

This is a blog that explores ideas around the growing of food and community at Glen Valley Organic Farm.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Screening: Queen of the Sun, 1 April 2012


Close to Home Organics of Glen Valley Organic Farm is presenting a community screening of Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us? Join us to watch a screening of the film and to learn about local initiatives to improve the health of honey bees and native bee populations.
When: Sunday, 1 April 2012; 2:00 p.m.
Where: Windsong Co-Housing, 20543 96th Avenue, Langley, BC V1M 3W3
How Much: Tickets are $6.50 and $10.00
More info and tickets available at http://queenofthesun.eventbrite.com/
QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems and the solutions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.
In 1923, Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian scientist, philosopher & social innovator, predicted that in 80 to 100 years honeybees would collapse. Now, beekeepers around the United States and around the world are reporting an incredible loss of honeybees, a phenomenon deemed “Colony Collapse Disorder.” This “pandemic” is indicated by bees disappearing in mass numbers from their hives with no clear single explanation. The queen is there, honey is there, but the bees are gone.
For the first time, in an alarming inquiry into the insights behind Steiner’s prediction QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us? investigates the long-term causes behind the dire global bee crisis through the eyes of biodynamic beekeepers, commercial beekeepers, scientists and philosophers. QUEEN OF THE SUN features world renowned biodynamic beekeeper Gunther Hauk, New York Times bestselling-author Michael Pollan, Indian Activist Vandana Shiva, and a compelling cast of characters from around the world. Together they take us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of bees and into the mysterious world of the beehive. The film unveils 10,000 years of beekeeping, illuminating the deep link between humans and bees and how that historic and sacred relationship has been lost due to highly mechanized industrial practices. Beekeeper Gunther Hauk calls the crisis, “More important even than global warming. We could call it Colony Collapse of the human being too.”
Bees are the engines that keep the earth in bloom. QUEEN OF THE SUN presents the bee crisis as a global wake-up call and illuminates a growing movement of beekeepers, community activists and scientists who are committed to renewing a culture in balance with nature.

Monday, November 28, 2011

New: Goat Meat

We now have a limited supply of goat meat available for sale.

The animals were all raised on our farm from birth this past spring. Our goats receive a diet of hay, organic grain and foraging. The cuts are similar to what you would expect for lamb in terms of size. Goat meat is very lean and is exceptional in curries.



Cuts available:

Loin Chops
$17.50/lb Average 0.75-1.0 lbs
Leg Roast
$10.50/lb Average 1.2-1.5 lbs
Shoulder Roast
$9.75/lb Average 1.5-1.8 lbs
Stew Meat
$9.00/lb Average 0.5-0.9 lbs
Shanks
$6.50/lb Average 1.0-1.4 lbs
Neck Slices           
$4.50/lb Average 0.3-0.4 lbs
Ribs
$8.00/lb Average 1.3 lbs
Shoulder Steaks
$11.50/lb Average 1.4-1.6 lbs

To order goat meat for pick-up from the farm or at a farmers market, please e-mail glenvalleychris (at) gmail (dot) com or call 604-626-0067.

Please note: our goat herd is not part of our certified organic program; although we strictly follow organic standards for care, we cannot always source certified organic hay.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

2011 Variety Reviews: Part II

Aside from reviewing some of the new varieties we grew this year, I also put out a call to the organic community for variety reviews. The echos of silence were deafening . . . well, almost. Adam from Sundog Vegetables in Delta (who also worked for us last year) provided notes from his experience this year. 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Sourcing Great Seed

Sourcing great seed can make the difference between enjoying growing veggies and finding it to be a frustrating experience. As an organic farm, our certification process requires that we try to source seeds that are certified organic before considering conventional options. That can make our seed purchasing a bit tricky at time. Here are some of the sources we use on our farm.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

2011 Variety Reviews: Part I

In his book The Winter Harvest Handbook Eliot Coleman states that farmers have a responsibility to share their knowledge and experiments with each other to improve organic growing. In this spirit, I offer the following variety reviews from our trials this season. This is the first installment of reviews -- I have other varieties to note, plus reviews shared by other growers.

Friday, November 18, 2011

War, Agriculture and Remembrance

It has often occurred to me that November is an appropriate time for Remembrance Day. The days are generally bleak and the natural world is in a hasty decline as frost kills plants and trees shed their leaves. In short, the world around is a reminder of death.

This past week I have been thinking about the relationship between war and agriculture. More precisely, I've been considering the impact of war on agriculture.

The connection between war and agriculture is relatively new to me. My family has no history of veterans since most who were of service age during the world wars were farmers and thus exempt from military service. At the same time, I understand that war and political instability were motivating factors for some of my ancestors to leave their homes and travel to what they hoped would be a more stable future in Canada. War is at the root of many global migrations, particularly concerning rural peasants.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

From left to right: Barb, Nirmal, Kiran, Jeremy, Sheila, Paige (Roxie on shoulders, Julia in carrier), Uncle, Chris, Kate, Sean, Clara and Tricia.
One behalf of the entire Farm Team at Glen Valley Organic Farm, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our friends, family, customers, suppliers and neighbours for your continued support. It makes our work very worthwhile to know that we share a common vision of sustainable, small-scale agricultural enterprises with a larger community.