Nova Scotia Ice / Snow Storm 12 22 2013

Here's a video William made of the ice storm. At least the beginning. We got more ice and another foot of snow on Christmas Eve and after we shoveled everything and went to bed it snowed more so it was a very picture perfect White Christmas.



Here's what it looked like early Christmas morning... and then it got windy and snowed a whole bunch more. But the road got plowed out soon enough and our friend brought his snow blower over and dug out the driveway. It's always great to have a friend with a snow blower :) To give you an idea of the depth of the snow so early in the season, those little bushy things in the yard are the small cypress trees along our driveway and you can only see the top 12 inches in this pic. I'm not sure that at the time of writing this we can see them at all but it's going to rain tonight after it stops snowing so it will all melt down. It's going to be warm for a couple of days before the deep freeze sets in later in the week after New Years. Sure glad all the animals are indoors and that we have a nice warm house.

Sheep in the Barn by William

William made a quick video for his YouTube channel about our sheep so I thought I'd post it here. It is getting increasingly difficult with the freezing rain and deep snow we've experienced so far this year to get to our barn at the farm so with the help of a friend and her trailer we hauled the sheep down to the house at the bottom of the hill where we're living at the moment. Now all we have to do is shovel our way to the single detached garage to feed them. It previously housed sheep and horses so the owner doesn't mind at all :) Steve and the boys also spent a good part of yesterday rounding up the stray turkeys and poultry in the barn up top and they've moved down here also. It's way simpler to have them near a source of power and closer for water. No more carrying 20 litre jugs 400m across the frozen wasteland through a foot of snow, so as you can imagine Chris is very happy because it's his job. If you want to see more videos by William keep an eye on his YouTube channel at Willy B's World of Awesome where you can see the creative endeavours and terrible acting skills of our children and their friends, lol. Watch, share, like. Support young artists.

Winter is here

Nova Scotia is at that variable time of year when the short days can bring a mix of snow and frosty ground or windy warmer and wet weather. All of which bring challenges to farmers. On the one hand the warmer weather is nice if you can stay out of the wet and wind but it turns everything soft and muddy so driving around the farm is challenging. However the frosty ground is fine to drive on except the roads can be slick and there were a few times last year when it was tricky to get up the hill to even get to the farm gate. Of course on those days there were several feet of snow around too and it was January so the dead of our winters here. Our really wintery weather tends to settle in around Christmas and the worst is the end of January. Spring can be very variable with warm days one week and snow the next so a greenhouse is a great way of extending the season as I've written about before.

Our winter plans have to factor in our flock of sheep, our poultry which include laying hens and turkeys, and the pigs. Now the pigs are easy as they have been constantly escaping so the time has come to think about calling our friend Tim the butcher and having them processed. After their last break for freedom and a good roam around the farms near us, it was decided to call in the 'Dad' who simply blocked off their outside exit and confined them to the pig shed. No more pushing under the fence. They should be good there for the next little while. Then Tim will come do his thing and we'll be smoking bacon, making sausage and giving pork as Christmas gifts :) I want to make up a nice batch of English Bangers (sausages) and somehow deliver them to my father. It's only a problem because of the distance but I think it would make a great gift. We haven't made sausage since our last pigs were processed in BC and it was fun. I think we're going to stick with some basics recipes for breakfast sausage, bangers, mild Italian and maybe one spicy, haven't decided yet. But don't worry I'll keep you posted and have lots of 'how to' pics and maybe a video.

Most of our laying flock is now located underneath our back deck. Have you ever wondered what to do with that space? Well it's already got posts so we boarded and wired it all in and then covered the wire with 6mil poly to keep out a lot of the wind. Of course the roof is going to leak since that's what a deck is designed to do, and hanging plastic underneath can lead to pools of water that rip off the plastic. Your choices are to use a batten system in the undersides of the joists and make sure the water can run down and out without any build up, or plastic above on the top side of the deck. We don't use our deck in Winter so it's easy to just plastic the deck but it does make it virtually impossible to walk on as it's more slippery than ice. Trust me, I know!! I don't think there's room under there for the turkeys but we'll make it work.

The sheep of course love to be outside but they still need some protection from the harshest weather and the wind. Ours aren't a super hardy breed like the Swaledale and other hill breeds that live outside almost their whole lives, so we need some protection for them and it also gives us an easy place to keep their food and water. We've decided to move them into a single garage that's separate from our rental house but still in the same yard. It housed sheep previously so a thorough cleaning is needed but then it should be great. Just gotta move out the barrels of wheat and the oven and we'll be good to go. In the nastiest weather it will be great to have lights and power and to have them so close to hand. We'll get the addition finished and the mobile home ready for our family to live in over the winter and then move everyone, man and beast,to the farm in April. I can't wait to finally be on our own homestead full time!

Well I have to get going and start on the garage/barn. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Almost Moved into our temporary digs

Will write an update soon :) In the meantime we leave you with some 'pause' humour while you wait...

Apples in the Annapolis Valley

The heart of Apple growing country in the Maritimes of Canada is right here in our own backyard. The Annapolis Valley, particularly the area around Berwick, is absolutely chock full of orchards on both sides of the valley. The soil, sun and moisture here all combine to grow good crops of tree fruits and indeed the first settlers brought with them trees from Europe for their homesteads. Evidence of the long history can be seen in abandoned orchards of ancient trees and the amazing array of 'apples gone wild' that adorn many roadsides and hedgerows, including those at our farm. The apples have all returned to crab form but that's ok because they're still useful and the blossoms in the Spring are wonderful for man and bee alike.

The history of Apples in the Annapolis Valley (one of our sons thinks it's ironic that we grow apples in 'an apple-less valley') was firmly established by the 1700's and by the early 1900's the Berwick area was growing and shipping apples to Europe in enormous quantities. With the outbreak of war in the 1940's and the destroying of so many cargo ships they branched out into other manufacturing and storage ideas including sending Britain barrels of dried apples that took up less space and weight when being shipped.

Today the orchards send their apples to be stored for sale locally and you'll also find a good chunk of our inventory sold across eastern Canada for fresh sale or for processing into everything from juice to fruit leather. But for a lucky few of us, we can spend a lovely fall day in the orchard picking our own apples. Many farms offer U-Pick and the easiest way to find them is to drive around and look for signs. Of the maybe 12 listed farms in NS on the tourism website I know that there are maybe 4 times that many actual U-Picks and they're open for picking from Late August to the end of October depending on variety.

Yesterday Christopher loaned me his truck to go get apples for the pigs. A 700+lb bin of drop apples (found on the ground, too small to sell or bruised) for $50 is a good deal for me as a farmer, gets rid of something that's commercially unsellable for the orchard, and the pigs ADORE apples. I think that yesterday between the pigs, sheep, turkeys, chickens and ducks they probably scoffed down the better part of 200 lbs in one day. It was amazing to behold and quite fun to watch them all crunching away. One of our ewes named Freckles got a sour apple at one point and you could just see the surprised look on her face and the saliva well in her mouth, lol. It didn't stop her from finishing the apple and getting a dozen more.  But fattening pigs and lambs on apples is a really nice way to produce great meat. We'll have lamb available next week and free range chicken too. And ours really are free range.

If you're looking to pick your own apples here in the Annapolis Valley you can visit a U-Pick or adopt a tree. This entails choosing your tree, having a sign with your family name on it placed below the tree, and then when the apples are ripe you can come along and pick. We adopted a couple of Cortland apple trees from Johnson's Stonehenge Farm just above Greenwood/Aylesford. It's $50 to adopt a tree and you usually get around 200 lbs of apples. It's so much fun to reconnect with nature in the fall as you pick your apples and take them home to be made into pies, crisp, sauce, dried and eaten fresh. Cortlands are good for that also because they are picked around Thanksgiving here in Canada so it's a fun family activity on the long weekend and will keep the kids busy while Mum is in the kitchen roasting up the turkey. The short drive (it's less than 10 mins from Greenwood) is worth it for the view alone because as you drive along Harmony Road you get a gorgeous view of the valley.

Another local farm is going to allow us to pick Spy and Ida Red apples at the end of October for our storage (both varieties are good keepers) for $50 per bin which is a fantastic deal. I'm very happy! Hopefully we will be settled in our new place by then and we can get a lot of drying and canning done. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime I'm off to drop kids off at the bus stop then helping a family from Church to move

Busy As A Bee This Weekend

We had a nice break in the weather on Saturday and so the shingling of the barn roof was begun in earnest. Despite having a roof jack give out and leave Jordan on the ground and Steve hanging from the ridge, it went well and the roof is now shingled except for the ridge cap. I'll get the shingles cut this week and then it's an easy job to nail them on. It does make me feel better now that the roof is water tight. We also got some siding on the outside of the barn, it's going to be a lot nicer in there this winter without so many drafts blowing through. And the siding is a project I can work on during the week without Steve being home. In addition to this we also got more painting done and so now it's looking like a home with actual furniture. It's going to look very different in a week once the kitchen is done and we got a great idea for kitchen counters from our friends Carl and Tina. I'll upload some pics once it's done.

The pumpkins are starting to colour up so the field is going to look awesome once the leaves have died down in a few weeks. As is usual for this time of year, we've had some cooler evenings recently but it's going to warm up significantly on Tuesday. It will be nice to not have to light the fire just yet. Besides, we haven't installed a chimney yet and then the cookstove needs to be put on a heat proof floor. So much work to do, so little time. And the electrical really has to be a priority right now, we're running out of time. Oh I'm SO GLAD that this will be our last move for a while, at least I hope so.

I should really get to bed. We had a great visit with my parents and our friend Russ tonight and now I'm ready for some sleep. It's a busy week ahead.



But before I go, I have a question for you. Who is better at pollinating, humans or bees? The reasons I pose this question is because there's a very interesting movie that just came out called More Than Honey. If you are an apiarist or just interested in beekeeping then it's worth a viewing.

"If the bees ever die out mankind will follow 4 years later" is a quote attributed to Albert Einstein. And it's something that I hope we never have to find out. All of mankind may not perish but the strain it would put on global food supplies cannot be understated. I'd imagine that at best we'd see a decrease in human population of 4 billion people as food prices rise beyond the reach of the poorest and most vulnerable countries due to a decrease in production of 30%. Yes, those people in the rich west would likely last longer but lack of food would affect almost everyone.

Pasture Raised Meat and Produce For Sale

It's getting to that time of year when we offer sides of pork, chicken and lamb to our customers so that we can all get into winter with the freezer full. So just a thought...what can we get for YOU?

Delivery to Sackville can be arranged for $10. Local delivery free. Book now for late fall delivery.

We will be offering the following:

Eggs, available by chance. $ 3 dozen.

Pumpkins for fall decorating, pies and Halloween. Medium sized upto 10 lbs are $2 each. Large pumpkins upto 25 lbs are $ 4 each. Jumbo's will be $10. They are just starting to colour up in the fields but with the cooler temperatures coming I know that we'll soon be awash in a sea of orange happiness. I LOVE pumpkin pie!

Lamb, cut wrapped and frozen. $6 lb if you take a half or whole. $8lb for specific cuts. All lamb is anti-biotic and drug free. Free range pasture raised.

Pork, cut wrapped and frozen. $5 lb by the side  $7 lb for smoked meats like bacon and ham. Sausage may yet be an option we'll offer this year so keep checking back. Our pigs are pasture raised heritage breeds (Tamworth x Berkshire) and have had a happy outdoor life with their own little barn. Because of their mixed diet of pasture, grain and apples and carrots, our meat is lean and full of flavour. Definitely worth a try if you've never eaten heritage pork before.

Chicken, whole. $ 4 lb. Averages between 5-8 lb. Our unusual breed of chicken from France (the SASSO) is specifically bred to be able to live their lives outside and forage for a good deal of their own food. Our birds have absolutely free range (and they do) of 5 acres of pasture and they have a great time scratching around in the grass for treats or in the orchard devouring drop apples. These slow growing and super healthy birds have been a pleasure to raise and we'll be doing so on a much larger scale next year. Quantities are limited this year so order fast.

Turkey, whole. $ 4lb Our heritage turkeys exceptional flavour will ruin all store bought turkeys for you. Seriously, they are so delicious compared to the ones at Sobeys that it's hard to go back, lol. Raised naturally on pasture with barn housing for inclement weather, our friendly guys enjoy a great life exploring the farm and coming to see what we're doing. Turkeys are naturally curious and make a great addition to a farmyard. We're keeping back half our flock for breeding next year so quantities of Christmas turkey are limited for 2013. Please contact us to reserve yours.

We can be reached via our Facebook Page, Humblebee Farm or at humblebeecanada@gmail.com

Here's a great recipe for Krispy Fried Chicken

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 beaten eggs
4 tablespoons oil

For the coating

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons paprika (don't skip this one, it adds nice flavour and colour)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper (black or white)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (doesn't matter the brand)
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon tarragon
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Directions:

1. Sift together all the coating ingredients and place in a clean plastic bag. Coat each chicken piece first with the beaten egg, then with the flour mixture in the bag. Make sure you coat each piece completely with the flour to seal in the juices when cooking.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet. Brown the chicken in the oil slowly, uncovered. Once browned, cover the skillet and keeping frying on a very gentle heat until the chicken is fully cooked. Place a single layer on paper towels to drain out the excess oil.
3. If you don't want to fry your chicken you can dry roast in the oven but I like to spray on a little oil first or brush some oil onto the top of the chicken with a brush. This usually depends if I can find the oil spray bottle or not :)