Our Massey
35 tractor stranded in deep snow (similar conditions to now) in early March,
2008. Since retired, traded in to Jack the earthmover in return for grading of
our second greenhouse.
Here
we are, snowed in on the farm. The long laneway out to the road is filled in
with three to four foot drifts. Gundi and I snow-shoed out along it yesterday;
it was crusty in parts but billowing into dunes with the wind whipping fine
grains over the surface. So, we are snowed out
from the world – not a great hardship with the comforts of a toasty wood-fire
and bright sunshine out the window combining to keep the sharp cold at bay. We
have supplies of food and drink to last us through these days, until the wind
abates enough for us to have the laneway blown out. Our neighbour Sid, with his mega-tractor and rear-mounted snow-blower, will come and blow away the
massive build-up and re-connect us to the outside world. I do have to meekly admit that, without very powerful machinery in extreme weather such as this (unseen around these parts for ten years or more), we would be stranded back here but for snow-shoes. There is no way we could clear such a volume of snow.
We
are fortunate to be in winter mode with no tropical getaway planned this year.
This is a time for catching up on writing, reading, researching soils and
seeds, food and farming, healthy approaches and alternatives to this
fast-encroaching world run by mad men with few morals.
Evergreen Brickworks winter farmers market
runs every Saturday of the winter. We will be making an appearance with
grass-fed beef and more on February 15. On Saturday, February 22, I shall be at
the annual consumer organic conference in downtown Toronto
organized by the Toronto
