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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Snowed-in, Blown-in

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 chapter of Canadian Organic Growers http://www.cogtoronto.org/COG_Toronto/2014_Conference.html  This year’s show is called The Organic Vision - in Search of Change. I will be signing my book High Up in the Rolling Hills and showcasing Rolling Hills Organics herbal teas, dried herbs and spices, and a fresh batch of our tangy Seville orange marmalade. On March 8 we are back full-time every Saturday at Brickworks. By then, it is hoped that the snow and underlying ice will be thawing and little green shoots will be poking up in the greenhouses. Though frigid folks from the deep south to the far north may be denying it at this exceptional wintry time, Springtime is not so very far away.