Sunday 24 February 2019


Hello Everyone:

As I write, the big storm rolls into Eastern Ontario…is this March arriving like a lion?  If so, it suggests an early spring.

News for the past week – the onion seeds have been sown in the nursery and the first seed order placed. 

Next on the seeding list are the leeks, parsley and celery.




If you are intending to purchase a share of this season’s produce, order soon.  I expect there will be a smaller customer base this season while we go through these growing pains.



I have received my first inquiry about an internship…if you are interested in getting a well rounded introduction to small scale agriculture and access to a ready to go starter farm, be sure to contact me soon at the phone number or email address below…



We have lived through our first few weeks here without mishap.  The house is mostly settled into and work has started on the outbuildings, starting with an inventory of the items left behind by the previous  farmers.

Old farms have a way of collecting tools, supplies and spare parts.  Ours is not quite as cluttered as some that I have seen.  The previous owners had indicated a few items of interest to us, but there were still a few pleasant surprises. 





The woodshed contained a mess of old tools, such as some bed rakes, spades, and shovels.  

I was especially thankful for the great number of buckets – something I always seem to be short of.  One of these was full of various irrigation and hose connectors, nozzles, and sprinklers for just about every application one could think of.  







A rack of shelves (looks like a pan rack on wheels from a bakery) held an array of shears and other implements for use in tree maintenance.  An expected find was the great length of unused electric fence wire and tape; better yet were a pair of spare fence gate handles.  Not expected was the supply of hay bale twine.  If I use this for tomato and cucumber staking, it’ll last part of a lifetime.


Two buckets are partially full of either some hard packed ash from the wood stove – this could be used as a soil amendment as it is full of potassium – or maybe it is unused portland cement from the construction of the root cellar foundation.  Either material could get some good use here.




The drive shed is bigger and likewise had more (and a few larger) items.  It dates back to the original farm on this property.  There is a very old tree saw in here that probably dates from the original farm.  

In addition, the previous seller left a riding mower (which needs new tires) and a walk behind tractor (which I purchased from the sellers) that has attachments for both a snow thrower and a tiller. 







This is where a big supply of lumber is stored: 2x6’s for building a stairwell in another construction and for making shed sill plates.  2x4’s for improving a few of the sheds or making repairs with.  Cedar boards for building a new shed. 

As well, there are more buckets, hundreds of feet of hose and irrigation tubing, bee boxes, a child’s sled (useful for hauling all this stuff around while I organise the various buildings) and a box of cassette tapes that went to the township share centre after a quick perusal to ensure there were no collectible titles.

As for tools and supplies, the big finds were two chainsaws plus a third chainsaw apparently being used for spare parts, a pry bar, an ax, and several cans of carburetor cleaner and other greases, gases and goops for a variety of machinery chores.  Most useful, a heavy table for doing machine work on.




The A-frame was one structure I was quite interested in, as it is situated close to the growing fields.  Having not had the opportunity to see the cellar portion of this building, I was able to shovel in and break the ice dam holding the door shut. 

Not much in the cellar, other than it was noticeably warm (being bermed into the ground on three sides) and having an earthen floor – ideal for allowing ground heat to escape to the interior.  This room is divided by a barrier that will allow for two types of livestock, or separating a jealous drake and hen from the rest of a flock.






The upper floor has a lot of gear for honey making (some of which is already spoken for and some of which we inherit with the farm.  Here is also a sink (a little too small for my needs) and a food dryer (I’ll try the tomatoes with it this year).  A wagon suitable for holding seedling trays shall probably get a lot of use here as well.










The most notable outbuilding on the property is what we call the ‘hexagon’.  A six sided structure two stories tall with attic and cold cellar.  More bee supplies, such as a couple dozen kilo jars, more tools for woodworking – including a battery powered drill and a very nice carpenters square which I suspect the seller didn’t intend to leave.











Now that the sorting cleaning, and inspecting is done, I am turning my attention to planning how I am going to use these buildings and some of the surrounding landmarks…raw material for the next post.