Delayed Update

And 6 months later the farming adventure has ended... for this year of 2012, but the bigger adventure and dedication to a lifestyle/profession in farming has only just begun. My gosh I've meant to write about what's been swirling around in my head for far too long now. The last 4 and a half months I have been working on a farm in Chilliwack- Forstbauer Family Natural Food Farm, http://www.forstbauer.com/Farm/Welcome.html, a family who's been farming for roughly 30 years in British Columbia, legends in mine and many others eyes. You can find their delicious produce, dairy, berries and beef at at least 8 farmer's markets throughout the lower mainland at the height of the growing season, and then at at least one in the winter, possibly two.

So, if you haven't been going to farmer's markets, why not start this year by checking out the winter market at Nat Bailey stadium in Vancouver starting this November 3rd. Tell em' I sent you (this will not get you any deals, but why not try and see what happens?). For your information, everything they sell is Biodynamic/Organic certified and of the utmost quality and flavour.

Let's backtrack now. I left Duncan at the end of May on good terms with John and family. It was a very positive experience living and working there. I met some pretty neat people, discovered visionary writers, grew a deeper appreciation for nature,  learned much about growing, cultivating and taking care of vegetables and ultimately myself. When you're staying in a new place away from friends and family doing something you're not used to, it will always be for the better in the end on many levels. You may not realize it initially, but with quiet reflection, hopefully you do.

I think the most important thing I've absorbed from staying on these farms is the appreciation for the amount of work that goes into growing organic food. Do you enjoy carrots? When you pick up a bunch of carrots for say $3 at the farmer's market, are you aware of the amount of time that was spent tenderly weeding them, harvesting, bunching and then washing them? The answer: alot. Since no chemical sprays are used to combat weeds, weeding is done the old fashioned way with two hands and an endless amount of patience. There was one four day stretch where all I did was weed carrots. And they don't get weeded just once; typically a row- a 140 foot row, 3 to a bed, 20 rows wide- of carrots will be weeded 3 times over the season. And there were plenty of carrot patches that got weeded over the summer.

Sometimes the weeding can be enjoyable and almost zen-like. Other times you are cursing the demands of these sweet vegetables and their need to be weeded. Weed control is huge. It is almost like a magic trick that nature plays on you- one day you see a few tips of weedy greens poking out of the earth, your desired crop looking strong amongst them, the next day those tips have bolted and are now jockeying for territory, threatening the livelihood of your favoured veggie. Plus, to boot, weeding is very taxing on your muscles. You have to rotate the positions- alternate left then right leg crouching, walking like a crow; sitting on your bum; on hands and knees; sometimes just on knees. That's weeding. I'd say carrots demand the most love and attention, the other crops will put up with a little neglect at first.

The harvesting, bunching, washing then boxing of carrots is also labourious but it comes with the rewards of freshly picked carrots to munch on while doing the work. Nothing tastes better than a fresh, sweet carrot plucked straight from the ground. Okay, you might find some examples to contradict what I just wrote, but when was the last time you got to enjoy this act? I'm not talking about store bought, flavour lacking carrots trucked from across the continent, obviously. There is a massive difference between those fellas and the kind that are grown on organic and biodynamic farms. 

So, send some love to the person you buy your food from at a farmer's market, CSA or even friend by chance who's sharing his homegrown food with you; they worked hard to to bring it to you, to feed you;
the most basic need we all require.

Photos! From a simple camera on a simple phone!

If you'll notice this photo shows two rows to a bed, nor is this patch 20 rows wide as I described earlier.This area was the exception that rule, and some of the greenhouses... However these rows are all very long and time consuming when weeding.

Leeks in flowering mode. They're fun to walk amongst and peer into the little hubs of insect activity taking place on each flower head.

This is somewhere I don't remember in the pole bean rows. You're looking at a bunch of buds who have yet to push out little beans. I hung out here, picking upwards of 200 pounds of them a day for close to a month.
I sorta resented doing the work at first, then came to enjoy it. Funny that.

My vantage point among the bush beans. Compared to pole beans, they are less enjoyable to pick; however with headphones on and bumping tunes to inspire you, they're not so bad.