Bellyacres Farm
393 Read Rd L0S 1J0 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, Canada

Looking for a larger long-needle Christmas tree? This beauty ended up in the home of some friends and you can get one too! Lots of fresh trees still uncut waiting for you to choose! Our trees are naturally grown without chemicals and allowed to grow to the shape they were meant to be. All natural!

We've heard from some of our customers that real Christmas trees are harder to find this year. Here's an article from the Toronto Star discussing the shortage. We still have lots of bigger, long-needled trees left. https://www.thestar.com//first-it-was-toilet-paper-then-ye

If you are looking for a beautiful long needle tree, we have lots of them! Fresh, chemical free and locally grown!! Stop by today!

The The Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre used some of the greenery we donated for their outdoor Christmas displays, designed by Jane of Catcher Design - .http://www.catcherdesign.ca/ Here are a few pictures of them. Bunches of greenery are $8 each.

NO CHEMICALS - EVER - ON OUR CHRISTMAS TREES We've had some very satisfied customers who were super excited to find we don't spray any preservatives, herbicides or pesticides on our Christmas trees. Apparently it's a "thing" but we don't do it. We were told to shout it out loud and clearly. If you have pets or small children who are especially vulnerable, rest assured that you are getting fresh, chemical-free trees and greenery.... Price list: Small trees, pre-cut or cut your own -- $25 Large trees, pre-cut or cut your own -- $50 Potted trees -- $25 or $35 Branches -- $8 a bunch Book an appointment at https://bellyacresfarm.setmore.com/ or stop by Call for enquiries 289-686-2563 393 Read Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake

The pussy willows are finished for this year and are turning to flowering. We also have naturally grown Colorado blue spruce (around 5-6 ft tall), Scotch pine ( about 3-4 feet tall) and Douglas fir (2-3 feet tall). Send us a message if you are interested in the trees for spring planting since they will be freshly dug for you. Asparagus and rhubarb are starting to come up! We will be selling a small amount of each roadside when they come available.... *** We practice social / physical distancing. Curbside service. *** As always, we use no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides.

Pussy Willows!!! Stop by and pick up a bunch or two today! $5 a bunch As always, we are ecologically responsible and do not use chemicals on our farm.... Honk to say Hi too!!! We are social distancing but are happy to come out and say Hi from two metres or more! 393 Read Road, NOTL

Andrew has been busy cutting a few trees and bringing out some cut greenery so you can decorate! We're cutting only a few trees in advance because we want them to be as fresh as possible for you. We have saws and you are welcome to cut your own if you wish! Remember we use no chemicals on our trees and they are allowed to grow to their own shape. $40-$50 per tree Book an appointment at https://bellyacresfarm.setmore.com/... Call for enquiries 289-686-2563 393 Read Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake See more

Watch this space .. in just a couple of months, we will be cutting pussy willows! Cut pussy willows last all year as long as they are kept OUT of water. Use them on their own or put them in with other greenery or cut flowers.

All natural Christmas trees! Naturally grown without chemicals and allowed to retain their natural shape. Small trees to 7 feet tall! Cut your own, have us cut it for you, feel free to dig it out and plant in your own space. Not your tightly wrapped, uniform trees. Each one has its own character!! $25-$50 each Potted trees also available. If you don't see what you like, we can make up one for you. Better still, you choose one and you can decorate it yourself. We su...pply the burlap and ribbon. Due to Covid concerns only one car at a time. Credit cards accepted. Book your appointment to cut your tree at https://bellyacresfarm.setmore.com/bookappointment to be sure you are going to be that one car!! Call 289-686-2563 for more information 393 Read Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake

...and the first Christmas tree of the year goes to Noemie Porteus Justin Porteus

In the recent Ontario budget there was no specific mention of libraries. However, two provincially supported agencies, Southern Ontario Library Services and Ont...ario Library Service - North each lost 1/2 of their funding. Both organizations support library service in numerous ways, providing training for all levels of library staff and negotiating consortium buying, for example. One of the most important is the provincial inter-library loan service, providing material to patrons across Ontario whose local library doesn't own it, making sure that all Ontarians have access to the same resources. This service ends at the end of this week. For more information, and to sign a petition against these cuts, go to http://chng.it/mkTg2jXJ For information on the interlibrary loan cuts go to https://www.sols.org//interlibrary-loan-and-delivery-servi Even though Minister Tibollo has stated that base funding for Ontario libraries remains intact, the cuts to these two agencies will increase costs for local libraries. Talk to your MPP. Write to Minister Tibollo. Sign the petition. Support your public library. Share this post. See more

Cut your own Christmas tree, or choose one from our selection of pre-cut trees. Trees are naturally grown (no herbicides or pesticides) and were allowed to express themselves as they grew, so they chose their own shape. Sizes range from 2’ tabletop size to 7’ tall. Colorado blue spruce, Scotch pine, balsam pine, Douglas fir available. $25 50 depending on size. ... A few potted trees are also available. Due to Covid concerns only one car at a time. Book your appointment at https://bellyacresfarm.setmore.com/bookappointment. Call 289-686-2563 for more information See more

We loved our Christmas Tree from Andrew & Louise! Perfect fit our space and room to grow when we plant it this spring! -Jordan & Priscilla

Happy December! If you are somewhat local (or want to make a trip out of it), and want a smallish tree (we have quite a few like Oscar :) and we also have tabletop size that we're happy to dig out and send home with you in a pot ... send us a message to set up a time to drop around and we'll be happy to either cut one you choose or we'll give you the saw to cut it yourself. Fresh and local and no chemicals were used to grow them!! Contact us for pricing.

Oscar was the first tree to go...

After five years of nurturing, we are proud to announce we will be selling eco-friendly Christmas trees, all grown without chemicals on our small NOTL farm. We will have cut-your-own blue spruce trees up to about 5 or 6 feet tall (by appointment only), pre-cut trees, and table-top potted Christmas trees. Stay tuned for details!

We have a robin's nest on one of our gazebos, just a few feet away from where we sit & watch the waterfall. The parents are cool with us sitting there & do come in & feed the babies when we are there.

Workaways Daniel & Carola from Germany

Workaway Jeremy Holt from New Jersey

Workaways Dan Sutton & Georgia Scobie from England with the wheelbarrow they painted

Workaways Balazs Toth from Hungary & Inigo from Spain watching Princess Bride for the first time (because, Inigo)

Workaway Balazs Toth from Hungary & Inigo from Spain

Felix Myhsok from Germany helping plant replacement trees on his 19th birthday

Felix Myhsok from Germany helping plant replacement trees

Summer is officially here. While it's not yet the season for Christmas trees, we do have a small selection of lettuce, baby bok choi, garlic scapes, fresh sage, and oregano for sale. Always grown without chemicals. Also have dried fennel send harvested last year.PM me for details. We haven't yet put a stand in front of our house. The garlic and fennel are coming along well. We've cut most of the garlic scapes but aren't sure how this monster garlic stalk developed.

Work-aways Nicolò Tiozzo and Martina Palladino from Italy

Work-aways Nicolò Tiozzo and Martina Palladino from Italy

Work-away Nicolò Tiozzo from Italy

Work-away Nicolò Tiozzo from Italy

The bees arrived late last night - they come in the dead of night as they don't particularly like truck rides and get upset and want to sting anyone nearby. They're in travelling boxes, and this morning they will be moved into their permanent homes which arrived a couple of weeks ago.

This is an article from a July 2015, before we started the Bellyacres page

Stuff we're doing on the back acre

Most people will likely just see a really really wet field but if you look closely, in the bottom right quadrant of the picture, you can see a pussy willow stick with cute little white pussy willows on it. Is just one stuck this year so it's not ready to cut but we envision these little sticks growing into a flourishing grove ... They just love the wet land. Some day in a few years, these little stalks will be ready to cut and be used to decorate homes in the spring. Stay tuned!

Spring is officially here and with it, we're happy to announce that the pussy willows we planted in the fall pretty well all seem to be thriving - no harvest on them this year but hopefully next year, there will be lots of additional shoots coming up. They are still immersed in some pretty wet soil so we haven't taken pictures yet. Soon!!!

Merry Christmas from BellyAcres Farm! We hope to have tree products available next year for the Christmas season. Keep safe!

Here it is November 10th and most things at the farm are dying down but our little lettuce patch continues to produce sweet tender leaves. Andrew burned off the roots and other debris pulled out from cleaning part of the fields where new seedlings are now planted. Thanks to Marie Gonzales and Nathan Rubis and others for their hard work in helping clear it. The rain has been gentle and kind and plentiful enough that we are hoping the seedlings and pussy willows planted this year will live and prosper over the winter. Thanks to Kajsa Jakobsson and Shichun Goh and Alice Zweers for help with those!

Today's task was harvesting fennel seeds and planting garlic. I planted 60 garlic buds .. we can't use all of those so will be either gifting or selling some of them next year. This is the first time we've grown and harvested fennel. Quite frankly, when we put fennel in this year, I thought I'd be harvesting the bulb for braised fennel .. but the seeds smell so nice. I could have done it more easily if I'd read online how to harvest them first (pick the seed heads, put th...em into a paper bag and shake) ... but nope, I harvested them by hand into a dish in the middle of the field. But still... we now have some nice fennel... next year we hope to be able to sell the excess. There are still a lot of unripened seed heads on the fennel. I don't know if they will ripen at all before the cold really sets in. I'll watch them and if they do, harvest more. We also have a lot of sage. If you are looking for fresh sage for your turkey dinner, give me a shout!

The produce is almost finished... except for the lettuce which loves this cooler weather. The green lettuce was planted in late September and the red which was planted in mid August is on its third cutting. The asparagus is just waiting for even cooler weather before it gets its annual trim

All work and no play ... never happens at Bellyacres Farm!

Grandma Waldie (age 95) riding the small tractor at Bellyacres

The lovely rain continues .. with the weather getting colder, we're not worried about the trees drying out but the pussy willows will still need lots of water to encourage them to put out strong roots. Andrew and I had discussions about the merits of sticking the pussy willow sticks directly into the ground vs rooting them in water first. Apparently the roots that form in water are very fragile and don't transplant well. Rooting directly into the soil is the preferred method. Let's hope that come spring, we'll have some healthy little plants!

Ahhh .. glorious rain! Rain means that we don't have to go out and water the newly planted pussy willows. It also means that the lettuce still flourishing in the garden will be properly watered instead of the haphazard watering it's been getting. We're targeting fresh lettuce in the garden until well after the first frost. We'll keep you posted!

There are approximately 1300 Christmas trees, 35 white cedar shrubs, and 123 pussy willows that we are growing. In between we are growing red & white clover, & making arrangements for a beekeeper to put a hive in next year.

Andrew watered the new pussy willows today. The leaves have wilted but are still pliable and green. We're hoping that means they will survive. We really won't know until spring if planting them directly into the ground is going to be successful. We're hoping the rain forecast for tomorrow comes through.

Andrew dug 65 new holes in the field and Alice and I helped him plant pussy willows. We're hoping they take root over the winter and we'll have pussy willows in the spring. Do a little jig for us to get the rain going!

Alas, the tree holding our sign had to be cut down - it was choking itself and dying a slow death. When it was cut down, we found it had carpenter ants in what we thought was the good part so it's good we took it down when we did. We have a chestnut tree to replace it. Grow little tree, grow!!

Early October and the weather is still wonderful. The lettuce loves the rainfall we've had and we're harvesting some each day. Not enough is available to put out on our vegetable stand but if the weather holds, we'll be able to share some of the lettuce crop.