High Spirits Farm

Hope is due today. But that doesn’t mean she won’t wait until later tonight or tomorrow. We are so excited to meet her littles she has been carrying! Little Jack Sparrow is waiting on some cousins to play with. Lol

Well isn’t this a little frustrating! Our planned spring chorus walk is now sadly cancelled for another year. We weren’t planning to start our horsemanship program up until May anyways, but really. Lucky that the plants don’t care about this whole thing, and farming and gardening are NOT cancelled.

These two are a miracle! Hubby caught this shot on his phone. Wow.

We have a little break in between our two goats kidding, time to get the website finally updated and info on our veggie program out to you...thanks for your patience folks! Been a crazy couple of weeks here...phew!We have a little break in between our two goats kidding, time to get the website finally updated and info on our veggie program out to you...thanks for your patience folks! Been a crazy couple of weeks here...phew!

It wasn’t that long ago. Wasn’t that long ago our home had NO electricity. NO plumbing. Weird to think! In the 1950s our little farmhouse experienced electricity and plumbing for the very first time! Before that, it was a hand pump probably in the summer kitchen...and kerosene lamps. There was a wood stove, and coal furnace.... Wow. Farmhouses didn’t have soaring ceilings. It wasn’t practical to heat dead space. Farmhouses didn’t have ‘open concept’ in case you had to start shutting down rooms in the home as your fuel to heat started running low in the dead of winter.... I stand in the doorway of our kitchen looking on to the main part of our house. Can you imagine a family of five or more sharing 500 ft of living space? The bedrooms didn’t have heat other than what rose through the ceiling of the main floor...but then bedrooms were only for sleeping. (We still don’t have a heat vent to the main bedroom...lol) Must have been wonderful to finally have a summer kitchen for them. A room where all of the heat from canning and cooking in the summer could happen in a separate room, and keep the rest of the house cool. Then a dedicated wood shed and porch, where dirty farm boots, armfuls of wood and wet jackets could be peeled off and not tracked through the house... Now we are up to about 800 or so sq ft. Plenty of room! A house was a functional and practical place of shelter for a family. Plumbing later on was kept to the centre of them house as much as possible, or access to what heat was generated to keep from freezing. (We did think it was a little crazy to have a heat vent at the sink in the kitchen...but for practical reasons, pipes would occasionally freeze under the house so it was a way of directing heat into that cupboard under the sink....yeah we figured that out fast.) Cold cellars weren’t heated, but did get warm enough to prevent freezing...so that is where preserves and root crops were stored. Why am I thinking of all of this?? Well...Many folks that haven’t seen winter or very little of it just experienced it at its worst....with no ability to deal with it. Much as when we deal with extreme heat events and drought where we live. So I’m fascinated how in such a short time....literally in one generation we have forgotten what it’s like before our modern conveniences we take for granted. Looking back into history, we can learn so much as much as we do rely on technology today,...people learned practical skills how to cope with extremes in weather, how to stay warm, cool, and well fed. Hats off to those who came before us. As we upgrade, insulate better, do little things to become even more efficient, I really appreciate the efforts of the first families who built our little farmhouse. We don’t heat unnecessary space, and can think more sustainably to further reduce our environmental footprint....but still be happy and cosy.

Ah the life, until Floyd decided to sit on her face. Little brothers can be so annoying. Otherwise, she is living my dream. Lol Bake in a sun spot. Planning some new gardens....enjoying the sun....then back to outdoor chores. Ok mum. You get on that. Our glowing lovely Frosty.

For our budding early garden creators!! Hold on, but your herbs could get a start. I don’t typically use grow lights as I have a great place that gets good late winter light this time of year. Here are some basics all of us who have been at it awhile have figured out. This gentleman explains it all pretty well. Popped up in my you tube feed today. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/Ci_EeX88fFc

Almost there. Organized thousands of seeds waiting for spring! To honour these seeds, I’m going to feature a few each week...(I’ll try to do this for sure!!,) talk about where they originated from, and why we love them so much. We have a few things coming up in the next couple of weeks planned we are working on. A huge thank you to our CSA and farm members over the last few years. You keep us going! Our seed library, and new gardens planned are all because of you! We have so...me really neat and rare varieties this year we are planting out for you to try...mmmmm In the next couple of weeks, look for our spring launch for 2021. Website updated, events page and more. Farm gate to your porch step as always will continue to be free to our Pontypool neighbours and friends..