River Valley Ranch

When a hen starts her annual egg-laying cycle she sometimes starts with little gifts of miniature eggs. Yes, they are a complete version of a regular egg with the tiny beginnings of a yellow yolk inside. This cycle happens with first time layers and sometimes also with our older girls. Each day brings a bigger egg until they normalize. Our mix of mature heritage chickens and new layers will all catch up in a couple weeks and produce consistent sized eggs like the larger one in hand below. Lots of fresh air, sunlight and getting to choose their own selection of bugs, seeds and greens keep our egg-laying ladies and their gentleman happy!

Heritage Apple Blossoms This week the apple orchard is fully alive with wild bees. The apple trees pictures all have their origins in the 1700s and 1800s. They are a mix of European and North American apples. Each variety produces an apple that is unique in colour, shape, mouth feel crunch, taste and storage possibilities. One can see this uniqueness start to form with the wide variety of blossom size, colour and each's own heady blossom perfume ranging from sweet to spicy notes. More apple varieties will come into blossom on the farm in the coming weeks.

Social Closeness on the Farm

A Story About Roland The local Yoga class was gathering round and about to start. Entering into the chit chat, I had announced that we had bought Roland’s chickens. Roland was a Swiss itinerant carpenter. We had given Roland his very first paying job on the island. He was also a pretty popular guy. Before taking his leave from the island, Roland had made plans to hold a garage sale before he moved across Canada with his family. I had casually mentioned to him that if he wasn’...t able to sell his chickens I would purchase them. Roland said, Great, my rooster is very manly! gesticulating to his own flexed and muscular arm. Well, the chickens didn’t sell. I got the phone call the next day and shelled out for Roland’s chickens. Could we pick them up promptly? he asked. Continue the story at: http://elderberrylanefarm.ca/roland

Wild Bees Getting Ready for Winter The bees in this video are gathering pollen from an Elderberry Lane Farm Cardoon flower. These bees are preparing for their winter "clustering" as temperatures dip on the coast. The period from September to December is the beginning of a new year for them. Their preparation and condition at this time of year greatly determines their ability to flourish next year.