The month of June has been very busy on our organic farm. We had thought that we were ahead of the work load until we were set back by several inches of rain in the course of a week. Our land is heavy mineral rich but doesn't drain the best.
We carried on. An enthusiatic student from France has stayed with us for the month of June....... Charline Brasy. Gary and i are learning our high school French again.
Since she has been here we have experienced hurricaine force winds, earthquake and hot sunny days.
The biggest highlight was the birth of our first grandchild ...Cameron Harris born  on June 19th.
The crops are looking good ...we can see the bounty in the fields....( fingers crossed)

This is been a very busy week. We have very good helpers this year. Everyone is tired from all the planting and soil preparation we did. 
The early spinach/lettuce /green onions and radishes are ready to eat .I can't believe how much my body is craving these greens.
I posted a picture to show you "my artwork". There are so many varieties of lettuce...each with their own colour, texture and flavour.
 

People are starting look at how their food is being raised and grown.
Has everyone seen Food Inc.??
We thought that it was a bit dramatic at times and too simplistic at other times.
All our animals are born and raised on the farm. Humane treatment is very high on our priority list. The Organic Standards state that the animals must have access to outdoors weather permitting.The cattle will soon be enjoying the lush pastures.We grow the organic feed crops ( no Genetically Modified Organisms...such as Round-up Ready soybeans or Bt Corn).

McSmiths is a modern version of the mixed farm of the 40's and 50's.  
In Canada there is "supply managed commodities" such as Milk production, Egg Production,Meat chicken Production and Turkey production. Farmers must invest in quota in order to raise and sell a significant amount of these food products.
Many of our customers ask "why don't you just buy more quota to raise more meat chickens??"......( we are probably the biggest player in the small group of chicken farmers and definitely small compared to the Big Guys)....to take the next step we would need to enlarge every phase of production.
Our duaughter Janis and her husband Mark started raising piggies last year. Mark is very peculiar that they are clean, well fed and given individual attention like a "belly rub" every once in awhile.
We welcome people to try our products but please don't be toooo upset if you have to wait for the animals to grow at their natural rate.

Gary is off very early this morning to take the first group of meat chickens to "get done". They will "be done" at a small certified poultry processing plant just north of London Ontario.
Only McSmiths chickens are "done " on Wednesdays. This is the best way to ensure that there is no possiblilty of  co/mingling of our organic birds with conventional ones.
Most of these chickens are spoken for..our customers have been placing orders for them since January.
I am happy to see this weekend come since it will be our first significant Payday this year.    :-)

In order to streamline the crazy "Chicken days" ..we are redesigning ( a.k.a. cleaning out) an area that will be our Organic Meat Shop.
We were lucky to get a good scale and freezer racks at an auction. The muscle (355 ponies) of Mark's new Ram truck brought home a "walk-in freezer" for us.

Several pots of little Rosemary Plants ...these will be available for customers to purchase for their own herb gardens....we potted them into large fibre pots (less plastic in your garden). Janis Smith-Harris will be taking culinary herbs to the Farmers' Market in 2010. The Rosemary, Mints, Sage, Parsley and Basil should compliment her Sunflowers and Glads nicely

We have spent the last few weeks explaining to our egg customers about why the"old hens" aren't laying as many eggs. They were going thru a "spring moult" which means they are putting their energy into getting new feathers rather than producing eggs

The Pullets have lived up to the "Promise" ..."lots of eggs for Easter"
I have been gathering baskets full of beautiful large and extra large brown eggs daily. Come to the farm anytime to pick up your eggs 

Gary and I drove almost 3 hours to attend an auction where we could purchase a "fancy high tech scale" for our new Organic Meat Shop. Of course the scale was the 3rd from the last item sold....but we did get it.
Gary was sure we needed the Heavy Duty racks to go ino our "Walk-in" Freezer".....I suggested that we stop bidding on things because we had no more carrying space on the truck.
We are hoping to have the Meat Shop ready by the first of April. We will be selling our organic chickens, beef, turkeys, Janis and Mark's pastured pork. I'm hoping to have some honey, perserves, soup stocks, etc.

 

Cathy's First Blog Entry
Under the watchful eye of my young friend and Website Guru "Joanne Bagshaw" I am ready to post this blog. I am hoping to share our farm experiences, some recipes, some gardening and probably some of my Rants about Agriculture in 2010