Who is In and Who is Out?
Going to be a crazy weekend at the good ole Calgary Farmers Market. Everyone’s deposits for their new spot at the Blackfoot location needs to be in by Sunday.
For me, it would be an $8311 deposit and committing to another 10 years of being at the CFM.
Life is too short to enslave myself to the tune of $80 000.
There are quite a few vendors/members who have officially come out and said they are not going to be there. Sunworks, Valta Bison to name a couple.
The UNOFFICIAL list of vendors who are not coming is much longer. 13 vendors names come to mind that have told me they are not moving forward. I am not going to mention any names. We’ll see if they have changed their mind by Sunday.
I have heard that someone is trying to organize a vendor meeting on Friday night to get everyone together to talk. I can’t wait.
Swath Grazing
I have been cutting down the fields that we will be using for swath grazing the past few days. It gives a guy lots of time to think – about marketing, about the blog, about the farm, about the family, and of course about the Calgary Farmers Market.
With the disastrous weather this spring and summer, it is amazing the amount of feed we received from these swath grazing fields. We used a barley and oat mixture when we seeded the fields and the growth was amazing.
The two fields I finished today had been in pasture for over 40 years and had literally tons of manure added to them while the cattle were grazing over those decades.
The oats reached up to 5’6”. I am excited to see how many cattle we can graze on those fields once the snow falls.
The growth was so high we took the kids out to the field and snapped a few pictures. Here are some of my favourites – with some of my favourite girls in the world.
Sunset at the Farm
We finished combining last night and this was the beautiful sunset as we were winding down. A very nice way to end harvest!
Now I am off to swath all the swath grazing. Time to get off the computer and on to the swather.
The picture was zoomed in on my Blackberry so it is not the greatest quality. Trust me, it was beautiful.
New Fast Forward Article on the Calgary Farmers Market
As I read this article, I actually got angry. Not at Fast Forward, but at the Calgary Farmers Market.
But I am trying to stay positive instead of having this blog become Tim’s place to complain.
Some vendors are having to put up over $200 000 to go forward. I am being asked (told??) to put in a $83 000 loan to go forward, for 400 sq ft retail and about 430 sq ft for my cooler / freezer. Then I have to buy new equipment (old equipment is not allowed in to the new market) which for my organic meat shop will cost a lot more than the $83000 loan.
That is a lot of money for a small stall at a farmers market….
For some good commentary, go visit Wade’s blog at At the Root.
Life on the Farm
The Calgary Farmers Market Go Ahead Plan
The 25 members of the Calgary Farmers Market New Generation Coop have voted on Saturday night to approve the Sustainability Committee’s plan to move the farmers market to the Blackfoot and Heritage location. The measure was heavily supported by the members but there were a few dissenting votes, of which I was one.
It is now to the point where I wonder if I am the insane one in the group or am I one of the few sane people there?
There is so much that I would like to say over this matter so I think I am going to spread my thoughts over the next two weeks.
I do not know what I am going to do in regards to moving forward with the Calgary Farmers Market. The $80 000 price tag to move into the location, and then the additional cost to set up my stall, makes this a very expensive proposition.
I do know that Sunworks Farm and Valta Bison have both officially backed out of the new location. That means right now there are only 8 farmers in the new market.
More coming later.
I have lots of time to think as we are combining over the next few days.
Diplomacy
It is a New Day!
Friday morning at Hoven Farms.
Looking east into the sunrise!
Guess What? Organic Food is Healthier for You!
Organic food is more healthy for you says a French study. Read it here.
In regards to organic beef, the report concludes that “4. Organic animal products contain more polyunsaturated fatty acids (protect against heart disease)”
View from the Swather Seat
This was my view yesterday and will be for the next two days as well. We are cutting our barley so it can dry for the combine and harvesting.
The swather doesn’t have a cab so today’s weather could get a little hot (28 C)!!
