Winter is here!
This was the view from the shop as we were parking the tractor for the night.
I am fondly remembering the 35° C weather of late September.
Calgary Farmers Market Christmas Hours
Straight from the tabletop display, here are the Calgary Farmers’ Markets Christmas hours.
Please do not forget that the farmer’s market is open for business for 2010 in the same location. The market reopens Friday, January 8.
Wade’s Vision for the Future of Farmers Markets in Calgary
OK, maybe this sounds like a little more than a simple Farmers Market, but that’s what I think a true Farmers Market should be. It should be an institution and an asset to the city and its citizens. It needs to be the link between the rural lands where our food is grown and the people who grow it. We have the opportunity to shape and form what our local food system will look like in the years to come. Is there anything other than water that is more important than food? I’m not sure what will motivate each person to act on a vision like this, but there are thousands of things that can. We just need to find our common grounds, decide that it is important, and then start working towards the realization of our vision.
It is a great post to read and think about what is possible within a farmers market environment.
Wade has a real passion for locally produced food.
If you want to get him excited though, ask him about Christmas charities. I am still waiting for that blog post.
Swath Grazing on a Beautiful November Morning
What a beautiful fall day.
I brought my camera out as I checked the cattle today at Hoven Farms and wanted to share a few pictures with you readers.
These animals are ones that we are finished for slaughter. Right now they are only eating our swath grazing – a mixture of oats and barley that we swathed early October. You can still see a lot of green in the swaths so the feed is very tasty for the animals.
The cattle line up on each side of the swath and eat away. Please note the swaths that the animals are going to eat in the upcoming week immediately in the background.
The cattle will take the swaths from looking like this to looking like this….
They will eat all the material and leave a nice neat field to work up in the spring.
It is easy to love that beautiful big Alberta blue sky, isn’t it?
Farm Visit from the Eddie Burger and Bar
Last week, Joe, Megan and Melanie from the Eddie Burger and Bar came out for a visit and tour of the farm. The Eddie Burger has been using our ground beef for about a year. We are very proud to say that they use our beef in their restaurant.
The visit started with a home cooked meal prepared by myself as my wife was in town at the chiropractor. I was originally thinking burgers but then the thought came to me that these folks make burgers for a living, so I made a seasoned ground beef wrap with organic lettuce, peppers, cheese and Pace Salsa.
It wasn’t four star restaurant food, but hey, I am a two star kind of guy.
We went for drive around the farm to see the cattle and show them our farm.
Joe, Melanie and Megan in front of some of our fat cattle swath grazing.
After the tour, we headed back to the house for a bottle of Field Stone Fruit Wineries Bumbleberry wine. I am not a huge wine drinker, but that wine was very easy going down.
Overall, we had a great time and a good visit with the staff from the Eddie Burger. I can’t wait to get to Banff again and visit with them on their home turf. Go visit their website. They have a mouth watering intro on the site. You can join their facebook page here.
My Future Farm Store
If I was ever to build a farm store, this is what I would want it to look like. 
Isn’t that awesome?
Heck with the farm store, I should buy it, insulate it,and move the family in!!
Here is a picture of Lori and Monica underneath the loft.
This is a horse barn so converting it to a farm store would be an exciting project.
AgriTrade 2009
Agritrade is a big agricultural trade show in Red Deer. Lots of heavy metal, lots of neat stuff to look at and dream about, and lots of stuff to look at and roll your eyes at.
I like to go about once every two years. We are not a big iron farm, so it is kind of nice to go and look at all the new equipment that is available.
With 7 kids on the farm, this vehicle would be popular around here ( and a lot more comfortable that having 7 kids try to pile on the quad at the same time).
The Toy Tent has some amazing things for sale as well.
Now what is more bizarre? The John Deere Barbie or the 39 year old farmer (me) who took 2 pictures of her?
You just have to love the 1970’s big glasses she has on. And the price? Only $50!!
The clash of cultures. Hutterites getting the Sham Wow presentation.
You know things are REALLY expensive when instead of advertising the price, they just post a sign in the cab saying that financing through FCC is available.
What exactly is Swath Grazing?
I have written a bit about swath grazing at Hoven Farms and some people are probably still not understanding what exactly it is. I brought out my video camera and put together this short video so you can see what I am talking about.
Fall Blues
This time of year is a weird time. The Fall work is done and the your life kind of falls into a holding pattern… waiting for the snow that you hope doesn’t come until January. With the cold weather a few weeks ago, the leaves all froze on the tree and so many of the leaves have yet to fall to the ground. It is like nature got the seasons a little confused.
This time of year the work falls to getting ready for winter. Getting the houses, barns and everything else ready for the snow to come. We had to shingle our roof because after 28 years, it was that time.
The Fall Blues can also be combined with a sense of anticipation – waiting for the snow to come and knowing winter may only be a day away. This is the time when all the plans you made over the summer are waiting to come alive… waiting for a time when all the work over summer start to pay off as you start feeding cattle(or NOT feeding cattle by better managing your grazing).
My birthday falls at the beginning of November so every fall I get another year older. Maybe that makes this season a little more reflective for me, you know, “one less year to go….”
Fall feels like a personal purgatory every year.
Maybe I am just waiting for the Promised Land.
Swath Grazing on Hoven Farms
Every fall we start our swath grazing. It allows us to feed our animals top quality feed over the non-growing season without starting a tractor.
You can see the swaths of second cut alfalfa here. We just moved the electric fence wire allowing these cows to enter a new part of the pasture. They stick their nose down and literally graze the swath off the ground.
In the past, you had to cut the hay, bale the hale, haul the hay in, haul the hay out and then feed the cows. Swath grazing allows us to eliminate most of the steps – we cut the hay. Instead of moving the feed to the cows, we move the cows to the feed.
You can see the line in the field where the cows are allowed to eat up to. The hay on the other side of the fence is left for the next day.
The animals graze all the swath and clean it up real nice. You can see there is no wasted hay left behind on the ground.
You can also see our dog, Anne, waiting for permission to go chase those calves.
I took a few videos as well so soon I will post a short video if I can find time to do some editing. I still have a Halloween video to finish editing…
