JANUARY 2020 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC
The farm roars headlong into winter, until it snows
Being in tune with nature requires some improvisation Farming is presumed by
many to be an occupation allowing the practitioner to be “in tune” with nature and the changing seasons.
Farm Story by ANNA HELMER
I barely recall how I felt about nature in my city life, now 20 years distant, so I can’t compare. I know for certain that I now love dark, early afternoons and dark, late mornings. I am sick and tired of feeling an urgent need to get to work at 5 am. Darkness at least, is a reliable bit of seasonality. “In tune” with nature. I
can’t quite put my finger on what distresses me about that phrase. Suffice to say that there is nothing languid or harmonic in my seasonal transitions. Basically, the way we manage fall farming operations is to keep going as hard as we like till the snow falls. This event will coincide with the rain becoming interminable, effectively putting an end to activities like brush piling, sorting fence posts, planting garlic, last-minute rotavating, pruning raspberries, fire- wood forage runs and drainage system upgrades. It’s a comfortable program that strands many items on the to-do list but once they are buried beneath a solid foot or two of snow and mud, it really is a moot point. One
is left with plenty of time for washing and sorting potatoes, reading, organizing the shop, and planning the next set of days off. This year, there
hasn’t been any snow and it only seems to rain once a week – on market days. With no convenient excuse to stop, we haven’t.
We are tearing through the to-do list. It is exhausting to have the outside world visible and available for regular work, day after day. It is like a child of seven who won’t pipe down and fall asleep. At this very moment, I note with pleasure and at long last, snowflakes. I am certainly “in tune” enough to notice them, and to remark on their late arrival. Maybe it’ll rain soon, too. Lovely. You know who else has
been roaring around getting things done before the snow flies? Logging truck drivers. A lot of logs are being hauled out of the woods north of here. Several enormous loads go by the farm every day and have done for months. I notice them, not out of sentimental dismay at the thought of another clear-cut, but because I want a load of logs that size from which to cut enough firewood for several long winters. Life would be so easy if one would slow down, turn in the driveway, and pull the cord.
This month’s little bit of
messaging tucked into an otherwise fluffy bit of farm- related prose has to do with
Proudly certifying Producers and Processors across Canada
Proudly certifying Producers and Processors within BC and Alberta.
FVOPA delivers year-round certification services to all regions of Canada, in compliance with the Canadian Organic Standards and the BC Certified Organic ISO 17065 program. Products may bear the Canada Organic logo and be marketed Canada-wide and internationally. FVOPA provides proficient certification services for all types of Producers, Processors, Packers and Distributors. FVOPA is a self-sustaining, proactive, leading edge Certification Agency.
FVOPA provides year round certification services compliant with the Canadian Organic Standards (CAN/CGSB) and in accordance with the BC Certified Organic ISO 17065 recognized program. Products may be sold Canada-wide and in international markets. FVOPA ensures an efficient, professional certification process for all farm, processing and handling operations. Inspectors are lOlA trained and qualified making FVOPA a leading Certification Agency.
Phone 604-789-7586 P.O. Box 18591 Delta, BC V4K 4V7
Delta, BC V4L2P8
Phone: 778-434-3070 PO Box 19052
Message 604-607-1655 Email:
admin@fvopa.ca www.fvopa.ca
Email:
admin@fvopa.ca www.fvopa.ca
ANNA HELMER PHOTO
spraying freshly planted forests from helicopters. I saw it happening a few weeks ago and assumed the liquid gushing from the bucket dangling beneath the chopper was fertilizer. However, a CBC article claimed it was glyphosate. The helicopter worked all day long: mile after mile of hillside, drenching the forest (and all its contents) below. Everyone noticed.
You may say this is not an
agricultural topic and I will disagree. I think that those forests are being farmed. That crop of trees will now grow quickly and unchallenged by pesky weeds like birch and alder. They’ll be sold with minimal processing. The buyer will pay as little as possible; the seller will work hard to produce a cheaper and cheaper product, trying to remain competitive.
Sounds like conventional commodity farming to me. The helicopter aspect is
extreme, though, isn’t it? Not exactly precision product application best practices. I am confused by the forest industry. I don’t seem to be “in tune” with it, either. Anna Helmer farms with her
family and friends in the Pemberton Valley and boasts of once being a winter city bike commuter.
Proudly offering quality farm equipment & wholesale farm product delivery across BC.
Einbock Tillage Equipment for organic farmers
Tine Weeders Row Crop Cultivators
Camera Guidance System
Rotary Hoes
Homburg Field Tile Drain Cleaners
Low Maintenance
45
www.reimersfarmservice.com 855.737.0110
info@reimersfarmservice.com
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