Happy New Year! 
Reminder, we have another Winter CSA pick-up this Friday January 5. We’re already half way through the Winter season!
Also, a reminder, as in other years the month of January I reserve for return members to rejoin for the coming Spring CSA and Main Season CSA. There is a waiting list for the Spring shares, so make sure you let me know if you are planning to rejoin. In February if the CSA is not full I’ll open it up to new members. 
Many of you have already signed up for this coming year, thank you. If you are not able to make a first payment right now that’s fine, just let me know your intentions for the coming spring and summer. 
The main seed order is scheduled to arrive this Friday. In about a month’s time I’ll be starting the seedlings for the spring greens! In the meantime, I’ll be catching up on bookkeeping, and finalizing the greenhouse and garden plans for this season. 
Welcome winter,

Cory

Last post for 2022! Reminder of Winter share pick-up this Friday December 30 2 – 6pm!

Each year, around winter solstice, we sing Christmas Carols to the cows and horses in our barn.  It’s a small thing, not a production, or performance (our harmonies could only be loved by cows), but it holds a special place, a sacred place in my heart.  I’ve been doing it every year since my apprentice days, whichever farm I was part of that time of year.  It doesn’t have to be Christmas Carols, it could be a Hanukah celebration, or Dong Zhi, or Yalda Night, or any acknowledgement of the Sun’s lowest rise on the horizon, and the beginning of the longer days.   The meaning of the simple practice has deepened over the years.  It relates to the very special place manure holds in agriculture. 
In the darkest time of year, all the plants are dormant in seed or cambium.  The outer Sun offers not much warmth.  But the cows have the warmth of the Sun inside them, held, cherished, by the metabolism, giving them warmth in their blood.  Chewing their cud, resting on the bedding in the barn, the warmth they are nurturing is precious.  They are masters of digestion, some of the only beings able to extract nourishment from cellulose.  They give more than they take.  If handled with care, the fertility they bring to the land provides for generations. 
When we sing to them we are honoring their gift of giving more then they take. 
We collect and protect that gift in the compost.
We spread that gift on the soil.
We tend that gift of fertility in our crops.
We sing to the cows in hopes that their gift is carried in the food we all receive from the land, that you can carry that inner warmth in all you bring to the world.

Thank you for all your support this past year, and wish you well for 2023!

Cory

The days of sun this week have given us the chance to work more with Flora and Marcus, the new power-houses (horses) of the farm. The goal for the summer is to have the team, which is both of the horses as well as the driver, cultivating rest areas of the garden where we can plant cover crops to continue feeding the soil during the season.

It’s really fun to see the horses get into the groove of working, they blow through their noses and set into a good walking pace together. These horses want to do work, and it’s a really amazing thing to see them listening well to their driver, Cory, and following commands in formation. It’s a bit of a process to acclimatize the horses to the farm and get them used to working again after a few years of a relaxed life, but it’s been going well, and ultimately we’re building a team in the process, the horses and the driver. “Good work team,” Cory says as Flora and Marcus head into the next garden bed.

Yes, this is what we woke up to this at Saugeen River, and there were a few “Merry Christmases” going around. Luckily, if you take a step through that greenhouse door you’re transported right into spring, it’s like going into another dimension. Seedlings are looking wonderful and we’re potting up tomatoes and peppers like crazy (SO many varieties to look forward to).

It has been a longer spring, it’s true, but we’re prepared and ready to to spring into things when it does arrive, which should be in the next week or so! Beds for peas were made in the fall, so we can plant as soon as the ground dries up a little. Yes, you can start dreaming of spring food, we definitely are!

Happy New Year everyone! With so much uncertain in the world, one thing I can say is that the days are already getting longer, and seeds have begun arriving for the coming season! As in other years, I start signing up previous members in the month of January. In February I open shares up to others if there’s space. Many of you have already signed up, but for those who have not, if you could at least let me know your intention if you want a share this season. Winter plans are underway, and neglected bookkeeping. I’ll post more details about the coming season soon…

A group of biologists from Bird Ecology and Conservation Ontario have been studying ground nesting birds (Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, and Grasshopper Sparrows) in this area for several years. This past year they did a study of our farm, among others. Their goal is to help farmers develop pasture and haying practices that can take into consideration the needs of these endangered birds. It was a great experience to learn how adjusting grazing and cutting timing can make it more possible for these birds to raise their young. I’ve attached the report they gave me about the farm. They also recorded all the bird species they observed here (47 total!).