December 2011 • Metchosin Muse 9 2011 METCHOSIN FARM DIRECTORY PULL-OUT GUIDE INTRODUCTION BY JIM MACPHEERSON, CHAIR, METCHOSIN AGRICULTURAL SELECT COMMITTEE Welcome to the Second Annual Metchosin Farm Directory. The Muse printed its first Metchosin Farm Directory in 2010. Reader response to the Directory was extraordinary. Under the continuing leadership of Andy MacKinnon, this second issue includes twenty farm listings - new ones as well as many of those noted in the last Directory. Thanks to the farmers for their contributions, and to Bert Harrison, Metchosin School Museum Society, for the photo of Glenrosa. Eisenhawer Organic Blue Haze Farm 3817 Duke Road, 250-474-5043 Produce Blue Haze Farm is a small family enterprise located 4266 Happy Valley Road, 250-474 7161 just west of the huge gravel pit on Metchosin Thanks to the nice fall, we did get Road. We are open dawn till dusk most days and Current members of the Armed Forces were also in attendance all the potatoes and apples in the encourage people to check our website www.hol- root cellar, unlike last year, with lychristmas.com, that we update regularly, and also the wet fall and early frost. to telephone or e-mail us first if they have to travel We’ve been farming organically far to reach us. Some people do travel across town here for the last twenty-one years. because besides a variety of apples we have a few Our fertilizer is compost made items not often found in local supermarkets, namely crabapples, quince (these make great with residues mixed with chicken jelly) and figs. Some, like Bramley apples, are an old variety, noted, in this case, for being manure and organic coffee ground. excellent for cooking. Along with these, we often have a few blueberries, blackberries and Green manure is also grown rhubarb. At Christmas we will send boxes containing one and one-half pounds of English over winter as a second option holly anywhere in Canada, or the USA. Holly makes an unusual gift, especially to friends of fertilizer. We do not use any herbicide, pesticide and relatives living in colder areas where holly does not grow. or fungicide, nor any other unnatural product which Contact John and Be Harris ([email protected]) would reduce the quality of our produce. We sold most of our produce at the Moss Street Market, some at the Metchosin Village Market and winter delivery service. We have a good selection of winter veggies, herb tea, Elysian Fields eggs and seed for next year. An experimental anaerobic Pegasus Way off the Galloping Goose Trail digester is working in our #1 greenhouse. With some more tweaking, we might be able to boil more potatoes Happy chickens! That’s what we have at Elysian Fields! for our chickens. We had a wonderful lot of rare and unusual layer chicks With the help of my regular crew and some this spring. These were guaranteed female chicks and “WWOOFer’s” every now and then, we are looking most sold before they were two months old to people in forward to providing you with another year of sustain- the know about birds. We will probably have chicks again able and environmentally friendly, organic produce. next spring, so if you want to “beef up” – or “chicken up"? Contact Dieter Eisenhawer – your flock with special birds with a real personality, con- ([email protected]) tact us. If you want a particular breed you must preorder by mid- January, when hatchery orders are placed. We sell all kinds of eggs: chicken, duck, guinea fowl, peacock, goose, as available from our birds. My birds are fed a vegetarian diet and are out of their house and yard, free ranging over my meadow, woods and gardens, eating seeds, weeds, bugs and worms, interacting with me, my dog and cats and, sometimes, raccoons, owls and eagles. Pasture eating is why my chickens’ egg yolks are deep yellow and have a true “egg” flavour. Eggs are available at the Metchosin Farmers Market from May through October, as well as from the Farm Market at Tom Henry’s Stillmeadow Farm. This was a great year at the Metchosin Farmers Market: lots of new and old farmers and other vendors. Thank you all for coming out to support your neighbours who pro- vide local products for you. Have a good winter and buy local! Contact Melinda Seyler ([email protected]) Fischervale Farm Eales Road Fischervale Farm is a market garden growing a wide Garlic Grove Farm variety of food in the uplands of Metchosin. Now com- 702 Winfall Road, 250-590-7195 pleting our third year, the farm has been a team effort of We love garlic, we grow a lot of it, a small and multi-talented group of family and friends. including many different heritage We did not attend the Metchosin Farmers Market this varieties. Some are better for roast- year as we scaled down to focus on longer-term proj- ing (try it with brie), some better for ects. Our farming education continued and we enjoyed frying, some better for soups, and a great late harvest, and a nearly one hundred percent some people have their favourites deer-invasion-free year (redundant deer fencing is your to slice up on bread. friend). The varieties we like are best The goal of this work-in-progress is a self-sustaining planted in October, ready for integrated organic permaculture ‘food forest’ of mostly harvest the following July. They edible perennials, with a few gardens for intensive require a cool winter (like we have), companion-planted annuals. A greenhouse with passive a wet spring (which we have), and thermal storage is a key component to extending the sea- they don’t mind the wind (thank son for annuals, creating a microclimate tolerable even to goodness!). Deer and rabbits don’t subtropicals such as lemons, and leveling out the early, bother with garlic in their diets, and and late, season extremes we are experiencing more the inherent robustness of garlic frequently with climate change. We reuse and repur- beats off most weeds. So it is a great crop for Metchosin. Just be sure to plant in a new pose existing materials as much as possible, and avoid patch each year, otherwise disease will build up quickly. those that break down into toxins in the ecosystem. We After the harvest in July, we cure in August, and sell seed stock to other growers recycle nutrients to feed the soil, employ drip irrigation, in September. We also sell to gourmet home cooks, and keep the soups at The Broken landscaping and mulching techniques to reduce fertil- Paddle Cafe in good supply. If there were any pyramid builders around we would sup- izer, water, and weeding requirements. Pest control is ply them too. Ancient Egyptians believed it was garlic that gave them the strength for achieved through companion planting, resident Pacific their super human engineering achievements. tree frogs, and healthy biodiversity. We strive to be good We will soon be looking for partnerships with local property owners to grow with stewards and partners with the other creatures of this them on their land (garlic, not pyramids). We sold out early this year, by 2:30 pm on land, and to contribute positively to their habitat as well Metchosin Day, so we need to grow more! If you have some land (quarter of an acre or as our own while we call this beautiful piece of the Earth more) and are interested then please contact us. home. Contact Mike Sargent ([email protected]). Contact Mike Fischer ([email protected]) 10 Metchosin Muse • December 2011 2011 METCHOSIN FARM DIRECTORY • PULL-OUT GUIDE Glenwillow Farm Karen and Don’s 4298 Happy Valley Road, 250-478-7871. Our farm is founded on 2.25 acres Blueberry Patch with approximately one acre for pro- 4405 Happy Valley Road, 250-478-9349 duce, so we are very small. This year, 2011, we attended the Metchosin This was our sixth year of production. The main crop Farmers Market only, due to choos- on the farm is blueberries, with a small crop of goose- ing to plant less and encourage sales berries, raspberries, and black currants. We have four from the farm. varieties of non-sprayed blueberries on the farm. The This year, as in most years, has picking season runs usually from mid-July to mid-Sep- had unique challenges. Early spring tember. The customers enjoy the ease of picking and was fine for cultivating some of our the relaxing time they spend with friends and family. land, and planting our brassicas – We have a very good Metchosin resident customer broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and base. A lot of our customers have been with us for six certain kinds of lettuce and potatoes. years and a number of our customers pick in excess of However, the spring was too wet to till the other wetter parts of our land until mid- 100 pounds a year. June when we began planting our crops which call for hot weather; so tomatoes, basil, The farm is mainly set-up as a U-Pick operation beans, and strawberries were late starting and harvesting. with orders filled on an as picked bases. Our only Even with the obstacles of weather we successfully grew our dahlias, marigolds for commercial client is The Broken Paddle Coffee House, bedding plants, some varied hanging baskets, garlic, herb starts, plants and dried herbs, so you can enjoy our blueberries year round in their lettuce, tomatoes, basil, an everlasting spinach called “New Zealand spinach”, beets and tasty scones and muffins. Two hundred more blueber- rhubarb.