A long time ago in a province far, far away. . .
I was born to people who farmed. Almost all of my uncles and aunts farmed; my grandparents on both sides farmed. So, it isn’t too hard to figure out that I was, for all intents and purposes, supposed to grow up to be a farmer. But alas, that was not to be, despite one of my grandfathers telling me to “just stop dreaming about a fancy job and get back to work in the barn.” My family ended up moving into the city just before I started elementary school, and despite spending nearly every vacation and many weekends on one or another relative’s farm, I did not go into farming. Eventually, after many years of school, I got into buying and selling purebred cattle in North America and Europe and then I found a big-city job in the graphic arts industry to cut back on the travelling. Eventually, I went on into magazine publishing, then financial communications and business management. And that was the bulk of my career/life until very recently.
As most followers of this website will know, my wife and I bought a five-acre parcel near Nanaimo, British Columbia in August of 2013. Our search for a suitable rural property took nearly ten years. In the process of buying, living on and managing the new property, it didn’t take long to figure out that we should be doing something productive with the land. We looked at several small-holding ideas and then I went to work researching, learning, updating my agricultural memory and coming up with parts of a plan. That plan is still not complete but we’re headed in a direction that should see the land being able to provide us with a generous amount of pantry goods and a little revenue to cover property maintenance, building upgrades, crazy ideas and dreams that are yet undreamed.
My initial digging (no pun intended) made me curious about changes that have taken place in agriculture since my youth (a short fifty or so years ago almost). There were some advancements, but fundamentals haven’t really changed. Farms got bigger, farmers got poorer, machinery got bigger and more expensive – is there a correlation perhaps? I learned that most grain farmers still buy huge amounts of fertilizer and seed (we won’t go into the Monsanto discussion just yet). Most beef comes from factory farms, most pork comes from factory farms, most chicken comes from factory farms – seems there is a common theme here.
On the bright side, I learned about the growth in certified and non-certified organic production. I learned about the rotational grazing practices that cut down on fuel, work and storage needs while providing better quality forage for livestock. I learned about the movement of some consumers away from buying factory farm products to supporting local, specialized food producers close to where they live and work. And I learned that, in our part of the world, small landowners are very active in farming, providing high quality products for the market in this region.
Where does all of this lead me? Well, over the course of the past five months, I have recalled many things I once knew and learned a few new ones. But mostly, I learned that we have a lot of learning left to do. To that end, I will read, listen to those with much more experience than I, move cautiously and try to have a bit of fun in the process. This blog will attempt to chronicle the progress (or lack thereof) of our journey as new small-holding farmers. Wish us luck!