The hot gossip locally is all about the Moose! There are two adults and yearling and they have been keeping everyone hands on 2 and 10 and eyes peeled as they are loving the new growth that has taken place in the local forest that has selective cutting done a few years ago and all kinds of new undergrowth has come into being which means that with the snow melt, they are enjoying the area very much, the issues is its on both sides of a very busy local road!

On the flip side, i am looking forward to doing some herbal things this spring with some birch trees, anyone making Birch syrup this spring? I mean i know locally everyone is focused on maple, and we have had a good run, then to cold, and now a good run again, i get the weekly updates for the numbers in my mail box from the province data collecting etc.

Still for huge swaths of northern climate small farm and homesteaders, you are far more likely to have lots of birch available to you then maple, and while the taste is quite different, it can be very worth your time. Where maple syrup is sweet and mellow, Birch is deep, dark, rich with so many layers, it can go in so many ways in terms of use! While most folks think of syrup produced in Canada and they think maple but there are some very nice small Canadian business that produce and sell Birch as well.

I have offered up truly renewable resource from the farm! Horse turds lol These big old boys of mine produce a lot of manure per year! I figure share the bounty, maybe someone who does not have large livestock needs or wants some horse manure for their compost pile.

I need to poo pick all my pastures and i need my own finished compost for my own uses but this winters/spring/fresh turds, o those are up for grabs for sure! So far i have had a few folks take me up on the offer!

What offer is that, trade based of course.. come help pick the poo is a good one lol, or perhaps plant splitting’s, or perhaps well really the sky’s the limit but my favorite so far is 15 to 18 fertile quail eggs for a couple feed bags of horse piles! Win, Win, Win for all! I had already planned on looking for some new quail to add to the farm from the easter bird sale and i still will but at the same time, i am thrilled to get some fertile eggs to hatch as well!

While a small land, small homesteaders, we are not going to be able to help in terms of global chemical based fertilizer but if we have large stock, we can help our local community and offer up some healthy good old fashioned cow or horse manure to be added into their compost piles and bins be it small gardener and or community garden or maybe your local CSA gardener this spring, so it will be ready for use either late fall (if they are turning it well) and or by next spring when they need it.

Small stock winter bedding/manure blend works well but it means you are giving away a higher impute resource and it might be better to do your own compost piles and offer finished compost next year then lose that kind of volume by offering it now.

I think there are some of us, that are well aware of what it means in terms of the reduction and or stopped production in terms of the fertilizer and crops and their yields this year, many here in Canada already had it in stock and so its delayed till next planting season, others are not as lucky and for whole counties world wide, the planting times, the rain seasons and more are coming and they wait for nothing, you either get it in time or you miss it, and i think it will be a bit of a shock to many on what it means over the next year or longer what missing it will mean in terms of both food prices and availability and all the ripple effects that happen with it.

If it was me and i needed to add one thing that almost anyone could do that will give you garden gold, well that is simple, get thy a big rabbit! Not to bred, but to eat from your yard/garden and kitchen scraps all warm season, pellets and hay and ideally straw bedding yes but in return, large amount of cold ready to use and or lightly compost rabbit manure for your gardens, your fruit trees, if it grows you food, fruit, herb or medical, it will all welcome rabbit compost and thrive for it! Four times more nutrient-potent than horse or cow manure and twice as rich as poultry manure, rabbit manure is a the answer indeed for small space and they can live and thrive as “pets” that livestock can not go!

Are you getting ready for the weekend? We are actively looking forward to it, no people plans per say but a good to do list for on the farm things, the biggest one being to get things pruned and dormant oil sprayed, I can see some bud swelling starting to happen and that means our window is closing fast, so as much i dislike the snow and cold over the past few days, the last night day was tuesday it has kept things slow.

Its time to take Elderberry cuttings, i currently have three types of elderberries here on the farm, and i am about to add 6 more types this year and 6 plus next year. I want to be able to not only have the flower type for teas and syrups but want different types for medical, space and juice. I want to grow and offer cuttings for sale as part of a regular item here on the farm

I will be looking forward to working on cross breeding my Farmgal Elderberry with some new names ones that have come in and seeing what the results mix will be, i love so many things about my Farmgal Elderberry and have shared it will so many who have had amazing results with it in their own garden.

I think it will be a very good thing to have such a powerful immune boosting plant and its end products available locally, far to many are importing their dried elderberry’s and right now buying the products made out of country, when the truth is there is no reason we should have a thriving and productive Canadian grown and produced supply.

What is something you know you want to expand on in your garden or help in your forage area? What is your personal favorite elderberry? Do you use it mostly for the flower or for the fruit, do you like elderberry wine or vinegar, juice, syrup, jelly or mixed for jam and so on

I look forward to what you have planned for the weekend, slow and restful, busy with the grandkids, a driving trip? Perhaps a movie out, we did that last weekend, went to the movies and saw Ready or Not 2 i am glad we got that date afternoon time out. I love my farm and my world but there are times its nice to get out, didn’t like the price of gas, there will a whole lot of less driving day trips this year and a lot more stay close by

I will keep working on finding vendors and starting and growing plants to offer at my local Community garden club, while we have a focus on garden and native plants, i was so honored that they liked my idea that our ‘focus” for this year spring plant sale is on companion plants and trap crop education. I look forward to sharing knowledge and plants with my community at the sale.