It was a pleasure to take part in the small-scale grain growing talk in Smithers the other night; it's always lots of fun to meet so many people interested in grains and have a show-and-tell of heirloom wheats. Thanks willing worker Fabrizio for the photos of the threshing and winnowing demonstrations.
Melting snow
The seedlings in the front porch greenhouse are cheering on the melting snows, after the mildest winter yet. We barely saw -20°c except a handful of nights.
View from the hill
Mia the dog and I went for a Sunday morning snowshoe up Tenas Hill, and thought we would share some wintery eagle-eye views of the farm. Looking south.
Year’s end 2012
Lovely winter's day on the farm, which fittingly rounds off another productive, plentiful year. Peace and happiness for the seasons to come.
By the barn
The animals don't venture too far from their hay racks at this time of year, except for when Mia antagonizes the lambs or calf into a bit of frolicking.
Ski tracks
The ski trails are well-tamped down through the fields and wetlands, but there is still not enough snow back along the old woods road yet.
Skeena
Got away from the farm a few times this past summer, long enough to explore some more of the wild and wonderful 'river of mist' that flows through these lands. The pristine Skeena watershed is under threat from Shell's coal-bed methane fracking plans upstream and Enbridge's tar sands bitumen pipe-dream downstream.
Plenty
The bulk of the harvest is just about in and 'put by' for the winter ahead. Times of plenty.
Last Blossoms
Some of the last blossoms of summer, which I fleetingly enjoyed during the busy harvest. The artichoke buds did not bloom, yet were still enjoyed at the table.
Farmers’ Market
The market display is a lot of fun at this time of year when there's lots of colours to play with.
WoodGrain Farm 