Old Gardeners Never Die, They Just Go to Seed
Fall is the time when seeds are able to be gathered and stored. And a seed exchange is the perfect place to share some of those seeds.
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Winter: A Season for Change
“The more things change the more they stay the same” and “The only constant in life is change” are both very cliche and very true.
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Winter is Coming
Over the past few years the gardens have been producing more and more vegetables. So, come fall we start to look for places to store
Training For the Yukon
Recently we went down south for a family visit. At the time it was still very much winter here in the Yukon. Down there the snow
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Seed Catalogues Launch Dreams
“There are two seasonal diversions that can ease the bite of any winter. One is the January thaw. The other is the seed catalogues” – Hal
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Saving the Harvest
One of a gardener’s goals at the end of summer is to preserve the food harvested. This takes many forms , from allowing a potato
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Unexpected Encounters on the Farm
Working outside is a given when gardening. Planting, weeding, and harvesting all are labour-intensive jobs, which are done manually on our farm. Most of the
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Market Season Ends as the Seasons Change
All good things must come to an end. And the summer outdoor market is no exception. Over the years we have enjoyed getting to know
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Seed saving
Seed saving is a time-honored way of keeping certain plant traits growing. It used to be a common practice among gardeners. This year we have
Perennials
In spring, while we wait for the snow to melt, we check on the chives to see if there will be enough for a taste.
Migration
Early in the spring, Swan Haven offers Yukoners a place to watch swans and other water birds as they stop to rest on their long
One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four…
It’s planting time and one of the last things we plant are potatoes. We put in all of our cold crops first because if there
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The Real Dirt
A few years ago, a neighbour told me my garden needed to be amended with some dirt. He was referring to the stereotypical black soil
Living on Farmer Time
I have always wondered why we need to adjust our clocks for daylight saving time here in the land of the Midnight Sun. It was
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Winter Gardening
Years ago I was asked by a Japanese helper what kinds of plants grew here in the winter. I laughed and said nothing grows, it
The Joy of Homegrown Tomatoes
Nothing tastes quite as good as a garden fresh tomato. Here in the North these are rare enough to find, but this past summer we
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Talking Turkey
Because turkeys are a North American bird, it makes sense to have them for the North American holiday of Thanksgiving. There are about 15 different
Yukon Harvest Time
I can’t believe it’s almost over. This summer was one of the best on record as far as gardening goes. We always had lots of
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Where are the Bees?
With summer comes the sound of songbirds and the hum of insects. Often insects are seen as nuisances — pests that need bug dope to
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PHantastic Soil
It is a good idea to find out a bit about your garden before planting anything in it. What will grow in a plot of
Venturing into the Unknown
All good things must come to an end and two days ago this was true for our piglets. It’s been eight weeks since they were
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Spring Means New Life
There are pussy willows, crocuses and chives growing in the garden. Migrating birds are returning to Swan Haven and mallards are swimming in the ditch
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Our Egg Situation
My husband Allan got a goose egg last night. He wasn’t hurt as some may suspect, rather he found an actual egg out in the
Tiny Little Pieces of Life
I got my seeds today! Seeds … tiny little pieces of life, stored until spring arrives to awaken them. It is this miraculous life that
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Gardening: It’s About Knowing Where and When
Can you smell it? … fresh-tilled dirt. There is nothing like it to a gardener or farmer. It is one of my favourite smells of
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The waiting is the hardest part
I don’t really like waiting but as a farmer there are some things you have to wait for. Like seeds to sprout or crops to
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Ploughing for Parsnips (and Other Root Crops)
With the snow finally gone, a gardener’s mind turns to working the soil. But, to work it too soon could leave it in unwieldy clumps,
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What’s ‘Up’ in the Garden
They’re up … radishes and swiss chard that were planted only a week ago are now pushing up through the soil. The radishes looked like
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The Joy of Weeding
Well it seems that summer is here. The heat that we have been getting has been a bonus for the garden. Everything is up, even
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To Market, To Market …
I usually plant more vegetables than I am going to personally use because I like to attend the farmers’ markets in Whitehorse. It started out
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Unwelcome Guests at Butchering Time
It’s chicken-butchering time again … This is a part of farming that is definitely hard work. It starts a day or so before the actual
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Unearthing Harvest Treasure
It’s fall. I know that no one wants it to be fall, but it is hard to deny. With every season, there are vegetables that
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News from the Barnyard
With winter finally here, the farming workload seems to lighten. Winter is a time of rest and contemplation. It is also a time to recuperate
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Sunny Side Up? Over Easy? Egg-cellent!
About six months after we purchased our farm, we decided we needed to start raising chickens. This decision came about when, about a week after
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The First Sign of Spring Arrives in the Mail
Spring starts when seed catalogues arrive. At least it does for me. I receive about four or five every year. This doesn’t include the online
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The Signs Point to Spring
The pussy willows are out! Willows are one of the first plants to show any signs of life in the spring. Even with mounds of
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The ‘Love Apple’ Needs Love
With the snow so deep, it seems impossible that spring will ever arrive. Gardeners, however, take things into their own hands and start seedlings in
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Where the Chickens Roam
With the warmer weather we have been having, my thoughts turn to spring. I am wondering if this year I will be able to get
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Manure Tea and Mud
One of the main spring tasks is to clean out the barn. On our barn we have two four-foot doors at each end to help
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Shredding the Trees is Within Her Comfort Zone
I tend to mow the grass around the barn areas as green feed for all of the animals. This not only gives them the greens
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Kali and Sienna Would Rather Dig Holes
Kali and Sienna are home. They have been for about a week now, and it is very nice to have them back. When I mentioned
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Plants Are Popping Up Everywhere
It’s up! In my garden there are all sorts of little sprouting plants, most of which we planted. This year we were able to get
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Meeting Chicks at the Watering Hole
One of my favourite parts of spring is when we get our chicks. It doesn’t seem to matter how often we have gotten them in
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Is it Really Greener on the Other Side?
The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. When living in the north, it is easy to look at how things
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Some Like It Cold
With the snow blowing around and the temperatures dropping, most people and animals prefer to be indoors. This isn’t the case for the geese and
Stopping to Smell the Roses on the Farm
I took a walk today with three young boys. First they followed me throughout the barn while I did the chores. Asking questions and admiring
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Rhythms Change as Seasons Change
Iam enjoying our long fall this year. It has allowed us to work on outside projects much easier than if we were knee deep in
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Reap What You Sow … Now!
The sun is shining, the snow is melting off of the roof and it is starting to feel like spring. But we are still in
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Schwartz on the Job
One of my pet peeves is dogs (no pun intended). More specifically, other people’s dogs that come onto the farm. One reason dogs were domesticated
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Peas Aplenty
I decided to go with the larger package. It is a variety that has done very well in the past. It was almost funny, when
Will It Germinate?
Children, when learning to garden, show this quite plainly when they dig up a seed to see if it is doing anything. Sometimes this actually
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Mother Goose
They say birds of a feather flock together. When you visit our barnyard, you will see that the chickens don’t like to spend much time
Volunteers and Other Visitors
Volunteering is something that a lot of people do to give back to their community. Sometimes it is more than that. Some volunteers go a
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Ode to Beets
Most vegetables have their share of pests and problems. If it’s too wet, mildew will attack peas or tomatoes. An early fall frost can kill
Multi-tasking Time
Springtime on the farm is one of the busiest times of the year. Harvest is busy, too. You’re racing the frosts and fall rains to
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New Life, New Challenges
Well, spring has sprung. I am seeing the evidence of this everywhere. Trees and bushes are starting to bud, grass is coming up and crocuses
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Living Self-sufficiently
There’s more to farming than feeding animals and planting seeds.” This is a quote from my husband, Al. When he said this a few weeks
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Christmas on the Farm
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, o’er the fields we go, laughing all the way, ha, ha ha. Bells on bobtail ring
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The Juggling Act
Sometimes farming takes on aspects of a circus act more than anything. In early spring, you throw one ball up in the air and order
Moving Sienna
With the wind blowing and the temperature almost at zero as I write, it doesn’t seem like a typical Yukon winter at all. But I
Ordering a Garden
January is seed ordering month for me. It usually involves sitting down with two or three of my favourite seed catalogues, my garden journal and
Plucking Our Christmas Dinner
Goose is not an everyday kind of food. Some find it too greasy to eat, but others love it because of the oils. I like
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When it Comes, to Weeding, Err on the Side of Caution
I keep telling myself, it is still early. Because of the warm weather that we have been having it feels like the middle of summer.
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