LIFE ON AN ORGANIC FARM

Cranberry Harvest

2008-10-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

We wake up in the morning as the fields are being flooded for the cranberry harvest. The flooding has been going on for 2 days now and has reached the level where the beaters will go in and knock off the berries from their vines.

Here is one of the beaters moving back and forth over the field and you can see many many cranberries floating on the surface.

The breeze has moved the floating cranberries to one corner of the field. It is this breeze which decides where we will move the equipment to extract the berries from the field into the trucks to transport them to the receiving site in Richmond.

The men then lay out booms and begin to move the berries toward the receiving auger that pumps them into the trucks.

The cranberries are building up to several inches deep now and a bit difficult to pull.

Here we have 2 foremen keeping a keen watch on the workings making sure no mistakes occur.

As the berries get loaded into the trucks they are washed with jets of water to eliminate junk that was floating in with them such as sticks, chaff, grass clippings etc. This junk gets pumped into this truck for removal.

In the background of this photo you can see the lift that pulls the berries up to the truck and in the foreground is a tractor running a pump for the water jets.

The cranberries going into the delivery truck.

A close up photo of the cranberries

This series of photos on the cranberry harvest concludes my "Life on an Organic Farm" web blog attached to my web page for 2008. Watch for our next series on our travels to Mainland Mexico when we depart Yuma Arizona around November 3rd.

Larry and Betty

Last day for our fifth wheel trailer

2008-09-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

I just had to add one more item before the cranberry harvest.....

Good bye 5th wheel. Today was our last day in the 5trh wheel trailer and now it is off to winter storage. We are now living in our camper and adjusting to the smaller size.

You have heard of "blue boys"? That term used to describe the blue septic tote tanks used for dumping your black water that come in sizes up to 30 gal. Well this is a "white girl" and can contain up to 200 gal. Here is a photo of Betty is going to dump this tote tank! What a farm girl.
Check this out Mairo, Val, Julie, Sue, Lynette, Marilyn and Sherry.

There is our camper in the back ground, with Betty doing the last white boy trip. We only need to dump it twice a year....not bad eh?

Roberts Dance

2008-09-22T06:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the video was not my problem but the website problem. Anyways, it is now back working.

Let me introduce you to Robert, our shop manager. Robert loves to fix broken equipment and is happiest when he is working in the shop rather than in the fields where he works when there is nothing to fix. Today I am bringing in a broken piece of equipment for repair and Robert gets very excited and likes to do the "Broken Equipment Dance". This is a bit like a little strip dance where he removes his "pink mechanics apron", gets in a frenzy and starts the repair job.

This is the first step.

You can see the smile on his face for the second step

Now he is getting really serious for the third step.

To watch his disgusting little dance, press the play button on the photo below.

And now a note on this blog site. I am near the end of my contract for this year and things are winding down. It is now time to start preparing for the Mainland Mexico 2008 winter trip.

We are almost ready to move our 5th wheel into storage. Today is move day and after a few last minutes jobs we complete the move this afternoon. We are already living in the camper where space is much less (but we are getting back into the groove) and finding things we forgot to pack.

The last farm crop to come off are the cranberries and it is a pretty sight. The next and last item on this blog will be the cranberry harvest.

Betty and I will start up the Mexico trip section on our Web Site around November 1st when we are in Yuma. It will be actual web pages, not like this blog which I find restrictive on what I can do.

Stay tuned......

Potatoes: washing, sorting and packing

2008-09-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

Potatoes can be taken directly from the fields or from our storage sheds to our washer/sorter/packing facility located at one of our partner farms. It is this facility that does all our potato work for the 3 partner farms under the Fraserland Farms group. They are washed coming off the truck, go through sorting processes and then packed either in boxes or bags for the market. After being packed they are trucked to our farm for distribution to the market. Our farm does all the shipping and receiving and pressure cooling of the products.

This video shows the potatoes coming off a truck into the washing line.

This photo below, shows the 50 pound boxes being readied for shipping.

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Potato harvest is under way....storing potatoes

2008-09-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Once the potatoes are harvested in the fields, there are 2 locations they can go.
Some potatoes will go into cold storage where they will stay over winter and which we will remove a little at a time for market.
When they are taken out of the storage, they will go to the washing and grading line. From there they will be packed either in boxes or bags for the market.

The video below shows the storage of the potatoes. They are piled into special sheds that have fans which blow cool air through the potatoes as they store through the winter.

It was quite dim in the storage shed when I took this video so please excuse the dark at the beginning but it will lighten up as it goes on.

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More on this .....story.

2008-09-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here is shot of our dedicated pickers. These young fellas have been especially chosen for their honesty and have promised never to reveal the secret location of the source of these organic pet rocks.

Short movie below showing the pickers.

This bucket contains an example of some of the gems located in the bucket along with some trash that seems to make its way into the hoard.

The following movie will show how we gently load the little gems onto our transport which will take them away to be washed and sorted, wrapped and boxed. A certified organic rock statement will be included and then its off to the wholesalers.

Sorry we cannot sell these sought after pets on line. We have a very strict contract with our distributors that we can only sell to them.

Let me tell you a story about this harvest.

2008-09-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

One of the best kept secrets on the organic market is that we are one of the world's largest supplier of "Organic Pet Rocks". It is during this time in the early fall, after Labour Day, we send some equipment and our selective, trustworthy workers out to our secret location to harvest them. I would really get into trouble if any of the upper management found out I was secretly taking photos of this process. However, I have decided that this is a story that needs to be told and taking the chance that I may not have a job next year, I am going ahead and letting you in on this secret.
In the distance you can see the 3 tractors and their implements that are used is locating the organic pet rocks, softening the soil around them, pulling out the ones that are too large and sifting the ones that may be the correct size.

Off to the right is the dump truck that we load the rough gems into for sorting and washing. I am driving the front end loader used to collect them.

This implement has large steel fingers that can dig into the soil and pull up any pet rocks deep in the soil. It will also pull up the large ones that re too large for our sifter.

This movie shows a bit about digging up big organic pet rocks.

Next the disker goes over the soil a couple of times chewing up the dirt lumps into smaller clumps so they don't get caught up in the soil
sifter.

Here we have the soil sifter working the top 4 inches of soil or so. It filters out the rocks and lays them on top of the soil behind it for easy pickings by our crew.

To be continued.....

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Cranberries are comming along well

2008-09-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

As I continue to mow the cranberries, I came across these red berries growing over top a white drain pipe. I thought it looked neat and would make a good picture, hence here it is.

One thing I have problems with this blog method is interacting text with photos. It is difficult to place the cursor where you want it and the program puts it only in certain spots. In this case I wanted to text to be beside the movie below but cannot do it.

This movie is not the greatest, I wanted to show the cranberries on the edge as I drove by but it turned out kind of shakey and blurred. It took 20 min. to upload it so I decided to leave it on rather than start all over again.
Take it for how it is.

The sun is finally back.........at work again.

2008-08-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here we are, the sun has finally come out and along with a good wind last night the land is starting to dry out again. The grass along the cranberry fields is getting long and since the potato fields are still too wet for me to spray, I will be mowing the dikes for the next 2 days.
This will be the 2nd last mowing before harvesting. We do not like long clippings getting into the water when harvesting.
Click on the video below to watch the movie.

As I was mowing the dikes, I came across a mama barn swallow feeding her 4 babies happily sitting on a sprinkler head.

The harvesters are getting back to work, I will see if I can get some shots of them for the next blog.

Rain, rain more rain.

2008-08-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been a few days since I did my last entry. We have been getting too much rain and it is making it difficult to get into the fields. The potatoes are starting to die down fairly quickly are are being topped. The potatoes that will be going into winter storage are left in the ground 3 weeks after topping to allow them to build up tougher skins for handling. The beans for processing are being harvested by huge machines that strip them off the plants and into a bin. We are getting rot in some areas of the beans from too much rain, it can spread fast if not harvested soon enough. I am having a hard time getting my spraying done between showers. The odd time the sun comes out and things feel better.
We are getting excited about our winter trip to Mexico, doing planning and talking to the other members of our crew. We are planning of leaving Canada about the 8th of Oct. and tour around the states for a while on our way to Yuma. There we will stay about 10 days. I have a side awning to put up on our camper, solar panels and some work to do on our tow vehicle. We will be grouping up there with the others and hope to cross into Mexico around the 7th of November.

Why are the geese on the move so early?

2008-08-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

This movie was taken at 8 pm and every night around this time the geese are on the move from the fields back to their night camp. During this time of year the many fields of peas and beans are being harvested by the mechanical harvesters. These machines leave or spill a fair amount of peas etc on the ground. It seems these geese know all about it and are happy to clean up the residue. They come from all around to enjoy the feast.

In the morning they fly back to their favourite field for more goodies......getting a good fat build up for the winter.

Our portable water tank

2008-08-17T07:20:00.001-07:00

Here is our portable water tank on top of Betty's car. I think it is about 40 US gallons. It works great! It is something like a small water bed bladder but a hose connection at the bottom and a overflow vent at the top. One downside is that they did not build in tie down attachments. I covered mine with garden netting which gives me lots of securing spots and also protects the bag to a certain extent.

Here is a photo of Betty watering her plants using a hose and gravity. I have a pump I can hook up to the bag to pump the water if I need to.

We use it to resupply our water tank or fill our camper.

This will come into good use this winter in Mexico.

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Routine operations

2008-08-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Things are pretty much on line and running smoothly on the farm. As you an see the corn is growing quite tall now, it still will grow another foot or two prior to being ready for harvest.

Nothing much new to report except the routine stuff.

Keep in touch for new updates.

Imature Eagles

2008-08-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

I was mowing the dikes around our cranberries yesterday and I came upon these 4 young eagles hanging around just like 4 teenagers. They were this years brood, 2 from a nest by us and 2 from across the field.
I was fun watching them interact, one would try to intimate another, they would bustle and preen and show off.
I wonder what their talking was about...what mamma fed them last....who knows.

various shots around the area

2008-08-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

..........................................................Our camp home by the cranberries.

..........................................................Secret tunnel under highway10 between fields.

..........................................................One of our neighbors looks on while I work.

..........................................................Eagles seem to be everywhere.

Feeding the cranberries

2008-07-27T06:06:00.000-07:00

The cranberries have reached the stage where they are growing very fast and need all the energy they can get. Here we show how we fertilize the crop with the least amount of damage. If we were to drive equipment over the vines it would not be good. Adding fertilizer to the irrigation would not insure an even spread and there would be pooling of too much in one area and not enough in another. So far, this expensive method proves to be the best.

Click the button below to watch the helicopter.

The helicopter sets the hopper on the ground, a bag of fertilizer is loaded into the hopper and away it goes. In 4 min. it will be back for another.

This is a field map of the cranberry fields.

Bog 4 and 5 are coming on line for the first time this year.

Bog 6 should have a small crop next year.

Bog 7 was planted this spring and it will be 3 years before its first small crop.

MAL will be changed from a regular field this winter into a cranberry field. It costs about $40,000 / acre to convert a field into cranberries.

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Update on the cranberries

2008-07-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

REMEMBER the cranberry flowers.....

This photo was taken on June 20th while the bees were hard at work.

This photo was taken a month later.

You can see the berries are forming quite nicely.

They will start to turn red shortly as they continue to grow in size.

So..... You are wondering why Larry put my picture and my helicopters picture in with the cranberries.

You will have to check out the next article to see........

I can make my helicopter stand still..

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Highway traffic loves tractors...

2008-07-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Our fields are all over the place and there are some occasions that we must travel on main roads to get to our next job. I am sure the faster vehicles just hate to see us there but we have no choice and must join in the rush using up the right lane. Yes, there is a side area on the highway but this can be filled with signs or other things that could cause a hazard if we were to drive in them. It is our policy not to drive in them except in an emergency and actually is the law.

Watch as I drive North on Highway 17 with the faster traffic.

Click the button below to watch the movie.

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Pheasants in the fields

2008-07-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

We have always had a lot of pheasants in our fields, especially the ones along highway 17 towards the ferry terminal. This year it seems they have increased their numbers even though I see a lot of coyotes in their areas.
They like to run in the potato fields and seem to pick the rows where my tractor always drives when I am spraying, I guess the nice hard packed tracks make good runs.

Here is a movie showing a male pheasant running just ahead of my tractor. He could jump up and fly away any time but chooses to play chicken with my tires, perhaps he thinks he is leading me away from his mate and family.....

I an traveling at about 5 miles per hour, there is also the sound of a radio in the background.

Click the button below to watch the movie.

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Its irrigation time..................

2008-07-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, believe it or not we can go with out rain for several weeks in this area. When this happens certain crops must be irrigated. Most of our fields have irrigation/drainage ditches where we can direct water from the Fraser river to supply our needs.

This photo shows our case tractor with the pump connected to the pto. They run 24 hours a day when pumping water.

Watch the movie on 1 irrigation boom watering the potatoes. It takes 8 hours (approx) to pull in the irrigation gun.

Click the play button!

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Ford line-up

2008-07-09T05:15:00.000-07:00

Junior.... is our smallest tractor. This cute little tractor is mainly used to pull the tyne weeder which is attached at this time.

The tyne weeder is another method of weeding similar to the rotary hoe. It disturbs the weeds when they are small not hurting plants with larger roots such as a crop of beans.

Another ford tractor, this one has a quick attach system on the front to easily change from a fork loader like it has on now to a bucket loader.

These are handy tractors for odd and end use around the farm.

The Ford5000.
One of our older tractors but used quite often for the smaller jobs and for moving the irrigation sprinkler jets.

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Case Tractor line-up

2008-07-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

Case 9330

Here is a photo of our largest case tractor. This is a powerful unit which can pull large trains of equipment. All our tractors with dual rear tires are used in fields which are not yet planted.

We have 1 of these.

Case 7140

Another good work horse is the 7140. It has 4 wheel drive and is used often pulling field preparation equipment.

We have 1 of these.

Case 7120

This one is very similar to the 7140 except it is 2 wheel drive. Two wheel drive tractors are very handy because they can turn in tight locations.

We have 1 of these.

Our multi-purpose case. We have several buckets that will fast connect to the lift. It is 4 wheel drive and has tons of power.

Downside: The air conditioner does not work all that well and can be very dusty on hot dry days. No stereo radio either... must talk to management about this problem.

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Tractor Line-up (the Deers)

2008-06-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Number 1

This is the 8300. It is our largest John Deere and our only tractor with tracks (rubber).

We have only 1 of this type.

Number 2 of the big boys is the 8120.

It is 4 wheel drive with duel rear tires.

We have 1 of this type.

Number 3 is the 7330.

A little smaller 4 wheel drive with single rear tires.

This tractor's wheels are adjusted especially to work in the potato fields which have slightly different spaces between the rows.

I use this tractor the most. We have 1 of this type.

Number 4.

Here we have the 6120. It is also 4 wheel drive.

This is the beaver of our tractors, it is used on all our field maintenance equipment and used steady through out the summer.

We have 3 of these tractors.

Number 5.

Last on the John Deere list is the 6110. It is a little smaller than the 6120 and is only 2 wheel drive. It is the most agile of the Deere's and can turn in its own length.

All our John Deere's have enclosed cabs, with air conditioning and a stereo radio. Life is tuff eh!

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Cranberry fields in flower....

2008-06-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Cranberries are pollinated by bees and they are very important to a good crop. The difference between a good and fair crop can be in the amount several hundred thousand dollars. Nothing to trifle with.

This is a photo of the little flowers, each one if pollinated produces a cranberry.

These are the buds and flowers that are so very critical. If we were to get a frost it would kill them and the crop would be very small.

All the cranberry fields are protected by a computer system which monitors the temperatures and will start up and stop the irrigation system as required. The water is warmer than the air thus raising the temperature.

Frost protection running.

In this photo we have a view of field #3 located right outside our door where we are camped.

You can see the light pink through out the field where the buds are coming into bloom.

Now we bring in the honey bees.

We have a bee contractor who supplies us with over two hundred hives. They are distributed through out the cranberry fields and do the majority of the pollination required for a good crop.

Here is another location with hives.

The hives are in place for approximately 3 weeks.

The cost is over $35,000.

And.... we do not get to keep the honey!

Here they are hard at work for another season.

We would not have cranberries if it were not for our bees.

What will happen if our bees disappear like they slowly are.

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Weed control, does it ever END!

2008-06-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

NOT while a crop is growing!

Introducing the ROTARY HOE

This gadget that goes on the back of a tractor is called a rotary hoe. It is composed of dozens of little wheels and each wheel has a bunch of hoes on it.
As the wheel turns, a little hoe goes about 1 inch into the soil at the front of the turn and flips soil out at the back of the turn.
Any plants with only short roots gets pulled out of the ground.

It can be used to weed in fields that have been planted before the seeds germinate.

It can also be used in fields where the crop has broken surface.

When a bean plant breaks surface it has established a root that goes down several inches anchoring itself. We can now operate the rotary hoe again in these fields.

When the weeds seeds germinate they are in the top 1/4 inch of soil, a small root starts and a small green sprout breaks surface.

During this stage they are vulnerable and easily taken out by the rotary hoe. The crop is not affected by the little hoes.

You can see the rows of beans behind the rotary hoe as it passes over them.

Robert is operating the rotary hoe again this year. It is a time consuming job as each field must be redone every 3 to 4 days. If one waits longer the weeds get a longer root and can no longer be take out with this machine. Bad news if this happens.

This piece of equipment can operate for 2 twelve hour days at 10 miles per hour doing many fields for the same price as a large crew of hoer's working for 1 hour.

Yes, even with the cost of fuel as it is now.

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Weeding cycle for corn

2008-06-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

Corn is a little simpler than potatoes.

See the weeds behind me, and on the left edge see where I have gone over with the rotovator.

A view of the corn rotovator which is set up different than the potato rotovator.

Then the weeding crew comes in again.

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Weeding cycle for organic potatoes

2008-06-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, weeding does not stop.

We have had 8 days of rain and wet weather so the fields have been too wet to work.

The potatoes have grown, and of course the weeds.

Can you see the weeds between the rows of potatoes?

This is what happens next.........

First the in-row rotovator goes through the fields chewing up the weeds between the rows leaving the potatoes intact. This gets rid of the weeds between the rows.

Sorry, I missed a photo of the equipment.

Next, our hoeing crew tackles the weeds within the rows. Yup, its all done by hand.

The hoeing crew has gone through this field. You can see their footprints in the soft soil.

Next, we go through the field with the cultivator which softens the soil in preparation for the hiller which comes next.

Here is a photo of the hiller making those nice hills in which the potatoes grow.

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Organic potatoes and late blighjt

2008-06-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

Potatoes can be susceptible to a nasty fungus called "Late Blight".
This is especially serious for the organic farmer who cannot use the strong chemicals available on the market. There is only one item approved for organic farming that makes a difference and that is made up of copper in a form we can mix with water called "Copper Hydroxide". Our soils are low in this mineral as well so the addition of copper is a benefit to its mineral balance.

We like to start our spraying when the plants reach 4-6 inches in height. The leaves are coated with the copper which forms a protection from spores when they land on the leaves.

In this photo I am driving through our first potato field that is ready for spraying with the sprayer behind me. You can see the potatoes are at the required height.

Here, you can see the booms extended with the sprayer in operation. We are using a pressure of about 250 psi, traveling at 5 miles per hour and this will apply 2 kg of copper per 10 acres.

My view of the booms in the mirror. They must be kept level and at the right height above the plants for best coverage.

From now on until harvest we will continue to spray every 5-10 days depending on weather conditions. The more rain the more often we need to spray. As the new leaves are forming they are vulnerable to the blight spores and must be covered before any land. Copper spraying is my 1st priority on the farm.

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Lost ocean going ships

2008-06-01T08:07:00.001-07:00

Could it be that this ship made a wrong turn and is going up our irrigation ditches?

Wow, here is another one traveling in the opposite direction.The United Spirit is a car carrying freighter.

One sees the strangest things while working in the fields.

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Potato Planter

2008-06-01T07:39:00.001-07:00

This is the potato planter being pulled by a tractor. The planter has a bin full of cut seed potatoes which it plants in neat rows. This planter does 4 rows at a time.

The next stage in potato planting is to follow the planted rows with a cultivator.
There are 2 reasons for this:
1. First stage of weeding.
2. Soften the soil to prepare for the hiller.

Here I am following the tracks of the planter, you can see the passes I already made on the left and right sides.

This picture shows the hiller on the back of a 6120 John Deere tractor.

A view to the rear showing the hilling plows at work.

Finished fields.

Now it will be a continuous schedule of weeding. We do as much weeding with equipment as we can. If we do not keep ahead of the weeds this way, when the potatoes are out of the ground and reach a size too large for the weeders they will have to be done by hand. Contract labour is very expensive.

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More soil working stages

2008-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Over a period of several days, this field has been worked over with a disc or other implement that breaks down the soil and kills the weeds and grass.

The number of passes depends on the condition of the weeds and soil and weather.

Sunlight on the roots is a major factor in killing the grass

More and more passes are made, always at a different angle.

Here is a picture of the soil when we are just about ready to plant.
No grass or weeds to be seen.

This is the last pass prior to planting. Notice the lumps are smaller and the tracks from the packer breaking down those lumps.

Next we will show the potato side of our farm.

Working the soil - and grass to no-grass

2008-06-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

First and second stage.

Composted manure has been spread over the grass and weeds in the field.
The manure is then disced in with one pass. This starts the process of working the soil as well as covering the (smell?)
See the grass on the right and one pass on the left.

A view of what we are working with.
This is what the field is completely covered with. No herbicides were used in this field.

Third stage:

There is a second pass with the disc which is done at a different angle to the first pass.
See the change in the soil.

A close up of what the soil looks like on the second pass of the disc.

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The last day of spreading...

2008-05-28T05:33:00.001-07:00

We try to end the last day of spreading near the main farm so that it would only be a short trip back for clean up and storage.
Here we are moving on Hwy. 17 from Tsawwassen to the north side of Hwy 99 near the main farm.

Traffic loves to see farmers on the move.

You can see my buddies up ahead. Notice how we take up a right lane rather than all off to the side. It is dangerous to drive on the side when there is not enough room as a full lane. Traffic tries to pass you when they do not have enough room and they will not let you back in to the lane if at all possible. I know, we use up a lane with slow vehicles, traffic hates it but it is the safest method.

We made it to the next field with out too much of a incident. Down the highway we needed to get into the left lane for going over the overpass. No body would let us in...so, Deepa driving the truck towing a spreader just started to pull in to the left lane giving the traffic a choice of either letting us in or being covered with you know what..... they let us in.
We are discussing how come we did not see any vertical fingers......

Play this video and watch for the crazy tractor driver............

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2008-05-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

Andrew is getting ready to operate his disc/packer to break up the soil into smaller and smaller pieces prior to planting. He is cleaning out the packer rollers at the rear of the equipment train.

Off he goes now breaking up those lumps.

Notice the tractor he is driving has rubber tracks rather than tires.

Next to follow is the seeding of the fields. In this case Jeff is planting beans.
This field is called Sunny Side because it is located right next to the Sunny Side Nursery beside the highway to the ferries.

Another photo of seeding as a tight turn is made to start the next set of rows.

It is now getting into the latter days of May now. We are into our last day of spreading manure and we must get those seeds into the ground while the weather is good. Seeding is a very exacting operation. One must plant with the harvesting days in mind. It would not be good to have all the fields ready to harvest at the same time.

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I am falling behind

2008-05-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

Filling up my tractor with that expensive diesel at the end of the day.

I am sorry that I am falling behind on my publishing. We are just so busy now that we are in the process of selling our house in Kamloops, storing our stuff, working 13 hour days, checking out new places on the Island, etc etc.

I have plenty of items to post and promise I will get at it very shortly.

Field friends...NOT

2008-05-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is our Canadian Beaver at work. These photos show some of the destruction of trees that line fields containing drainage ditches.

Well, trees are the food for beavers and they can get hungry as well as anyone. They also dig holes in the ditches damaging the water ways.
It is interesting how the beaver can adapt to survive in this urban farming area amongst the houses and businesses and industrial plants.

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I am now disking

2008-05-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

As often happens, one gets moved from one piece of equipment to another. Karl went to operate a polymulcher which follows in fields we have done and gone. It works the soil breaking the lumps of dirt into smaller and smaller pieces in preparation for the seeder.

In this view you can see the disked portion to the left and the un-disked green area to the right which has been spread with manure.
This field is completely green with a cover of weeds. It actually looks like a lawn it is so green. If this was a non-organic field which is regularly sprayed with herbicides you would see very little weeds.
When we are finished working the land and planting takes place, this field will be completely free of weeds, not one will be showing.

Ah....but those weed seeds still in the soil are just waiting to sprout right along with our crops. It is then that the non-ending battle with the weeds takes place. It never stops. Only when the crops are harvested do we slow down the weeding and that is after the soil is turned over one more time and rests over the winter.

Watch the video of the BOUNCING TRACTOR BELOW:

...

STILL SPREADING

2008-05-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is May 10th and we are still spreading. We are doing well though and are ahead of schedule and the other equipment.

Potato fields are getting planted. I must get some photos of them at this stage. We have been away from these fields so the photo opportunity has not presented itself.....later....

Moving our hoe from field to field.

Filling our spreaders....over and over, again and again.

The field to the right is non-organic. This photo clearly shows the buffer zone that we have to maintain between all non-organic neighboring fields.

Our production area is reduced in size if we have non-organic neighbors.

..

rained out

2008-05-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday is a normal work day for us during this stage but not today. It rained quite a bit over night leaving the fields very muddy. If we were to continue as normal (even if we could) we would make a terrible mess and it would be no fun. Saturday was therefore canceled and Sunday is a normal day off (also fields need to dry) Monday May 5th is to be the new start up day.

Sunday was a fair day, no rain and things dried out. Betty and I decide to take the opportunity to do our move from Brent and Shelly's drive way to our (cranberry park) camping area at the edge of the cranberry fields.

This gives me a chance to show a couple of photos of our friends who live in the fields.

Our ever present ducks. While they do munch on our newly planted seeds on occasion they do not usually do too much damage.

We even plant barley in some fields over winter in cooperation
with the fish and wild life branch to feed these friends.

Somebody is always watching somebody. Old baldy here, is keeping and eye on those ducks.

Baldy likes his ducks rare.

These beautiful cock pheasants abound in many of our fields.

does it ever stop

2008-04-30T05:23:00.001-07:00

Monday morning, yes its one of those Mondays. Don is back with us today. A couple of hours into the day and I glance over to Don but what do I see........

Yup, the tire on Don's spreader just decided it had enough and was not going to cooperate any more. It was going to walk (roll) away from this job.

Stu is amazed that the tire just decided to unscrew its bolds, spit them out and drop to the ground in this last 20 ft.

Don is proud to acclaim yet another trophy.

So what do we do with this heavy, heavy spreader to change the tire. Why, we call out the professionals of course. A great many businesses that cater to the farmers here in the lower mainland owe their existence to our Don and eagerly hover off in the distance of what ever field he is working in.

And it goes on....

2008-04-27T15:06:00.001-07:00

Oops, Don has another breakdown. Management is coming over to have a look at things. Fortunately, it was not a big thing and Don was back to work in 10 minutes.

Meet Dwayne.
Dwayne is going to take over Don's tractor today.

Lunch time at our cafeteria in the field

Tomorrow is Sunday and that will be a day off for us. I hear it is going to rain an well

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First 3 stages of getting the land ready

2008-04-26T05:28:00.000-07:00

This is the first stage.
Spreading the fertilizer over the land when is is dry enough from the winter rains.

Second Stage.
During this stage, the manure is turned in the soil. It covers the manure with soil reducing the smell and is the first step in breaking up the dirt for planting.

Third stage.
In this photo you see the sub soiler. The tractor is pulling an implement that drags large teeth up to 3 feet below the surface through the dirt. The teeth breaks up the lower level of soil to
allow aeration and good drainage.

Carl says HI to everyone.

You have seen the first 3 stages or working the land and it is still not ready for planting.

Routine Day

2008-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

There it is, just to the right of my tractors nose. Its BROWN GOLD! Well, at least to an Organic Farmer its brown gold. I am parked right next to the pile with the hoe which is loading me up for a delivery.

That is Stu in the hoe doing the loading. He piles the brown gold into my spreader until it just starts to spill over. With a full load the spreader is carrying a tremendous weight and we must be careful driving over the rough roads or we could break something.

Here are my buddies on their way back for another load while I am pulling out from the pile. It is back and forth all day long until we need to move on to another pile in another field.

This is a drivers view going down a field road.

Now we are at our destination and doing the spreading. It is back and forth covering the field with an even layer of fertilizer. We have 2 settings when we spread. Heavy setting is used for crops such as corn and a light setting used for a crop such as beans.

Today went pretty good, no break downs and Don is back with his repaired spreader.

First Day

2008-04-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

Today is actually the 2nd day of spreading. Yeah, they started without me yesterday. Things don't always go smoothly of the farm, today, someone left the key on and the battery was dead on my tractor. Getting ready to jump start it using my truck parked
by the wheel.

Meet the crew. This is Carl. He thinks that maybe he did leave the key on yesterday. Carl is driving the big John Deere with the rubber tracks pulling a disc. He turns in the manure after we spread it. We like to be neighbour friendly, so no smell.

Meet Bill.
Bill is driving the older Ford tractor pulling a spreader like me. Right now he is wondering what the hell am I doing with this camera.

Here we have Gary. Gary is driving a John Deere pulling a spreader.

Here we have a photo of Carl and Don discussing who might have left the key on causing the dead battery. Don likes to break things, but claims he did not even drive that tractor yesterday. Today Don is driving that red Case tractor behind him pulling a spreader.
He did not have a good day today. First a shear pin broke on his spreader so it was a trip to the shop and back for parts. Later after a good hour of work, the axle on his spreader gave up the ghost and broke too. That was it for him today, it was carefully tow the spreader to the shop for repairs and take the rest of the day off.

Meet Stu. Stu operates the hoe and loads up all our spreaders. Stu is also in charge of the spreading operation. He spends all winter turning over the manure piles ensuring that they have a good even heat to meet compost regulations. During the spreading operations, Stu's responsibility is to get the job done. He fixes our breakdowns, tows us out of the mud when we get stuck, wipes our tears when we break something and breaks up our fights when we have a disagreement. We love Stu.

Then there is Pharmbouy, that happy go lucky author of this blog.
He never breaks anything, he is always on time for work, a willing helper and all that.... well you know what.

Have you heard of the BLACK GANG of the coal mines in Nova Scotia. Well, you have just met the BROWN GANG of Fraserland Farms.

We will continue this story tomorrow....Betty just told me to get my coveralls the H.......ll out of the trailer.

It's starting

2008-04-23T05:53:00.000-07:00

It is now 5:30 am, and I have an hour to check the web, and get ready for work. Today is the 2nd day of spreading (you know what) and its all organic too.
Betty is still in bed but she made my lunch last night.
Its tough on the first day after a winter of sun and beaches. Oh well, I guess this is what they call the real world.
Stay tuned to see what goes on the farm.

April 14/08 "In the beginning"

2008-04-14T16:12:00.000-07:00

This blog is about Larry and Betty Pollard spending the summer away from their winter travels. Not long after they return from the south Larry exchanges his sockless sandals, t-shirts and Bermuda shorts for work socks, steel toed work boots and cover-alls in preparation for another season working on an organic farm that is partly owned and operated by Betty’s daughter and son-in-law, Shelly and Brent Harris. Brent is a fifth generation Delta farmer and along with his dad, brother and brother-in-law oversee the operations of more than 1000 acres of organic vegetables in Delta BC. They also harvest more than 100 acres of cranberries (non-organic).

A note from Betty:
Who would have known that in 1995 when Larry retired from the Air Traffic Control tower in Kamloops, BC that he would end up driving a tractor for six months in the summers? It all started in June 2001 when Shelly called me and asked if Larry would be interested in managing a special project involving the research study of using compost tea on some of the organic crops. I recall the conversation way back when: “And Mom, it is only for 12 weeks in the summer and only for two years”! Well, that is seven seasons ago. The part-time short-term job offer has evolved into the position of part-time manure spreader, part-time liquid copper oxide spreader, part-time cranberry frost protection monitor and part-time handyman. Larry forgot to look at the fine print on the contract that states: “Once you sign on the farm you are in for life”! Up until the summer of 2007, I remained at our home in Kamloops and Larry commuted between Kamloops and Delta. We have since rented out our home in Kamloops and now live in our 30-foot 5^th wheel full time and spend six months from early May to mid October parked at a slightly wooded spot at a far corner of the farm where we are surrounded by cranberry fields. We are entertained by the sounds and flights of the eagles nestled in the close by trees, the squirrels sneaking off with the left over seeds left behind by the many variety of small birds feeding off the several bird feeders. At the end of the season we pack up and head back to Kamloops to winterize our water garden before we head back to Mexico for the winter months. Although our little spot is isolated, I am using the time constructively. I am realizing a life-long project and working on a book relating to the ancestral history of my grandparents, Georges Lavoie and Marie-Anne Poirier.

Yes that’s how it all started.

It is now the middle of April 2008 and the fields are still too wet from the winter rains for our equipment to start work. Spring is in the air and the sun is warming the land, it won’t be long now.

Things will be happening soon, so take time out to follow the issues of “Pharmbouy on the Farm”.