Halloween came and Halloween went, but not many ghosts and goblins were about, ‘cause it rained.
Halloween usually marks the “get ready” for winter season here at Westwind Farms.
By Thanksgiving, most of the crops had been harvested and the winter keepers displayed in various arrangements on the flat-wracked hay wagons.
Nothing is wasted here, as anything left over is fed to the pigs, and they really enjoy these snacks from the gardens.
All four gardens, four acres in all, are in the process of being cleared of bulky debris, which is added to our giant compost heap. The lesser amounts and the coming-up weeds as green manure are disked into the ground again and again whenever the weather is fit.
As Westwind Farms is heading in the direction of being total organic, we do not use the commercial fertilizers, nor do we spray insecticides. What we do use is only the well-composted manure from our own barns, as we know well what our animals are being fed. Our gigantic compost pile is placed out of sight and well away from the buildings. Flies, always a problem where animals are kept, are not so much so when stalls are kept clean on a regular basis.
Our bee yard, where multiple hives rest in a row, is also placed well away from the buildings, in an out-of-the-wind location, and sufficiently fenced to be out of the way of the pasturing animals.
I have strong mixed feelings this week, as I have successfully sold the last of my birds. This is where reluctance stirred, but with another birthday just past, time has placed me on the wrong side of 80 by more years than I care to admit. This is coupled with the fact that I can no longer care for them properly during the cold winter months. Such being so, they all must go.
Gone are all the canaries that I have raised ever since childhood. Long gone are the noisy peacocks, and gone are the many breeds of show bantams that kept me busy each fall.
Gone are my many species of beautiful pheasants, and gone too are my many doves, as well as my pride and joy, the mandarin ducks, which puddled for hours in their tiny pool. Sadly, my aviaries are empty.
But not gone are my many memories, and not gone is Foxy, my faithful companion, who with Jennie, my jitney, accompany me safely, twice daily, around the fence-line that includes the two large paddocks by the barn and circles the back rear end of the farm.
This allows me to talk to the animals, enjoy fresh air and sunshine, and greet the flow of customers as they come and go while picking up eggs at our workshop. What more could I want?
Take care, ‘cause we care.
barrie@barriehopkins.ca
519-986-4105