Fall photos for you….

We are hosting The Pemberton Pig Party here at Rootdown on the evening of August 20th , the night before the Slow Food Cycle Sunday. The event is being organized by our friends and devine food creators The Food Lovers. Some info:

A celebration of our love of pigs & farms! Get a head start on Slow Food Cycle Sunday by indulging in a feast and getting limber at a barn dance.  Expect to eat an abundance of that most magical animal in all its forms – slow roasted suckling pig, ribs, sausages, bacon, pulled pork and more.  We will be presenting an equally decadent spread of fresh organic vegetables from Rootdown farms – from salads to grilled vegetables and of course Pemberton potatoes! Summer berry pies and squares to satisfy your sweet tooth too!

Your ticket includes:

All you can indulge in buffet

Complimentary glass of PVV berry sangria

Live music  from 7 till 10 pm

Cash bar offering local beer and BC wines

Shuttle bus service from Pemberton Village – get home safe!

Tickets are $50 plus HST and can be purchased  here.

Hope to see you here.

Farm Field Dinner

Again this year we were privileged enough to attend the Outstanding In The Field Dinner at North Arm Farm here in Pemberton. An outdoor long table event for those interested in experiencing a five star meal right where their meals are coming from. Our salad greens again were highlighted as part of the five courses, so we got to tag along with them to provide a background to the guests.

We are please to announce the arrival of twelve healthy Tamworth pigs.  They are adapting well to their home and are less shy of us each day (as they learn that we are the ones who bring the food).  For now we are keeping them in a movable pen that our neighbour built for us (thanks John!).  It’s great because we can move it easily with our little tractor, which we need to do every couple of days (that’s how quickly these little pigs work up the soil without damaging it too much).  They’re doing a great job of rooting around and digging up weeds while also spreading their manure.  Soon they will outgrow this pen, however, at which time we will move them on to a larger pasture contained by electric fencing.  But for now we’ll keep moving the little pen and try to focus the pig action across as much future-vegetable field as possible.

The market season of 2011 has officially started.  Last Saturday you could find us at the Squamish Farmers Market hawking the first salad greens and spinach of the season, as well as lots of tranplants for your home garden.  If  you didn’t make it out or if you forgot that the market was on, don’t worry we’ll be there again this weekend.  We’ll have a wide variety of transplants including heirloom tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, basil and other herbs (as well as greens for some fresh spring eatin’!).  Or if you’re going to be in the neighbourhood and would like to purchase transplants, you’re welcome to stop by the farm (but please call ahead to be sure that we are around).

As for our other markets, we’ll be going to Farmers Markets in Pemberton, Whistler and Vancouver starting next month.  For more details check out our  Market Schedule .  Hope to see you there!

Such a dynamic time of year, where it can be sunny and warm and over 40 degrees in the greenhouse and then still -5 nighttime temperatures!  Some days it feels like we get a whole year of weather conditions in one day.  As the days get longer and the sun gets higher in the sky, the signs of spring are blooming everywhere around the valley and at the farm, and the excitement for the season is building.

This is the time of year where things are changing and growing so quickly that we can see changes day to day around the farm, and the valley. Furthermore, as the snow disappears in the valley, there is still some time, and good snow to get up in the mountains and explore our alpine neighbourhood before officially retiring our skis for gumboots.  Given all the daily wonders of farming and living in the Pemberton valley in spring, I feel pretty lucky, spoiled like a millionaire, one that just happens to be broke most of the time.

Exploring our Pemberton neighbourhood

Our chicks have arrived!  This morning we drove  to the local post office where we picked up a cardboard box full of 60 cheep-cheeping chicks.  These day-old chicks were mailed yesterday from Miller Hatcheries near Edmonton.  Chicks hatch with enough energy from the egg to survive their first 48 hours without food and water.  This is what enables hatcheries to mail then out to farms like us.  We have to go to such lengths to order chickens from afar because of organic certification standards and because of our own desire to raise more rare and dual purpose breeds.  That said, I imagine it’s still an arduous journey for the little gals and it sure felt nice to put these chicks into our warm brood set-up with  food and water.

It’s been two years since we had new chickens.  Of the original flock, four remain (recall the terrible event last fall when a dog got into our chicken run).  The old hens are doing fine, but this new flock will become our main laying hens for the next couple years.  Of the 60 chicks: 25 are Isa Browns (a good solid laying hen); 25 are Red Rock Cross (a “dual purpose” bird that is generally hardier on pasture, a descent layer and a good meat bird); as well as 10 Red Rock cockerels (for our freezer!).  Keep an eye out for our farm fresh eggs come June!

Path to the greenhouse

We have many friends farming throughout the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island and while we might only be a few hours away, the climate here is significantly different.  As they are starting seeds in their greenhouses and planting cool weather crops in their fields, we are still looking at 3 ft. of snow!  Apparently there is a local saying ’round these parts that goes: on March 1 if you measure the depth  of the snow (in inches) that will be the number of days until the snow is gone.  Well, out of curiosity we did just that and based on our 39″ measurement, we will not being seeing our soil until April 8!  And that’s just seeing, that does not include the time it takes for the soil to dry out enough for us to get on the field with a tractor without compacting the soil.  At any rate, we are starting our onions, celeriac and asparagus next week with the hope that we can plant them out in mid April.  Thank goodness for our greenhouse and grow-lights!

Also, we’d like to welcome Niki Strutynski to the Rootdown team.  Niki met Sarah, Simone and Gavin while participating in an organic agriculture apprenticeship at the UBC Farm in 2008.  Since then she has been working on organic farms in the Okanagan, but now she is excited to be back closer to the coast and her old community in Vancouver.  We are excited to have her join us for the enthusiasm and experience that she brings (and to help with snow removal this winter!!!).