wind-whipped farm – Mason Bees and Phragmites tubes for sale

The Whole Field is Trenched now for Drainage

trenches are backfilled with topsoil while this clay is used to level the field later.

Clearing the topsoil in order to level the lower part of the field

Infilling and leveling with clay so from the trenches so that topsoil can be placed back on top

The roots of the pear trees travel horizontally over 10 metres and the roots of Garry Oaks on the south side of the field travelled even further

Farm Improvements: Drainage.

This summer, our son Alex and his partner Virginie have taken a year off for their Wind-whipped Farm , “the Local Food Box Project,” to improve infrastructure for their farming business. This week it has been the excavation of their garden area for the installation of weeping tile for drainage. The purpose is to allow them to get on the land a month or two earlier in the spring. I took this set of photos to show the extent of the job. It gave us a great opportunity to have a “window into the underground”, and see what the glaciers left 10,000 years ago.

The main collector line starts near the road above the greenhouse.

Moisture around the greenhouse will be partly removed by this curtain drain trench.

Alex holding the rod for the laser level sensor.

Exposing and removing an old bottle dump, (probably 1940s) by the barn

I used the Kyoti for several trenches as well

One trench I exposed got into a bed of sand at a 1.5 metre depth,( piled on the left.)

This morning the slinger sends sand into the trench s to cover the drainage pipes.

New Farmers Need New Government

Our son Alex Fletcher just published this item on the National Farmer’s Union Website. It is one of the best statements I have seen for some time on the issues around sustainability in Farming:

“There isn’t much talk about agriculture and the farm succession crisis this election. The political calculation seems to be that agriculture is a rural issue and rural issues don’t matter because they don’t swing votes. The assumption being that urban voters, who make up the majority, don’t understand or don’t care much about agriculture.

But Agriculture isn’t just another special interest group and it’s certainly not just a “rural issue”. It’s the heart of our food system and part of the backbone of our economy. Yet its under strain and suffering from neglect as is indicated by the decline of the young farmer demographic, which has dropped by 69% over the last 20 year census period”………See the complete article at: http://www.nfu.ca/blog/NewFarmersNewGovernment/670

Alex and his partner Virginie also have the following Blog:
The local foodbox

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