Tuesday 17 December 2013

Happy Holidays!
The holiday season is upon us. We would like to wish everyone a 
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Here is our Christmas tree for this year. Its loaded with eggs and chickens and everything else you can possibly find on our farm! 

The snowfall that covered the ground earlier in December was fun for some animals but not others...
Our ducks didn't mind the snow but they missed their bathing water...
which was frozen solid. 

The vegetables didn't like the white stuff as much as the ducks...these were kale that we forgot to cover. Now that the freeze is over, some survived but some ended up in the chickens' feeding trough. 

Our lovely frozen pond. There is not a creature in sight. 

The silkies were the other animal on the farm that didn't mind the snow especially those with fuller feathered feet. Those with less feathers on their feet stayed inside and sulked. 

We would like to thank everyone for your support throughout this year.
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and see you at the market next year.

Stay warm.

Thank you! 
From all of us at Nature and Living

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Our Last Markets of Year 2013

November already?!? This year sure fly by fast. 
Here one more look at all the green stuff before the frost-BITES. 
Sorrel - one of the other strange things that graced our market table this year. It didn't receive much love and attention at the market but our goats sure loved them! 

This was taken before the big freeze. Ducks await their turn at the kiddie pools for a duck bath. There are 3 pools available but everyone seems to only like the one with the hose attached!

Slurping foot-bath water....surely hope the one in there didn't in track any mud....

Tasty water! 

Male duck - drake has orange beak
Female duck - hen has pink beak
So we were told....but we found out that yes the ones with pink beaks are definitely hens but that didn't guarantee that all orange beaks are drakes!

Here we are at our last market showing. We were indoors at Grow and Gather for the last 4 markets. Although it was still cold but at least we didn't have to battle the cold, wind and rain at the same time.  
Thank you all for your support and patronage throughout the year. 
We sure would love to hear from you - our wonderful customers from the market as to what you would like to see us grow for the next year's market. Please email us and let us know so that we can continue to grow the things you love - info@natureandliving.com






Wednesday 2 October 2013

Its October Already?!?

When pumpkins start to appear on market table...we know its officially AUTUMN! 
So far we've got pie pumpkins and mini pumpkins gracing our tables at the market. Soon we'll also have some carving pumpkins as well. 
 Thanksgiving won't be the same without some of these delicious Brussels sprouts. For those of you that never did like them, try the fresh ones sliced up in a stir-fry. You might be surprised by how good they taste fresh compared to frozen. 
 Portabella mushrooms have been appearing at our market at end of every month since June this year. They usually sold out before the market is over. We love ours done up with a bit of shredded mozzarella, garlic powder, and pepper. How about you? Come by and share/swap recipes. We always love to hear new ways of cooking produce we grow and sell. 
 One of the most popular goodies on our table is the cauliflower. If you want one, make sure you come to the table early or email us and place your orders through email. 
Kohlrabi....a stranger to most people....what to do with this wonderful yet alien veggie? Well, the simplest way to use up a kohlrabi is to shred it and add a pinch of salt to it and let it sit for an hour or two in the fridge. Before serving, drizzle with a bit of sesame oil and voila...you got yourself a refreshing appetizer. 
 What would a Caesar salad be without romaine lettuce? These wonderful yet easy to use veggies are growing very well now that weather has cooled down a bit. Add a bit of arugula to your salad to spice it up. 
 Spinach also benefits from the cool weather. Now we can finally harvest some leaves instead of watching the plants bolt after the first set of leaves appear. 
 We had our giant zucchinis now we've got giant cucumber! When the plants are grown in good compost, you never know what monsters you'll get. 

Friday 20 September 2013

Fall is Here but Everything is Still Lush Green

Many people that came by our stall at the Haney Farmer's Market asked about the blue egg chickens. 
They are the Araucana/Americana with quite interesting feather patterns. 
Here's a picture of the rooster. He is very feisty. Even when you think you have him under control, he would sneak a peck or two every now and then just to test out who is still the boss on the field.  
Too bad for him though, a lot of the hens on the field are Cuckoo Marans and Javas which are a LOT bigger than him and could easily throw him off their back or put him to a chase. So at the end of the day he would hop on the highest roost in the coop and sulk. 
Above is the Araucana hen. See the tuff of feather on their cheeks? These two hens are specially kept in a cage because they were severely attacked by other Rhode Island Reds in the coop. Due to their all white feather, they were easy target for the RIR when they first moved into the coop.  

Ever seen real chicken dance? 
These two are practicing their synchronized chicken double bar routine!
Look to right...
Hop on other bar and walk together....need more practice on the feet rhythm.
Back on the same bar for the grand finish!
These two hens are both Araucana but one of them has the look of a hawk and the other looks more like the other white Araucana in the picture above. 
Araucana are quite capable of flying. They usually occupy the highest "roost-able" spots in the coop top door frame ledge, roof beams...you name it....they will make their way up there somehow.  

Sunday 21 July 2013

Vegetables Available this Month

Now that the heat wave is upon us, a few new vegetables have also made it to our market table.
Beans Beans Beans!
Wonderful to add in stir fries the beans are a staple for summer season. 

Malabar Spinach
This veggie may be strange to some but they are a nice crispy addition to salad mix. Their thick and juicy leaves make them really nice for use in soups and stir fries. Malabar Spinach is a good source for vitamin A.

Red Amaranth 
They are good alternative to the regular spinach for the summer season. In most areas spinach is not available during summer because they have a tendency to bolt really fast in the summer. Red Amaranth can be cooked similar way to spinach and they really becomes tender when cooked. 
Water Spinach
These are also good alternative to the regular spinach. They are much crispier than spinach and red amaranth and do not leave any strange after taste in your mouth. Water Spinach is a good start for people who are new to Asian greens and are interested in adding some to their cooking. 

Strawberries
Yummy juicy fruits that is the trademark of summer season! These are not available at every market but if you would like us to contact you when we do have some available, give us an email and we would be more than happy to reserve strawberries for you. 
Bantam Cochin Rooster
The feather feet rooster! He may be small but he is packed with a fiery temper. 

Silkie Rooster
One of the better looking silkies in our flock. He is also smaller in size but he is a mighty protector of his hens. Whenever one of the hens wanders out of the netted area he would go in panic mode and get everyone else into the coop and wait for us to help him get his hen back inside the net. 

Last but not the least of the feather feet! He is a Buckeye / Silkie cross. He has inherited the mellow temper of his Buckeye mommy and the dainty appearance of his Silkie daddy. He is one of the best looking birds in this coop. 




Friday 7 June 2013

Market Season is officially here!

Our apologies to those that have been diligently checking our blog for updates on what is available at the market but found no updates till now. We won't make any excuses but will try our very best to be on top of the updates from now on. 

Come visit us at the Haney Farmer's Market every Saturday from 9am to 2pm. Our friendly market staff is there to help you with all your grocery and gardening needs. 
Products we always have at the market:
Free range brown eggs - large $5/dozen; jumbo $6/dozen
Free range Araucana blue eggs - $4/dozen
Free range duck eggs - $6/dozen
Enoki mushrooms - $2/100g & Emperor mushrooms - $3/140g
Hosta (assorted variety) - $4 per 1 gal pot





Products we currently have for the June market:
Spinach, gai-choi, gai-lan, yu-choi, pac-choi, Shanghai pac-choi - $2 / lb
Romaine lettuce & green leaf lettuce - $2 per head
Kale, arugula, rapini, dill - $2 per bunch
Geranium & Fushcia - $2 per 4" pot or $9 for 6 pots
Sweet Basil or Thai Basil - $5 per 6 plug tray
Specialty herbs (cinnamon basil, mint, thyme, or rosemary) - $1.50 per 4" pot

See you at the market! 

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Spring is HERE....Already?!?

The farm has been quite busy during the winter. Here's a look at some of the new additions to the farm just after the 2012 market season ended....
We got cattles now!!! Here's Molly and her 3 adopted calves. 
Molly is not camera shy at all...or rather as it gets dark Molly always knows to hang by the fence and MOO really loud to get her new bale of hay. These photos were taken back in November of 2012 when they just arrived on our farm for 2-3 weeks. Now the calves are double the size of the ones in the photo! 
Molly hanging out in her little shed. 
At the end of the day, as farmer Chris muck out Molly's shed  and pasture...
Molly gives him her sincere "thank you." 
The cool weather sure made the chickens HAPPY! On the top, we got jumbos and XLs from our regular brown egg hens...middle 2 rows are from our specialty chickens such as Silkies and Araucanas, bottom row are our duck eggs which has been staying at a steady jumbo size.
According to BC Egg Marketing Board, eggs heavier than 70g or more are considered jumbos. Here's one of the typical jumbos from our hen house weighing in at 82g. 
Then comes the monster....XX Jumbo weighing in at a whooping 145g! 
And here they are the Jumbo beside the XX Jumbo.....makes the jumbo look rather small doesn't it?
Just before spring sneaked up on us...we got GOATS! Meet our new weeding team. They munch on the weirdest stuff! Blackberry vines are their absolute favourite. I think we'll just let them eat the perimeter of our property clean before rebuilding our fence.