Just a quick overnight this weekend, we wanted to come up and make sure all the new plants were surviving and get things tidied up before Fathers Day weekend, next weekend.
We did manage to get out fishing once, but the water was very high and we were not able to walk very far.
We also managed to "drop" in at the farm on Concession #2, Glencolton Farm and buy some barley straw to combat the pond algae. Some of you may remember the algae problem and my research on the Internet for natural products that would eliminate it without harming fish. We had been guided in the direction of the farm from a helpful home hardware employee, when we realized that the small bags of barley straw pellets would not be cost effective for the size of our pond.
So we headed (Saturday) a mile or so up concession #2 from North line to the large farm with the big "government keep your hands off our land" sign. We drove into the driveway slowly - didn't quite know how to go about this...we saw a couple of youths and we asked them who we might speak to. He said we should probably speak to "Elisa" at the house. She seemed to be just saying her goodbyes to a visitor so we waited. When she was free we told her our story and how we had been directed there by the home hardware guy. She had never hear about the straw solving the algae problem but thought it would make sense as it would produce nitrogen as it decomposed. I don't think she was particularly happy about having more people sent to her to solve a problem - just a feeling we got.
Anyway, she brought us around the back of one of the barns and showed us the straw and we realized we hadn't brought anything to put it in. She suggested that they had some empty feed bags in the main barn and we went to the entrance and were very amazed to see a whole stage setup with huge pillars and a seating area. She explained to us that they used to hold concerts through the summer until the "authorities" told them they needed upgraded safety systems in order to have the public in the barn. Of course they couldn't afford these changes so the concerts are a thing of the past.
We also found out that they were nearly bankrupted from a legal fight that they had waged about selling their unpasteurized milk.
As we were walking back to the straw, I noticed some little sheds and asked her if her husband was selling these sheds. She explained to me that they would host school children, mostly grade 4 and/or 5's through the Peel District School Board for a farm experience and that these were little cabins for the kids. She did mention that they had received some inquires from the Halton District School Board.
So we stuffed our ten bags full, our $30 dollars worth (suckers/city folk born every day) and said our goodbyes and headed back to the cottage. We moved the bags out of the truck, over by the pond and called it a day and I proceeded to get dinner started and Paul went for a quick fish.
Anyway, she brought us around the back of one of the barns and showed us the straw and we realized we hadn't brought anything to put it in. She suggested that they had some empty feed bags in the main barn and we went to the entrance and were very amazed to see a whole stage setup with huge pillars and a seating area. She explained to us that they used to hold concerts through the summer until the "authorities" told them they needed upgraded safety systems in order to have the public in the barn. Of course they couldn't afford these changes so the concerts are a thing of the past.
We also found out that they were nearly bankrupted from a legal fight that they had waged about selling their unpasteurized milk.
As we were walking back to the straw, I noticed some little sheds and asked her if her husband was selling these sheds. She explained to me that they would host school children, mostly grade 4 and/or 5's through the Peel District School Board for a farm experience and that these were little cabins for the kids. She did mention that they had received some inquires from the Halton District School Board.
So we stuffed our ten bags full, our $30 dollars worth (suckers/city folk born every day) and said our goodbyes and headed back to the cottage. We moved the bags out of the truck, over by the pond and called it a day and I proceeded to get dinner started and Paul went for a quick fish.
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| New plantings around the front deck |
Sunday, I worked like crazy getting most of the rest of my perennials planted around the front deck and I think it turned out very well. Its a tough go when the soil is very rocky.
We also wondered what to do with our Barley straw, now that we had finally got it, and I threw in a few handfuls before I decided that I better revisit the web to find out exactly how to apply it to the pond. Read this paper on controlling Pond Algae with Barley Straw.
In a nutshell I found out that a) we were much too late to apply it, b)it should be packed loosely into net bags, and c) submerged about 3 feet from the bottom. Well we were NOT prepared to do any of these things!
So we packed our bags full of straw into the front shed until I found some net bags and it was the appropriate time.
Other than that we are all cleaned up for Father's Day!
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