Well the blackberries are continuing to produce although at a much reduced pace. We're now sending less to market and keeping a whole bunch more to experiment with jams, jellies and cordials (which we hope to eventually sell).
This week has been a loaded with work on cleaning up the "ugly" parts of the farm. The ridge cleaning is almost complete and I must say the vines have at least killed one old tree. All we were left with is one big fat happy toad (or perhaps not so happy).
The slow down in blackberry production had us turn our attention back to our purple raspberries. We decided to weed the canes in anticipation of our pruning next spring. Now I know why they call farming "back breaking" work. The grape vines have even found their way among the raspberry canes.
Originally we were not going to grow grapes (there seems to be so much of it here it seems a Niagara cliche). Now, I simply give up. These things do so well in our sandy soil that Candice and I are in the process of identifying a couple of suitable varietals.
What was really ugly on the farm was our small "dump site". The previous farmer did not seem to be a good steward of the land and actually created a mess (in more than one spot). Although we estimated 4 man days to clear this garbage... it took twice that amount. Much of it could not be burned because of the plastics involved. It seems for old farmers "out of site is out of mind" was a policy too often employed.
Christine is thrilled because this week also saw the start to the renovation of the old manor. For this purpose, we decided to hire the services of Sean Young of Sustainable Heritage. Sean is providing us with guidance, direction and expertise along with the historical context.
The house is proving to offer lots of mysterious clues into its past. It seems that it was actually built on the site of an older home dating to the days of the Canadian Land Grants. Evidence has been found in salvaged parts (doors that predate the house and a large beam in the barn from an older roof structure) as well as the construction (the cellars' stone work and the second floor flooring supported by a roof like structure).
I now have an urge to find out who that original Loyalist land owner might have been. We may be able to do so by searching the archives of Brock University.
With the interior work, we decided to start with one bedroom (hoping to finish our 19 rooms within a year). The following pics show the before and the "now"....with no carpeting, limited flooring and all walls stripped, we all hope the now will be short-lived, although it is rather "cool" to find Victorian wall paper under layers of paint and other paper.
I finish this week with another Sunday project: more canning. I couldn't turn down Ontario Roma tomatoes at $10 a bushel. So we decided to do some sauces (little did I know how much work it would be). Everyone had to pitch in but if things work out, we should have some really good sauces to hold us out for the winter.
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