The Dome is Going Up

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Most of the week has been dedicated to ready our Biodome site. This has involved finishing the foundation and preparing a convenient and permanent method of getting water to the dome.

As indicated last week, our intention has been to use the old well which is on the property. This meant trenching a line and installing an electrical pump into the well. The team did face more than their fair share of mishaps and the project took a bit longer than originally anticipated. However, by the time Growing Spaces sent their site supervisor (Matt) from Colorado, we were ready to go.

Getting well water to the dome.

So with just one day in, the structure has been going up. Although the concept is relatively simple, we are lucky to have Matt on hand. The assembly of this large structure really needs his type of expertise and experience. Hopefully, we will be able to report on the structure's completion for our next blog entry.

Our progress after one day.

Another big milestone this week was our first Wine Maker's Event with Henry of Pelham. Chef had prepared a wonderful five course meal paired with the winery's Chardonnay, Baco Noir and Riesling Ice Wine. This was preceded with a tasting of the winery's latest offerings.

Most of our week was therefore also preoccupied with the various preparations needed of this event. we prayed for good weather and we were not disappointed.

One of our key issues however was the poor lighting on the veranda. We had to come up with various concepts to provide adequate lighting and a pleasant dining environment.

This is where the Finnish Log, Swedish Log or Swedish Candle comes in. Alois (our Swiss friend that is helping us on the farm this summer) had always been pressing us to use some of our large cut wood to make these. So this week we experimented.

Alois at work on Finnish Logs

The concept is to cut a log lengthwise using a chain saw. The cut is not all the way through but stops roughly 4 inches from the base of the log. We used these cuts to make a radial pattern of six "spokes". Some people use four and drill a side hole at the base to get good air flow. Using some gasoline as a primer these were then set on fire. Technically, these provide a great radial heat source and are actually attractive when burning.

Burning a "Finnish Log"

This step however is where we realized that our wood was not dry enough and the burning resulted in a significant amount of smoke (something which probably would not have been pleasant for our diners).

The solution: we ended up fitting candles in "used" Finnish Logs. Once they are burnt, these logs make a rather attractive structure as the "staves" burn away or fall to the ground. They are reminiscent of some modern art sculptures. I've come to call them "Mordor Towers".

The "Towers of Modor".

We simply placed large clean burning candles in their center for the duration of the dinner. The effect was very pleasant.

The final "mood lighting"

Early feedback for the dinner has been very positive. We now hope to turn this type of event into a regular part of our annual activities. In a way this was a bit of a market study for this type of dining in the area. With the event sold out in three days, we believe that our long term intentions to develop a full scale restaurant may be a welcomed addition to the community.

The Wine Maker's Event was well received

The only sad part: our fennel was committed to Chef's dinner and became part of his main dish as Fennel Confit with his slow baked Char. We were really enjoying these beautiful plants.

Chef ready to put an end to our prized fennel

In fact, our vegetable garden continues to amaze us. I don't think Tristan and I ever expected the amount of tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, cabbages, etc. we are now harvesting. But we now have a "processing" issue. Since we still have no kitchen at home, it is very difficult to fit the canning opportunities afforded by this crop. So to some extent, we're glad to see Chef make good use of whatever he might need.

One thing about growing your own vegetables is that you do find the oddest shapes. So I close this week with us playing with our food.

In particular, one of our Ropreco heirloom Italian canning tomatoes was a fun surprise. It grew with a "proboscis". The girls thought it was a profile, but no one ventured to guess who. I proposed Charles de Gaulle, but then no one here really knew who I was talking about.

Guess who?

My best take on this tomato is served or presented with the background music theme to the movie Jaws. I call this dish "Attack of the Killer Tomato" :)

Attack of the killer tomato

The Manor is Slowly Coming Together

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We've not posted on the progress of the Ward Manor for quite a while now. We are actually coming to the very final finishes of the interior.

Our back gallery is finally complete. It is a very special room which will serve three functions, first and most importantly as a gallery for some of our Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass collection.

However, it has also been equipped with a wine/espresso bar for special occasions. And finally, it has also been designed to expose the secrets of the house. The most important of which is the fact that the home still contains two buildings that predate the manor and an older fourth foundation.

As a result, we've exposed one of these building's walls including dairy box and entrance, along with one of the original cellar exits (which was at one time on the exterior of the house). We've also exposed the oldest foundation using glass floor plates. This makes for a rather unique atmosphere.

The changes in the before and after look and feel of this room are striking.

Before: the South West room was used as an apartment kitchen

Now it is a gallery exposing the older parts of a building within the manor

One of the old cellar exits (which should be outside) is framed with wrought iron railing

The centuries old white oak staircase of the old cellar are now back in use

Glass floor panels are used to expose an even older foundation

The most extensive (and important) room is the kitchen. There we have exposed the passage way to the dining room that was behind the centre hall stair case. A major milestone however was the delivery of our stove,  a beautiful La Cornue from France with a double oven.

The "heart" of the home, our new La Cornue oven has finally arrived

The centre hall is also almost complete. The marble mosaic floor is now laid allowing us to address the front doors. We've come to the conclusion that the double doors were not original. Based on the major rework of the fittings to these doors, we suspect they were salvaged from the back of the house. Since they were not designed to work as double doors, the fit was completely wrong. Further, the stained glass was definitely not representative of the period.

Not having any reference on what the entrance would have looked like,we decided to pick up on the design elements from the bay windows and the mill work inside and outside the house. The new door is finished but still requires work. However, it does give a good indication of where we are going with this.

In the process the newly fitted door has also allowed us to remove an awkward storm door.

The original doorway as it is being disassembled

The new door and stained glass panels coming together

We will be posting more before and after pictures once everything is complete. Now we can hardly wait to start on the outside of the house and the landscaping.

Our progress in the vegetable garden is no less exciting. Our heirloom Italian tomatoes are ripening...to the point where Chef has started to introduce them in his daily specials.

We were also pleased to pick our first watermelon, a Russian heirloom called Shining Star. Perhaps because it was our first home grown melon...it was delicious (even though loaded with seeds).

A happy day: our first melon

Our foraging experiments also continue. However, since we tackled Queen Anne's Lace last week, I wanted to again make sure everyone knew the difference between these blooms and Poison Hemlock....which we also have on hand at the farm. We picked some hemlock for this purpose.

So to recap, the white blooms of the Queen Anne's Lace surround a tiny purple-red bloom. This is a key difference, but sometimes this centre bloom is wilted.

The centre bloom of Queen Anne's Lace

The second difference is the very pleasant and sweet smell of the Quenn Anne's Lace bloom.

There are other ways to note the difference between these two plants. The stem of the Hemlock is much thinner and "wiry", not fuzzy like the Queen Anne's Lace. The bloom of the Hemlock does not have such a complex pattern.

The Poison Hemlock bloom

The back of the Hemlock bloom also does not show thin leaves like the Queen Anne's Lace. This is because the Queen Anne's Lace folds into a basket or nest-like configuration before it goes to seed.

The back of the Queen Anne's Lace bloom

The back of the Poison Hemlock bloom

Queen Anne's Lace bloom going to seed

A few weeks ago, we had also challenged Chef with Milkweed pods. This had him stumped until we were visited by a customer from the Six Nations Reserve which is just West of us on the Niagara Peninsula. After discussing wild edibles, we tackled the topic of Milkweed and to my surprise she told me of her grandmother's pickled Milkweed Pods. She no longer had the recipe...but we now had an idea on how to process them.

The result: Chef's pickled Mikweed Pods

We will now wait a couple of weeks before trying them.

As fall approaches (certainly the weather makes it seem like it is near), it is a great time to forage for wild edibles. This week we started to pick Wild Grapes. Although small and a bit tart with large seeds, these small grapes make a great juice and are perfect for jellies. They seem to ripen earlier than the cultivated variety so now is the time to harvest them.

It's time to harvest the Wild Grape

The Biodome project is also progressing. The foundation is up and we finally took delivery of the geodesic structure. In a couple of weeks, we hope to have the entire thing assembled.

Our Biodome awaiting assembly

In order to get water to the dome we decided to tap on our old well. In the process we also hope to be able to provide water to some of our crops. The well was capped with a board assembly (not the safest) and was clearly hand dug to thirty feet, with 9 feet of water. The walls were lined with bricks...clearly an "original".

The old well, hand dug to 30 feet

We will remount the old hand pump, but we will now be adding an electric pump to force water down our field and to the dome.

I will conclude this week with a quick update on our Meads. It seems that our ability to make fruit wines is rapidly evolving. We are now trying different recipes and toying with the process to predetermine the dryness of the wines. It will not be long before we will need to scale our efforts to larger fermentation tanks.

Our latest wine ready for "racking"

Queen Anne's Lace

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We begin this week's blog with our latest foraging experiment:  Queen Anne's Lace (often referred to as wild carrot and very often considered a weed).

The idea for this came from Hannah one of our summer student field workers and now an avid forager. She loves the look of the flower blooms and had a cute story about this special flower. The small blooms are arranged in a parasol like structure and resemble lace. They surround a small reddish purple bloom in the centre. So the story is that Queen Anne was adept at making lace. However when completing this one, she pricked her finger and the centre bloom is a drop of her blood.

In fact this little story is important to note. It is highly recommended that you do not experiment with this plant unless you can definitely ascertain the difference between it and poison Hemlock. One of these key differences is this little "drop of blood" or colourful centre bloom. The other is the smell. Queen Anne's lace has a pleasant smell reminiscent of carrots while Hemlock is offensive.

Queen Anne's Lace and its distinctive centre blossom

The roots of the young plant can be used as a vegetable almost like a carrot, although more fibrous. However this week's experiment deals with the blooms themselves. Our objective was to make a Queen Anne's Lace jelly.

To start, we simply picked the blooms. Then the hardest part came up. These flowers are attractive to all sorts of insects. So one bloom at a time, we picked off ants, an interesting species of white spiders (well camouflaged), and some very tiny scarabs. We did not want to wash the blooms in the fear we would lose the essence of the flower for the next step.

In a ratio of one to one, we steeped the flowers in boiled water. Having waited some thirty minutes, we then filtered our "tea". The result was a very aromatic and floral brew with a greenish tinge.

To this we added sugar (3/4 of the solution by volume) and a tablespoon of lemon juice for each cup of liquid. We then set the jell using Apple pectin. This took quite a while (more than our standard jellies), but eventually it set.

The result is an intriguing jelly. It reminds Chef of quince. It reminds Tristan of Lychee. To me, it has more of a floral taste with just a hint of carrot. Either way, it is very pleasant so we decided to package it and add it to our offering in the store. In fact, we've decided to start a line of "Wild Edibles" for those "foodies" looking for a new taste experience. We have already been picking and processing wild Grapes, wild Blackberries and wild Black Raspberries, but we know we can seriously extend our line of preserves and cordials.

A new wild edible: Queen Anne's Lace Jelly

This brings me to our land clearing activities. In the process of clearing the edges of our stream, we have already discovered Butternut trees (or White Walnut). This week, we found Pin Cherry, Elderberry, and High Bush Cranberries. Basically, we have lots to work from....even rose hip from the pesky Prairie Rose (the wild thorn bush we continue to battle).

High Bush Cranberry freed from the Prairie Rose

Although the elderberries were already ravaged by birds, a good friend (Carol) provided us some from a huge bush that has overtaken the side of her barn. Now to decide what to do with these. We settled on a jelly and a cordial. We use the English definition of a cordial here. It is a light syrup made with fruit or flowers. In fact, we have been testing our own cordials in the Tea Room as part of our home made ice tea blends and this has met great success.

To accomplish this, it was time to try our new steam juicer. The process proved efficient and clean. Although getting juice from small wild Elderberries is like "squeezing blood from a stone", over time we did manage to get a sufficient amount to create both a jelly and a cordial...both of which we have now added to our Wild Edible line. Next Spring, we intend to use the Elderberry blooms (something quite popular in Switzerland).

Our first Elderberry cordial

On the farming front, while we wait for our next crop (Blackberries), we continue to clear land. In some places, the combination of Virginia Creeper, wild Grape and the invasive wild Prairie Rose continue to provide a deadly environment for major trees. However we are progressing more rapidly as our processes get refined (particularly in our use of the tractor).

Mature Ash trees threatened by Prairie Rose and massive wild Grapes

This week we've progressed so far along the creek that we discovered an old "bridge". Made of three large slabs of concrete (one of which has collapsed) and supported by stones, we now intend to clean it up and bring it back to its original purpose.

An old bridge we now intend to bring back to life

On the restaurant front, Chef has been making his own experiments. Over the past few weeks, he has been working on a duck prosciutto. This week it was time to sample....and it's great. Hopefully it will become a welcomed addition to our charcuterie plate.

Chef's home made Duck prosciutto (really good!)

We have also announced our first Wine Maker's event for August 23rd. With the help of Henry of Pelham, Chef will be preparing an evening meal paired with their wines. Dinner will be preceded by a wine tasting with Henry of Pelham staff to guide our guests. Hopefully this will prove successful since we would like to make this an annual event.

I close this week with the vegetable garden. It has proven to be bountiful (to the point where Chef does not want to see another pickling cucumber). However, there is one thing that really brings a smile to our faces. Our tomatoes are now ripening. We can hardly wait to harvest them and start our canning.

Our Italian canning tomatoes are ripening :)

Getting Started on a "Biodome"

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Living a sustainable lifestyle can mean quite a few different things. It is in fact the theme of the farm but perhaps we have to define our objectives first. There are three factors we are focusing our attention on.

The first is economic sustainability. This goes without saying, but for a small farm it is not a simple objective. Food production today is mostly profitable on an industrial scale and small farmers must operate in "niche" markets. Hence our attempts to transform our site into what the Italians would call "agroturismo" or a centre for agricultural tourism (with the restaurant, the shop, the historical buildings and of course the land). Our philosophy here is also reflected in our efforts to promote local produce, local products and local artisans. We believe that doing this will have a positive impact on the sustainability of the local economy itself.

The second point is sustainability in our energy consumption. Given the scale of our activities, this will be much more difficult to achieve. We have a couple of projects in sight, but these projects will be quite capital intensive.

The last point is food, basically the production of food for the family. On this front, I believe we have made quite a lot of progress as we learn to grow our own fruits and vegetables. Eventually, we will work to produce our own sources of animal protein....and this brings us to the "biodome".

When it comes to food production, we have interests in three interesting concepts: foraging (particularly based on the bounty of the Carolinian forest), permaculture (companion planting to the extreme), and aquaponics. Aquaponics is where the "biodome" comes in and this week we were happy not only to break ground on the structure, but to also begin work on the foundations.

Foundations are going up for a new "Biodome"

The concept of the "biodome" is simple but rather difficult to implement. In fact this will likely be a multi-year project. It basically involves a 33 feet in diameter geodesic dome greenhouse (which we have procured from Growing Spaces in Colorado). This will be "off-the-grid" and solar powered.

The dome will then eventually house a large fish tank and hydroponic beds whereby in simple terms, the fish will provide nutrients for the plants and the plants will filter the water for the fish. The ultimate objective is to grow food year-round in a closed loop ecosystem. As for all of our other projects, we hope to provide regular updates on our blog.

Meanwhile work continues on the farm. This week not only did we have the help of our Swiss friend Aloise, but we also had the opportunity to host four burly young men from Quebec (friends of family). We took advantage of their presence to clean up one last remaining dump site on our property. Hidden in brush and close to some wetlands, we were determined to dispose of the garbage that was now overgrown with weeds.

A small "army" ready to tackle a dump site

In the  meantime, our Purple Raspberries have come to their end. We are now awaiting the coming of the Blackberry. Our pruning looks to be a success and the canes promise to be bountiful.

The Blackberry crop looks promising

Some of the early ripening berries are also looking rather large. We can hardly wait to harvest.

An early and rather large Blackberry

In the meantime, we have been picking wild Blackberries and Raspberries from the canes we planted this Spring.

On the gardening front, we discovered that some failures reported on in previous blogs have actually turned into success. We were sure no melons would grow, but we were very wrong. Both our heirloom cantaloupes and watermelons are doing very well and fruiting.

Small Shining Light Watermelon

Charantais Melon

Even some of the pickling cucumber vines we thought were dead earlier in the Spring are producing. In fact they are growing to such an extent that Chef decided to make his own line of pickles (which we now sell along with our jams and jellies).

Chef's lacto-fermented pickles

Our experiments in Melomel (fruit mead) production also continue. This week, it was time to rack a batch of Purple Raspberry Melomel made with a simple mead to which we had added bee pollen.

Readying our latest Raspberry Melomel for filtering

This was of course a good time to sample our brew. The results were much better than our attempts with a Pyment (Mead with grape juice). This wine had a decent level of alcohol (12.5 to 13%). It was dry but not too tart. It had also taken on the full flavour of the Raspberries. This batch promises to be a very good, dry fruit wine.

Of course, I could not complete this blog without our latest foraging discovery. This week, it was Milk Weed.

Young Milk Weed pods

It turns out that Milk Weed is a very good vegetable. From young shoots to flower buds to young pods, this is a very tasty green.

It is now the season to harvest young pods. These can be eaten when their interior is fully white and not browning. For us the most amazing thing was to taste the "silk" that carries the seeds in the fall. This silk can actually be eaten raw and reminds me a bit of raw peas!

When cooked these pods have a texture similar to okra. The challenge is now on once more for Chef to divine something from the Milk Weed pod. Now that we know of this edible wild plant, we'll be sure to keep an eye out to harvest some shoots and flowers next Spring.

In the meantime, the Tea Room has been quite busy this week. We were very lucky to get help from Alois' dad: Alois Senior. He is a chef from Switzerland who made a surprise visit to the farm. I don't think he ever expected to be recruited to wash dishes all day during one of our peak periods. He was a real trooper though saying it reminded him of the good old days.

In fact we've had all sorts of interesting people visiting including a couple who brought a simply gorgeous old Ford from the 1930's. Some of us even had a chance to take a ride in the "rumble" seat of this classic car.

 So I leave this week with the picture of a classic car on front of our renovated barn.

Two classics: a 1930's Ford and an 1880 fruit barn