Buying The Farm

The onset of nice weather always encourages us Torontonians, groundhog-like, to crawl out of our holes and stand, blinking and wary, in the sunshine. The wariness comes, of course, from the fact that April weather is usually a fickle temptress: I was lured out for a walk last week in a tshirt, and wound up hot-footing (and cold-arming) it home when the temperature dropped 10°C in little more than a half-hour.

Properly equipped with a good jacket and a stowable umbrella, it is possible to get out and take advantage of the amenities our big city has to offer. The other week, I noticed an event listing at a library which, while not close by, was at least on my bus route, and was more than worth the distance traveled and fickle-weathered walk to and from the venue.

Ken Brown is a jovial speaker, and a backyard gardener par excellence. His talk that night was titled “Vertical Vegetables”, and that alone was enough to pique the interest of ones, like me, who have more garden space up than they have garden space out. Ken showed pictures of his garden that chronicle his failures and successes (there were far more of the latter) at getting things to grow.

Ken’s a practical type, and his eagerness to see what will work is inspiring, if initially surprising. A jerry-built “trellis” composed of an upright beam crowned with a circle of copper, from which trailed jute twine for plant support was aesthetically questionable in the early spring photo, but there was no debating its beauty in full summer, when his circle of pea plants and morning glories was in full, thick, lush bloom.

His story of a 10″ pot for fingerlings that put out 15KG of gourmet potatoes in the fall got me wondering if I could pull off such a feat in my tiny window garden. I’m chitting some supermarket fingerlings now to see if I can replicate Ken’s idea.

His website, Gardening Enjoyed isn’t quite as user-friendly as his talk, but like the 10″ pot, it is chock full of goodness for those willing to dig into its digital loam.

I found my copy of Gene Logsdon’s The Contrary Farmer while in line at my local library. A quick flip through, plus a glance at the $1 withdrawn price made it a no-brainer to add to my small collection of farming books, most of which I’m getting around to slowly. Laid up earlier this week due to illness, I decided to try the first chapter or so, and wound up finishing the book in a few hours.

Logsdon highlights his contrariness in the title, so I shouldn’t have been surprised at his occasional, unpleasant asides about abortion, complaints of institutional interference, or rant on American politics, but to his credit, he offers more substance than snarl, and even manages a few moments of real beauty. His descriptive essay on meadows, in particular, was enough to transport me away from my sickbed and into a world of butterflies, tall grass and whispering winds.

Mainly, though, Logsdon offers helpful information on basic animal husbandry (the emphasis is on chickens and sheep) with tried-and-true advice from someone who has actually tackled the topics he discusses. His “contrary” suggestions are helpful to those of us starting out with little in the way of resources: He shuns expensive equipment and repeatedly warns about biting off only that which you can chew.

The writing ebbs and flows between dull and factual (the chapter on corn is particularly flat) and charmingly anecdotal. In some cases, we’re flooded with information and tips, and in others, left wanting more. I’ll forgive the inconsistency, though, as the experience was very much as if I’d accompanied the hardbitten farmer on a tour of his land. Logsdon’s realism and pragmatism are two qualities that every putative farmer needs.