This is the Farmers' Institute spring newsletter, take a break from your gardening, come in and enjoy our articles. Just scroll down for your reading pleasure and FOLLOW THE LIGHT BLUE LINKS TO WEBSITES OR VIDEOS. Below is a handy content list.
Please read Farmland Trust Society for exciting news!
Our two "What's Up On The Farm" interviews are with farmers who live and work their land in the Burgoyne Valley. We thank George Laundry of Pastorale - named after Beethoven's 6th symphony and Sophia Raginsky & Colin McNair of Sweet Rocket Farm - see them at the Saturday Market starting in June.
Thanks once again to Scott Simmons for doing the video.

▪ THE FARMERS' INSTITUTE - Upcoming Events
▪ Events, Clubs, Updates
▪ The Compost Pile....................................Jokes for Everyone
▪ What's Up On The Farm.........................Interviews with George and Colin
▪ Thrashing Around....................................Rebuilding Farm Machinery
▪ Famous Recipes.....................................Tasty Rhubarb Pie
▪ What's In A Name....................................Burgoyne Valley Explained
▪ The Apple Core........................................Blue Orchard Bees
▪ Abattoir News..........................................Open House

HERITAGE DAY - July 21st

Always a fun day - baking bread, making butter, see the Thrasher in action
11:00 - 3:00, at Farmers' Institute, Admission - FREE

FI CLASSIFIED

HELP WANTED
The IFI Foundation and The Farmer's Institute Need your help to
expand the operation of the BITTANCOURT HOUSE MUSEUM.
The Museum will be open to the public 5 days a week from11:00AM to 4:00 PM during July and August.
Each day will be divided into 2 shifts of 2 ½ hours each. Your total commitment will be for 2 shifts per month.

This interesting and relaxing experience requires that you welcome visitors. No stress...no worries......bring a book, your knitting or your laptop.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!!!!
Call John Fulker at (250) 537-4895 or e-mail John at: jandifulker@gmail

THE SSI FARMLAND TRUST SOCIETY ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Farmland Trust is happy to announce ACREAGE NOW AVAILABLE FOR LONG TERM RENTAL at Burgoyne Valley Community Farm 2232 Fulford-Ganges Road
Deadline for submissions of RFP - May 13th, 2013
postmarked May 13, email deadline midnight May 13
For info see www.ssifarmlandtrust.org
Email: ssifarmlandtrust@shaw.ca or 250-537-5302
Please review the documents for:
1) Request for Proposals (RFP)
2) Memorandum or Agreement
3) Policies
4) Soil Analysis Report

DON'T FORGET OUR FAMILY GARDEN PLOTS
at Burgoyne Valley Community Farm
(20’ x 50’) are available for rental of $40 per year.
For info see www.ssifarmlandtrust.org
Review: Shaw Family Gardens Handbook
for rules and application form.
Email: ssifarmlandtrust@shaw.ca
or 250-537-5302

Clubs & Updates of Interest

Bittancourt House Museum

The museum will be open to the public for five days a week starting July 8th and going to August 30th. The museum will be open Monday to Friday from 11am until 4pm. To manage this we need as many volunteers as we can get to staff the museum for those days. Ideally no one person will need to do more than one 2 1/2 hour shift each two weeks. For the past two years we did not have enough volunteers to do this and as a result several people had to put in far more hours than they were comfortable with. Any IFI members who are willing to help with this can contact me, John Fulker, at 537-4895 as soon as possible, let me know which days and which shifts you can help with and I will work out the schedules. The shifts will be from 11am to 1.30 pm or from 1.30 pm to 4 pm. The duties will be mainly to ensure we have a presence at the mill to keep an eye on things and where possible to inform visitors about various aspects of island life.
Our work on converting the attic into storage space is now virtually complete, just a few finishing touches to make. This has been done with the aid of a grant from the Salt Spring Foundation.
We are now in the planning stage for the proposed extension to the museum with plans for a 14x24 display room to be added to the rear of the building.
Two large murals. painted by Alfred Temmel, depicting the early settlers on Salt Spring,have now been officially donated to the museum, work on restoring them is being done by Jeannie Paynter. The murals were painted on drywall and need a good deal of work to restore them before they can be displayed

Poultry Club - May 28th Guest Speaker Jeannette Beranger, SIGN UP NOW!!

The Poultry Club
Anyone who breeds poultry with productivity in mind would find the Poultry Club’s May 28th workshops interesting. The guest speaker has been influential in restoring the Buckeye, a famous old American breed, to its former size and productivity, and has taught hundreds of people how to select for better birds in future generations.

Jeannette Beranger, Research and Technical Programs Manager for the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, has accepted the Salt Spring Poultry Club’s invitation to teach how to select chicken and turkey breeding birds for productivity. The 2 ½ hour workshop will be offered twice, at 9.30 am and again at 1 pm on Tuesday May 28th at the Farmers Institute. The cost is $30 if registered before May 11th and $35 if there is still space after that. Participation is limited to 25 people at each session so that all can have hands on experience in assessing live birds.

To register please pay either cash to the treasurer, Caroline Hickman, or mail her your cheque made out to Caroline Hickman to 121 Wright Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2H8, saying whether you will attend the morning or afternoon session. Please provide your e-mail address and phone number so that further information and prereading material can be sent to you.

ALBC lists the Chantecler as critically rare, the Delaware and Dorking as rare and the Brahma, Houdan and New Hampshire as needing to be watched. All are represented in the Gulf Islands, but in very small numbers. Some breeds now regaining popularity are Australorps, Leghorns, Orpingtons, Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red , Sussex and Wyandotte. All are well known here, but it can be challenging to find unrelated stock when a breeding flock needs new blood.

The ALBC website, albc-usa.org, is a treasure trove of information about livestock that is now rare because it has been replaced by faster growing more uniform breeds that do well under industrial conditions. Without the attention of organizations like ALBC these hardy, versatile and genetically diverse old breeds could disappear, leaving future farmers with a diminishing gene pool to work with when livestock needs change in the future.

After covering Ms. Beranger’s expenses from Seattle any surplus funds from registration fees will be donated to the Salt Spring Abattoir Society.

Salt Spring Island Sheep Group continues to meet on the 2nd Monday of each month at the Farmers' Institute at 7- 9 pm.
We hope to have Dr. Justine Tedder to join our next meeting. We will be discussing the preparation for lambing, vaccinations, lamb presentation and all other facets of the sheep farmers' busiest season.

Salt Spring Island 4H Club Community Club

The Saltspring Island 4H Community Club has had a very busy year already, with many individual project and group activities.

We started off the year in January with enrolment, followed immediately by preparations for our annual public speaking Event. Our members enjoyed great success with nine members participating, from the ages of 7 through 17. The speeches require a lot of work and preparation by the youth and it is a wonderful learning opportunity. The audience always enjoys the wide variety of topics the members cover, and the vast knowledge and entertainment the members share.

The members who placed at the top of each of the Junior and Senior categories qualified to participate in the District public speaking competitions; they fared very well. Anna placed first at the local Seniors competition , and second in the Districts (out of 16 participants), qualifying for attendance at the Regional competition in Port Alberni.
Helena, William and Liam received top marks in the Junior category, and all three attended at the District event, placing very well in a field of 22 participants. It is a great experience and an opportunity to meet members from many other Clubs in the district.

A new event for our Club this year was an animal display at the Saltspring Cheese Farm on Easter Sunday. Our club put on a fabulous display for the entire day, showing off a freshly-hatched batch of chicks – what a huge hit that was! together with many varieties of poultry, rabbit, pony and cavy, with our photography group documenting the day’s events. Our very own Peter Rabbit also made some new friends! It was a terrific day, enjoyed by all and the weather was just spectacular!

Next was Foxglove Farm and Garden day on April 6th. Although the day started off a little overcast, we enjoyed some terrific sun, with a great display of rabbits, poultry, our hot dog and baked goods concession (the smell of bbq’d onions always draws a crowd) and a great opportunity for the community to see what the kids do and share knowledge of their projects. Our photography project group met at this event, with an opportunity to capture some of the club member’s activities, interactions with visitors, friends and of course the lovely gardens of one of our long-time sponsors, Foxglove Farm & Garden Supply. Thank you for this annual opportunity and we thank you for your support.

A group project of raising a pen of meat birds to support the poultry project is well underway, with all chicks thriving so far. There are also some newly hatched ducklings.

Club representatives attended a planning meeting for the SSI Fall Fair on April 16th and were well received with some new ideas to share.

Our club is now busy preparing for Ruckle Farm Day, with a live animal display along with our famous baked goods and beverage concession – one of our biggest fundraisers. Hope to see everyone there at this community heritage event!
Below are a couple of photos by William R.

Out for a walk

Ah, Spring!

Gulf Islands Spinning Mill

The application for a grant to enable the mill to operate as a pilot project for other small mills in the province has been withdrawn due to a misunderstanding of the requirements for the grant. The Investment Agriculture Foundation understands the problem and has sent us information regarding two other grants that are available specifically for upgrades to equipment. We will be applying to these in the next few weeks. A pin drafting machine is being held for us by the manufacturer and we are hoping that regardless of whether or not we can obtain a grant we will be able to purchase this machine. A pin drafter will enable us to make a better quality of roving than we can make with our present machine and will also enable us to do a better and faster job of spinning due to the high quality of roving that the machine produces. I had an opportunity to operate one of these machines in Washington a few months ago and was very impressed with the quality of product that it turns out. Without one of the grants there is little chance that we will be able to obtain the new carder which would make such a huge difference to all of the mill's products and production rates .
Below are photographs of the McDermott pin drafter and carder.

McDermott pin drafter and carder.

McDermott pin drafter and carder.

THE COMPOST PILE

A lady from the mainland and her traveling companion were driving around the island when she noticed some cows.
"What a cute bunch of cows!" she remarked.
"Not a bunch, herd", her friend replied.
"Heard of what?"
"Herd of cows."
"Of course I've heard of cows."
"No, a cow herd."
"What do I care what a cow heard. I have no secrets to keep from a cow!"

A guy has celery sticking out of one ear, lettuce out of the other, and a
zucchini up his nose. He goes to the doctor and asks him what's wrong.
The doctor tells him, "Well, for one thing, you're not eating right."

What's Up On The Farm

Interviews with George Laundry at Pastorale and Colin McNair at Sweet Rocket Farm.

We learned a lot about farming in the Burgoyne Valley! George wants us to come back in the fall when his beautiful orchards are ready to pick. We are sorry Sophia could not join Colin for the interview. Please see George's interview and Please see Colin's Interview

Rod Inspecting The Thrasher

Thrashing Around

Rebuilding Farm Machinery

The talented team of Ted Dodds, Merv Walde, Rod Bailey and Jock Silver have resurrected the antique thrashing machine donated to the Farmer's Institute Museum by Lloyd Reynolds. This machine has not turned a pulley for 50 - 60 years but has now been restored and will be demonstrated at this year's Fall Fair. The pictures show Rod bailey with his 1940 John Deere "D" tractor driving the belt while Ted and Merv keep a close eye on the operation of the Thrashing Machine.
Thrashers are used for the separation of grain from stalks and husks.

Rod and his John Deere

Ted & Merv enjoy the fun

Famous Recipes

Pippa's Yummy Recipe

ROSCOMMON RHUBARB PIE

Got to love the Internet which allows access to international radio programmes and leads us towards new ways of preparing food. This “pie” isn’t really a pie but closer to an upside down cake where the cake is closer to a scone base. Enjoy now that rhubarb is coming into season!
About 2 lbs of rhubarb (trim the ends, rinse, pat dry and chop into short pieces about a ½ inch in length)
1 cup of granulated sugar
Place in the bottom of a 9 inch cast iron skillet or a heavy baking pan and sprinkle with the sugar.
Scone dough
2 ¼ cups of all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
1 ½ tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 heaping teaspoon of baking powder
Pinch of salt
¼ cup of butter
1 egg
¾ cup of milk
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the flour resembles coarse bread crumbs. Whisk the egg with the milk, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the liquid and mix until it comes together as a soft dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll into a 9 inch round/1 inch thick disc. Place this disc on top of the rhubarb and tuck the edges into the pan.

Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F then reduce oven to 350F for another 30 minutes until the top is crusty and golden.
Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then place a large plate over the top of the pan and turn it upside down so that the scone base is on the bottom of the plate. Be careful you don’t burn yourself on the hot juice. Sometimes bits of the rhubarb will stick to the pan and if that happens just lift them out with a spoon and place them back on the “pie” top. Best served warm and the writer mentions it is good sprinkled with brown sugar and whipped cream but it is also delicious on its own. Serves about ten people.

Pippa's Tasty Rhubarb Pie

Burgoyne Valley 1960

What's In A Name

The Burgoyne Valley Explained

by Usha Rautenbach

From how far back was the valley between Burgoyne Bay and Fulford Harbour called the Burgoyne Valley?

Why would we be calling it anything else? There is a fair answer to that question. We call a valley the land formed by the watershed slopes that run down from high-point ridgelines, to a watercourse running along the bottom of the valley, in this case the creek which itself runs into Fulford Harbour. The harbour itself has been so named since the beginning of Salt Spring settlement. So, newcomers might well “correct” what they see as an island oddity of Salt Spring Islanders; to newcomers, clearly we have a valley whose road, named the Fulford-Ganges Road because it runs between the villages of Fulford and Ganges, heads down to the ferry terminal known as Fulford Harbour. This must be called the Fulford Valley. It simply cannot be the Burgoyne Valley. Burgoyne to them is “on the other side of the island” and the road to Burgoyne Bay is an obscure rough track, clearly a minor and seldom-used tributary of the busy Fulford-Ganges highway. Even to the less-vehicle-and-town-oriented visitor, the name Burgoyne Valley can seem an embarrassment, because the watershed that feeds the streams that run into Burgoyne Bay are not the slopes that shelter each side of the valley in question. OK, so all that is sensible and obvious. But new, although seemingly more “correct” can be improved by asking the very relevant question, “Why do oldtimer Salt Spring Islanders call the Fulford Valley the Burgoyne Valley?” It is about history and heritage, and honouring those who “paved the way” or put down the roots that grew the community that is Salt Spring Island today. The island’s Farmers institute and the island’s Historical Society both play a role in the preservation the island heritage.

In the early pioneer days, from 1859, the various areas of Salt Spring Island were named in relation to the nearest landing point, which were not necessarily the landing points of today. For many years, neither the harbour of Ganges nor the harbour of Fulford were landing points. Burgoyne Bay and Vesuvius Bay were the first landing points - steamships ran up and down the east coast of Vancouver Island from Victoria to Nanaimo and back through Sansum Narrows. Beaver Point and Fernwood dock followed decades later. By 1872 officialdom in Victoria named the school districts of the north end and the south end, and therefore their schoolhouses also, “Vesuvius Bay” and “Burgoyne Bay” although the schoolhouses were located at Central (which you may note is not at the centre of the island, but is still called Central, in deference to its beginnings) and in The Valley, as the valley between Burgoyne Bay and Fulford Harbour was known in 1872 (The two schools tended to be referred to by islanders as Central School and Burgoyne Valley School.)

From 1860, Burgoyne was what the pre-emption area in the whole valley was called from the start - as part of the South Cowichan area. (The official division line between North and South Cowichan area was the line extended across to Salt Spring Island, running west-to-east along the current Blackburn Road).

From 1872, in the official records of farmers involved in off-island registration, Burgoyne is what the Directory called the whole valley. Also, Burgoyne was what the Voting District down the whole valley was called from 1872. In 1872 the new school district was defined, for the schoolhouse called the Burgoyne Valley School by Salt Spring Islanders - "the Valley" being short for the Burgoyne Valley and no other valley on Salt Spring from at least as far back as 1872, recorded multiple times in correspondence from 1896, still so called into the present day by old-timers.

The 1926 Directory still specified the occupants of the entire length of the valley from Burgoyne Bay to Fulford Harbour as "Burgoyne" residents. The furthest west any property deemed to be in the “Fulford” harbour district was the waterfront land to the east of and at the head of the harbour; the remainder of those designated as “Fulford” residents occupied land to the east of current Fulford village - predominantly the area around where Beaver Point Hall is located, down to the shore.

If we wish to retain our heritage, and an understanding of how Salt Spring was seen by its earliest pioneers who developed the communities later comers to the island then settled amongst, keeping the name Burgoyne Valley is a courtesy; not least to those still living who grew up in the Burgoyne Valley and went to the Valley School.

Want to read on?
If you are interested in searching for more Burgoyne info, you may enjoy the fun of clicking on the SBI button-link (more like a badge-link - the SBI is the SSIA Salt Spring Bureau of Investigation, where we put our heads together from time to time). This badge button can be found at the bottom of the list on the right hand side of the home page http://saltspringarchives.com/ . Your click on this badge will take you to http://saltspringarchives.com/gossip/index.htm (the tone of the chatter there being more like gossip than the tones of serious research)

The sixth Blue Link down on that page currently happens to be Burgoyne Bay - click on that, and you'll get to http://saltspringarchives.com/gossip/burgoynebay/index.htm

Good Luck in your further search,
Usha

Burgoyne Valley School 1931

Advertisement - 1909

Building New School 1896

Dang is it 115 or 116?

BOB Up Close

Chowing Down

Home Sweet Home

Buzz Buzz

The Apple Core

by Conrad Pilon

A LITTLE BUZZ ON BLUE ORCHARD BEES (BOBS)
Over ten years ago, two parasitic mites of honey bees were brought to North America and decimated thousands of honey bee colonies. They spread throughout BC, resulting in a dramatic decline in the number of our honey bees. Because of these recent concerns about honey bees, bees from the genus Osmia, commonly known as Mason Bees or Blue Orchard Bees (BOBs), have become established as an efficient alternative orchard pollinator in North America. Coupled with the blue orchard bee’s strong preference for and superior pollination of fruit trees (from the family Rosaceae such as apple, apricot, almond, plum, prune, cherry, peach, nectarine, and pear), interest in BOBs with has increased with both backyard orchardists and commercial growers.
Life Cycle of the Solitary Bee
BOBs appear black but are actually dark metallic green/blue in color. The female is approximately 14 mm in length, robust in appearance resembling a black fly (sometimes mistaken for a house fly). The male is smaller and more slender, has no stinger and about 11-12 mm in length. Males are characterized by their longer antennae and a tuft of light colored or white hair in the front of the head, particularly on the face . At rest, the bee has its wings flush with its body.
Blue Orchard Bees are native solitary bees (they do not dwell in hives) that live about a year They nest singly in pre-exisiting cavities such as hollow plant stems(e.g., raspberry canes or reeds), house/barn siding or holes created by other insects. Each female bee has her own tunnel (cavaty) that she fills with eggs (females at the back, males towards the front). First, she collects pollen and nectar and forms it into a bed. She then lays an egg on top of the bed and seals it into a room by making a clay/mud wall. Over the next few weeks the egg will develop and hatch. The young BOB feeds off the pollen and nectar bed and then spins a cocoon in which it overwinters until the following spring.

Blue orchard bee males are smaller than females.

When spring temperatures begin to rise, males will begin emerging with females staying in their cocoons for a few days or weeks longer depending on the weather. After mating, females begin nesting. A nesting female lives an average of 20 days. By the end of May or early June this year's adult females are dead.
Orchard Pollination
Imagine a bee visiting 17 blooms a minute in a 100 meter radius from the nest! The high activity level of BOBs and their tendency to visit different trees in the orhard optimizes cross pollination. BOBs are highly effective pollinators for a number of reasons including their pubescence or hairiness, which enables them to carry pollen grains from flower to flower, causing pollination to take place. Just 250-300 females (they do most of the actual work) will pollinate an entire acre of apples or cherries. Also, BOBs forage and pollinate under cloudy skies and at lower temperatures than most other bees. They are easy to manage and rarely sting. I know of no one who has been stung by one.
Because they forage differently, effective orchard pollination can be attained with a much smaller number of BOBs as compared to an equal number of honeybees. Honey bees land on the edges of blossoms and work their way to the midde, whereas the BOB lands flat onto the centre of the flower. That's why the BOB is significantly better at pollinating fruit tres than the honey bee.This foraging behaviour is a great match with the structure of the flower. It requires significantly more visits from honey bees to work an apple blossom than it takes for a BOB to do the same task. Finally, female BOBs are the primary pollinators as they are the sole nest builders. Males also pollinate but their foraging is only done for nourishment.
Various scientific studies report that BOBs are particularly efficient pollinators of fruit trees not just because of how they move in the orchard, which greatly increases yield in cultivars/varieties that require cross-pollination, but also for what they don't do. Nectar robbing, in which bees collect nectar but do not collect or spread pollen, decreases pollination efficiency. Nectar robbing is a behaviour that is common in honey bees, but not in blue orchard bees.
Nesting Material
When properly managed, BOBs can provide excellent pollination on their own or with honey bees and you can establish a sizable population in your orchard after a few years. Be aware that BOBs do have their own pests and diseases, however, nest materials and management techniques are available to deter or remove many of these from the bees nesting in the orchard.
Nests can be made from blocks of wood, 2x4’s and 4x4’s. It is recommended to use pine or fir but not cedar since the latter contains resins that repel insects. Suitable nests can also be created with cardboard and paper straws. Cardboard straws can be bundled together and wrapped in weather resistant tarpaper or inserted into a large plastic tube/milk container.The holes should be about 5/16” in diameter; be about 6” long; be ¾” apart (although, if hole entrances are offset, they can be closer); be plugged at the back to seal against light and parasites; and, be thick enough to block light and parasitism by wasps. Also, BOBs need access to mud. If a source is readily available near the nests, the females can be spared a great deal of time and labour. Though hight is not critical, BOB condos should face Southeast (morning solar warming) and spaced within the orchards within shelters to protect from direct mid-day sunlight and rain.
I have experimented with a variety of nesting materials, and now build my bee 'condos' with 1”X4” boards (6” inches long) with six 5/16” (you can use 1/4”) routered slots and stack them in small plywood boxes. I have found this type of BOB condo makes the annual 'cleaning of the bees' and management of parasites easier than other models (It is important to put the bee cocoons through a cleaning process, to rid them of hamful mites tand parasites).
One final note on BOB management, because fruit trees do not all flower at the same time, I store the cleaned cocoons in yogurt containers in the fridge and 'release' them at the nesting/condo sites in intervals throughout the spring (pending the weather of course) to ensure maximum pollination. And the Buzz goes on and on!

Abattoir Open House April 12th

ABATTOIR OPEN HOUSE

Update

On April 12th the facility was open to the public for the first time. All the equipment used with sheep and poultry was on display, and visitors were able to walk through the slaughter trailer, the two coolers and the cut and wrap room, with one of the Abattoir Society directors acting as tour guide. For many people this was their first sight of the inside of an abattoir, and they were impressed at the complexity of the design needed to handle multiple species in one building The poultry table folds up onto the wall on red meat days, and the chicken racks are moved out of the drip cooler when not in use.

The Lieutenant Governor was also extremely interested in the facility which she visited during her tour of SSI on April 16th. Her Honour, Judith Guichon, comes from a cattle ranching background, and so appreciates the need for more small abattoirs close to the farms where meat is produced.

The Salt Spring Abattoir Society is the body responsible for operations. Membership costs $20 and entitles you to vote at the AGM, to be held in June, when new directors will be elected. To join the Society send a cheque for $20 made out to the Salt Spring Abattoir Society, to the Chair, Jean Brouard, 331 Roland Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 1V1. This also entitles you to priority bookings. The abattoir started processing lambs at the end of January, and resumed poultry slaughter at the end of March. Bookings can be requested through the website, saltspringabattoir.ca, using the online booking request form.

Further construction is needed to prepare for pork and beef slaughter, so your donations are still very much needed. From the start this has been a community effort, spearheaded by a group of farmers, with financial support from many sources including meat producers, local residents, various foundations and major funding from a matching government grant and Vancity Credit Union. To help with construction expenses please send your cheque made out to Salt Spring Island Agricultural Alliance to Anne Macey, Chair, SSIAA, 106 Old Scott Rd, Salt Spring Island, BC, V8K 2L6.

Other ways to help are to put your Country Grocer tapes into Box 27, to buy feed at Starbarks or Foxglove, to eat the local meat burgers at the Fall Fair and to support the farm dinners and other fundraising events that will soon be widely advertised.

(left) M. Thomson, J. Brouard, A. Macey, Hon. J. Guichon, Lieutenant Governor