September night the wind did blow
Power lines came down
I didn't care because I saw the light
Went to learn about the farming life
And I learned a lot
On bold point road there is a little farm stay
Chickens seed corn the sheep some hay
And watch the raven fly
The chicken mothers eye
Now it's all quiet on bold point road
I had a pen and so I made that note
It’s just the way it goes
In the back there is a forest path
It hits a road with no roadbed
This must have been how the settlers lived
And soon I saw me a gravel road
Lead me to a mighty maple tree
There was a sign by it you see
It said "bold point"
In 1920 the Union Steamships
They used the old wooden cattle bridge
A floating general store
The hotel is no more
Loaded wagons with mining supplies
All the hope in the young men’s eyes
A pet graveyard
Ned, Buckey and Barb
Stars shine in the Quadra night
Hidden from all the city lights
Wood stove it glows
When I look back on bold point road
I have the stories that Rod he told
I made a friend out there
On bold point road
Bold Point Farmstay
I saw this CBC contest about songs about roads, and I have no songs about roads, which is odd having done 4 CD's with a band called Roadbed... I was thinking of throwing in "Willingdon Junction"... about an important train road... i believe i just talked myself into something.
We had a great time at the Bold Point Farm stay. It was a chance to learn about gardening, farming and living in isolation in a sustenance role with the land, and then of course, there is that thing you get when you escape the city... quiet, peace, no computer, no telephone, big trees, big animals and big storms. A chance to stop and observe things, and then you get questions in your head to ask Rod, and then you get answers that spur more questions... Next thing you know you are in the library getting a positive identification on a fungus species that you thought might be chanterelles but in fact is a very deadly fungus... * NEVER eat mushrooms you picked unless you are absolutely positive they are edible. I know very little about Fungus species. I am more of a bird, mammal and vegetable Man myself, but because i knew our hosts knew i figured i could pick, come back and ask and then eat... which i did minus the eating.
To me one of the greatest lessons was in bird behaviour... in particular the chickens reaction to a Chicken Hawk, or a raven. I was standing with a mother and about a dozen chicks and i happened to look up and see a Coopers hawk, at around the same time we heard this call from the mother chicken and the chicks scattered. The mother froze with her eye fixed on the hawk and the hawk moved on. Now this of course opened the conversation about this dynamic which begat a good introduction into "evolving raven behaviour with respect to co-coordinated attack on farm livestock". Apparently a raven beak can snap the head off a chicken if it gets a chance, so in an effort to create that chance the ravens will work in pairs. Two Ravens will fly in the trees by the kill zone corridor (the long driveway road next to the trees) and the chickens will do their thing and then one raven will fly off and the chickens think its all cool, go back to business, then the second raven swoops down and gets a chance at a close range surprise attack... of course the raven does risk taking the business end of a Roosters spur, but everything in life has it's gambles. There is no Insurance for this kind of deal... you need chickens who have "wild farm" smarts.
We talked Vancouver backyard chicken coops and apparently they only want hens, no roosters... but apparently, a hen, in time, can change into a rooster, or at least start to look like a rooster... be good to weird a few people out, and you can imagine the extrapolations, folklore, and city planning meetings.
But this is a gardening blog, and i should talk of the succulent oregano, snapping chard, brilliant beans, garlic, hazelnuts and of course i should mention Uncle Rods Man tomato greenhouse otherwise known as Robertson's secret snack bar.
Check out the design... 1/4-inch re-bar wrapped in PVC, arched for snow weight problems, re-enforced. I'm sold on the tomatoes in a greenhouse, a total no brainier. The bold point farm stay is north and on a moist forested mushroom filled island and Rod's tomatoes are just rocking it... hitting stride. I should have asked him... does he need to open the door to help fertilization? And in this week in Vancouver our blightmatoes are done... that's right blightmatoes is not a word... I am taking the word "blight" and the word "tomato" and fusing them together creating a description of something nobody wants.
On one of the days it was raining so i went for a walk down to Bold Point... I took the back "forest path" route and my mind went from gardening and livestock rearing to the history of the area. There is this crazy old rotten bridge that must have been one hell of a construction project in it's day, and apparently you can still walk across it... it's just that when you get to the other side you are convinced you don't want to walk back. That's what the people who i saw walking up a private driveway told me when i asked them if this was a little "loop". On the other side of the bridge is private property and i imagine the people who live there probably went to live there for a little peace and quiet and may tire of simpletons ending up on their property wondering how to get back afraid of the bridge. Anyway i had to wonder how it all got there, and Rod, as usual, filled me in.
I got some Garlic, some i ate and then rest I am set to plant to keep the strain going, as i find it most delectable garlic. My daughter and Rod harvested hazelnuts for human consumption and jerusalem artichoke greens for sheep consumption. Nothing quite like seeing a kids eyes after they have done things like that... it's actually really exciting rather than the usual manufactured excitement we are trained to plug our children into in order to make then good consumers.
Do yourself a favour go to the Bold Point Farm stay and kick back for 4 days (it takes a while to get there so you need to get away from the travel days for proper mind ease).
Did i mention we saw Orca's on the ferry ride back... a good omen if i don't say so myself.
