Our First Full Summer July 2023

It is Summer July 2023 and the region is filled with bright yellow fields of gold. Actually, it is Canola crops but the fields are absolutely amazing. Rolling fields of Canola around lakes and hillsides. Not to dismiss the wheat, corn, hay, and cattle feed producers, but the fields of gold are amazing. Local festivals, markets and school is out for summer. This is our first full summer here in Streamstown, Alberta and it has been eventful for sure. From Flies to Storms and everything in between.

Let’s see what has been happening…..

A New Family Member – A New Puppy

Luke has a new friend! A brother from another mother if you will. With Sarah not here as much anymore, her dog Doug is also not here. We found that Luke needed some companionship, friendship, a partner in crime! So, the hunt was on for a new pup! We found him! He is also Great Pyrenees and Maremma cross with about 3% German Sheppard. His name is naturally Solo, lol, yes, Colin named both dogs.

Solo is going to be big. He is almost twice as big than what Luke was at the same ages so far. We had a choice of pups when we drove to the middle of nowhere in Western Alberta to get him. The couple who were raising them had them pegged exactly when she described their demeanor. Colin was fine with the “calm” black pup. Oh, but Lisa and Ashley just loved the colouring of the “feisty” one. So, the “feisty” one it was and he has acquired the nick name Demon Spawn!

Luke and Solo really meshed. We got Solo younger than we had Luke but there have been so many positives. Solo just does whatever Luke is doing and most times, it is a big game of follow the leader. Luke has taken a dominant role of protecting the property and Solo follows suit. We had the heating/cooling guy come out last week and Luke didn’t like it at all. What is hilarious is that when he was a pup, he didn’t want the contractors to leave and now he doesn’t like visitors.

When Luke barks at something, it is actually pretty funny to watch Solo. He barks because Luke is barking but has no clue most times what he is barking at. Luke typically only barks when something is not right or something does not belong. Solo will be looking in the complete opposite direction and just bark at the sky. Just a little less than 1 year apart, they are the ultimate acreage team!

So, a little update at the end of this…. if there is anything out of place, Luke will bark at it as stated previously. We were cleaning out the barn and some carpet was removed, he went nuts. He hated the killer carpet! We brought home a trailer of hay bales, and he barked incessantly at it. Quite hilarious to watch; eventually he stops once he realizes it is not threatening in any way. Solo of course barks at “something” because Luke is barking.

Storms

Living in British Columbia for so many years and of course in recent years with the amount of flooding, we are used to rain. However, mother nature is just a tad different in her approach to providing that rain here in Northeastern Alberta. We are pretty sure she is just pissed off with someone. The violence in the recent storms has been something to marvel at.

The latest storm rolled in within a couple of hours bringing hail, wind, rain, lightning, thunder, and a tornado warning. We had a 50’ White Spruce behind our house get ripped right out of the ground. The garden was shredded by the hail (but has since bounced back strong), and our neighbours had a ton of damage to their vinyl siding. Our front 150 yd driveway was a pinecone and pine tree branch path. We were fine and safe, the house was fine and even the dogs got through it with ease.

Growing up in southern Ontario, we have seen bad storms but the last few here have been wild. The only way to describe them would be fast and furious.

Gardens – Veggie, Flowers

Lisa and Ashley planted a bunch of veggies at the end of spring (the one day of spring we had), and they have definitely been producing. Already enough mini cukes to make jarred pickles with. Had some tomatoes, peppers, green onion and of course zucchini. There are also regular cukes, potatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, acorn squash, summer squash (I think) and 3 varieties of pumpkins all growing strong. We will see what the results are.

In the 3rd of the images, the large green patch of veggie leaves that is cascading across the gravel is a group of 3 different types of pumpkins. OUT OF CONTROL! There are regular sized, sweet mini ones for baking etc, and then there are warty gourd pumpkins. They have taken over the South Side of the garden for sure. 

With birds and bugs in abundance, we have had to throw down some solutions to keep the veggies intact. We placed little sacks on stakes filled with Irish Spring soap to help ward off most bugs. We also strung some pie plates onto the same stakes to ward off the birds. Lisa has been using a natural soap solution to spray some of the plants. All of it seems to be working well.

As for the flowers, they are growing nicely and adding some wonderful beauty to the property and the front of the house. The large flower bed is right outside the new living room window so they are enjoyed from inside and outside. She also planted some Lilies in a big old tractor tire and they bloomed beautifully.

With the living room window, we have had issues with birds flying into it. Lisa placed some stickups of birds on the window, but we don’t think they really work. We still have birds flying into the window and with deep sadness, we had one of our property woodpeckers perish from hitting the window. We will find a solution hopefully that works!

Pickling – Canning

Lisa and Ashley have been busy pickling cukes and zukes! With the garden producing some quality amounts of mini cucumbers and zucchini, it is a great idea to store them.

Lisa and Ashley went Saskatoon Berry picking and our kitchen quickly became a jam and preserve paradise! They made Saskatoon Berry jam as well as Strawberry jam. They also made a Saskatoon Berry preserve in abundance for future pies and dessert topping.

Oh, it doesn’t stop there…….. the ladies are also making Lisa’s famous hot sauce (tasters beware of permanent burning) and will also be making a jarred Picante Salsa using veggies from our garden. (and a little assistance from the grocery store, could not grow everything)

Cleaning Out the Paddocks – Clearing The Land

Well the property maintenance has begun! Clearing the land is a task for sure, but, we found a way to make it a bit easier. The cows did some amazing work clearing the grass from the paddocks throughout our pasture, but we have an issue with thistle bush which is something they don’t eat for good reason. It is a bit of a pain in the butt and grows thick in patches.

What to do? Rent a Brush Cutter from United Rentals for a month!

We are just finished 1 week of cutting and we have 3 full paddock areas and a big chunk of our back 40 cleared out. The brush cutter is called a Billy Goat cutter and it is literally like having 100 goats to clear your land. (However, even the goats won’t touch the thistle bushes)

We have found some unique finds on the clearing, like a mother duck with her ducklings nesting in one of the enclosures and we also have a black bird nest in another. Gopher holes are in abundance so time for target practice!

The brush cutter task is a group effort, everyone gets on the machine for a little while. The vibrations from the powerful engine make your hands tingle and numb so you can only go so long before you need to swap out. This machine is something every acreage property owner should have, it is amazing!

We are soon going to be getting into finding metal and junk crap left by the previous owners and we are looking forward to clearing it out. One of the conversations we have had is about ripping down much of the pasture fencing to increase the size of the paddocks and not have so many. The recent storms blew over some of the fencing which needs to be cleaned up. Currently there are about 10-12 paddock areas which we want to reduce to maybe 4-5. Only one paddock has wind fencing set up already.

We picked up a brush cutting trimmer at Canadian Tire which looks like your typical grass trimmer but it has a solid steel blade instead of the poly string for cutting. It is a beast! The brush cutter we rented can’t get that brush against the fencing etc, so the trimmer gets those tough spots.

Seeding

Colin is seeding, lol, that doesn’t sound right. Colin is learning to obtain seeds from plants, flowers etc., so we can grow our own everything from seed. Different types of plants, veggies, and flowers are seeded differently. As the plan is to have a greenhouse on the property, it just makes sense to have our own healthy seed supply to grow what we want. Annuals are the bigger one to seed as the Perennials will automatically come back every year. However, some perennials flourish in the summer here, but the root system won’t survive the cold winters.

We are planning on laying down a mulch and insulated hay layer on the gardens for the winter months but of course are expecting some perennials won’t make it back. We have 4 beautiful lavender plants that should survive the winter.

One of the key things here is attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds so that we can have natural pollination for the garden. We do have a little benefit however on the bee side. A farm about 2km away makes honey and we have seen some monster bumble bees in our gardens this year. Surrounded by ranch land, attracting them is very important.

Planning for 2024 is very important right now so that perennials can be planted and established before the growing season next year. We want the garden to be “buzzing” with activity from pollinators.

Colin looked into potentially seeding the white spruce pinecones after the tree came down, and the decision was no. If anyone is looking to seed pine or spruce, it is a very long process. 2 years before you have a seedling ready for planting outside. The other issue is weather and survival of the seedlings. Decision……no, easier to buy the seedlings from a tree supplier, we have one.

Payton

Payton has graduated from grade 4 and is onto grade 5. She is extremely smart and definitely developing a strong personality. Happy and healthy is all we can ask and that is exactly what she is. With school over, she was signed up for a local Bible camp. Many of her friends from school were going so she wanted to go as well. She had an amazing time and got to do so many activities. Her camp started right after the wild last storm and lasted a week; she had great weather for it which made it all that much better.

Payton is moving into Lloydminster, so we will most likely see Payton on weekends only. 

New Trailer

We bought a new flatbed utility trailer. A definite necessity for us here on the property. It is a 5’ x 10’ custom welded with ramps. A local welder actually builds them custom and has them inspected and registered with a VIN by the province. The quality of the work is amazing. Now we have a welding guy!

The trailer has had so much use in the past week it is unbelievable. Dump runs, hay, tractor transport, pallets, and more. Definitely a valued addition to the homestead!

Our “new” tractor had to get checked out as it would not start one day. So, off to Novlan Bros. / New Holland Equipment and they determined that the starter was faulty. Hmmm. They don’t make things like they used to. Hopefully a quick turn around on the repair so we can cut the out of control grass growing. Lol. 

Hay and Pallets have been a task for some new family / farm members. Yep… check the spoiler below. 15 bales of regular straw hay and 20 of alfalfa for the winter months. We now have a hay supplier and they are such nice people which makes things so much cooler! 

The trailer is going to be getting a ton of trips to one of our county dumps as we need to get rid of a ton of crap left by the previous owners as well as the clean up we have been doing. 

Needless to say, this trailer in it’s first month has been worked hard and has easily paid for itself. If you are in Vermilion River County and want to know who built it for us, contact us directly and we will let you know. 

Planning

The barn is something we need to clean out and get new doors for. It has one door that is very challenging to open and the other side leading into the paddocks has no door at all. With the cleanup around the barn taking place, we are able to see what needs to be done. We have power to the barn which is awesome, but we think it needs to be tidied up a bit to meet code. The chicken coop room, which has a door and heater needs a bit of cleanup but probably just needs a new heater or servicing to the existing one. Most of the paddocks in the barn are a decent size and are structurally sound. The barn has an upstairs which Ashley and Sarah say is in great shape.

The tearing down of the fencing will coincide with our possible planning to have livestock in 2024. Yep, the convo on animals is a serious one. We are considering Sheep, Pigs and maybe Chickens. The research and learning curves are already underway so all are on the same page.

The plan to have a greenhouse is one with strong conviction. The amount of vegetable growth potential all year here is amazing with the amount of sunshine. Heating for it would also be easy to do. After the hail shredded the plants a couple of weeks ago, they have come back strong, but, they did have a bit of a setback of course. It would be nice to have the ability to grow more tomatoes each year for a longer period of time as well as other vegetables.

Tractor with front end loader….. on the list for the property. We definitely are going to need one down the road here.

Coming New Additions to the Homestead……who are Hamlet and Wilbur?