May 14, 2020
This episode takes us down on the farms - first to a sheep farm near Perth where we learn about the capricious rhythms of Mother Nature from a farmer and cello instructor. Next, to Dr. Dolittle of a farm – Caberneigh Farms – jubilant with animals and abuzz with newly hived bees lost in their own dances and rhythms. All in all, a timely podcast that gets us back to our roots.
By the way, if you want to read Harrowsmith Magazine instead of listen to it you can subscribe to the print version online at harrowsmithmag.com and you can find Harrowsmith Magazine on selected newsstands across Canada. But for now, settle in for the next half hour of Harrowsmith Radio.
Sarah Loten
When we last spoke with Sarah Loten of Drover’s Way Farm in Lanark country, she was lamenting the love hate relationship with water that both drowned her tractor and gave life to her crops and livestock. This time out I speak with the veteran farmer and cellist about a elegy to nature’s pace, cadence and rhythm she wrote for Harrowsmith. The poetic piece beautifully captures the close, experience-wrought relationship farmers have with the some capricious beat and syncopation of the seasons. It’s a bond, a enslavement and an understanding those of us in urban centres have all but lost. But, for farmers like Sarah, who rush to take advantage of a six hour planting window, or lament the dying of even the smallest shaving of light in the fall, the intimate dance with Mother Nature has to be minded with each and every passing measure.
Nicole Robertson
Nicole Robertson loves animals. Well, that’s like saying Wimpy is partial to hamburgers, really. She’s got goats and horses and, well, a whole menagerie at Caberneigh Farm in Uxbridge. A couple of years ago she added bees to her collection and they have been paying her back in spades. Here’s our conversation that will be sweet comfort to anyone thinking about getting hives, the good kind.
End Notes
Want more Harrowsmith? No problem.
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And, you can read Vanessa's story on ticks in the Spring issue of
Harrowsmith Magazine. It's on selected newsstands across Canada or
you can order subscriptions online at harrowsmithmag.com.
By the way, the music in the podcast? It's by good ol' Canadian singer, composer and friend of the 'cast, David Archibald. You can find more of his music at his website, davidarchibald.com.