Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods. – William Wordsworth

Still Busy

September and October were extremely busy for everyone on the farm. Now, instead of going 100 mph, we're only doing 85.

That was the speed of the Chinook wind for a few days, too. The winds are somewhat disturbing because you wonder what's blowing away. Jeannie thinks about the sheep out on pasture and imagines them being balls of wool blowing across the prairies. So far, all the sheep are accounted for.

On the calm days between the wild and windy ones, the garlic was planted and strawed. You'll see in the Down On the Farm section how the planting was done.

Along with the garlic, the strawberries have been covered with straw to protect them from the freezing temperatures and the wild Chinook winds in the winter. Remember all those trailers Martin kept collecting? You'll see in the pictures how useful that has been.

On a pleasantly calm day Konstantijn planted tulips and daffodils in front of the woodworking shop. They'll be a pretty splash of color in the spring.

The wood stove is assembled and fired up. It's been working well to keep the store and the Van Popta's house toasty. The plumbers were working on running lines from the stove to the boiler house, which in turn runs heated water through the floors to warm these buildings. I don't understand how it all works, I just know it does.

Now, a greenhouse needs to be built to cover the stove. The drafting table in the nicely finished woodworking shop is covered with a pile of paper with a variety of building sketches. Ideas will be transferred from paper to reality when the weather warms up a bit again.

With snow in the forecast, the cattle and sheep have been brought back into the corrals where they are warm and well-fed. Winter is coming.

Talking about being comfortable, here's a cute video of Mabel and Catso, one of the farm kittens. They seem to have a cozy relationship.

Another Harvest Haven "convenience food" that is hearty and full of flavor. It's also full of ground beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions in beef broth with a touch of tomato, a dash of seasonings, and a handful of garlic.

Heat and serve as is, or add a bit more broth if you like a thinner soup. It's rich!

We're having a chicken soup parts box sale! Make your own delicious bone broth at home.

SALE PRICE on a 40 lb box is $1.75/lb

Regular price on a 40 lb box is $3.19/lb

Email us at solutions@harvesthaven.com to order today.

Bone broth should be a staple in every kitchen. It is packed with nutrients, easy to digest, rich in flavor, and loaded with restorative amino acids. And it's not that hard to make.

Some of the benefits of bone broth:

• It is mineral-rich and very healing for the digestive system.

• The minerals found in bone broth are very easily absorbed and utilized by the body, and essential for helping to make healthy bones and joints.

• Potassium and sodium are two essential electrolytes abundant in bone broth that are essential for hydration and fluid balance, boosting the immune system.

• Bone broth is a source of easy to absorb amino acids such as glycine and glutamine. Glutamine is one of the best amino acids to help heal the gut as it is a primary fuel source used by the intestinal lining.

• It also contains amino acids essential for the formation of collagen which is why bone broth is touted for its anti-aging skincare properties.

• It has several compounds that can improve the brain's functioning and mood.

• Bone broth is a powerful detoxifier for several reasons - it helps the digestive system expel waste more efficiently; improves your liver's ability to filter toxins from the blood; contains glycine which stimulates the production of glutathione—known as the body's master antioxidant; glycine also protects the liver from becoming oxygen starved, or hypoxia; glutathione is also needed for the liver's detoxification process (phase II) which is important for preventing toxin accumulation.

• Bone broth is a rich source of protein and minerals, but its greatest magic lies in its glycine content, increasing the ratio of glycine to methionine. Glycine is anti-inflammatory and improves insulin sensitivity, making bone broth a wonderful healing food.

Harvest Haven Pasture Raised Chicken Soup Parts – These meaty soup parts from our pasture raised chickens are rich in flavor, and will make a stellar broth that is tasty and nutritious.

Harvest Haven White Onions – Fresh white Spanish onions are milder and sweeter than yellow cooking onions. Serve them in big slices on a hamburger, separated into rings for deep-fried onion rings, or sliced thin in a salad.

Harvest Haven Hearth Organic Sourdough Bread – At the Harvest Haven Hearth, Heaven meets Earth. Golden loaves of bread made with simple ingredients and baked in our wood-fired oven are wonderfully delicious and nourishing.

Harvest Haven Garlic – The staple of staples. A wonder food of flavor and power, one of the greatest known natural antibiotics, and lots of it.

Organic BC Bartlett Pears – Sweet, aromatic, and juicy. Just right for eating fresh, canning, or a lovely dessert.

Organic Sliced Almonds – A crisp and crunchy complement to your baking and snacking. We keep all our nuts in the cooler, so they are always fresh.

Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic.

Lovin' Our RoHand II

When we received our RoHand II, we didn't realize just how useful it was going to be. It's main purpose was for picking strawberries, but we quickly realized how helpful it was for weeding the strawberries and the gardens.

Then, there was planting garlic. Martin had already designed a rolling device for making holes in the soil for inserting the cloves of garlic. But, the inserting had to be done one clove at a time, stooping over the holes, until there was the RoHand.

What could be better than lying down on the job? Maybe not having to do the job, but that's not an option.

As you'll see in the short video Mathijs took of his dad planting garlic, the planting process is so much easier and quicker with our favorite assistant, the RoHand.

You can read below how we were gifted with this special helper.

RoHand II – Picking Assistant for Harvest Haven

At the end of every weeding and strawberry picking season, Martin grumbled that he's going to find a way to do these jobs, so they aren't so backbreaking. He worked through options in his mind and even sketched out his ideas. But nothing materialized.

Then, in early spring this year when the realization that the backbreaking work would be upon us soon enough, Martin got serious about finding a suitable option. Discussing what it would take to build something, he realized it would be too time consuming and probably reinventing the wheel. He knew there had to be a machine out there that worked. And he found it!

The RoHand II is exactly what he needed.

Like most things that happen to us at Harvest Haven, there's a story.

Finding the RoHand II in Pennsylvania was the easy part. Getting it to Southern Alberta took a few steps.

The manufacturers of the machine were helpful in putting together a unit for us, but absolutely refused to dismantle it for shipping. The cost of shipping the unit intact would have been horrendous and almost the cost of the machine itself.

Interestingly, we have friends living 30 minutes from these folks. Their son, Paul, was able to pick up the RoHand II, take it to his woodworking shop, dismantle the unit, build a shipping crate, pack it, and ship it to us. As it turned out, Paul knew the manufacturers because they were former Amish companions.

The RoHand II is well built with all the options thoroughly thought through, and the shipping crate Paul built was masterfully constructed. The Amish are true craftsmen.

Another friend in Texas has a business that requires shipping auto parts all over the United States. He gladly arranged shipping for us.

And the pièce de résistance was an unexpected surprise, still another friend gifting the unit to us. How amazing is that?

Martin is delighted with being able to get backbreaking field work done with ease, even pleasure, if you can believe it! The manufacturers knew from experience what was needed to make labor intensive work easier and more productive.

We are truly thankful to all those involved who were so generous and kind to provide this wonderful machine.