Pond Skating & Summer Planning at J.K. Farm
You know you live in Canada when...
this shot was by far the most popular photo EVER on the Instagram feed, getting well over twice the likes of any other post!
February 8th, 2017 Missive from J.K. Farm
I have always loved skating. Outdoors especially, on ponds, the bigger the better. There is nothing like whooshing around and feeling the cold sharp air bring tears to your eyes. A couple of years ago, Victoria and I diverted water coming off the ridge that routinely flooded the barn. We designed a simple system that captured that water before it hit the barn and redirected it around the barn and on to a lower field. On the far end we placed a small culvert that led to the stream to channel any overflow in the event of a heavy rain. When conditions are right, the lower field floods with water, creating this pond that will only last as long as there is rain. Two weeks ago all the stars lined up. The temperature went up above the freezing point. We had a heavy rainfall. The pond filled up. The temperature dropped dramatically. By morning there was a thick layer of black ice covering the pond. My mouth watered imagining the skating potential. I had just purchased skates, thinking I might play some shinny hockey with cook colleagues.* I brought my skates to the edge of the pond. I had a hockey stick and puck too, just for fun. I sat down and laced up my skates. Geoff was in the barn feeding his ducks and chickens. I took my first tentative strides on the ice. Soon I was wheeling around, the sounds of blades on ice echoing off the barn. Geoff looked up, startled. These were not sounds in the farm catalogue of normal sounds. He smiled. I was already smiling as I played on the ice like a kid.
The winter landscape on the farm couldn’t be more different from the summer. It is a quiet monochrome, beautiful in its wintry way. I walk out to the vineyard imagining that in just 3 short months, all will be green again. It is hard to imagine given the cold harsh wind coming out of the north and the vineyard buried in snow and ice right now. In truth though much planning is already underway for the summer diner series. Improvements are being made to the dining room. The garden is being planned. The seeds are being purchased and we have many people interested in taking part in our programming this summer. We have Norman Hardie, The Grange and Trail Estate all confirmed. Many more will be confirming in the coming weeks. The 2017 season promises to be amazing as we continue our commitment to provide programming that reflects the community and food culture that we are a part of here in Prince Edward County. Please join us this summer as the exploration continues!
Tickets for the 2017 Summer Dinner Series are available now, click HERE to see the dates and purchase. Each event will feature a collaborator (a winery and/or farmer/fisher/producer) and information will be added as it is confirmed.
Norman Hardie Winery is booked for May 20th and October 7th, Grange Winery for June 10th, and Trail Estate Winery for July 15th.
*The Drake Barn Burner pitted cooks from Toronto against cooks from Montreal in an epic hockey battle this past February 4th in Wellington, Prince Edward County. The Toronto Grinders were victorious against the Montreal Mashers, as Ken Dryden and amused fans looked on at Essroc Arena, all in support of Community Food Centres Canada. Click HERE for Rebecca Tucker's report in Toronto Life and HERE for the CountyLive blog post.