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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-02, Page 15qra +IF aTINEMoTiYx4,,,,. ..,: .,,-. erR ,:r •�� mc- ,•c,�-. z:,•,,^,rQ�.: J. 'c.��m�-: � ,fit; BY USE GUNBY "Sun beating down, on my backside Six weeks I ain't seen no rain I'm wandering 'round theg arden with a hose in my hand Dust floating in my brain. It looks like another busy season It looks like we're gonna feel the heat We'rerowing potatoes, and tomatoes': g And strawberries .Sweet sweet sweet,,, Such is an introduction to Bob Burchill, ai singer, guitarist, actor, writer and farmer, Itsounds best when: he sings it,strumming on his guitar and tapping a sandalled foot, at his home near Dublin, Bob and his father, Jack. who is, setting his son up in business, have a 10Q acre farm, with a small herd of cattle, 42 acres - of grain, vegetables, and a garden.. Bob farms organically. '.His father. said Bob,has been "more gr less an organic farmer all his. life." Their farrn has never been touched with DDT ,or 2-4-D: sprays; A commitment to preservation, conserv- ation and health seem to have served as the foundation, for his farming methods. His is. a "gentler approach to the soil," without the 50 -odd chemicals the government is, researching, for harmful effects,„ if the results. of "chemical farming" prove disastrous. in 25 or 30 years, Bob said, "there still has to be some .land around that is still productive." He stands in the two acre garden, His. wife, Annie, who came to Canada: from: Sweden in 1976,.is picking. peas. There are .also, beets and sweet cern, a ;patch of potatoes with an expected yield of two tons, an experimental cabbage patch" and; an adolescent apple orchard. "1want to grow food; for human, consumption," Bob said, "That's my main issue,- . We should be •growing, food direct for people, rather than direct' for animals. "When growing animal feeds, you must keepcostslow so that it is a viable feed to ' give back to: the animals, but vegetables are different." Because Shamrock Farm is a family operation, he is not faced with a 5150,000 Mortgage. he said, Vegetable farming is viablemostly :for . those who have their land paid for. it's> labour-intensive; "but he still gets a •good hourly rate for his work. And. overhead is low, He used a horse-drawn: scuff'er, bought for 520, a hoe, and a lot, of hand work to plant the two acres, "Basically; I'm using tools that nobody wants," he said, He could do the same with four or five acres of vegetables, he said. But next year,. he hopes to purchase a new corn planter and a hydraulic scuffles. The staple crop on the farm is 42 acres of grain. The soil has never been overworked, he said, it's not just "land to hold the plant upright." The small beef . herd has supplied valuable fertilizer. Though phasing out the livestock, Bob. said he plans to keep some cattle. ThE.H R • RA E, )POsITO:% , At) T 2 , 10110, GARDENLR'S Vi iiso . "1'm not much of a livestock hover," be Said, "I guess 1; have a !gardener"s. viewpoint on farming," He said he prefers. to ,harvest crops in the Summer,a d w''t p in and the er for playing g music, He seems to 'lave successfully combined the best of both his worlds: organic farming and singing. "I'M not givipng up one for the other," he said. Born on Shamrock Farm south and east of ,Dublin, which has been in the family since 1552, Bob grew up with both the rural life and musi4",. He; studied piano until he was 15. Then. lessons were curtailed.' for the sake of hemework and farmchores, But again. at age 19, he was playing in local bands - The Impalas and: The Rembrandts, Then his. Musical career was interrupted, Bob left the farm, Three years and 43 towns later, after travelling as a relief telegrapher/agent for the Canadian National Railways, he carne home again. His music drew him to the Black Swan coffeehouse in Stratford, a meeting place for artists, There Bob played with time off to travel -- hitch -hiking across Canada,: living in Scotland, in Morocco, Ireland, France and. Spain. •He studiedguitar for four years, and one year at the Conservatory of Music in classical' guitar. He teaches as well. BLACK SWAN CROWD' From the Black Swan crowd the Perth Letters are apprgoat•el (too Trailer. . tidal. no Elmira OM. N312C7'- * .for more farm At; the outset, I admit my bias. I love farmers. 1 love agriculture. 'i am keenly interested in the entire social and political structure connected with farming in Ontario and in Canada. 1 find it one of themost: interesting and: challenging industries in existence. I have been a farm writer for more than 15 years and have tried to keep up-to-date although this is difficult because of the great changes in agriculture that have taken place in the last 20 years.. • Therefore; 1 am biased when it comes to farmers and farming. Understanding that, let's just throw out a few important facts, not biases, about farming. Agriculture is the most important industry in Canada. It generates more than 43 per cent of the gross national product and more than holds its own in helping to cut down the .national debt and the tremendous trade imbalances. Therefore, it is puzzling to me why so many weekly and,. daily. newspapers do such a• lousy jobof reporting, agriculture. news. 'this tirade was sparked after spending four days at the. annual, convention of the Canadian Community News- papers Association in Toronto last month: Ted. Crandon, editorof the Delhi News Record, prompted .a discussion about agriculture during an' editors' round -table discus- sion in which I was privileged to participate: Ted was able to make the statement that most papers ignore agriculture because his paper does an excellent job for his area. ' Some of the editors present agreed with him. Others gave me the impression that they didn't give a damn about agricultural news - I have had some .experience' in trying to convince editors that they are missing the most important industry in the country when they put no emphasis on farm coverage.. Perth hose 4-H'ers -frim Saskatchewan Eight Perth county 4-H'ers are hosting young people from south western Sask.- , atchcwan ` from 'July 23 to August Isl. The Perth hosts and visit- ors include Pauline McFad- den, R.R. 3, Mitchell and Noreen Wildin; Lois Worden R,R.2;. St. Pauls and Collette Facette; Heather Bilyea, R.R. 2,; Granton and Janet Oancia: Ellen Smale, R.R. 7. St. Marys and Diane Morgan: .leff Willows. R.R. 2, : St. Pauls and Steven Tanner: Aubrey Ross. R.R. i, St. Marys and Roger Harlow: Martin Misener. R, R. •1. New Hamburg and David Message: and Doug Osborn, R.R; 2. Monkton and David Hagel. Many; of them feel • that the annual 4-H presentations constitute farm reporting. 1 do not want to cast aspersions • against 4-H clubsbut club members will agree there is a heck of a lot moreto farming than winning a blue. ribbon. Many other papers are content to carry the innocuous releases from local, provincial and federal agricultural representatives. There's nothing wrong with these releases, either; except that they have little or nothing to do with .the social and political: changes'on the farm, As a freelance farm writer of this column, I haver been. trying to persuade editors in Ontario to carry it for almost 10 years. In that time, fewer than 20 weekly papers and only one daily paper have thought enough of, their agricultural`' subscribers . to. use the column. It's a frustrating thing when you figure there are more than 300 weekly newspapers in Ontario. alone. 1 salute the editors with enough foresight to: use it. I know of one :editor who cancelled'. it for a time and got enough letters and phone calls to'convince him that it was, indeed, a useful: exercise. I am not suggesting that every paper in Ontarioshould subscribe to Bob Trotter's weekly One Foot in the Furrow. It is surely% not the best farm column in the country. But it does. present a farm viewpoint as I see it. 1 am suggesting that Ted Crandon was correct.when he said too many papers almost ignore the'great things .that.• are happening on the;farm front. In his words: ''.";They do ,lousy job, when it comes to agriculture."; It's time: farmers ;got together and demanded better. coverage in local papers. If you don't get it, threaten to cancel your subscription. That's the only way to gett some: people off their butts. Hit them in the pocketbook. And to those editors who do carry this column, God bless you. my friends. It was a distinct privilege to participate in your annual convention in Tranna. theeco-opefa hHureu 1; tnaf . hi1UK IJ{ll. 3t1 Blenheim St., Mitchell PHONE: OFFICE 341I=117S its. 34114175: INSURANCI AND ►INANCIAi,SI*VIC13 LIFE • HOME ' AUTO ,• II 1N Railings *interior or exterior •choice of colour ft design •ornamental posts •room dividers •stair railings *free installation` T Weldinn For Freie s tima to Winyham, Ontario Ca/' 357-2429 County' Conspiracywas torn in 1949. "The ti ht combination of people came to- gle Said! Bob, The Conspiracy, 1411v nglithering a dozen Members, b'et aM a .musical group which toured coast •COast doing university concerts, and 1ayin at concert halls and benefits, The i° g group, produced two albums, 111e -Perth: County Conspiracy did not live uta full-fledged commune. "A. couple of people in the group owned land." Bob 'explained, and.there:there:were co-operative hoiBut ises. t themain centre was the gaff€ehOuse in; Stratford also cp. operatively run, In 1975, Bob produced bit • first sold album,Cabin Fever. Later that year. he fortued the band. Perth County Express: After a promotional tour, of Sweden, he again played through Canada, building up a long list of performances in different places. In 1977, his second album:. Will I Ever Get To Heaven, wasp produced under his own label„ Will 0' Wind. And twityears ago he- moved back to: the farm, '"to see if 1 couldlinake a living at it on :my own terms," He estimates the worth of his projects: by calculating the number of weeks wages they provide. His garden gives his several weeks of earnings, :his music several more, and his record sales and air play on CBC. complete income, According to statistics, he said,• smiling. 1'.e been in the poverty bracket allmy life. '''But to make a good living, it's not how Hauch you earn, it's how low your overhead is," he said. Bob's and Annie's house was once •a portable classroom, They are in the process of renovating the building. It is comfort- abre, unique; attraetive, and surprisingly large" It is also, Bob. said,' ''warm in winter, cheap to un, and cheap to build," The Burchills sell their ,produce to the Federation of Food C4,.ops, which serves• 42 shores. The clo" s' outlet i$ io Mitchell,« Last year, they supplied, Greenleaf Foods of Kitchener, and will do so again. They also sell. some of their produce privately" . and will attempt to:.catch the highway sales, Bob said. • His growing methods aro often simple. 'caned; from old farm Magazines advo. eating home-made cures, which > up until the last 20 years. Bob said. were successful for hundreds of years, He's an "avid reader Of H'arrowsmith," and for y'ear's had gardens in other. locations on his; travel's. He also gets. information from, the Department of Agriculture, which is experimenting: with organic methods. "I won't grow corn on the same land two }'ears in a row, I won't grow potatoes on the same land two years in a row, he said. This year's potato patch, nurtured in soil: fed for the last 16 years on rotten apples from the orchard, 1r' plants: 2% f t h gb. Manure froth his 2, Icluck. ens has.' ,tootle an .excellent fertilizer« Bob 'has been usin a bacterial ,s�.ra 8 _ p y Caned, Thurieide. and a: rniature• called Rotenone" mfrom, a poisonous root anld ground finely.ade which will not leave pP . n deposits in the soil. "I'm still looking at it, and May have to ' ; go to other methods,..he Said SEAWEED CONTROLS There are also seaweed products to +?imtrol pests, and a finely ground sea -shell mixture that; acts like ground: glass gn worms. "Chemical farmers should Only be using; chemicals on the basis of necessity,"' he said. Scuffling more often and shallow ploughing; are better methods. Bob also has a new orchard of 50 trees, and hopes to plant 200, This year he planted 1.G00 other trees, and said he will have "egdar posts when I am an old man." lit,* plans a solar greenhouse as one of next • ;year's projects, and would like to expertcntwith ithwind power generators, , In the family since 1852 %.,,,,..---------:------5-;_...._, j Used TRACTORS MF -'1500-D. 4 wheel drive cab. air. duals MF - 1105-D. Tractor w /cab. MF - 1100-D. Tractor w/cab: AC 17 Tractor AC - W.D. Tractor' SWATHER.S Mf= -. 36' -i0' Swather w/•Batt reel MF -44.-10' Swather w/pick-up reel MF 34 -1.2' pick up :reel COMBINES; MF = 750-D. cab; air hew pick-up' table MF 410 pas with pick-up MF - 410-D. cab. pick-up corn head 43. MF - 410-D cab pick-up Case 600 "w /pick-up Case 1160 w/cab, 404 corn head cutting head 45 Wrecking.' for part's' BOYES FARM • ,sup•pty•: Massey-..Fergvsor Sea#orth Ontario • Telephone Annie and. Bob Burchill ONTARIO BEAN GROWERS CO-OPERATIVE LONDON 7h•e,' oras O- SEAFORTH 345 2 Service and a fair deal is our motto RAPjAdC K e Farmers Elevator is roady:now to receive your and with fast courteous service As introduced last .harvest all settlements are prepared- at the plant ioffice dor your' convenience. All growers must have a *Wader titehile. Application Forms are, available; at Cul' phtdint,