HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-02, Page 15qra
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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:
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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
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and
with
fast courteous service
As introduced last .harvest all
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All growers must have a *Wader titehile.
Application Forms are, available; at Cul' phtdint,