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The Rural Voice, 1993-11, Page 24manure and crop residue left on the surface. "We use grass waterways, ponding areas, wind breaks, and do contour tillage. We also do strip cropping to keep water in place. We use mechanical weed control, so we can prevent the problem rather than treat it afterward. It's been 10 years since we started. We thought it would be the next big wave in farming, but it hasn't caught on as widely as we thought. I don't know why. I suppose that often farmers don't like to use all those chemicals and spend all that cash on them, but maybe they are dependent upon them now and can't seem to unhook. Maybe it's a peer pressure or prestige problem. Others simply don't like to change. Whatever it is, we won't start looking after water quality in this land until it's almost gone." To Gerald, managing the farm is more than merely crops, animals and money. "We deal with the farm and family as a whole; the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of the people, the animals, the soil — all are important, and all need to be cared for and looked after." * * * Anne and Bart Dirven of Mildmay were the first place winners in the "Farmstead — most improved " category. They bought their 100 acres and old farmhouse in 1989. They have 25 sows in a farrow -to -finish operation, and a 30 -cow dairy herd as well. They have spent the past two or three years working on their property. For this category, judges took pictures in 1991, to have "before " and "after" comparisons. "We landscaped around the house last year," says Anne, who runs a dancing school from her home and teaches piano as well. "But it isn't just the landscaping. We paid attention to a lot of details on the house, too. Things like the windows, trim, the eaves and the soffits. These all add up to the total picture. Also the main gate entrance; it's important to have it looking really nice, because it's the first impression someone will get of your place." Huge mature trees grace the front of the house. There are willows, blue spruce and maples. "We added the 20 THE RURAL VOICE gardens around the house and property. They are mainly perennial, but I've also got some petunias in there for constant colour. We also have impatiens beds, especially around the bases of some of the trees. We re -did the front porch on the house, too. It's a lot of work, and there is always more to do, but we really enjoy it. We were thrilled to win the award!" here were also categories for Commercial entries. First place for the "most improved" category was won by Dr. and Mrs. Biesenthal of the Walkerton Equine Clinic. Like the Dirvens, they had the judges visit and photograph their property back in 1991. At the time, they had just moved the clinic to its present location, occupying the driving shed at their home, where their daughters used to ride. "Back then, it was nothing but piles of mud, and was a huge mess," says Mrs. Biesenthal. "Anything would have been an improvement. We entered so that we would have a goal to work towards, so we would get things done. I remember the judge asking us what we were going to do with all that mess. The competition was just the incentive that we needed, and we really have worked hard to make it look nice. We did a lot of landscaping with trees, shrubs, and flowers. We put stone gates up at the entrance, and they really look good. We were delighted with the prize we received. It is a beautiful watercolour painting of our property done by Richard Edwards, and it shows the place looking down the lane and has the stone gates in it — we were really pleased to be awarded that. I have a scrapbook for the Plowing Match and the competition, and it all makes for nice memories." All of the winners in these categories agreed that the competition was extremely well organized and run. Rosalie Zettler said, "Grant Collins and his committee did a fabulous job. Each Framed by stately trees, Anne and Bart Dirven's farmhouse won "most improved': lady at the award banquet was given a handmade corsage with tartan on it. All of the photos that the judges took were displayed at the hall. The hall was beautifully decorated for the event. It was really exciting." Sandra Pitt proudly displays the silver tea service that was the prize for the first place winners in the non- commercial categories. "Everyone who entered received a plaque, and the top three places received silver or a watercolour. Everyone was delighted with the way it was organized and with the awards." The trays of the silver tea service sets were pre -engraved with the winners' names, but none of the contestants saw this, even though the prizes were on display during the dinner. "Maybe the names were covered up," laughs Rosalie. Gerald Poechman felt that the judges did a thorough job, even interviewing him about his farming practices. "They were looking for different things here than in the beautification categories," says Marlene Poechman. "They wanted to know all about it." "Yes, it was well organized," says Anne Dirven. "They started a couple of years ago for our category. Since it was 'most improved', they needed to have something to compare it with, so people were out taking pictures of the property back then."