Greetings From Green Road, New Brunswick!
Just thought I'd share a little of what's going on out here in Green Road.
Winter's a little early this year and we already have a lot of snow. Green Road is located in western New Brunswick in the Upper St. John River Valley. The photo is the laneway that leads to a massive potato field about 150 yards up the road behind the house. If you keep going up the road about 1,000m you cross the border into the state of Maine.
That's my wife Penelope in her woolies and my boys. The big boy in the foreground is Elijah. He's a Bernese Mountain Dog cross, big, strong and fast. Runs like an antelope! When he barks I bet you can hear it all the way into the United States!
The little guy is Malachi. He's our Glen of Imaal Terrier, an Irish breed bred to hunt badgers and foxes on the farms in County Wicklow in Northern Ireland. Badgers and foxes you say? Yes, he's a bit of a roughneck and built like Dwayne the Rock Johnson. He's a purebred Glen on his way to his Canadian Championship. But he's a teenager now and going a little squirrelly so we've pulled him from shows until he gets out of adolescence and can calm down a little.
The potato field that's further up that path is massive. After the farmer hauled his equipment out we did a little pickin'. Hauled four wheelbarrows of potatoes out of that field and I would have kept going but our freezers were getting full! We picked up a front quarter of beef from the butcher in town so we're pretty much set up for the winter. Probably won't have to go back into town until March.
Here's a pic I took a few days ago of the full moon coming up in the eastern sky.
Going down to -15 tonite I just heard on the radio with a windchill of -23. We get the old-time country music station out of Houlton, Maine. That's fine for me but Penelope, well, it's taken her some time to get used to Waylon, Hank, Merle, Patsy, Johnny Cash & June Carter. Sunday mornin' we get the Gaither Gospel hour.
Life is pretty simple out here. Pretty physical too. We're building three hugelkulture raised gardens for next season. Really looking forward to that after this year's harvest which was pretty darn good.
Anyway, just thought I'd give y'all a little update on our simple life up here in the hills. Looking forward to Christmas now and just dug out our little ceramic Christmas tree to start the holiday season. Closin' off now with a pic of me 'n my boys chillin' Have an incredible day everybody!
Recent Comments
32
Grant, thanks for inviting us into your world! As for the snow/cold, you are more than welcome to them. ;-) A major reason I moved to the Philippines was to get away from that. :-) Potatoes can keep all winter without freezing. They just need to be in a dark, cool place. Dad would always buy up lots of potatoes from a farmer and down they went to the basement every year.
Mel
That's what my folks used to do growing up...in the basement! My wife Penelope boiled a bunch and mashed them. She has a little machine that sucks the air out of a bagged item and then seals it. She throws that into the freezer. She baked some and stuffed them, made french fries with some and froze all of that as well. So we're set I think until next season. What a windfall!
Yes I'd prefer to be in Florida where we used to have a mobile home but sold that, luckily, just before the lockdowns in 2020. It went down to -16C here last night but we survived the collapse of my old brick 'n mortar business when the lockdowns were imposed. So I'm just grateful that we're still standing and that we can build a life out here. We have the chance to become food self-sufficient so that's the aim moving forward.
Hope you're having an incredible day Mel!
Grant
Thanks Grant! Self sufficiency in any form is great. I'm sure the farmers always had food on hand and a lot cheaper growing it themselves than buying it, not to mention a better quality. Penelope is making things easier come cooking time.
The effects of Covid regulations hurt so many people, sad to say.
Have a great week Grant!
Mel
Looks fantastic out there Grant!
We had a brief taste of winter here on Saturday morning but I am hoping for a bit more this year!
I am sat outside now in a T shirt and its December... crazy!!!
Take care partner and enjoy the rest of your week!!! :-)
We had a December like that in southern Ontario a few years back...I was painting my fence on Christmas eve...in a t-shirt! Enjoy it while it lasts! Enjoy your week as well Jessie!
Grant
I love your sense of self-sufficiency, Grant!
Thanks for sharing this winterly update!
🌟Nellya
Hey Nellya! And thank you for commenting! That's one of the benefits all right. We're aiming for almost total food self-sufficiency moving forward. We're not there yet but that's the aim.
Grant
Thank you for sharing your family with us, Grant. Also, I enjoyed the pictures of you, your wife, and the dogs.
I hope you have a Happy Holiday Season.
P.S. We will have to ask the "Rock Doc - @FrankB-1" about the lyrics "I Found the Simple Life Ain't so Simple," especially when you already have snow and -15° temperatures.
Regards, Matt
Hey Matt! Delighted to do so and thank you for those kind words. Hoping you and yours have a safe and joyous holiday season as well. Frank may be right about that but, you know what Matt, life is different out here but now that i'm here I wouldn't have it any other way. Have an awesome day!
Grant
Love the images Grant! How much snow are you getting? This would mean we might be getting some of it too!
Can’t wait to see your progress with the hugelkulture, as I may want to do that as well!
Love your dogs !
Okay Grant, you and Penelope stay warm.
Thanks for sharing!
Cheers,
Maria 🌹
We have about 4 inches so far but we may get some more overnight. Thank you ...yes we'll do our best to stay warm!
Grant
See more comments
Howzit Grant,
"Literally a Winter Wonderland"
Yeah you can do alot with Potatoes.
When I was younger we had "Tattie Holidays"in October where you went and helped the Farmer pick his potatoes, nice pocket Money.
You could take as much as you could carry home with you.
You had Potato Chips fried in Fat(Dad was a butcher), Potato Soup, Mashed, Boiled with or without the Skin.
For lunch whilst picking, we would make a fire and roast them,straight out of the ground,the Best.
Nice looking dogs.
Cheers
Murray
Yeah it's a real windfall all right Murray...the field is only about 100 yards behind the house...thanks for the compliment btw...we love 'em!! :D
Grant