Check out our new farm at www.peacockhillfarms.com. I've come to understand farmers never retire.  I guess it is more of an identity than it is a job.  Here's to a new chapter...a new farm.  Please share and spread the word!

I recently visited Nashville.  It is such an incredible city.  I am used to  using the word "country" all the time, as I live here in a small rural town, full of farmers and  9-5 workers.  Nashville is not that!  It is "country" oriented, yes, bvt is indeed a bustling city full of musical charm 24/7. It makes me  realize how much country music affects me on a daily basis.  Here is a poem  called "Through a Song" about country tunes that have affected me throughout my life.  Old and new, but song titles are  interwoven  in and out of lines.  I want to turn it into a song, but right now it is wayyy too long and needs  to be cut in half and re-formatted to make it  worthy of a song!  

 Through a Song

 Waylon sang Good Hearted Woman to me
No, I’m kidding, I don’t know him personally
I’ve always been crazy
It was just through a song
 
George Jones told me to fill my shoes
So I can get to me and you
He inspired me
Through a song
 
Willie got me up and on the road again
Don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for him
Tellin’ me
Through a song
 
Cowgirls don’t cry Reba said as my tears
Fell from my eyes ‘cause they hadn’t in years
She helped me get by
Dolly said I will always love you
I told her I’ll always love you too
She gave me a hug
But it was just through a song
 
Got small towns and big dreams tattooed on my back
Paul is the one I can thank for that
He made me do it
Through a song
 
Play me some mountain music I yelled at that dance
Alabama beginning of a two-step romance
You taught me to move
Through a song
 
It don’t hurt like it used to I’m proud to announce
Billy helped me get through with every single ounce
Of my pride
Through a song
 
I was told life’s a dance and you learn as you go
John patted my back and didn’t even know
He was helping me
It’s a great day to be alive, Travis said with a smile
A line I haven’t heard in a while
He says it well
But it was just through a song
 
I’m much too young to feel this damn old
Comin’ form Garth I know I’ve been told
Made me feel alive
Let’s get a little mud on the tires
Brad always knows how to have a good time
Showin’ me this with his rhythm and rhyme
But it was just through a song
 
Dierks helped me to hold on to the things I can count on
Made me realize what important before it’s gone
George Straight taught me to love without end
It just comes natural, he said like a friend
Tim told me to be humble and kind
Those lyrics always play in my mind
When I wanna be mean
Or, when I wanna be seen
His gentle words come to me
 
Merle went ahead and sang me back home
Hank called me good lookin’
Conway saw the want to in my eyes…
Johnny showed me what it means to hurt
Kris helped me make it through the night
Trace said it’s not ok to tell lies…
If I could start again I’d listen real hard
Do it all right the first time before being scarred
 
Lee advised me to hold a good hand
Enjoy my life on a nice piece of land
So that’s what I did
Thank you Lee
Through a song

Why would I say goodbye?
Well, I’m gonna try
Brooks and Dunn said it best
Through a song
 
Goodbye country heros, you’ve become my friends
That’ll stay with me until the very end
So many life lessons are learned from a tune
I hope to hear all of your words again soon
Through a song

My silly Christmas poem... hehehe
 
Hung the stockings upon the stall doors
Swept the dust off the barn floor
Put up a wreath on that old barn board
And strung the festive lights chord by chord
 
Christmas carols play on the radio
A little jingle singing Ho Ho Ho
Dressed the pine tree with a special glow
I even placed a piece of mistletoe

It’s Christmas in the barn
Ain’t nothing like Christmas on the farm
Oink, Neigh, Moo, Baa, Oh Hooray
We know that Santa’s on his way
Everyone is groomed to perfection
Ready to show him our love and affection
A night full of country charm
It’s Christmas in the barn
  
I’m sporting my best coveralls
I’ve bedded down all the reindeer stalls
The animals cleared out a place in the hay
For Santa Claus to relax and lay
 
A wheelbarrow full of carrots and cookies
And reindeer games, cause we’re no rookies
We even plowed the barnyard so he can land
It’s gonna be redneck grand

We’re a whole lot of rough around the edges
But I think what he’ll like best is
We make damn good company
I think all the reindeers will agree
 
It’s Christmas in the barn
Ain’t nothing like Christmas on the farm
Oink, Neigh, Moo, Baa, Oh Hooray
We know that Santa’s on his way
Everyone is groomed to perfection
Ready to show him our love and affection
A night full of country charm
It’s Christmas in the barn

Happy Holidaaay
Oink, Neigh, Moo, Baa, Hooray
Santa, what do you say
 
 
 

This may sound naive, but I have spent most of my early teaching years (and I am still a young and new teacher in the field) in small-town, rural, predominately Caucasian schools, the same as how I was raised.  Knowing there is more to our great big world than that, I still loved teaching students that were similar to me and my childhood.  I felt that we could relate on a smaller scale and I enjoyed that.  Knowing many of them outside of school, through agricultural groups and community events, was what I loved and still love about small, rural based schools.    
 
Then came Ajax...  When I was hired at a school in Ajax this year I was honestly afraid.  Would I be able to communicate easily with my students and parents?  Would I pronounce their names correctly? Would we still be able to talk about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and decorate accordingly for different common North American holidays?   But mostly, I thought and worried, will some families be offended to know that I am a farmer that may care for and use animals differently than they do in their countries of origin?
 
 My students did not understand what it meant to just have animals and care for them.  Luckily, grade 2 science expectations cover the topic of animals: how to care for animals, different classifications of animals; characteristics within those classifications; and how animals (including us intellectual humans) grow and change.  They just think it is wild that we are animals too and remind me often that we are smart mammals!  Two different students asked me, “Since we are animals Ms. Bunnik, do you live in your barn with your animals, just in a separate part of the barn?”  They were definitely not joking when they asked me this.  It was so sincere, with wonderful childhood innocence, and I explained to them that I have a house just like they do and only the dogs and cats come in the house (I left out the mice and spiders).  However, I ruined my point intensely when I showed them farm photos and a calf was wrapped in a blanket by the fireplace on a cold winter day.  I am not sure they believe me anymore.  On another occasion, I was lying in the stack of straw with one of the dogs and they thought I was going to bed.  In all seriousness though, this thought process does not seem far from their countries of origin.  In India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan animals do often roam around remote homes and walk in and out of human's living quarters.  Perhaps it is not such an obscene thought for animals to be in and out of the house and of course, no question is a bad one!
 
In Social Studies, I make sure to cover all the holidays my students celebrate.  They inquire about what I do with the pigs and goats and I explain to them what we do and that it may be different from what they might do.  When we discuss Muslim celebrations or Jewish traditions, we look at pictures of their feasts and we talk about what animals are used in their sacrifices and what they represent.  One little boy, who is Jehovah’s Witness, said to me “Ms. Bunnik I don’t celebrate this so I shouldn’t talk about it.”  I told him that I do not celebrate it either, but as a whole class we can talk about what others celebrate and learn from each other.   It does not mean we are celebrating, but just listening and learning...and for me, becoming a better, well-rounded teacher. 
 
Most likely, I am one of those teachers pushing the boundaries, teaching a little too much science and social studies in real life contexts.  Students relate to those subjects a lot and it makes learning more exciting and realistic.  Then, when I say, “go write about it” they forget they are doing language.  Or, when I say, “let’s make a math story using reptiles” or “let’s make a growing pattern using peacock feathers” they are ecstatic.  I may have brought a bag of old socks to school a couple weeks ago...  The students were learning about attributes before we delved further into patterning and I thought I really need to get rid of some darn socks in this house.  Rather than throw them out, we used them to identify and sort attributes.  My little 6 and 7 year olds had the nerve to say, “Did you walk through manure in these socks?”  After my laughing subsided, I told them manure is not an attribute, but rather to look at the stripes and colours (and holes).  Then, I joked that since I do live in the barn with the animals some of the socks are bound to have a little manure on them.  Most get my humour...some had horrified looks on their faces.
 
Most of my parent teacher interviews consisted of the parents asking me about my farm and were genuinely interested in the animals and what we do with them.  Also, if a farm trip could be planned and whether or not they can have peacock feathers (LOL).  Then, we would get down to business...  A whole different perspective has been gained in my eyes and my mind.  I spend more time with students and parents who have emigrated here from another country and it has made me a far more appreciative and knowledgeable Canadian.  Also, my curiosity has climbed.  I take tremendous pleasure reading the books about my students’ different countries and traditions.  I have already learned an enormous amount from them this year.  They need to know that I learn from them too and that learning continues far beyond the classroom.  Often, I tell them that I go to agricultural conferences or school workshops and I let them know (in kid friendly terms) what they were about.  I remind them that one day they may choose to learn about something they are really passionate about and they won’t cover every subject everyday like we do in elementary school.  They always tell me that I am a farmer before I am a teacher and that must be what I chose to be passionate about!  I have many passions, but farming is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing I do to end my night, so yes, it is probably my number one!  However, they have triggered a passion for travel in me...Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka?
 
We continue to celebrate culture in our classroom and we celebrate the life of animals, accepting that each family or group of people may appreciate, respect, and use animals differently.  I love how agriculture can be so easily integrated into this curriculum and weaved throughout the teachings!  Looks like another spring trip to the farm is in order... 
 
And yes, I was able to dress up and wear my cow costume for Halloween!  

I  have made sure to get out and see almost all the fall fairs this year, even if it’s been a quick visit after work one day.  In all honesty, I think I saw more of these other fairs than my own Sutton Fair.  It is hard to get out of the office at the Sutton Fair, so it is nice to wander the other fairs that follow ours, with no agenda in place. 
 
Wherever I go, I see the same camaraderie between the volunteers and directors putting on the show, as well as the gates crews and security that travel around from fair to fair like one large family, seeing each other on weekends.  Every fair has the same sights and sounds and even many of the same people, but every single one is still unique and worth attending. 
 
There is so much that goes unnoticed by the average passerby, but being on the inside of organizing an event like this for so many years I see the garbage being collected, the fences being painted, the ribbons being organized and everything being booked and set up.  It’s amazing to see all the hard work and the process it takes to make an annual fair a success.      
 
While perusing the exhibits at the Uxbridge Fair I watched an army of children run around screaming and laughing as they expressed pride in their ribbons.  “Mommy, what is a purple ribbon?” I got a purple ribbon and joy literally beamed from this little girl’s face.  It didn’t matter it was a participant ribbon because the sheer excitement just from entering and having it stapled to her item was obviously worthwhile.  It brought me back to my early years when I entered any and every category I could, just to get those ribbons and coins and display my fine artistic talents.  The ribbons and coin don’t matter to me at all anymore, but the rapport and feeling of being part of a community does.  Above this, keeping the tradition going for years to come so future children can enter and enjoy what my sister and I enjoyed for so many years.  I know that feeling that the little girl felt.  It’s exciting and as time passes, no ribbon can replace the love that builds over the years as you attend and support local fairs and take part in the process of entering exhibits and making it successful. 
 
Be a visitor of a local fair!  Support the local vendors and service clubs and enjoy the agriculture and antiquity that comes along with the fairs.  I don’t mean the people, although the majority of fair members are antique!  I mean the history behind the events and the generations that support and organize the events.  However, if you are under 30, or even under 50, get in there to help and you will be needed and appreciated as a fair member. 
 
Check out the OAAS websites: www.ontariofairs.com and www.ontarioagsocieties.com  so you can get involved at a fair near you or just attend and support it by paying at the gate and enjoying the events!

 ​“Harvest isn’t just the act of picking a vegetable from the vine; it is a season for collecting the crops and celebrating the plentiful gifts our garden has brought us.”
 
Local Food is about getting the freshest and best-tasting food.  It’s also about connecting to and strengthening your community. So, get out there and pick some apples at the nearest orchard, buy some farm fresh eggs, pick up some veggies from a road side stand, buy a side of meat and try a new recipe.  Ask questions!  Try something different!  Just stop on your way home from work and purchase from a local farmer.  It is better for you and for the local economy.  I cram my lunch box with produce and hard boiled eggs each day and sometimes get stares at work when eating a whole cucumber as if it were a banana.  I have resorted to saving it for my ‘on the drive home snack’ along with my nuts that are banned from the school.  It is normal to me to do this and I often forget that eating a whole tomato or cucumber or carrot from the garden may look odd to others! 
 
Take a look at local listings or go to www.ontariofarmfresh.com and find a farm near you.  Just do it!

Being raised on a farm was the best gift I ever received.  I just didn’t know it then…when I was 5, 12, or even 16 years old. But I do now! 
 
I spent the past two weeks reliving my childhood while trying to juggle farm chores, my office job and watching my little niece, Sadie.  I thought, what can I get done in the wee hours of the morning before she gets here and what can wait for her to “help” me with?  My poor father must have had one hell of a time as my sister and I followed him around 25 years ago with egg baskets and empty feed scoops.  I watched Sadie copy my every move – fill her scoop with grain, put the hose in the water buckets, and reach for all the eggs in the chicken coop.  She is one well trained 15 month old farm girl! The thing is, we all probably learned more than we will ever realize, when we were little 5 year old sponges. 
 
Growing up on a farm means we had the passion and love for agriculture engrained in us first hand.  Having interests in agriculture nurtured from an early age can help individuals become part of the next generation of farmers, which is increasingly important as the global population continues to grow.  Sadie, it seemed, already felt like she had a certain responsibility and wanted to do her part in order to finish all the work that needed to be done.  Sadie never needs to know she was slowing me down in the sweetest of ways (until she reads this in twenty years).  What slows me down now is a learning curve for her and in return will contribute to the future I’m certain. 
 
Each morning we ventured to the barn.  The word “gentle” quickly became part of her vocabulary after throwing just one egg! She stared at me, as if she acknowledged exactly what I meant and gently placed the remaining eggs in the basket.   Same goes for the grain, as I watched her dump the scoop full of grain into the long grass, then with a look of worry on her face and a slight grin; she tried to pick up all the pieces.  I remained optimistic.  Just when I had enough chicken coop, horse-petting, piglet fun and kicked off my boots in the house…she put her little legs into my big barn boots and held up her tiny shoes, while pointing at the door.  Dammit!  Better practice what I preach, as I’d much rather have her playing in dirt than staring at a screen pushing buttons, so she won and out we went again. 
 
My sister told me the first day she brought her over, “she really likes picking flowers.”  I thought to myself, I love picking wildflowers while walking the dogs, so we’ll do this together and I’ll get my mason jars ready with water.  As her little hands would finger the petals she would kiss each flower.  After my initial laugh it seemed quite beautiful.  An adult would look so silly kissing flowers, but a child can get away with this.  I think this is something that humans lose as they grow older and become more jaded.  I hope Sadie kisses flowers for the rest of her life.   
 
As I watched her point and listened to her somewhat rehearse animals’ names and sounds I thought of how lucky she is to have this as part of her life.  She has already been exposed to much more than the average child from spending time at my parent’s farm and here.  She will be able to learn the life skills that I learned at such a young age: patience, responsibility and how to care for something beyond yourself long before you need to.  At a young age it was instilled in me to not waste food, to close anything  I opened, to appreciate land (as I now know it is one of the only things that really doesn’t depreciate in value), take care of what you have and don’t make excuses.  Sadie is already growing up this way with these precious gifts all around her.  It’ll hold her in good stead throughout life.  I know it did for me.  At the time I never knew that animals and vegetables in my backyard wasn’t something that every kid had the privilege of having and this farm kid took it for granted. 
 
Growing up as a farm kid myself, it didn’t matter that I was a girl.  Farm kids develop a strong work ethic, sense of responsibility, appreciation for land and animals and an understanding of where their food comes from that would be hard to teach anyplace else.  Feeding animals every single day teaches responsibility.  Stubborn animals teach the value of team work.  New born animals taught me to be gentle and have patience.  Fields full of hay bales that had to be loaded and unloaded taught work ethic.  Moving cows and horses 20x heavier than me taught me courage.  That unforgiving smell of manure teaches humility (and the importance of good hygiene!).  And at the beginning of a new day, the sunrise creeping up over a field full of healthy animals, taught me happiness.  I feel blessed to have grown up this way and am excited to pass those lessons on to little minds. 
 
When Sadie’s feet start growing a little slower I’ll be the first one to buy her that tiny pair of cowboy boots!   Until then, anytime she comes to visit she will leave with lots of new skills and a little bit of manure stuck to her shoes.  One filthy, sweaty child to go (and one very tired Auntie)!

​Pullover, grab the camera and sit for a minute contemplating whether to shut the truck off or not...  This seems to be a regular practice now, when I visit PEI.  Rather than stopping at tourist attractions I stop on random back roads and take pictures of farmland.  I think I need a bumper sticker for those instant stops when I see an old tractor in a field.  Sometimes I even drive in my running clothes, park and run along different roads far from where the cottage is, just for new scenery.   
Often, I wonder who owns the land, take a close look at what they are farming and wonder what that land is worth to them.  Is it owned from someone out of country?  Is it leased?  Where else does this farmer farm land on the province?  Is it a family farm?  Sometimes I can answer my own wonderings, but other times they just simply linger unanswered.    

As I take in the beauty, I think how odd it is that land prices in PEI are so much lower than land prices in Ontario or British Columbia.  The variance in prices astounds me.  I understand location, type of land, and what the land is best suited for is key, but it really does seem unfair.    

While visiting a couple weeks ago, I walked along the beach for hours with a new friend that I have made in PEI.  We mostly talked about farming, investments and teaching, but at one moment she said to me “Our land isn’t worth what it should be, which isn’t encouraging when we want to sell a portion of it.”  Her husband farms full-time cash crop and refuses to go lower than what he feels it is worth.  I felt a bit sad for her in that moment.  Although she wasn’t making me feel that way or complaining in any manner, but I understood her and considered the many reasons why the value is so different country-wide. 

While some friends from Junior Farmers were spending a week there, one evening we looked up different farms for sale (because that is what farmers do for fun – enjoy some beers and talk about farm land!).  We had driven by many For Sale signs throughout the days and curiosity can take over.  We casually perused PEI real estate and looked at farms of various commodities.  The majority of farm land lots and full-fledged farms with house and outbuildings were more than half the price less than a comparable farm in Ontario.  Give or take a bit, prices vary from $1000 to $60, 000 per acre for farm land, across the country.  Wow!  All provincial farmland prices increased on average in 2015, but some much more than others.  Farm Credit Canada reports regularly on the regional variations and country wide.  Farmland increased on average last year from 2.5% to 12.5%, with New Brunswick being the lowest and Alberta being the highest. The gains are still, however, lower than 2013 and 2014. 

I’m biased as I think PEI is the most beautiful part of our country, so it’s already worth so much more than dollars to me.  It’s hard to put a dollar value on land that becomes personal to someone, especially a farm with history behind their farm operation.  When farmers have put so much blood, sweat and tears into their operations country-wide and then go to sell (for whatever their reasons may be) it is disappointing to see the significant difference in sale prices.  I get it, but still, disappointing.   

I have to remind myself that when I pullover to enjoy the view, lurk on the gravel shoulders, and hopefully not get arrested for being a creeper, I am not wasting time.  Or, if I am then it is time well wasted.  I thoroughly enjoy my long walks, runs and drive-bys looking at the land that so many farmers have built their lives around.  It has tremendous worth to them.  Bonus, most people are taking photos of the sea side, so when I am taking pictures of farmer’s fields there is no human traffic in sight...just passerby’s wondering why a girl in a sundress is standing on the side of the road staring and smiling. My favourite pastime when in PEI.  I don’t look so odd when I am holding wildflowers or wearing running clothes because it would seem I have a purpose then, but most days the same vehicles pass me regularly and I have no purpose other than to enjoy the land that serves us so well.     

All year my students wanted to know more about my life and all the animals in it.  I always answered their questions or made them research the answers, but the only question I didn’t answer or pretended not to hear for a while, was “Can we come to your farm?”  I thought to myself, it’s been done before, but I am not so sure I can pull this one off!  I don’t have a zip-line or a jumpy castle like so many tourist farms.  I thought,  what if they get bored...

I blew the whistle and called their names, but their excitement was so hard to contain.  The first twenty minutes was utter chaos, as they threw their bags down and looked every which way as staff and parent volunteers corralled them in... then, we could finally go over safety and rules.  My heart melted when I heard them yell animal names when we stepped off the bus.  Names that I had not mentioned in a while, but they remembered from chit chat we have had over the course of the year. “There is Matty and her foal Spirit.” “There is Brisk running away from us!”  I thought to myself, they DO listen!

It was so personal for them and for me, which made it that much more special.  We got back to the school after a full day of riding on hay-bales, scavenger hunting, imitating chickens and peacocks, playing in corn and touching and talking to various critters.  With our fun farm loot bags and towering peacock feathers in hand, eighteen filthy children with hay and dust on their clothing stormed through the front doors of the school.  Their clothes could be washed, but I realized the huge smiles on their faces and the memories they made were stuck. 

Agriculture is left out of our curriculum, for the most part, until you reach intermediate/senior grades.  It briefly ties in to health and science and social studies in the primary/junior grades, but not nearly as much as it should.  We eat food everyday and cannot live without it, but children don’t know a thing about what they are eating, the crops that have been grown or the animals that have been raised.  The importance of this spreads so much further than the classroom.  We need agriculture to survive.  If you eat, you need agriculture.  If you wear clothes, live in a house or take medicine, you need agriculture.  My students spent the majority of the bus ride home either sleeping, or looking at the “Where’s Agriculture?” poster I provided to each of them.  Their inquiries and surprises about all the things in our world that have come from agriculture amazed them and led to further questioning.  I am glad to say my little seven year olds are a bit more knowledgeable of the science of agriculture.  If we don’t educate students on agriculture, who will? 
​
The following day we shared and wrote in our journals.  The details they remembered were overwhelming; I almost started to tear up.  “Brisk had on a red bandana.” - “I loved collecting eggs for Ms. Bunnik during the scavenger hunt.” -  “I see Ms. Bunnik bring these eggs to school and sell them to other teachers.” - “I was a cowgirl on the saddle” – “Pigs are really beautiful and don’t smell nearly as much as I thought they would.” – “I have never been on a real hay wagon ride before!”  - “I loved touching the different grains and taking my own piece of wool home.”  As soon as the recess bell rang, I quickly made my way to the photocopier and madly copied some of their journals.  Incorrect use of my photocopying privileges, probably, but I needed these keepsakes forever. 
 

There is a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they're absolutely free.  Don't miss so many of them.