Amanda Putz of CBC Radio One Bandwidth fame (Saturdays 5 o'clock!) played our special Valentines Day request, Old Man Luedecka's "Big Group Breakfast". She's so swell, tune in folks -- the closer we stay to our radios, the closer we'll stay as a community.

LISTEN HERE to the song and her funny commentary about our goats and cats. (thanks Bandwidth and CBC Radio 3)

Also, Eddie Orso's new album is out today!

Oh Winter! How I love thee. At Piebird in the winter Yan and I get to plot and plan about our next "busy season" with the B&B, the farm, the self-sufficiency workshops and the house concerts...interspersed with ice-skating on the creek, cross-country skiing, snuggling our animal friends who live here and reading very large books.

This Winter Yan designed the labels for our new project: Soggy Creek Seed Co. We are now a supplier of "renamed, Piebirdized" open-pollinated Heirloom seeds -- the favourite herbs and vegetables of Piebird gardens; the plants that we have found grow well in this Northern Ontario climate. The seed packets are each a tiny work of art, a delightful look into how we see the world and inside there is art too, just plant them and wait for the show! 

The launch of Soggy Creek Seed Co. is evidence of Piebird's natural evolution to a real organic farm...and so it is that we now offer FarmStays, for those who want to get more intimate with the land here during their visit...for folks who want to know how it feels to help the Earth provide nourishment to them. 

The symbiosis of this Earth-loving relationship is something we share through our workshops. The 2010 self-sufficiency workshop schedule will show our participants how to preserve food, how to bake and cook with a whole grain vegetarian focus and how to stay healthy by using the power of plants, plus lots more. 

Though I adore Winter, many will know I get pretty excited about what we get up to in the other seasons-- the house concerts we have planned are no exception! We already have a super talented line up of musicians on our roster. Oh--speaking of talented musicians, many will know this already but I have to put it in writing here about "our" band (most bands who play here become "ours", I guess I am possessive!) The Good Lovelies winning the Canadian Folk Music Award for "new emerging artist"  back in the fall and now they are touring with Stuart MacLean and the Vinyl Cafe! How cool is that? I can't take any credit for anything fabulous that happens to our bands, but I can be proud like a Mama Hen anyhow.

Looking over the snow covered fields on this day in February, it's amazing to think of what kind of blessings the next season will bring to us at Piebird. Maybe it will bring you?

As the bounty of summer rolled into the abundance of Autumn and then into the delirious wealth of Winter' cellar, it's easy to reflect on our connection to this land we live on; this land that grows us the food we nourish ourselves and our guests with. Yan and I have both observed that the common modern diet allows people to lose understanding as to how food directly influences their bodies, minds, behaviour and spiritual connection to the Earth. That's why we grow our own food here as much as possible. We jokingly say to forget the 100 mile diet, we're going for the 100 metre diet! A joke with some serious truth in it-- self sufficiency is a lost talent to nurture and we are striving for it the best we can in this strong-willed climate.

We are delighted when some of our guests help harvest food for their supper-- this enhances their awareness as well as their enjoyment of the meal. Equally as good are the canning days -- when we are busy putting away the food to make our cellar wealthy. Sitting on the veranda shucking beans or cleaning carrots we have the view of garden and the path of the sun and moon...a direct link to the powers that help the food grow. I am sure most who are drawn here can understand the indescribable beauty of pantry shelves stocked with the rainbows of luscious preserves, vegetarian chili, sauerkraut and tomato sauce. It's the kind of beauty that gives a person a deep inner peace -- like the sight of a carefully stacked wood pile, or a long straight cedar rail fence, or 2 inches of glowing embers in the fire box at 6 am when it's blowing minus 25 outside. Or the shear beauty of those simple things like pulling back the bed covers and finding either a warm purring cat or a hot-water bottle placed there by my loving partner, or the sight of a handwritten letter in the mailbox written in my far-away best-friends curvy script. These are things that can make my heart sigh with delight. And now, in the depth of Winter I do not long for the season to roll into Spring too quickly, though it will be a joy as always to get ready for our next adventure with our guests, goats and gardens. I enjoy the peace that comes with this settled season, knowing I am home on the land where I belong...and that our cellar is stocked with the splendor of our fairly recent labours.  - Sherry