Farmgate Backstory

 

Almost 20 years ago we purchased an 1857 stone farm house just outside Carp and moved it 23km to its current home - 75 acres on the banks of Mississippi River with a nice woodlot and farm land.  Over one building season we dismantled the house – stone by stone.  The stone was organized on pallets, trucked to the new site and rebuilt in almost same way as the original house. 

To keep the character of the old house we also re-used the floor, trim, doors, window bucks and roof framing.  Brenda was the general contractor and worked on the masons crew, Jim did a lot carpentry and boys helped out where they could. Very much a family venture with all 5 of us, as well as extended family and friends pitching in to get things done.    This is the typical mode of operation for our family. 

We placed the house in a 2 acre glen in forest over looking the Mississippi valley.  

We also negotiated to buy a couple of sheds as part of the stone house purchase which were moved as well.  We built a new post & beam shed and large workshop / studio together as a family to complete the farm yard.

 There was only a single mature wild apple tree in the orchard.  We progressively expanded the orchard by planting apple whips, grafting and transplanting. Starting first with dessert (eating apples like Mac’s and empire) but expanding out to over a dozen varieties to increase the options for blending.  This is the orchard that produces all the apples for Farmgate cider.

Planting the Orchard

Orchard has thrived in the fertile soils along banks of the Mississippi

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Also in Roots: Farmgate Cider Blog