Field Revival: Barley Redemption, Juniper, and White Oaks
- Martin McNicoll
- a few seconds ago
- 2 min read
Hello everyone!
It’s May 28th, and I have some fantastic news to share straight from the fields of the Distillerie des Cantons de l'Est. If you followed our journey last year, you might remember that we unfortunately lost our entire barley crop. Well, I’m thrilled to report that this year, our barley fields are looking incredibly good!
We even have some guests: a flock of Canada geese hanging out in the fields. Luckily, they aren't eating our seeds. They just seem to be enjoying the freshly turned soil and the earthworms.
Today is also a massive planting day for our future spirits.
Mission Gin: Planting Juniper
To make our own gin with a majority of organic ingredients sourced directly from our land, we need juniper berries. Cultivating juniper for gin is notoriously tricky in Quebec, so we are running some trials! We sourced some plants (we don't know yet if they are male or female) and headed out to plant them around our totem tree in the Speyside field with Olivier and Gautier.
Olivier has a brilliant technique to get through our 250 plants without having to dig 250 massive holes:
Cut a cross into the soil with a shovel.
Peel back the corners slightly to keep the native topsoil intact.
Add a handful of chicken manure for a nutrient boost.
Drop in the plant plug.
Fold the earth back over and press it firmly into place.
After a few hours, we managed to get about 100 juniper bushes into the ground, split between two areas on the edge of the forest near a small stream. We will check back in a year to see how they've taken to the field!
Iris Germanica by the Stream
Juniper isn't the only botanical you need for a good gin! We also use orris root. In keeping with our vision of growing our own botanicals, we planted about thirty Iris germanica plants right along the banks of our stream, just outside the riparian buffer zone. It is the absolute perfect environment for them.
Our long-term plan? Let them grow, divide them to multiply our stock, and eventually dry the roots to use in our gin recipes.
An Update on Our Future Barrels
Remember the clearing we showed you in mid-winter where we planned to plant white oaks (Quercus Alba) for our future whisky barrels?
I am incredibly happy with the results! The larger trees are thriving and putting out new shoots, and the smaller ones are also bouncing back beautifully. Because we are in the middle of the woods and deer absolutely love tender shoots, we made sure to protect every single tree with protective netting.
It is so rewarding to see all these long-term projects literally taking root. See you next time!
Martin
Comments