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J durhamregion.com ACLARINGTON COMMUNITY THE CANADIAN STATESMAN ♦ September 27,2006 ♦ Page A7 t 'T\ WELCOME. TO * NEWCASTLE 8 1'OI'uiatiN AW--: es< ww A weekly in-depth look & at the communities that shape Clarington FARMER'S MARKET SUNDAYS 10 AM - 3 °M NEWCASTLE ARENA Bloom Field Farm celebrates Fall's bounty Owners host corn roast and barbecue BY JULIE CASHIN OSTER Special to The Statesman NEWCASTLE - Whether you pick your own or someone picks for you - it doesn't get any better than fresh from the farm. It's fall harvest and Clarington is blessed with an abundance of bounty. Bloom Field Farm Garden Centre and Farm Market, located on Hwy. 2 in Newcastle Newcastle just east of the hole-in-the wall, is one such farm that is bursting with fall vegetables and garden flora. This past weekend, despite the wet weather, Nancy and Joe Mallette celebrated three years in business with a customer-appreciation com roast and barbecue. "I am really happy at how it's grown. Our biggest success has been our sweet com," said Nâncÿ Mallette. "A farmer from Peterborough, who grows his own com, comes down to buy ours. He swears I do something to it. He is always trying to get my secret." The com roast launched Bloom Field's Fall Harvest and Festivities, which include daily hayrides, tours of the farm, pick your own pumpkins and fall planting tips. They are also a stop on the Gates Open' Tour, Oct. 1, which is a self-guided tour of farms in Durham Region and Newcastle's Harvest Festival, which also takes place the first weekend in October. Gates Open gives the people living in Durham an opportunity to taste the fresh foods in their own back yaird. "There will be lots of food tasting, including a com boil" said Mrs. Mallette. "We will have a chef on site using fresh herbs from the garden." * The day will also include tours through the growing fields, which are home to 20,000 perennials grown from field division. division. Participants will learn a thing or two about propagation and fall planting. Kids can roam through the pumpkin patch and. pick their own. There are exciting plans for future expansion expansion at Bloom Field. The apple orchard has been in for three years and next fall it will be ready for pick-your-own. As well next year strawberries will be available and in two more years raspberries. "We are planning to expand the display gardens. This fall we will be cultivating the area by the front pond and will have a Hosta garden for next year. I have a grower donating current varieties as well A.J. Groen / Metroland Durham Region Media Group Emily Niklaus, left, and Kristen Roszkiewicz show off some of the produce from Bloom Field Farm. The farm was the site of a free com roast on Saturday. as future varieties." Mrs. Mallette said her focus has.always been the gardens. And to develop a parklike parklike setting, a place where people can relax, take a walk, read a book or even : sketch and paint. Ultimately the gardens will extend to the pumpkin patch which will be the gateway to pick your own strawberries. _ • • "Our herb garden has also been a huge success. We grow all the culinary herbs, just cut fresh what you want." Next season students from the University of Guelph will be using a patch of land at Bloom Field Farm jo grow trial species of herbs. It has been three years for flowers and two for produce at Bloom Field Farm. Everything is grown without the aid of pesticides. Spring time is the busiest at Bloom Field Farms when they start with 30,000 pots of flowers, trees and shrubs. They also have full landscape and design services. Open daily from April through December, December, plants are available May through October. "You can plant perennials right up to Oct. 15, right along with your fall bulbs," she said. The Courtyard display garden features a pond-and river that was sculptured by a stone mason with field stones from what was once a cow pasture. Gobble stone walkways lead' you through a fusion of wildflowers and perennials. 1 Schools and groups are welcome and can arrange a walking tour through the many greenhouses and view numerous growing beds. Then enjoy an interactive session to Learn How to Make More Plants. A minimal charge for supplies will apply. If you would like any information you can call Bloom Field Farm at 905-987- 5664 or visit their website at www.bloom- fieldfarm.ca. Samuel Wilmot established oro vince's ::irst fish hatchery BY CATHERINE VIVIAN Special to The Statesman NEWCASTLE - Throughout our history various initiatives to preserve our natural environment have existed. ' The designation of national parks as a protected area for plants and wildlife is one. The forestry service service created by the federal government government to help with forestation issues is another. And then there's Samuel Wilmot. In the 30 years between 1820 and 1850 a marked difference in the level of salmon swimming in area creeks was noticeably lower. So he did something about it. The Newcastle Salmon Hatchery began as a series of experiments on artificial breeding. It consisted of a series of man-made ponds on the east side of Wilmot Creek. Mr. Wilmot's initial success led to enlargement of the project in 1868, making it Ontario's first full-scale fish hatchery. Peak success*came in 1876 when the number of eggs hatched reached 1,500,000. Salmon Salmon eggs and fry (very small adult fish) were sold to many places in Canada and the U.S. A "view" from around this year depicts the fishery as a large Gothic building with; a series of ponds winding back to a second smaller building. building. At this time fish hatcheries existed in Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes and Samuel Wilmot was made Superintendent of Fish Breeding Establishments. After a time, restocking the creek no long worked and in 1881 Mr. Wilmot declared the tributaries an unfit place to restock the salmon and they were deposited directly into the lake. The hatchery closed in 1914. 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