COVER STORY

Photo: Jenny Jelen

Klaus Holm has always had a knack for turning ideas into real things. Not one to say no or shy away from a challenge, he has spent his lifetime building, creating, and inventing.

Now, in an effort to retire, he’s left behind a thriving self-made business in corporate metal fabrication to spend more time at home.

The trouble is, home is a 100-acre property in Grey Country, dense with forest, ponds and all things wild. Naturally, his fascination with making things got the best of him. And Custom Sawmilling was born.

At Custom Sawmilling, Holm offers on-site and mobile milling services throughout Grey County, as well as home furnishings and decor. What he loves most is allowing people the opportunity to utilize lumber that is meaningful to them, like repurposing an old tree from their homestead and turning it into something beautiful they can appreciate. He doesn’t mind offering up ideas or even helping to bring visions to life, but he’s also happy to leave customers with raw materials and their imaginations.

“I like to inspire people,” he said.

Working with wood, Holm said, makes that easy.

“I was excited about wood because it has a life and a personality,” he said. “It has its own feeling.” On his farm, Holm has access to a variety of tree species. He said he’s been thoroughly enjoying learning about the different types of wood and how they behave when they’re milled, dried and transformed into lumber, art or whatever their next form is.

In many instances, Holm gives trees that are otherwise lifeless a second chance. Every opportunity he can, Holm said he prefers milling trees that have fallen or died.

“I’m not going to cut down a big, beautiful tree that’s been hanging around for hundreds of years,” he said. “A lot of trees fall down here. Porcupines eat more than I’ll ever use. They ruin them; they eat the bark, and then they die. There’s just rows of dead trees. I feel kind of bad.”

Even working with the lifeless lumber, Holm said he likes to make sure every bit of the tree is put to use.

“I want to use the whole tree, right down to the stump,” he said.

Having his own mill, which can accommodate logs up to 17 feet in length and 36 inches in diameter, makes it quite realistic to make use of every part of a tree.

Klaus Holm CUSTOM SAWMILLING

Markdale (519) 216-1614

From circular flats to lean lumber, Holm has honed his skills and mastered the art of making every piece of the tree into something beautiful, practical or useful.

The Magic of Wood

All his life, Holm has been passionate about two things; building and business.

Before he could get out of high school, Holm was part of the family operation.

“I was always my own boss,” he said.

Holm and his father worked together in business, operating Orangeville Art and Welding and eventually Dufferin Sheet Metal in Orangeville. Holm went on to run the company, designing and manufacturing police and forensic evidence storage units, used by RCMP and regional police stations across the province and beyond.

When Dufferin Sheet Metal sold to Space Saver Corporation, Holm enjoyed a stint transitioning the company over and taking the safe storage product lineup to more markets.

After decades of working with metal, Holm said there has been a learning curve to get comfortable working with wood.

“I’m a metal guy,” he said. “A metal guy welds things. If you make it wrong, you just fix it with a weld. It doesn’t split, it doesn’t shrink. It doesn’t change. You weld it - it stays welded.”

Wood doesn’t behave quite the same.

“You can’t force anything,” he said.

It may be a different entity, but the idea of creating something someone will love, is hardly unfamiliar.

“Whenever you’re doing custom work, you have to ask (the client) what they want,” he said. “What do you need? What do you want?”

The Farm

Holm and his wife, Yvonne, are proud to call 100 acres of forest off West Back Line in Markdale home. The property once belonged to former Canadian Postmaster General and politician William Mulock.

According to Holm, Mulock was proud of his slice of paradise. “He never wanted to tell anybody about this property he had here,” Holm said. “He came up here fishing.... He rode his buggy up Hwy. 10, and never told anybody where he turned off. He kept it a secret.”

Mulock kept a guard on hire to watch over the property for nearly a decade in an effort to scare off teenagers looking to cause trouble and to preserve the natural land. He also planted many of the trees that Holm now prizes. Many of them are upwards of a century old, Holm discovered when counting the rings on an old trunk.

When Holm and his wife first saw the land, they understood just how special it was.

“We saw the property,” he said. “We bought the property. It was what we wanted.”

Now, neatly tucked away is their off-grid home, fuelled by solar energy. Holm said he looks forward to building a shop one day, but is enjoying running his mill and creating once again in the interim.

You saw it here

Holm is now available to provide custom milling services, both at his Markdale farm and throughout Grey County with his portable mill. There is no job too big and certainly no job too small. Hourly rates available.

Get in touch with him at (519) 216-1614, and mention this story to waive the set-up fee for mobile services. Custom furniture and pre-made pieces are also available for purchase.

Mommy homeschools me a little bit but for the most part, I continue to stay home from school and play all day. Some of my favourite activities are digging holes and lighting fires (with Daddy, of course).

Daddy’s friend, Rob Fawcett, says I can come work for him soon. He laughed when he told me, so I think there’s a joke in there somewhere. Something to do with Rob owning a crematorium and working at a cemetery.

I’m also in the process of re-designing an old shed on our property. I spend a lot of time in there, hammering nails into boards and shingling the floor. I know, it sounds weird, right? But Mommy and Daddy say it’s my shed so I can do what I want.

I’m also teaching my little brother the value of money. I earned my first commission on ad sales thanks to Rob from Jolley’s Dairy Bar & Video (see his ad below). I’m going to hire my brother as a sales rep. He’s cuter than me so I think he’ll do well. I’m hoping to get him in front of some customers pretty soon once all this lockdown stuff starts to lift. Who knows, maybe we can get P.J. Knickerbocher’s into the mag :)

Until next month, I’m signing off wielding my hammer and shovel!?

By: Big Brother

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• For your last minute grocery needs • Competitive prices with local grocery chains • We scoop ice cream cones all year! 23 Collingwood St • Flesherton 519.924.0230

The store with a little bit of everything!

I had the opportunity to visit with the Youth at The Hanley Institute recently. We had a fun conversation about country life and what it’s like being a young person in Grey Highlands during a pandemic. We found some common ground in their photography project and I agreed to publish some of the photos that will be on display at The South Grey Museum in the coming months. Check out these impressive images. - Papa Country - Johnny Grade 7

- Cohen Grade 8

- Kenna Grade 7

- Logan Grade 9

- Claira Grade 8

Suzzi and Catherine here again to talk about our Great Grey County!

We have some amazing products in our store from around the world to right here in Markdale! Local chefs, farms, apiaries and sprout-ologists! The area boasts a plethora of delicious and talented food connoisseurs. As the weather gets warmer, we will have super fresh fruit and veggies from some of Grey County’s finest, so stay tuned! to add a new hobby to your covid list of things to learn, we have do-it-yourself Microgreens growing kits from The Coburn Farm in Berkeley. Those green onions in your salads were gifted from the Coburn’s and we can’t wait for all the lovely things they will be growing this season.

Grey County is home to some of the best honey we have ever had and Klondike Honey is one of them. Gary and Cheryl-Ann supply us with some of their liquid gold.

As you know, we LOVE coffee!! And if you haven’t tried our new espresso, you need to!

Here’s a look at some of the local food products we carry:

Pineapple Sage Catering and Fine Foods from Eugenia are making from scratch, sausages, meatballs, chutneys and more. We carry some of their products in our freezer, including gluten-free options.

Casero Kitchen Table is a restaurant in Owen Sound that focuses on Mexican food. We carry their brined and smoked brisket in our fridge and it is now shaved, topped with pickled onions and on our menu. Yum!! We can’t talk about coffee in Grey County without talking about Heart and Soul. Katie is so passionate about coffee. Good coffee is not only about the taste, but about how that coffee was harvested and how it got to your cup. Heart and Soul’s beans are organic and fair-trade and are harvested by families who make a liveable wage. Oh, and it’s roasted in Flesherton.

Down in the Valley you’ll find Beaver Valley Maple Syrup. Totally local and totally delicious. Catherine loves it on-top of Chapman’s Chocolate Ice Cream!!!

Vandeleur Organic Microgreens are a great addition to your meal. They can be added to salads and smoothies or tossed into a soup. Malcolm Marshall is adding some new greens to his shelves so stay tuned for them at Susan’s.

Speaking of Microgreens, if you want Come grab a latte and check out the local products we have to offer.

SUSAN’S DELICATESSEN 15 Main Street West, Markdale www.susansmarkdale.com Instagram: @susans.deli (519) 270-1520