Moon Tide Farm
1233 Cape Split Road, RR 3 B0P 1H0 Scots Bay, NS, Canada

Spring on a farm, locked down, in a global pandemic. Didn't think I'd ever say that...again. Revisiting our farm's homestead roots this week as supply chains are disrupted and our farm tractor has been in the shop for over 6 weeks... Did I mention it was Spring on a farm? Good thing we farm livestock and it's fencing season. Joel has been busy fencing for rotational cattle grazing on his family's land (a new management plan). This also means cutting our own fence s...takes on our woodlot, hand driving them, stringing wire (if you can get some) and moving cattle from a winter barn area to new green pastures. Feels good. Our home garden needs some work... good thing our 4yr old son is doing some heavy lifting w/ Dad! Queenie the draft horse is soft & needs some workouts to get in shape (me too!). She gave up after a while. We plant a lot of storage crops so it can wait (just a little bit) longer...the greenhouse is near to bursting! Slow and steady, remaining adaptable, thankful to be in such a beautiful place and grateful we're all pretty healthy. Hang in there friends...

Happy Super Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse happening now to the soundtrack of June Bugs buzzing in the ditches and waves lapping the shore in front of the farm in Scots Bay, NS.... If you can, pop out for a sec and marvel... #superbloodmooneclispe #bloodmooneclipse #bloodmoon2021

Did you see this? Our Farmer's Market Manager was just awarded a Provincial Minister's Award for "Best Ambassador of Local"! Many of us are working very hard to connect producers and consumers and it was lovely to see recognition where due. The award ceremony acceptance is linked here Congratulations! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3GprLVb0nE

Have you seen this? 6000+ mini courses available online for free. Wanna learn something new? Have some extra free time? Some are 20 min. lessons, some are more, all are free. I'm going to check a few out... learning never stops. https://www.coursepark.com/ns/

They're all business (well, a little fun). Our heritage breed pigs are busy tearing up the pasture. YEEEES! ... Pigs have powerful snouts to turn soil in the search of food and forage. We let them. Joel fences an area we want turned and then we let the pigs on it and they get to work. Once it's all been turned, Joel moves them a new plot (which has often been seeded in pea/grain/ sunflower shoots) and repeats. The old plot then is seeded for more forage crops, green manure crops, or readied for planting next Spring. We have a small tractor which could do the same thing, but we like the pigs to be their piggy-selves. It takes longer, requires more labour, but we prioritize healthy happy livestock and good pastures. Plus, we all get a kick out of them! These are not bored, Stinky, stuck-in-one-spot pigs. They're having fun, well...getting down to business. We just try to stay out of the way. #heritagepork #pigaswithjobs #plowingwithpigs #healthyhappylivestock #herepiggypiggy

Red Dress Day Today is the Canadian National Day of Awareness of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls. We honour those who are missing, we remember those who are lost and we stand in solidarity with those disproportionately impacted by loss. ... Let's move toward change and justice and support Indigenous women, girls & two-spirited people. Pic from Elizabeth McMillan, CBC, 2018 #reddressday #wesupportindigenouswomen #enoughviolenceisenough

Red Dress Day Today is the Canadian National Day of Awareness of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls. We honour those who are missing, we remember those who are lost and we stand in solidarity with those disproportionately impacted by loss. ... Let's move toward change and justice and support Indigenous women, girls & two-spirited people. Pic from Elizabeth McMillan, CBC, 2018 #reddressday #wesupportindigenouswomen #enoughviolenceisenough

Students, looking for a summer job????

Students, looking for a summer job????

She's coming down. The broken wharf in our community (a hazard and eyesore for 7 yrs) is finally being removed to make way for a new stone-clad breakwater, seasonal floating dock and Welcome Centre. The Harbour Revitalization Project at Little Cove in Scots Bay, NS is now underway. So much volunteer work, determination, and government support is turning this small community's hopes and dreams into reality. Elder knowledge transfer, active living, generations-long safe wat...er access and experiential tourism opportunities are again becoming possible. This work honours rural community priorities and collective grit. Work began today. The Cove will be closed through July. Short term inconvenience = long term gain. #ruralliving #breakwatercoming #honouringcommunities #volunteerism #collectivewisdom #safeonthewater

She's coming down. The broken wharf in our community (a hazard and eyesore for 7 yrs) is finally being removed to make way for a new stone-clad breakwater, seasonal floating dock and Welcome Centre. The Harbour Revitalization Project at Little Cove in Scots Bay, NS is now underway. So much volunteer work, determination, and government support is turning this small community's hopes and dreams into reality. Elder knowledge transfer, active living, generations-long safe wat...er access and experiential tourism opportunities are again becoming possible. This work honours rural community priorities and collective grit. Work began today. The Cove will be closed through July. Short term inconvenience = long term gain. #ruralliving #breakwatercoming #honouringcommunities #volunteerism #collectivewisdom #safeonthewater

It's time. Tick time. ewwwww. Daily ticks checks begin. We check our kids at jammie time, ourselves, and then any pets in the house. ... We've never made a big deal about it w/ the kids - even though I really do hate it - and we usually start pulling off almost a tick a day for the next month or two. Farm kids are outside a LOT but thankfully they think this is just their routine for Spring. I didn't grow up doing this as a kid, just leeches at the lake in the summer. I feel bad our littles have to experience this, it's gross, but they don't know it. They just know they don't want to be sick. My Aunt was VERY sick in the early 90s when Lyme was *new.* I had it and was quickly treated in my late teens. So we check. Daily. Hopefully you do, too.

What do you dream about? As I hold this sleepy barn kitten the kids drug in the house and watch her peacefully sleep, I envy her easy dreams. My sleeping dreams aren't especially easy these days and the kids' aren't either, we often awake in the night. So we try to burn up energy and rest deeply. Spring on a farm brings lots of opportunities to practice our intentions! = ... Awake, I dream of the tangible results from cool research projects I'm involved in, what reading by themselves will bring to our children, how to ensure my parent stays healthy despite cognitive decline and how my spouse can manifest his best self. Dreaming big happens for me when I take care of myself... It's a work in progress, for sure. Happy dreaming, may it be even half as restful as this little one on the farm.

In case you are needing a moment of calm. I sure did. The Wolfville Farmer's Market is a low-risk COVID exposure site this week after a masked guest (who did not purchase anything) strolled thru last Saturday morning. ... After much deliberation, the collective wisdom of the cooperative is to close the Saturday Market this week to ensure we and the community who supports all of us remains safe. If you were at the Market from 9:30 - 11:30am last week, please get a voluntary COVID test ASAP so we can all do our bit to halt any community spread. Closing a Market Day is not an easy decision as many will lose a week's income. This impacts essential service providers (like farmers) a LOT. GOOD NEWS You can buy food & lots more in two other ways this week (and every week) Online shopping @wfm2go.ca for a Sat pick-up at the Market, or hubs in the Valley or the HRM. Orders close tonight at 7pm. In-person (w/ a mask ) at the deeply cleaned MARKET STORE 5 days a week (including Sat). Our COVID-negative tested staff can help you find whatever you need! We have burgers, sausages, steaks, roasts and some ham in the freezers there now. Thanks for your continuing support. Let's keep each other safe. #wfm2go #stopcommunityspread #orderonline #shopinstore #communitylove

Indigenous foods rule! Meet the "Passamaquoddy Potatoes" aka Sunchokes aka Jerusalem Artichokes. The seed stock for this native tuber came from Grand Manan Island, NB and we've been growing it for about 10 years now. We've seeded other farmers, hedgerows, fields, and many home gardeners over the years. ... High in inulin, this starchy tuber is low-carb with a unique nutty flavour and can be eaten grated or sliced raw in salads, boiled & mashed or (our fav) seasoned, coated in olive oil and roasted for crispy outside and mushy middles. A little goes a long way. We've been digging over the last week here as they're just beginning to break winter dormancy. They can be eaten right now (will keep for a few weeks in the fridge) as a seasonal specialty. We had them in a mixed roots & lamb roast Sunday dinner this past weekend. Sunchokes can also be planted now in your gardens, the back corner of your lawn, in ditches, etc. These spread readily w/ 4-6' stalks and a delicate sunflower in late August/September. Tubers are dug to eat in the fall or very early Spring. We also grow a LOT of them for feedstock for our heritage pigs (arriving on Friday to the farm). We fence in an area a let them "dig for their dinner" in the fall - which they LOVE to do. You can get them online @wfm2go for Saturday's delivery to Wolfville or HRM or Order Direct from the Farm by email to [email protected]. Indigenous foods from NS which people have been eating for a LOOOOONG time. Worth a try if you've never had them. Food can connect people to a place. #indigenousfoods #nsfoods #nativetubers #pigsdigfordinner #dormancybreaking #springfoods #foodfromaplace

Burn baby burn. Sometimes Spring cleaning = a big ol' bonfire. Clearing out some of the junk from 2020 (& before) to make space for new beginnings/projects. ... Spring is the time of renewal and (re)birth here on the farm. We always find fires both spiritually and spacially cleansing. Goodbye last year, hello new growing season. How about you? Ready to start again? New projects? New energy?

NS farming colleagues had this to post. The article suggests the way forward involves localization, degrowth, and slowing down. If you have a free moment this evening, worth a read.

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning Don't know what this means for today but it sure is a beautiful treat this early morning... Hoping you don't have to be on the water this morning and are still tucked snug in your jammies. ... Joel's already out the door doing deliveries - farmers, staff & volunteers have been packing orders @wfm2go since 6am (that's a 5am start here) to deliver the best farm-fresh foods & other products today. The @wolfvillefarmersmarket is open at 9am to shop in person with vendors and in the Market Store - we're stocked up in the freezers there! Thanks for your support. Have a great weekend!

How do you like your eggs? A new routine on the farm = we have more eggs than we can eat - a few extra dozen each week. Farm fresh ungraded eggs available and we're looking for some EGG BARTER PARTNERS. Ideally in our community of Scots Bay, NS, along our 2x/wk delivery route to Wolfville, or a regular farm pick-up.... Here's a loose idea of what might be interesting for us (not in any particular order, cash is only one option): - Fresh bread or baked goods - Ferments (food/drink) - Greens - Honey/Maple - Candles - Music/Art lessons 4 homeschooled farm kids - Craft supplies - Herbal teas/medicinals - Mechanical expertise - Currency - Something else mutually beneficial? If you'd like to be a barter partner, reach out by message or send an email: [email protected] @food52, repost from @marketfreshns

A new wool hat for a kiddo. With the polar vortex arriving soon in NS, the kids need two (or six ) of everything for outdoor play. Continuing the #makedontbreak challenge and doing lots of hand work, someday soon it'll be my turn! ... #makedontbreak #polarvortex #handworkheals. #kidslikewool #wooliswarmest #knittingalifetogether #outsideplay #freshaireveryday

Oh sheesh. Geeking out hard this morning on our farm 2021 seed orders. Feeling an urgency to get them in to our different Canadian suppliers this week. As we ramp our veggie production back up to supply us, our customers and supplement livestock in 2021, we need seeds to do it. Has anyone else noticed how much more expensive seeds are this year? Whoa. Like, quite a bit. *sigh* Home gardeners may not notice, but when you plan to revisit your farm's roots and grow a lot more ...than a home garden, we notice the more-than-inflation price jumps this year. Happy farm planning fellow farm friends. May it not hurt your wallets too much. #seedsarelife #localseedsuppliers #canadianseeds #seedsavers #commercialgrowers #spreadsheetgeek #coastalfarming

First #MakeNotBreak project. Took a lot longer than normal, but with the holidays winding down, the farm business restarted, we're back at homeschool routines, I set up a new office workspace, and we made space for sledding fun with a few friends. The engines are back up and running now. Farm deliveries out the door this morning with Joel.... My self challenge for January (or 2021?) is to learn something new on each project I tackle. This knit hat was started at the top with a circular cast on, a new-to-me technique that can be tried on for fit as the project progresses. Cool. #learnnewthings #knittersofinstagram #knittersunite #merinowool #kidscanlovewool #makenotbreak

An Annual Motto. Growing up, near the New Year sometime, my family often devised an annual motto, tagline, often-referred-to expression that anchored the year in some way. The best ones usually resulted in a more memorable family year for a variety of reasons. My mother came up with a version of this for the year ahead and I'm making it my own. ... By nature I have a never-ending list of things to do: some bigger (finish my Master's degree in Community Development this year) and some are smaller (reorganize our mudroom). The journeys and completions are on my path of happiness and contentment. For me, clearing the decks of things that nag, bother and invade energy is the point so I can have time and stamina to do the things that bring joy, mind-opening, and harmony. This is a year for getting things done, for me, anyway. When faced with the "can I put this off?" scenario this year, the answer will be "Nope. Get 'er done" by my own devising. We'll see how long it lasts. Moving forward with intentions usually results in something more purposeful for me. May you find your own mottos (or adapt this one) for the year - if that's your thing. It's a New Year!