Rose Hill Farm
91 lake road victoria mines B1N3J7 Sydney, NS, Canada

Coming from farm country, this makes perfect sense to me.

Making oatmeal muffins while listening to Nirvana. Just an average mid-week morning at the farm

Get to know your Cape Breton Wildlife! The Eastern Coyote Ever wake up to the eerie sound of a coyote howling, we certainly have, and it used to scare the Bej...esus out of us as children. These howls, yips and barks can often be mistaken for a large pack of animals raising their voices all at once. However, Group yips, howls and barks are produced by a mated and territorial pair of alpha coyotes with the male howling while the female intersperses her yips, barks and short howls. These can trick you into believing there are 7-8 animals in your backyard mounting some big operation. The offspring of the alpha pair in previous years and current year pups may also join in if they’re nearby or respond with howls of their own. If chances are that other alpha males several miles away hear these calls, they may too join in and create a group of rippling yip-howls which can be heard for miles. The eastern coyote began to make its expansion into Nova Scotia in the late 1800’s due to human development and habitat loss. They reached Cape Breton by crossing the ice-covered Canso Strait. Late winter January to March is the breeding season and therefore their activity increases. Their litter ranges from five to seven pups which are born around April and May. As they search for food in the heavy snow travel along roadways seem to be more favorable. They will often live near settlements and take advantage of any food sources they may find in these areas. They can hunt alone, in pairs and as a group or family hunt. The group hunts usually occur during the fall or early winter as adult pair teaches their young to hunt. Nocturnal and most active and vocal at night. They are carnivores but also opportunists so they will eat just about anything that is available. Their favorite food is the snowshoe hair! Their populations in Nova Scotia are relatively stable with some seasonal variation’s dependent upon food availability, trapping, hunting and habitat loss. Coyotes are classed as other harvestable wildlife and can be shot year-round with no bag limit. However, coyotes may only be trapped by licensed fur harvesters during the trapping season which starts October 15th and ends March 31st. Breeding and pupping season can be an aggressive time for coyotes as mothers and fathers are often very defensive of their den sites. So, what do you do if you see a coyote? -Calmly back away and don’t lose eye contact. -Never turn your back and runaway. -Make yourself as big as possible. -Make loud noises and wave your arms, use your jacket or any other item to make yourself look bigger. -Bear Spray can be used as a last-ditch effort to deter the coyote, however, be sure to spray with the wind at your back. Loud horns or whistles can also help as a deterrent. Facts provided by Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry.

The whole plant and close up of little ghost leaves and pile of pulled flowers. Second picture is of Sheep Sorrel in the field.

So this is one of my all time favorite wild plants. Sheep Sorrel. I'm a fan of tart flavours and dry wine so this plant is right up my alley. It has a dry, sour lemon taste, when leaves are picked from a young plant. From an older plant, their kind of dry and sawdusty. Not great. So you want to look for the plant that looks most like the first one. More green than red. The more red the flowers, stalk and leaves are....the less flavour. The leaves look like little green ghosts with small arms on the bottom. The dark red flowers do make a nice garnish and add pops of flavour to any dish and the leaves can be used any way you may like. I really like the leaves in a cream sause on white fish or pork. The small red flowers of the mature plant can also add a nice, crunchy touch to chicken coating. Enjoy!

Hello farm page! It's been almost 2 years to the day since I last posted here. The past 2 years have been increadibly busy! We started our own business in 2015 and in 2016 we welcomed a full time, 4 year old foster son into our home. He's a busy boy and keeps us on our toes. With days working at the business and evenings and weekends doing full time child care again it hasn't left much time for farming persuits. And I have to say, I truly miss it. I love going out to the garden and picking food for supper. I just haven't had the time to put intomaking that happen. But! Luckly for us Cape Bretoners we are surrounded by an abundance of wild edibles. So, to get back into something I love in some small way I'm going to post at least 1, safe, tasty, local and abundant wild edible a week on this page. Starting today.

New addition! Pretty happy farmers over here:)

Critters all tucked in warm and toasty, roaring fire on the go in the fire place, nice saturday night:)

We should have called Annabell Dianna because she is the huntress. Down there tracking something!

Merry Christmas everyone!!:)