Good day folks!
My name is Lizz and my partner are in our early 30s and I live on a 160+
acre farm in rural Nova Scotia. Our farm is currently home to the two of us, our two cats, a dog, a bakers dozen head of
cattle and a small flock of teenage
chickens. I would love to see the addition of
bees, and an increase in the size of my
chicken flock (dual purpose of
course). We intend to be as close looped as possible for the farm with minimal inputs as possible. In terms of our animals, the only input for the cattle is
straw for bedding as we do not grow grains, and my
organic chicken
feed. I hope to be able to reduce both of those inputs over time.
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Our farm as I mentioned is located in Rural Nova Scotia. The
land is a mixture of hilly woodlot, pastures, fields and of course ‘yard’. We have a lot of road frontage, and I intend to plant that with
native trees and shrub species for privacy barrier and also to put a buffer between us and the conventional
dairy farm across the road.
There are 2 brooks on the property, one in the woodlot and one that runs from a
pond up the hill. My partner being heavily interested in engineering and anything mechanical intends to utilize the natural slope for a bit of
water power. That is certainly a
project for the future, but is great to take into account as we plan what to do with the land.
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We have major issues with erosion especially along the banks of the brook. The previous owner used to just let his dairy cattle go wherever they wanted, which meant they walked anywhere along the brook, and trudged through the trees lining the brook. The
pond that supplies that brook is also fed water no longer being able to be held in the ground thanks to clearcutting going on behind the property we have a mess of sediment and erosion happening.
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We were one of the first people in the area to get
solar panels, and are very happy to see more and more folks with them. While we are grid tied, we produce
enough energy to earn some money as well as have our power needs looked after. If the weather cooperates this weekend, we hope to get our windmill aerator installed. I came across that as a way to help fix the issues arising from stagnant water and to improve the drinking water we have. Here’s hoping it will work!
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I came across
permaculture because conventional anything drives me bonkers. I have always liked doing things differently. I really became interested in Biodynamics, I studied the lectures and understand what is being said however, I don’t feel that any one approach is the correct one, but a mixture of many is what makes things work. Being rigid and dogmatic will cut off opportunities to learn, cut your vision short of observing and of course hinder growth. This is why I don’t identify with
any labelling system humans have tried to come up with for anything and everything from the food being eaten to the lifestyle being lived.
Permaculture, to me is a more modernized less celestial version of Biodynamics. I know many would like to give me a mouthful of well chosen words to try to debunk that statement, but that is how I see it, and you will not change my view.
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I have two youtube channels that I throughly enjoy, one being "Stefan Sobkowiak - The
Permaculture Orchard" as he is in Quebec and a very similar growing region to our farm, as well as "Edible Acres" as Sean is full of information, loves to share his ideas and knowledge and is an endless source of inspiration on the channel.
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I hope that was not too long of an introduction! I will end it with a few photos from around the farm
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