Nova Scotia, Canada, 52 year old female

In the summer of 2007 I bought 55 acres on the South Shore of Nova Scotia and began building from scratch an off-grid homestead. It is still a work in progress, but great strides have been made and it is becoming a very comfortable, albeit very simple life for my teenage son and myself. We live with many animals, solar panels and a small windmill. This upcoming summer (2013) I intend to focus on becoming noticeably more self-sufficient in the food department, but could certainly use assistance from someone more knowledgeable than I am in this department.

Hi Barb,

I've just moved to Nova Scotia. I'm in Halifax now but I'm planning on buying my own property and starting another permaculture site out here. I wonder if you'd welcome a visit?
I look forward to hearing from you.

Vera

Hi Vera,

I would absolutely welcome a visit! Hopefully you will be understanding of the crazy set-up that I have going here. Far from completed, but the vision is there.

Where have you moved from and what has brought you here?

Looking forward to getting together!
Barb

Greetings, Barb, I'm Jesse in Denver. I'm 65, retired, looking to build a farm or cabin Somewhere-Up-North, I was thinking Alaska, but Canada is a really civilized place, or so I hear. I have no family, not much interested in romance any more, just want to live my life out in peace. I was an executive-manager type guy but the system screwed me, I lost fifty years of savings, house, car . . . I would have done better to live in the woods, with the wild animals, than to live in "civilization." I just want to say hello to perhaps a kindred soul. ---Jesse, Denver.

Hi Jesse,

Certainly Canada qualifies in the 'civilized' department and I would hope I end up qualifying as a kindred spirit.

So sorry to hear that you were screwed over! It is so clear to me that the regular system is not there to help the worker bees and yet the majority of folks seem oblivious to it. In some ways I just hide down my long laneway attempting to avoid it all.

I'm pleased you stopped to say hello. Write again if you feel inclined.
Barb

Well, Barb, if I have any advice, let it be those words of Scott Nearing, "Pay as you go." Never leave any money in a bank, never go into debt, pay as you go, make a living in a rural area. I read Helen and Scott Nearings book "Living the Good Life" a long time ago and it has been a real inspiration. Scott was seventy when he and Helen moved to Maine and started building a new house of stone. They worked only four hours a day, anyway, maybe more to finish the house. From what I hear, their climate in Maine is like what I will be moving to in Alaska. What is the climate like where you are?

--Jesse, Denver

Hi Barb,

I see this post was four years ago but thought I'd reach out anyway.
How are things going on your homestead? I just recently bought land in your area, New Ross. I'm about a decade away from moving there, as I don't want to go into debt but I visit often and have a driveway leading to the eventual house location. I'm currently living and working in the city.
Where on the South shore is your 55 acres?
Jennifer

Yes I am curious about Southern Nova Scotia myself.