When We Began Farming

We had many decisions to make when we officially became farmers. And almost five years later, we are still a work in progress, consulting about the future based on the things we've learned. This blog shares our journey, belief systems and choices in our farming practices in Northern Ontario. 

The first animals to establish our farm identity, routines and commitments were a pair of angora goats named Eva and Zsa Zsa. (Named in honour of those gorgeous Hungarian darlings.) This purchase signified a monumental transition for a city girl- someone born and raised in Toronto! 

I had to be led by a husband with a strong background in agriculture. This someone had only known farming as a way of life, for their whole life. A rarity in my cement world of highways and business. And a rarity I believe in these past decades where most children are lured off to college and a job in the city.

Meeting a person who had actually spent their childhood summers working fields, and throughout the year performing daily chores, from the time they were old enough to pick up a pail, was a fascinating discovery. Like meeting a person of fiction.

It's also fascinating to look back on how little I knew, or remembered about animal husbandry from books or grade school classes. My interactions with animals had been limited to a dog or two, and perhaps a cat and budgie bird along the way. Let alone having any know-how about navigating the land for crops or fencing and shelter for the animals.

But I’ve learned plenty. I've grown and embraced the traditional ways of farming. Now I live and breath in a homesteading and old fashioned sort of way. The main focus of our lifestyle is centered on: humane ways to care for livestock, to garden and forage, to preserve, and give back to the land as we work along with the seasons.

I live on a property with no neighbours in sight, shrouded by forest as far as the eye can see, practicing earth friendly, sustainable, eco-friendly… all of those organic things, and words that people use these days to define our lifestyle.

But we have another interest, and that is in the preservation of animals. Especially heritage farm animals. Creatures that still have instincts, and can reproduce on their own. Ideally types that are as historical as possible, before man got involved and did too much crossbreeding and genetic alterations on the species for commercial operations.

On our small scale farm, we embrace these endangered and threatened animals, the ones that no longer fit modern farming practices. It's satisfying to raise them. It's an act of being kind. It's about respecting and preserving their historical instincts, diets and habits. And simply, it's fascinating to observe and share our barn with them, just because we can.

It’s a joy to offer long life and stress-free, healthy environments for the animals we've chosen, even if doing so doesn’t bring a great return on investment. We’ve discovered these old strains are usually slow growers, so you need patience, and a bit more feed to cover the extra mile. But the trade off is they live longer, scavenge well, have strong immunity and only require primitive management compared to the varieties that are pushed through big scale farming operations these days, with their medicated water, pellets, and sterile facilities. 

We've also chosen historical types for our Noah's ark of a barn, because they have traits of being hardy and tolerant of the cold northern climates, zone 2-3. Our list includes: Highland cattle, Berkshire, Yorkshire and Duroc pigs, and Auracana hens. And goes on to include Angora goats and Komondor livestock guardian dogs- To whom we credit the ability to live here safely, amidst wildlife predators such as coyotes, wolves, lynx, and bear.