Sweetwood Farm

Welcome to the Sweetwood Farm webpage. This site has been dormant these last 2.5 years though we haven’t been all that sleepy here at the farm. A lot has happened. Maybe one of the biggest changes has been that the ‘we’ of Sweetwood has become the ‘me’ of Sweetwood. Myself and my former partner parted ways back in 2015 and since then I’ve been a solo woman farmer – working as hard as ever, probably much harder if that’s possible, to make a success of this venture (solo women farmers are indeed a rare commodity, though there’s a few of us out there – please give any you meet a big hug!). I am eternally grateful for the support of so many during this time of transition.

In other news – the Creamery has indeed been born! Yes, there is now a functioning tiny commercial cheese dairy here at Sweetwood. It’s been a rollercoaster of a ride, much of it a challenge, and it’s not exactly financially viable (yet) but I hope this will soon change. I believe we are actually the smallest commercial dairy (or micro dairy) in eastern Canada. That itself is not a bad thing since, as always, the focus here is on hands-on care of our (oops – my!) livestock and the best attention to detail for both them and the products being produced. If in the area I hope you’ll reach out and sample our wares.

I hope to have a new web page before too long – though at least now the bare bones of news is out there for Sweetwood followers. My apologies for the delay (I didn’t realize I still had permissions on this page until recently). I’ll leave the remainder of the site as is for now – but know that we are indeed still running cheese workshops, still selling cheese making supplies (check out The Curd Girl on Facebook for both or message me through the contacts link), and we still host volunteers and visitors. I sometimes have baby goats, eggs and pigs/pork for sale. And now – I even sell tiny batch hand crafted cheese via thecreamery@sweetwood. :-). The adventure continues.

Happy Spring to you.

Love Blooms – a ripened (bloomy) fresh cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweetwood Farm is a 75 acre heritage farm on the south shore of Nova Scotia in eastern Canada. The property was settled in the 1700s by German settlers. We’ve moved here inspired by the heritage, beauty and potential of this little corner of the world. We are 10 minutes from the charming seaside town of Mahone Bay and less than an hour from Halifax.

We are east coasters (Newfoundlanders) who’ve lived in Europe for 10 years and found our future home on the internet as inspiration struck that ‘Nova Scotia has farmland!’ One quick internet search, an email and a few hours later we had conditionally bought our future farm. A few years later and we are now here, putting our energies and enthusiasms into restoring and re-birthing ‘Sweetwood Farm’ (we found the name craved in a piece of cement overgrown with weeds).

We are establishing a small herd of quality dairy goats with the intention to become licensed to produce our own artisan goats milk cheeses. We’ve been training in Europe the last few years so have some knowledge and experience for this consuming passion. We offer cheese making classes at the farm – or at an alternate venue for a private party (for friends, kids or even work mates as an away day).

 

Our first kids of 2014 – Alpine twins (buckling and doeling)

In addition to goats and cheese, we also raise heritage breed pigs and chickens. Pigs are fantastic consumers of whey so this will help us in our integrated farming approach. We may have breeding stock, weaner pigs, meat or eggs available for purchase. We also occasionally have unique farm-chic housewares for sale – such as the famous Egg Skelters, vintage and antique kitchenalia, and beautiful sheepskin rugs.

Toggenburg goats enjoy early Spring grass alongside the Guinea fowl and chickens

Our heritage breed pigs live outside year ’round au natural – rooting and turning land for us and for them.

 

Other plans include offering unique heritage themed farm stays. So if ‘glamping’ appeals (glamorous camping – staying close to nature but without too many sacrifices, only the best and romantic kind) do check in.

We currently have available an off-grid woods cabin with a beautiful interior finish beside its own private  small pond – serenity just a few minutes from the farm fields.

• HOT OFF THE PRESS!

Sweetwood Studio is now available for short farm-stays! Check out the tab at the top of the page for more info.

So – come along with us as we journey to grow a heritage-inspired sustainable small farm and dairy.

Goats munching their way through undergrowth in the orchard