Woodville

Woodville is a small collection of houses consisting of a few hundred people, mostly from a handful of families. A lot of people have roots here that go back as many as five generations! There's a great book one local woman wrote several years ago, tracing the history of Woodville's residents through each of the houses in town, and we were lucky to get a copy from our home's previous owner (along with an incredible framed photo of our house taken in the late 19th century!). We love being in a place that has such a rich history, and it's one of the things we felt was missing when we lived on the west coast.

The old school in town has been converted to a community hall, which is used for events and has a very popular gym downstairs. There are a few fun events throughout the year, such as the Christmas potluck and market, but the largest get together is the spring Apple Blossom Chicken BBQ, held at the Boates' organic orchard, which raises lots of money for the community - we can't wait!

Every Saturday morning during the winter months, a Woodville household hosts a coffee party, which between 30 and 50 people come out to. Coffee, tea, and tasty treats are on offer, and it's been a great way to get to know our neighbours quickly, which we didn't expect, arriving in the winter. We're hosting the upcoming party, so the pressure has been on to get a few renovations done before then!

There is also a volunteer fire dept, which I'm now a member of - part of my continuing education on how to be a real Canadian man (I might never get there!). There is so much to learn and they need drivers for the tankers......watch out! Kris has joined the knitting, stitching and hooking group, otherwise referred to as the 'stitch and bitch'. Every week the ladies get together to do crafts and basically just gossip away! Other notable winter escapades include brewing beer, redecorating the house, and baking. As you can see, the double oatmeal stout and the west coast IPA needed the helping hand of Lucy. 46 litres of beer should help us make it through the blizzards.

Despite the weather, spring is definitely coming soon and we're so excited to get working outside. We took part in a meeting with other organic growers in NS last week, working to expand the small organic farming sector here, which was a good way to meet people who have been running successful farms in the area. Our seeds have also arrived, and there's lots of planning to be done over the next month or so!

Meet Lucy!

We've been wanting a dog for years, so words can't describe how happy we are to finally have a puppy! She's an 8 week old Blue Heeler or Australian Cattle Dog which originally was a cross between a Dingo and a Dalmatian.

Tandem Organic Farm: 8 acres of land, a 175 year old farmhouse and 2 barns!

Our Journey

Kris and I met in a karaoke booth in the Summer of 2006 in Fukuoka, which is on the southern island of Kyushu in Japan. Since then, we've been searching for a fulfilling life that would give us a chance to work outdoors whilst continually learning new skills. After a couple of couple of years working in Victoria, BC (me organic farming and Kris for the provincial government), we felt that it was time to settle down and find some land. We drew up all sorts of lists about where this place would be (Ontario? BC? England? USA?), and in May 2013 we decided to check out the East coast of Canada. I drove a Smart car from Vancouver to Toronto, and by Michigan I had acquired a fan club on the US Highways with plenty of fist pumping as my miniature vehicle cruised across the vast prairies of North America! We arrived at Halifax airport and were greeted with an epic pink sunset...was it meant to be? Well, the following week was filled with constant drizzle and grey clouds, which amazingly didn't deter us from feeling an almost instant connection with the Annapolis Valley. Countless strangers helped us on our farm hunt (a guy named Peter even drove us around for an hour), and we returned to BC with a wallet full of phone numbers. Such kind people made us want to return and settle down to life in the countryside and we understood why so many Nova Scotians out West want to return to their homeland eventually.

So, in September we packed up Vic, our trusty 1992 Volvo station wagon, and headed East from Victoria to Kingston. A flat tire was the only blemish on a rainy 5 day trip over the Rockies and Prairies to the beautiful lakes in Ontario. We considered ourselves seriously lucky that we got our flat just as we rolled into Kenora, ON, as there is literally nothing for miles in either direction from the city and definitely no cell reception!

I then drove from Kingston to Nova Scotia on my own to see a house we had put an offer on. I camped outside a boozer in Edmunston, NB and feeling pretty hungover, was in desperate need of a cup of Earl Grey tea and decided to hunt down an independent cafe in a random town off the Highway. I found just what I was looking for in Perth Andover and was persuaded to have breakfast too. I went to pay and was told it was settled up by the couple next to me who had already left. Wow! I hadn't exchanged one word with these people and they had bought me breakfast. Amazing. As I spoke to the owner another couple asked where in Nova Scotia I was headed, so I explained that I was going to look at a house in Lakeville. They couldn't believe it as they were from the next village in the Valley. Unbelievable. Greg and Elsie told me I could camp in their village, Woodville, and help their neighbour with his apple harvest. In the end, the house in Lakeville had terrible clay soil and I ended up camping at the Boates' Apple orchard for a few weeks before Kris made it out. After more house hunting, we found a beautiful property in Woodville where we had already started making friends, so we decided to put in an offer, and before we knew it our offer was accepted.

Now our dream of living off the land could become a reality. Years of inspiration from countless sources could be put into practice. We can't wait to learn as many skills as we can muster and hope many inevitable failures can be turned into successes and food for our community.

The homestead