Hi ya everyone,

Been up to a few new things on the farm the last bunch of weeks. 

It’s winter here on the island and my thoughts are full as I peruse seed catalogues watch YouTube videos of different gardening techniques and videos from fellow market garden farmers etc.

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at cultivating mushrooms since I started with two kits last spring.  So I did a bunch of research, driving Rusty crazy with my many shroomy conversation and errands to get what I need.  It’s funny in one of our conversations Rusty stood there in the family room and said…. “if I let you you would have this whole house filled with plants and other growing stuff”.  Poor guy… he’s right it would be a two story greenhouse with pots and flats and cell packs and shelves….. well I better stop there I’m sure you get the picture.

So shrooms….. I’ve been growing blue oyster, elm, shittake, pink oysters and it’s been fun.  One day in my youtubing  came across a few videos on how to grow your own white button and cremini/portobello mushrooms.  For me I thought well that’s easy enough I don’t need anything special and they are easily grown in the green room with my micro greens and sprouts.

So I did some research figured out what I needed and started my project.  So the white button and cremini grow similarly with a few exceptions and to start them off I decided to try the spore collection route first.  In this method you get a wide variety of shrooms because you are collecting spores from multiple shrooms.  I could go the more difficult route by cultivating mycelium from one choosen shroom which would give me all the same traits of the choosen shroom but I thought collecting spores might be more fun.

So I started with organic white button and cremini mushrooms.  I cut off the stems and the underside flap to expose the gills of the mushrooms and placed them on white card stock to get my spore prints.

 After about 24 hours I had the coolest collection of spores…… so I put them in a sterile bag cause I did have time that day to start the boxes.  So the next day I prepped the boxes and cut up the card stock with sterilized scissors and combined them in the mushroom substrate needed for each type.

They are in the warm room downstairs next to the wood stove cultivating mycelium nicely.  It’s a slow process but it looks like it’s working out pretty good.  Once they start to pin…. I will have lots of shrooms.  The white button box should produce shrooms for about 6 months as long as they are harvested and the soil is amended properly.  It’s so cool.

I also had my oyster and shittake mushroom blocks that I ordered and have been growing.  They are small blocks and produce enough for just home use.  So of course by now you can probably guess what I’m gonna do…..he he lol.

The blocks of mushrooms slow down production after a few “flushes” of mushroom harvests cause they run out of food to eat.  They will eventually stop producing and that’s when most people throw them in the composter and buy a new block…..not me….again I did my research and bought what I needed and started to recultivate my blocks…..and wowzers they are doing so well just a week or 2 after “replanting”.  It’s amazing really because the blocks had dried up and I wasn’t reslly sure if it would work.

So here’s a brief description of what I did here.

I bought a few 5 gallon pails drilled holes around the bucket and on the bottom.

I then proceeded to cut up the straw(My substrate) in 3-4 inch pieces and then sterilize my new buckets.  Substrate is another word for shroom food. 

Once the substrate had been cooking for the prescribed amount of time it needed to cool to room temp so that I could add the mycelium I had.  I laid out a bag on the table and laid out the substrate to cool a little faster to room temperature.  While the substrate was sterilizing I cut up the spent mushroom block into small pieces.

The small pieces were then added to the substrate mixed together and placed in the bucket.  I labeled the bucket closed the lid and put it into a black garbage bag and placed it near my wood stove to encourage myclilium growth. 

It sure didn’t take long…in another week I will start two more buckets…..  the goal is to have enough buckets going so that I will have fresh shrooms for the market and us every week.

If I feel ambitious I might try cloning the mycilliuim from a choose shroom and see how that goes.

When the button and portobello shrooms start to pin I’ll post some pics.

Cheers for now🙃

A had a few projects that I want to do one of them is an old trunk that I picked up from a friend.  it was very rough looking but with a little elbow grease a natural clearer  some cedar boards wowzers its like having a new trunk.  I am going to store extra blankies and quilts in here and its the perfect size.

I polished up the brass fittings and got the years of ick off the outside and it now smells so nice when you open it up…..not too shabby for a girl.

My other project stems back to this time last year…..I have a few doors to finish.  they are the doors from the second floor that I am striping of paint and then going to stain……this is more of a when I got the time kind of a project…….its a bit time consuming but the out come so far is awesome.



So between planting seeds for my weekly sales and now planting seeds for the garden its keeping me busy but the warmer days are now upon us and its just so beautiful and breath taking when i look out into the valley.  All the green fields the spring smells some nice and some not so nice and of course the frogs…..every evening its absolutely amazing to hear.  Its a huge concert of nature with the occasional coyote howl.

So my next project will be my treadle sewing machine and just a plug out there for any of my antiquing friends i am looking for a sewing kit for a Raymond treadle sewing machine if you happen to come by one by chance please let me know. The wood was striped by the previous owner so i just need to clean it up, re-stain it and clean up the metal and shes ready to use.  its rather exciting to have one and I cant wait to use it.

One of my other many projects I want to accomplish this summer will be to paint the upstairs floors.  it will have to be done in sections but i think that it will be a good one just to kind of make it look a little nicer upstairs.  I’m really hoping that this summer will be the summer of lots of changes here in the house as I am in need of wanting to unpack my boxes of treasures sometime soon.  I miss some of the beautiful collections of things I have and this is the perfect house to display them in.

So I think it will be a busy summer but most enjoyable too.

Well I gotta run for now…….talk with you soon

sending my love and hugs,

muddy boots old houses and the farm

Hey you know where you will find me?    In the green room.  It’s my favorite place in the house right now.  It’s warm, a little on the humid side, very sun shiny and a new favorite tea tottling spot.  One of these days very soon I am gonna have to dig out my beautiful tea cups and really enjoy a cup of tea.


 We are growing….he he he……unit is almost done……

expansion in the making

The green room is where I grow all the micro greens, wheat grass, oat grass as well as the pea shoots and sunflower sprouts. By far my most favorite part of the house when its dreary outside or whenever I need a pick me up I go there.  I water the plants talk to the plants and listen to music in there.  Watch some of my bulbed flowers coming back to life as well as my beautiful orchids.

I use to have a beautiful collection of orchids when we lived in Whitby but when we moved here they were much to delicate to move with us, so I gave them all away.  But this past year with some of the changes we made in the house I decided that I wanted to start collecting them again.  They are just so beautiful and given the right environment they flower so beautifully.  

Things are going really well for me/us at the market, it’s so exciting.  I talk and interact with a lot of people and it just reinforces my love for what I do.  I love gardening and now in my last career of my life I am at my most fulfilling.  It is so amazing to see the following we have.  I love interacting with my regular clients who are enjoying what I pour my heart and soul into.  It’s also cool to here them boast about our products to other potential clients.

I had a fellow brother in Christ come and pray a blessing over the business and that warmed my heart in ways I can’t explain.  He anointed me with oil and prayed a beautiful prayer over the business.  I can say without a doubt that we have been lead to do what we are doing.  I feel the hand of God in what we do.  We have always asked God to allow us to also bless others with what we grow and we have been and the warm feeling you get is beautiful.

I truly believe that it is a gift from God, the ability to grow.  I here people comment every week-end about how hard it is for them to grow stuff and I realize that it is a gift from God. Thank you Lord:) My lemon tree is doing really well finally……..I have 2 large lemons growing, and a bunch of new leaves with flower blossoms that smell heavenly.  We have also started some onions but we need to get a bunch more now that our garden expanded by an acre..

We have made our seed shopping list and already have some pretty cool heritage seeds to start and try.  We are going to have to consider getting two hoop houses really soon  actually very soon and I am going trust that I will be able to get them for a good cost.  I am already planning in my head how I want the micro green house to be as I believe I am going to need a permanent spot set up to expand the micro greens.  I have had a few chefs interested in the products and asking about herbs which we have start to grow so…..I feel that this being a foodie island and all I will have no problem securing a couple of growing contracts for sprouts, specialty mushrooms and herbs.  Its all a huge dream come true.  I have for so many years dreamed about growing fruits and veggies and plants to sell and it only took us moving to this beautiful quaint island to see the dreams come true.
I offer free samples of all the products I grow and its amazing how people are so engaged when they are offered a sample to try no obligation:)

I also didn’t realize how much of a sales person I am, its been so much fun.
This week I am trying out bean sprouts…the kind you put in a Chinese stir fry….they are grown form mung beans and have to be grown a particular way so far so good…..in about 2 or 3 more days I will be able to tell how they are going and if it is something I will incorporate to our product list.  It is something that people are asking for so I don’t doubt that I will be able sell them…..word gets around as to what I sell and people are looking for me.  Next weeks sample will be corn shoots another interesting seed to grow…..this one is grown so it stays yellow and are apparently very sweet.  I am having so much personal enjoyment from it that it almost seems wrong that you could enjoy your work/job so much…..

Well I gotta run for now the plants need watering and there is a cup of tea waiting for me:)….stay tuned for next weeks update.
Farm Girl in muddy boots

So how can one be an empty nester without having had a full nest to start with?  for many who know Russ and I we you know of our struggle to have a family of our own.  Years of questions and tests and medication and procedures and then finally after so many painful years we decided it would be best to focus on one another.  That road was not an easy road but it was the road we traveled.  In the mean time we have some very awesome nieces and nephews to fill our lives when they were younger some closer then others but all very dear to our hearts.  In particular our god children Carrie and Ryan we were particularly closer to them cause we were their god parents as well as the fact they lived the closest to us.  Over the years as they grew up we poured our lives into them we were very close….recitals for piano and for drums as well as a number of school plays and grads etc..oh yes lots of birthdays and family dinners of course all because they happen to live the closest to us.  We love all 8 of our nieces and nephews….just saying.

So along came our big decision to move away from Ontario and go to live in Prince Edward Island….now we were already starting to see a decline in family functions before we left cause teenagers do apparently have lives of their own but I have to say it was really felt when we moved here.  Yes there was skype for Christmas and the wedding in the summer which brought us back home for a short visit and then all of them here for the familymoon, but nothing really prepares you for being an empty nesting aunt and uncle. 

We no longer were close enough for dinners, or life events but the kids definitely moved on….they have their own lives which is good but nothing really prepares your heart for the separation that distance and time shares when it is no longer there. 

Instead of hearing about their daily lives ……. nothing…….they are so busy that even when you send a text msg or facebook msg they are too busy to answer ……..or if they did happen to msg it was a considerable amount of time later. 

The complexities of life coming into play which further complicate the already strained relationship and you find yourself alone….

We will get use to being second fiddle but its always nice when one of the 8 do send a msg of hey I was thinking about you today.

I know full well they are not our kids but they were as close to us as our own and I never imagined the heart ache that even a very close aunty could feel.  I have come to terms with the fact that we Russ and I will get old and have no grandchildren of our own the emptiness of not having our own kids was bad but now you start seeing your friends kids getting married and having kids…..we won’t have that and I wonder from time to time who will be around us when we get old….and perhaps if one of us is widowed who keeps that one company, who as family cares…..meh…..I guess the chickens and other animals will keep us company.

I did think that maybe there is a teenager out there who might like to be adopted into our family as I think we would benefit greatly from each other.  In the mean time when you have loved as Russ and I have loved all the kids there are bound to be a great many feelings when you become empty nesters with out the nest…..

Well hello,  So I’ve been a busy camper since since my last letter….and lots of stuff is going on.  So lets get started.

Its official I have a booth at the Summerside Farmers Market and have been there the past three week-ends and its been a really awesome experience.  Because I enjoy what I am doing its hard to think of it as work ….. but it is work and it is going well.  We are almost  finished with our new sign and it feels really good chasing the dream and seeing it happen.  The very reason why we left Ontario was so that we could start farming our own food for ourselves and then for others and here we are going into our 3 summer growing season and we will be doing both.  The farmers market has been great, seeing the interest for our products that we grow is so wonderful and fulfilling.  I was feeling so very down about things at the end of December and beginning of January wondering why about a lot of stuff and trying to figure out just how were we gonna fulfill the later part of our dream….and its strange how events happen in life that make you look at the big picture and then instead of putting it off for another year you jump forward in faith and go for it.  I was in the hallway of life with nobody to talk to about it because the people I normally talked to are not available to yak with anymore.  So I went where I was supposed to go….to God….on my medical leave time off we had lots of conversations…..I think mostly me talking and Him listening…..but being who I am I quieted myself and I listened…..at first it was very quiet…..except for the noise in my head but then I listened harder, I stilled myself and I asked for clear direction.  When I was quiet enough and patient enough to sit and listen I could hear God speaking to me very clearly he reminded me of some ideas that he place in my heart back in November and I thought to myself well  I can grow sprouts and micro greens but its not something people here are use to……I don’t really think many even know what they are…..but I was obedient and put in my application……. it didn’t take long to hear back and I was thrilled that it was accepted…..in our late fall, winter and early spring seasons I would sell micro greens and sprouts and in the regular growing season alongside our veggie boxes I will sell our veggies at the market….Perfect…….but I still have a problem……I need more land to grow on…..I have the means to sell the product but I need the land to grow it on……I will pray about that.

So after my fifth week of medical leave and many late night conversation with my awesome hubby we decided that it was far better for my health considering the problem I had would go away in time but that the dr felt he’d probably be seeing me again in a few months time so I quit my job at Cavendish Farms.  I have to say after the second week of medical all my breathing issues were gone….no more puffer, no more vertigo, sinus issues gone…..so yes it was a very good decision to make…..but now I had no job and income and we are in the middle of a big house reno……that’s okay God has it all in control.  Suddenly I am no longer in the hallway and the doors are open and the miraculous is happening.  I guess if you don’t know God as I do….all this sounds like mumbojumbo and and very coincidental.  But guess what its not a coincidence it was part of His plan.  
I am so excited with what is going on that i cant help but want to share with those who want to hear it.
As this plan develops i will share the details….

  In the meantime i have a few projects that I am working on.  I obtained a neato-spaghetti-o old travel trunk….I have been cleaning it up so that I can store blankies in it….its almost done just needs to get lined with cedar and its done…..I cant wait.  I have been collecting a few antique odds and ends and it has been fun.  my next project after this is to restore my treadle sewing machine,,,,, and I have a plan to weave some rugs for the halls from some old jeans and flannel I’ve been collecting….so somewhere in between growing veggies and house repairs I will try to work on a couple of projects:)  they make me smile when I think about them so its all good.  I think that you can never have enough little personal hobbies that make you feel good.  When those little things eventually get done well that’s why its a hobby it’ll get done when it does….I have to say even tho the treadle machine is not restored, it still looks amazing in the hallway. Here we go with the stuck in the hallway thingy again.
I forgot to mention above the last two weeks at the market……I sold out of the microgreens both week ends,,,,,as a newbie that’s terrific and it just like Ralph said if you sell salad greens you will be the first to sell out no matter the price cause if that’s want people want they will pay for it……great advice and so true.

The weather has been so nice lately I think truly spring is gonna come early this year and summers is gonna be sweet.  We were hit with 3 bad storms in a matter of just over one week……that really backed things up but if you look out today almost all the snow is gone in the back which is a southern view and half of the snow in the from is gone…..northern view is always longer.  I was out in the yard in my sneakers today……first time since last fall and we had a bbq tonight…..the taste of summer

Well that’s probably all for now…..I will chat again soon and let you know how the pea shoots and sunflower shoots go at the farmers market.  Its fun introducing new things to people…watching them fall in love with new foods…why not we are a foodie island after all.
lots a love and hugs
Vanessa (Rusty too)








P.S.  I just wanted to give a special shout out to a niece many don’t know much of she is my newly discovered brother, Fred’s daughter…. she is a beautiful aspiring ballerina studying dance in Toronto George Brown……yeah Rachey

and my sister Anna’s son, Ian who is studying drafting and designing at Loyalist (a lot like his uncle I think)  Ian (and CiCi) is working really hard putting himself thru school….so if you are in Ottawa you just might see him at the Timothys brewing up your favorite cup of yum.
(I borrowed your pictures from fb:)

When you have a chance please say a little prayer for these young people that God would keep them safe and lead them close to him and use them in His special way.





Love you guys tonnes…..

Back on the wagon and hoping to stay there………yes I’m scared you might have forgotten me………..


life sometimes as much as you want it to be not busy gets busy and soon the stuff you want to do gets mislaid.  Well its been way to long but here I am no apologies just trying to simplify.

Oh ya remember him……………………..my partner……in …….farming

Its a new year and with this new year 2017 comes a bunch of changes for me personally.  I have been working at the potato plant for almost 2 years and even with several position changes the wear and tear of 12 hour shifts and perhaps not the best breathing environment the job is having a toll on my poor body.  I have been off work since Jan 4th with hip bursitis.  Basically the bursa in my right hip is inflamed and swollen along with a hip spur very painful.  I have been on 2 pain and anti-inflammatory medications now plus lots of rest and it is starting to go away.  The dr says there is a 50/50 chance it will flare up again…….so big decisions to be made here.


One thing that was on my mind a lot that coincides with our market farm garden is to be able to offer sprouts and micro greens in the winter months……..I have been experimenting with both and it looks promising. I have an application in for approval at the Summerside farmers market and an idea or two for the Charlottetown farmers market.  All in all I feel confident that this is a good viable opportunity for Our Old Island Market Farm to continue during the long winter months.  Of course the goal is for Our Old Island Market Farm to be our full-time occupation.  So sometimes you have to wonder why stuff happens…….I believe they are all windows and doors that open and close.  Right now I’m in the hallway waiting for one of the doors or windows to unlock and open.  I trust it will:)

I want to share a little about my really good friend Helena who has fought terminal cancer now three separate times…..each time being cured by Dr Jesus.  Her faith has not wavered and she is a testament to God’s goodness.  She praised and thanked God each and every day…..sounds like a real Job storyline.  Helena you are such an inspiration to me.  In the midst of my own personal struggles I am reminded that God loves me and will stand beside me and carry me when I need to be carried and that I should not turn my back on God even when in my own human nature I fail him on many occasions he has not failed me.  It reminds me to press on no matter how dark or dismal.  Thanks Helena for being so strong in God.  We need to be positive and live each day as if it were the last so that we don’t miss out on anything and or have any regrets for stuff we didn’t do.

Yikes its been a active year……..its funny how life treats you.  I have to say that life is full of “funny” surprises…….sometimes you have a pretty good understanding and then other times no clue.  This past year has been full of life’s many colorful surprises.  In the end it kind of amazes me who is standing beside you through thick and thin……and what’s most surprising is who is missing the ones you expect to be there.  But then I guess that’s the beauty of Christ…. the unexpected…..when Jesus entered his ministry on earth……. the ones you thought would be alongside him where the ones who persecuted him and we’re the ones who opposed him so strongly.  But he was a good friend and spent time with the down trodden……the outcast…..the unclean….may we all experience true friendship, a friend, one who sticks really close like Jesus did……..And when we experience the disappointment of life may we always understand that people will disappoint but Jesus never will.  When you are misunderstood or judged incorrectly Jesus is your best friend but be very careful when walking through life not too allow the enemy to get a foothold in your life when you struggle because not only does it affect you it affects those around you.  Love unconditionally even when it hurts as your reward is in heaven not in man.

So I’m thinking 2017 is gonna be another good year of changes……I made a vow last year to spend less time on social media and having things tie up my life, not everyone needs to know what brand of peanut butter I just put on my homemade toasted bread that I just posted…….I am gonna post even less this year.  The only stuff I will put here is stuff of some significance perhaps…..my letters of communication from the old manse and the odd thing of interest.  My life doesn’t need to be broadcasted  I think there should be some mystery that makes one friend think of another friend ans cause them to pick up the phone and yak……I will be posting stuff on my farming page……maybe knitting page and my muddy boots pretty nails page…..the important stuff.  Its been really nice not having satellite tv  I’ve been very creative and its been quiet plus  I have a lots of music.

So the traditional winter activity of digging out of snow and looking through seed catalogues is in progress.  I have to say the weather hasn’t been all that bad as in years past but all in all pretty good so far.  I am excited to try some new stuff this year…..each year the garden gets better and this year will be no different.   I hope to be gardening full-time, its a dream and maybe this year the dream will be reality. I am not living in the past but living for each day so here’s to dreams unfolding.

My resolve is strong and I am feeling pumped.  We made some awesome changes to the gardens last year and I cant wait to see how that will impact this year….yeah


……i am also thinking about a side venture to the market garden ……its called The Crooked House

…..well some who know me ……. now that I am creative and crafty so my thought is to have a Crooked House to sell me crafty creations through as well as garden veggies and fruit…..a little touristy spot that will attract business……

its an idea and like all ideas and dreams they start with speaking them forth and planning so here I am speaking it forth……planning to come.  so while I am laid up on the couch I am planning for all kinds of fun and good stuff ways to be creative recycling and ways to be creative to grow……I cant wait to see what this spring and summer hold for me:)

We have been working on the house perhaps maybe not as much as we want to but the addition is framed and weather proof…..the master suite is seeing some action as well……all in good time…and plans for the spring and summer are forming…..there will be some renos that will absolutely need to be done this year but all in all I am excited to see how our ideas will take shape. Oh Ya I painted the front hall……was a little bored with the blah yucky walls. 

I think as soon as spring comes the house is gonna get painted……it looks so sad right now but she is a work in progress and progress is happening:)  color??????? we still flip flop over color…..but a choice will be made and then that’s it.

 its coming……….

 ooooo taking shape……now Bob kept dodging the camera but he has been a terrific friend and working partner with Russ…….thanks so much for all your help Bob and thanks Evelyn for letting him come and help out:)

 woowzie

 the new roof

 don’t get distracted…….keep working

not bad……cant wait …….pantry…..powder room….laundry…..big windows……thanks babe your the best.

Russ made these beautiful drop spindles for christmas
……and I am excited to work on some wool spinning this spring…..I met to really nice lady in Port Colbourne last year at her shop and she showed me a few tricks and gave me some fiber to spin…..its one of those cool things once I get good at it the next item on my bucket list of wants is a spinning wheel…..if i have the land after that  maybe some sheep……he he he I think I can hear Rusty …………WHAT SHEEP!…..I have also thought of angora rabbits……time will tell.  I have some other crafty ideas listed that I want to try and eventually I will get there….anyone on pinterest can see all the pics I pin…….lots going on in the brain…..he he he.



this picture is not me or the lady just some random picture showing what a drop spindle is………….

 The new chicks on the block…..

 man they grow fast










very fast

The farm animals are doing good the new laying hens have integrated well with the flock and we are so enjoying the meat chickens we raised this past year…..what a difference in taste.






 We are going to to do that again this year and I will probably do some chicken killing myself….last year Russ was a saint and did the killing but this year I want to help in that area as it is not fair for just one person to do it all and besides if we start rising rabbits i am gonna have to get use to culling the animals off as we need them for food.  Its quite a different lifestyle when you raise your own food one that I wish we had started sooner but non the less we are doing now.

I love going down to the cellar and picking up a bowl of food for the days meal or grabbing a chicken for roasted chicken dinner.  It is some nice.  I love all my canned goods as well nice to have a jar of pickles or pickle beets or pickled eggs or tomato sauce for a meal……I love it.  When my new pantry is in place i will have more room for dehydrated stuff too……like onions, carrots, bananas, apples etc…..kinda nice…..

Well I guess thats as good an update……..yak with you all soon……

hello from the big guy as Marco would call him……

oh yes who can forget this awesomeness of love

 can’t wait for burger love………bring it on whatcha doing this year Boomburger? It’s gonna be hard to beat the foxy dill burger love.

or another walk on the beach with my main squeeze…..

Remember me……

It’s been almost a tad more then one year to date since I last blogged….to blog or not too blog.  In our household I’m not sure who’s worse Rusty or me.  Neither of us have been very good at keeping up in our writing.  I am not going to make any promises other then a statement. I will try to be better at this then I am.

Well I can certainly say that much has happen since the last blog but then you probably know that through facebook but just for toots and giggles………I will list a couple of the big changes.
Russ and I now work full-time Russ at Paul Davis Systems and me at Cavendish Farms 48 hours a week and just recently had a crew change.  The company needed to balance out the crews in regards to general laborers and the crew I was on had the most so being the most recent newbie at the bottom of the list they changed me over.  I have to say although it was with much foreboding I absolutely love the new crew, the ladies on the patty deck where I spend most of my time are fabulous.  They don’t yell and scream at you like most of the ladies on the other crew so that is huge.  Treating people with common respect goes a long way especially when you spend long hours with them.  I definitely feel much happier, but I do miss some of my co-workers from the other crew.
Another big change is that we got rid of cable/satellite in December I found it a bit hard at first but what the heck I am not wasting my precious time sitting in front of the tv as there was really only a small hand full of programs that Rusty and I liked anyways because most programs were just stupid and meaningless time wasters and brain cell sucking.  Besides if we really evaluated our lives and our faith etc most would hopefully come to the conclusion that a lot of the stuff on tv is not enriching our lives and making us better people.  We are much happier we get to spend time talking to each other and being more creative people.  Its quiet in the house and it is awesome…..

We are slowly but most assuredly working on the house….sometimes its a bit hard cause my work schedule is so different from Rusty’s but we are getting projects done.  We have been working on project mostly on the week-ends when I have a day off or just a couple hours available…..this project is cutting down the big 30+ foot pine trees in the back yard.


We are making room for the new shed plus chicken coop and a new green house / hoop house.  The trees are in the way and now that they are coming down its starting to really look better back there.  We need the room to put up the structures as well my chicken runs on either side need the space too.




For the time being my laying hens are in the chicken coop we built from recycled materials which has been a great hen house so far.

The chicken run been awesome this year too as I wrapped it in plastic poly to keep out the snow and the strong winter winds…..the girls have absolutely loved being out even on the cold days scratching and dust bathing and enjoying a bit of sun too.  You know they are happy because out of nine hens I average 6-8 eggs  every day mostly 8 since the days have been getting longer.

Our house has been so much warmer this winter since we did some of the upgrades in the fall.  The new upper windows and insulation in the attic have made it so nice:) We had to replace the “goat ramp” so now we have proper access to the house.  As well we have one bedroom almost completely finished and are moving around some boxes to get into the master bedroom to finish it up as well as getting the new bathroom started.   My projects up there are to refinish the original doors.  I am taking off all the layers of paint and then we will make sure they are all touched up for size and then painted a fresh coat of white paint.  I will source out some new hardware and hinges for the final touches.  Can’t wait to see how it will turn out.  We are also trying out some flooring samples of stain to come up with something we both like which is gonna look awesome I am sure as I think that we both like the same kind of color…..it will be trying to get the right colour combination.  The bathroom floor will be the first floor to get done and I decided that instead of tile I want a wood floor.  Once the reclaimed wood vanity is in with the vessel sink and the glass shower the reclaimed cast iron claw foot tub will look amazing on the wood floors.  Since we are doing virtually all the renos ourselves and our time is limited it will take a bit longer but will be so rewarding in the end.  The great thing about not rushing is that you really get a chance to chew on ideas you find and you do eventually settle on some really beautiful finishes.  For example: we took out the originals windows on the upper floor bedrooms etc.  The beautiful bubble glass from those windows will be used with some of the reclaimed wood from the house when we did the gutting upstairs to make so cabinets and furniture pieces.  Most people would just toss them in the garbage when they install the new stuff but we didn’t.  I cant wait for Russ to get his workshop setup so that he cam make some furniture and accept pieces for the house as well as our two new doors that we will be installing. Those blogs and wordless Wednesday pictures will be well worth the wait.

Now since it is 5 days from spring we are of course are already into seed planting mode.  We have close to 500 onion seed started, peppers are up and the new asparagus plants are started.  tomatoes, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower will be started this week as well as some perennial and annual flowers.  I am especially excited about the flowers cause for all of you who know me my flower gardens back in Ontario were all the rage to talk about…..so I am so excited that I get to start some of those this year.

We have some really big changes in the fruit and veggie garden this year as we get ready to start our dream of veggie farming.  We are hoping to start with at least 10 veggie boxes not exactly a csa box but just a veggie box.  So we are revamping the veggie beds and going with a new plan that we just discovered this year.  So the hope is of course to work the gardens as a source of income from about March to November and trust that our first two years of growing food here on the island will bump us up to a market garden farmer status:)  We are very excited of course it means a lot of hard work but it will hardly be hard work cause it is something that we both really enjoy.  We are also gonna have a veggie stand at the end of the driveway that locals and tourist can shop at.  All in the crazy life of Rusty and Nessie…..a life that we absolutely love.
So that is probably enough for you to read and chew on for now.  I will save the rest for my next letter.
We love you all and we cherish your prayers and thoughts and chats and notes.  I never imagined this simple life we now live would be so rewarding but it truly is and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
So tootles for now and I will try to post another letter shortly to update you on more stuff going on at the old manse / old island farm.
Nessie & Rusty

Just some pics from the past year to see what fun we are up to.





fun at the beach…..

a little rabbit stew….something new ….loved it

 and of course the fire pit in the back yard………

Lucky 13………. theme this letter is snow……..snow……more snow…and where do you put that snow.

So in the past say 9 days we have received about 5ft of snow……..that is a lot of the white stuff!  My last post this past Tuesday was a snow day and a power out day.  We had another snow storm Thursday night into Friday and we received another 20cms……can you see Rusty smiling?…nope not at all!  That is a lot of snow to take care of and thank God for our awesome neighbors Orville and Charlotte……Orville has been gracious enough to clear our driveway of some of that big snow:).

I am not complaining as I was saying to Rusty in the car on the way home from grocery shopping last night – it doesn’t feel as bad this year even though we have received a lot more snow (to date) then we got last year – which was a record breaking year for snow.  I guess the big difference is that we are not having 2-3 storms a week and I guess I became well seasoned from last year.  Although we have had some very powerful nor’easters with wind gusts over 100km it doesn’t bother me as much this year as it did last year.  Not sure just where anymore snow is going to go as its not going to melt anytime soon but at least we don’t have the worry of it melting and filling the basement with water as we have our new foundation in place.  But it is a lot of snow and Rusty goes out when he has the engery to chop away at the snow banks to make our driveway a little more wider:)

So we had one official snow-day and one late-start-to-the-work-day on Friday.  We had to take the main highway all the way to Borden-Carleton  which was down to one lane due to the very bad snow drifts (going east bound in the west bound lanes is not nice)…..but then again driving on our roads out here is nothing compared to get 5cm of snow and driving on the roads in the city in Ontario.  It simply did not add 2 hours to our commute only about 10-15 extra minutes and the fact that we only see a handful of cars in our travels is awesome.

I have to say that the beautiful scenery as we travel is something to take in.  Picture it with me…….the heavy laden snow on the evergreen trees resting low for the weight of the snow….its out of snowy Christmas pictures. 


We put out oiled sunflower seeds for the birds cause they are all scavenging for food now that there is so much snow around…..its so beautiful to wake up listening to the birds chirping outside looking out the window and seeing blue jays, juncos, chickadees, ravens – and some other birds that I am not sure of their identity yet.  This is such a simple life that I wouldn’t change.  It totally beats the traffic of the busy city we came from with cars, trucks and sirens daily.

We may not have lots of material possessions but opted to have what we feel is important for us to live and actually enjoy each day.  We are not bogged down with trying to work harder and longer to pay for an expensive big house fully loaded or a fancy car that is only going to be expensive to fix when it breaks down.  We don’t wear designer clothing as i don’t think it would be practical doing some of the chores around the house because $200 fancy heeled leather boots won’t get me through the snow in the backyard to the chicken coop and barn:)  My Mark’s Work Wearhouse warm boots are just fine.  As well there is nobody I need to impress with fancy clothing when we go to church because we fellowship with blue collar workers, farmers, and just average people and that’s more important ……… fellowshiping, friendship and being real:)

Now I know the life we choose to follow our dreams is not for everyone but it is perfect for us and we find that we have conversations with people that wish they could do what we do.  Guess what? You can!  You can have a more simpler life….. it is available you just need to decide what is important to you.   I don’t have flowers in my garden to stop and sniff just yet but that’s coming and besides it’s winter right now….just a little cold for flowers…… he he.

But I am glad that what motivates Russ and I is time spent together, renovating our old house, growing our own veggies and having chicks to cluck with and having a deeper relationship with Christ and with each other.  We pray together daily we talk about God a lot and how He leads every aspect of our lives we trust God more with everyday living….this is the important “stuff” that we didn’t a lot of time to do when our lives were so busy with working everyday to afford things we thought were important, material things that you can’t take with you.  We have the time to discuss life and we give each other the respect to our attention as we are not bogged down in our minds with so many distractions.  I love my husband Rusty so much and I have learned so much more about him in the past year and three months being here that I didn’t know before.  We spend time together listening to each other and lets face it there are not a lot of places to escape too in the country so if we haven’t hurt each other with all the time we spend together, which we haven’t …..we have definitely gotten closer.

Rusty is an amazing strong person and I love to laugh at his funny musings and stories and tidbits he learns and shares with me:) even the videos of bad lip reading in football plus the funny dreams he has at night whereby he sets his brothers front porch on fire:).  I hope that you all get a chance to spend some extra time with your love ones and get to know them better and discover what is important in life:)

So onto more everyday stuff…..its cold today but warm by the fire and we are gonna have spareribs for dinner tonight…… and please continue to pray for my health and for the job at the GST office to open up really soon:)

Thanks everyone for listening to my thoughts:)

Its not Sunday but it feels like Sunday.  We’ve had yet another snow day 3 storms in just one week and today’s storm was a doozy.  It started yesterday afternoon and I had a doozy of a head ache too.  The wind whipped up last night after midnight and the power flicker on and off and even went off briefly coming back on….but then it went off and stayed off til about 4pm today.  Officially Charlottetown received 67cm of snow 7 cm off the record snowfall back in 2004 when white juan hit.  

So we are very thankful to Orville he used his tractor snowblower to dig us out of the snow we got and for that I am so grateful.  I am gonna make some treats for him and Charlotte to say thank you:)

But all in all a sunday kind of day.  I needed that because I lost one of my beautiful hens yesterday she died in my arms wrapped up in a towel.  So very sad I notice she wasn’t quite herself on sunday and like all chicken keepers say once you actually see something is wrong its usually too late.  It seems that she may have become an internal layer. 

Internal layer: 
Similar to egg binding, Peritonitis (an indicator of internal laying), is a distressing issue that can occur with laying hens. 
Internal laying is a disorder where the yolk of the egg, rather than being laid in the normal manner, is not taken up by the oviduct and instead is deposited in the abdomen. This can be a genetic issue, but often times it follows an incidence of infection or trauma to the oviduct, such as a thin shelled egg breaking inside the hen.
Internal laying by itself is not always an issue. Occasionally a hen will lay internally for no apparent reason and the yolk will simply be absorbed back into the body without complications if there is no bacteria present. The problem results when bacteria is present and when eggs build up. Egg yolk is a rich medium for bacteria growth, and a build up of eggs internally can provide a playground for infection. This infection is known as peritonitis. If your hen continually lays egg after egg internally, the yolks can not only harbor and grow bacteria, but all the yolk material puts pressure on internal organs, making it difficult for the bird to breathe and causing her to adopt a penguin-like stance.
Symptoms of an internal layer with peritonitis can include:

• Yolk colored feces
• Weakness
• Loss of appetite
• Lethargy/Depression
• Swollen & spongy feeling vent area and/or abdomen
• Respiratory problems
• Fluffed feathers
• Penguin stance; abnormal waddle

If an internal layer is identified early on, steps to prevent the laying process can be taken. The bird may be spayed or have a hormone implant placed that stops ovulation. Unfortunately, an internal layer is often in discomfort and pain. Sometimes it may be necessary to euthanize the bird to end her suffering.
If peritonitis is suspected, the choices for treatment are usually limited, due to the amount of time the infection has most likely been brewing before symptoms become evident. Giving antibiotics if caught early enough in the process has had some success.

So because of the storms we have had the extreme cold and not being in the coop as much as usual maybe i could have caught the condition sooner….maybe not.  You see chickens know they are on the bottom of the totem pole in the food chain so they hide their illness so that a predator and the other flock don’t notice so they are not picked off or picked on….. 

I brought her in and gave her a warm secluded resting area away from being picked on and she passed away tuesday:(  This was my first homesteading loss and it made me feel really sad but at the same time happy that in her last hours she was in a more comfortable place and not treated unfairly.

We do treat our birds with respect giving them plenty of room to run around a good shelter to live in that is clean and warm (not heated) so really my girls have it better then those in commercial farms.

I got through this well and I know that there will be more losses like this when we grow our animal population as it is a part of life.  Besides there will be chickens grown specifically for their meat and we will be killing them and preparing them ourselves so I do need to get use to life and death on the homestead.

So in a few weeks the list of birds for ordering will be out at the local co-op and I am preparing for my next installment of chickens and maybe a turkey or two for our coop/flock this year.  kind of exciting…..some other homesteaders we follow “Starving off the Land” shared their experience with meat chickens and that was quite informative, so I am looking forward to having some meat chickens in the freezer that are 10lbs plus.

I have learned a lot from our farm/wood guy and am grateful for the info he has shared with us…..its a great example of how to make a good go of farming and having enough to live on plus some:)

So we got our flower and shrub catalog from vesseys so exciting….we are getting excited thinking about spring even though Shubenacadie Sam has seen his shadow. So it’s six more weeks of winter for us!  Yuk!

For now I dream about spring and all the new life and all the new opportunities for us:) and spring is only 45 days or in just over 6 weeks.  In some ways it just can’t come soon enough.

No word from the GST office yet but God had impeccable timing and it will come when He wants it to:)  So when you remember please pray it will happen soon.  

So for my new flock of chicks and a rooster I will need some name ideas……lets see what we can come up with and what you guys might recommend.  The hens and rooster are going to be heritage dual purpose chickens good for eating and laying and a couple more layers as well.  The meat chickens are not going to be named cause we are gonna eat them so no names.

I have to say i am in some serious nail withdrawls…..I want so bad to do some fancy nails cause i miss it so much…..if I could get some clients in the mean time or even get a chance to rent a spot in a salon to start for a couple days a week that would be very awesome as I am sure that once you get clients with some awesome unqiue nails and nail designs business will flow in…..ideally i would like to work from home which means a better price for the customer but not sure how that will go considering our location which I think is perfect…time will tell though:)

Well I better go for now…the sofa, a hot chocolate and a movie is calling my name:)  love you guys and talk with you again soon.

Farmers Almanac calls this a full snow moon …………….

Well… its been a while again…but here I am….in the last blog I gave you an update of our first year here on the island and quite the first year it has been:)

It is Sunday and I am gonna give this a go again.  We had some stormy weather last night into this morning but not as bad as i think i could have been.  The wind was very powerful last night and i thought that we were gonna loose the power but lucky for us it stayed on.  I have to say the weather this winter has been nothing like it was last year.  I think we officially shoveled snow once with a few minor clean-ups here and there.  In my mind that has been awesome!

We were very busy at work especially thru the Christmas blitz and now it is starting to slow down a little.  Its been hard for me working there, i would say since about mid November i started with a cough and sore throat and feeling generally under the weather.  I have not been able to shake this nastiness yet, its been weeks. In fact its getting worse my lungs and chest hurt and i imagine the cold damp wet environment is what is making it really bad on top of the nasty moldiness in the control room.  We have been cooking mussels a bit some mornings so that make things worse as its hot and stuffy like a sauna and then it gets cold and damp….great conditions for sickness and co-workers have been sick too with the flu recently.  I am praying every day that the other job will open up so that my lungs will clear up and i will have lots of energy again:)  

In regards to the other job I did the testing and the interview and they asked for additional info for my security check so I trust it won’t be long:)  but in the mean time i am looking for other work so that i can get out of the unhealthy environment.

On a positive note the girls did start laying awesome eggs on winter solace (Dec 21) have been laying some absolutely beautiful eggs.  We have been enjoying those eggs and we look forward to the spring and getting some heritage hens and a rooster:)  Of course the plan is to raise our own dual purpose chickens for egg laying and eating:)  I will try meat birds just to see what they are like and maybe a turkey or two:).

I can tell you all how much I love the new farm life we have.  Its of course a totally different way of life and not for everyone but it is definitely for me (us).  I look forward to other animals that i will be able to get and grow with:)

We are starting to get ready to finalize our seed list for our gardens this year.  Our focus is to use even more of our property to grow food and to also start up veggie box sales.  I am really excited about starting some plants for the garden.  I hope to have a large variety of herbs in the gardens this year too.  I ordered the seed and plant catalog from Richters nursery in Uxbridge and I can’t wait to see it when it comes.  They have a cool bunch of mushroom kits too and i am thinking that growing mushrooms would be kind of neat.  I mostly miss my chocolate mint plants that i got from them and had in my garden back in Whitby.  So needless to say I have a few ideas of what i want already:)

We are gonna set up the grow lights and shelf unit upstairs in the spare bedroom so that we can get our seedlings growing……its gonna be a little spring like up there:) yeahhhhhhhh!

So i imagine Rusty will be doing some posts about that in the near future:)  

We have not caught the weasel yet but hope to catch it soon so that we can let the girls roam around outside again unattended:)  I think that the weasel is living in the barn as you can see the foot prints going in and out and Murdoch goes absolutely stupid sniffing down the scent trail.  Die weasel die

On a food note I have a couple of no knead bread recipes that i am going to try this week and i will let you all know how that goes.  Made Rusty an apple pie last night with sweet tango apples….yum….crunchy juicy and sweet.  Of course Rusty was happy to be on the receiving end of a yummy pie:)  So the next baking treat will be a browned butter cake with coffee icing…..it should be good.  If it turns out okay I may share that recipe with you or you might have to visit to get some.

The reno’s are coming albeit much slower then we want but hopefully that will change shortly and there will be some more posts about work around the house.  We do get little things done that are in preparation for bigger things so like i said slow pace but  getting there.

The fact that we are not rushing to do the reno’s is good because it gives us a chance to really think about what we are doing so that we are not just doing renovations and putting in any old thing just because.  We get a chance to really think through the process and decide what changes to make and what finishes would be fit our old island home.  A couple things for sure is the heartland oval wood cook stove and the wood furnace…deciding the best placement for them and where the flue will go and the duct work for the furnace.  Its exciting thinking about and planning the changes and finishes….

So i better go for know but just to let you all know we are loving the island life here and can’t wait for new and repeat visitors this summer:)

Love you guys:)

Vanessa