Next Great Adventure

Welcome to my Next Great Adventure

October 3, 2025

If you’re joining me for the first time, welcome! If you’ve been redirected from Teaching the Teacher, welcome to the next chapter!

My name is Cassandra and the Next Great Adventure is where I am writing about my adventures and experiences as I continue the incredibly colourful journey of my life.

I started my first foray into blogging as a twenty-something ESL teacher in Taiwan, immersing myself in a new culture. As time went on, I travelled around to different areas and countries, sharing about all my adventures.

Since then, I have come back to Canada (where my previous blog, Teaching the Teacher left off), started accumulating a collection of tools, jumped into the professional North American track – hated it, accidentally took up woodworking as a hobby, renovated a house, went to India for Yoga Teacher Training, and now I’m off-grid on a farm in the interior of British Columbia (BC), Canada.

This blog will continue to chronicle my adventures and the lessons and skills I’m learning along the way. I usually post bi-weekly (every two weeks). To hear more about my adventures, or to get notified when a new post is up, follow the blog by clicking the Follow button.

I also teach yoga (online). If you’re interested in taking a class or learning more, visit the Yoga page for more information or to book your spot in a class.

What’s Next: the off-grid set up on the farm.

That’s all for now. Until next time, thanks for visiting, shanti, and happy reading!
Filtering Raw Milk

January 23, 2026
Once you’ve milked the cow and you have a pail of raw milk, the next steps are to filter it, store it, and use it quickly. Raw milk has a shorter shelf life than pasteurized milk, often lasting between 5-10 days. To maximize it’s usable lifespan, filter and chill it immediately after milking.

In this post:

Filtering the milk

Storing the milk

Uses for milk

Selling raw milk in Canada

Supplies needed for filtering and storing raw milk

Filtering the milk

To filter the milk, you will need a glass container and a filter. 1-gallon glass jars and a pour over coffee filter cone with paper coffee filters work well.

Bulk food items like pickles, pasta sauce, fruit, and preserves come in large glass containers and are great to reuse for milk jugs.

Set up your jar and filter next to your pail of milk (probably on top of some paper towel to catch any splashes) and gradually start pouring your milk into the filter. I used a liquid measuring cup for this.

Keep going until all the milk from your pail has been filtered into a glass jar. You may need more than one jar. Tilly typically milks anywhere from 1.5 to 2 gallons a day.
Storing the milk
Once you have all of your milk filtered into glass jar(s), date the jars, put parchment paper between the mouth of the jar and the lid, and put them in the fridge.

With raw milk, it’s important to be stored in a glass container and chilled right away. Keeping it chilled slows the process of it souring, so the quicker you get it into the fridge, the longer it will last. Glass preserves the freshness of the milk better than other materials like plastic.

Raw milk comes out of the cow warm – just like breast milk for babies. Rapidly cooling the milk makes it less susceptible to bacteria. So, get it out of the cow and into the fridge as quickly as possible (the bacteria count in warm milk can double within 20 minutes). Ideally, you want to keep the milk chilled between 1-4°C. Once you get the clean filtered milk into the fridge, let it sit long enough to cool.

If you let the milk sit undisturbed for 12-24 hours, the cream will separate from the milk and rise to the top of the jar. This is great if you:

like to use cream

prefer your milk in any form other than full fat

If you like full fat milk, simply pick the jar up and give it a shake to mix the cream back in with the milk. Be sure to repeat this before you use the milk – otherwise you might be pouring a class or bowl of cream!

Uses for milk

There are many uses for milk or things you can make using milk. Here is a list of some of the things I learned to make from milk:

cream

cheese

cream cheese

yogurt

pudding

ice cream

whipped cream and butter milk

butter

sour cream

As I write about making these different food items, I will link those posts to this list, so you can quickly access recipes and instructions.

Selling raw milk in Canada

Please be aware that at the time of this post (2026), it is illegal to sell raw milk for human consumption in Canada.

Raw milk is unpasteurized and therefore susceptible to harmful bacteria. The Food and Drugs Act has deemed unpasteurized milk a serious health risk for foodborne illnesses such as Salmonella, Listeria, and E. Coli.

Pasteurization is a heat treatment process that heats the milk to temperatures high enough to kill harmful bacteria, holds it at that temperature to ensure any significant amounts of bacteria are neutralized, and then cools it rapidly to prevent any remaining bacteria to multiply.

The bacteria risk with raw milk is why clean handling and opportunities for contamination are emphasized during milking, filtering, and storing of milk.

In summary

Supplies for filtering and storing raw milk:

Glass container with lid (1-gallon jar recommended)

Filter (poor over coffee filter cone and paper filters recommended)

Paper towel (under jar to catch spills)

Liquid measuring cup (for scooping and pouring)

Permanent marker (for labelling the jar with the date)

Parchment paper (protect the milk from rusty lids)

What’s Next: extracting cream and what to do with it once you have

That’s all for now. Until next time, thanks for visiting, shanti, and happy reading!
Milking the Cow

January 8, 2026
Milking the cow is the most time consuming of the morning chores, it’s also the most peaceful and requires the most preparation.
In this post:
Preparing for milking
Preparing the cow
How to milk
Hazards
Preparing for milking
Before milking can happen, a number of things need to be prepped:
the milking supplies
the grain
the cows
Up at the house, I gather a bucket of soapy water and a cloth, a small jar of coconut oil (to fit in my jacket pocket), and the milking pail. Once I’ve got my supplies, I bring them down to the cow pen and put them inside the lean-to.
If Tilly was in the lean-to overnight, I move on to the grain. If not, I engage in the process of coaxing her into the lean-to for milking.
Next, I mix two buckets of grain: one for the milk cow, and one for everyone else. One bucket gets dumped along the back of the fence, to keep the other cows occupied during milking. The feed bowl comes with me into the lean-to.

I set the feed bowl down against the far wall, so Tilly has less space for moving around during milking, then I wait for her to go to the bowl and settle herself in. Once she’s munching on the grain, I set up my stool, with the water bucket and milking pail within reach.
Let the milking commence!

I set the feed bowl down against the far wall, so Tilly has less space for moving around during milking, then I wait for her to go to the bowl and settle herself in. Once she’s munching on the grain, I set up my stool, with the water bucket and milking pail within reach.
Let the milking commence!

Preparing the cow
It’s likely been between 12-24 hours since the last time the cow was milked, which is time the cow has been producing and holding milk. The udder will likely be heavy and swollen with milk and the teats might be leaking. This is normal and similar to lactation in humans.
The usual way a cow stands doesn’t provide easy milking access to its udder. It’s ideal for the back leg farthest from you to step forward. That way, the udder hangs in between the forward leg and the back leg, with neither one in the way for milking.
With the cow properly in position, you can clean her teats. The warm soapy water and cloth are for wiping dirt and grime off the teats. In the course of a day, especially wet mucky days, teats can get covered in gunk that then dries and hardens. It’s important to clean this off because anything on the teats can end up in the milk pail during milking.
Once she’s all clean, scoop some coconut oil onto your hands and rub it in, making sure to coat your first two fingers and your thumb – these are the fingers used during milking. Then rub the oil down each teat, coating it.
The coconut oil acts as both lubricant and moisturizer on the teats – facilitating the milking process and preventing the teats from getting chapped.
Now that both you and the cow are ready for milking, pull milk from each teat once and let it run onto the ground. This cleans out the teat canal of any bacteria and let’s you know there are no blockages (if there are blockages, the milk won’t come out of the teat or the stream will be interrupted). Blockages and bacteria can cause mastitis (udder infection), similar to a bladder infection in humans.
How to milk
Milking is a two-handed job; you’re milking two teats at a time. Your first two fingers and your thumb are the only parts of your hand that touch the cow for milking.
Put your first two fingers behind the teat (horizontally) and your thumb in front of the teat, near the top of the teat – right below the udder. Now, firmly press your fingers and thumb together to grip the teat, and pull in a downward motion letting your hand slide toward the end of the teat.

Preparing the cow

It’s likely been between 12-24 hours since the last time the cow was milked, which is time the cow has been producing and holding milk. The udder will likely be heavy and swollen with milk and the teats might be leaking. This is normal and similar to lactation in humans.
The usual way a cow stands doesn’t provide easy milking access to its udder. It’s ideal for the back leg farthest from you to step forward. That way, the udder hangs in between the forward leg and the back leg, with neither one in the way for milking.

With the cow properly in position, you can clean her teats. The warm soapy water and cloth are for wiping dirt and grime off the teats. In the course of a day, especially wet mucky days, teats can get covered in gunk that then dries and hardens. It’s important to clean this off because anything on the teats can end up in the milk pail during milking.

Once she’s all clean, scoop some coconut oil onto your hands and rub it in, making sure to coat your first two fingers and your thumb – these are the fingers used during milking. Then rub the oil down each teat, coating it.

The coconut oil acts as both lubricant and moisturizer on the teats – facilitating the milking process and preventing the teats from getting chapped.

Now that both you and the cow are ready for milking, pull milk from each teat once and let it run onto the ground. This cleans out the teat canal of any bacteria and let’s you know there are no blockages (if there are blockages, the milk won’t come out of the teat or the stream will be interrupted). Blockages and bacteria can cause mastitis (udder infection), similar to a bladder infection in humans.

How to milk

Milking is a two-handed job; you’re milking two teats at a time. Your first two fingers and your thumb are the only parts of your hand that touch the cow for milking.

Put your first two fingers behind the teat (horizontally) and your thumb in front of the teat, near the top of the teat – right below the udder. Now, firmly press your fingers and thumb together to grip the teat, and pull in a downward motion letting your hand slide toward the end of the teat.

Preparing the cow

It’s likely been between 12-24 hours since the last time the cow was milked, which is time the cow has been producing and holding milk. The udder will likely be heavy and swollen with milk and the teats might be leaking. This is normal and similar to lactation in humans.
The usual way a cow stands doesn’t provide easy milking access to its udder. It’s ideal for the back leg farthest from you to step forward. That way, the udder hangs in between the forward leg and the back leg, with neither one in the way for milking.

With the cow properly in position, you can clean her teats. The warm soapy water and cloth are for wiping dirt and grime off the teats. In the course of a day, especially wet mucky days, teats can get covered in gunk that then dries and hardens. It’s important to clean this off because anything on the teats can end up in the milk pail during milking.

Once she’s all clean, scoop some coconut oil onto your hands and rub it in, making sure to coat your first two fingers and your thumb – these are the fingers used during milking. Then rub the oil down each teat, coating it.

The coconut oil acts as both lubricant and moisturizer on the teats – facilitating the milking process and preventing the teats from getting chapped.

Now that both you and the cow are ready for milking, pull milk from each teat once and let it run onto the ground. This cleans out the teat canal of any bacteria and let’s you know there are no blockages (if there are blockages, the milk won’t come out of the teat or the stream will be interrupted). Blockages and bacteria can cause mastitis (udder infection), similar to a bladder infection in humans.

How to milk

Milking is a two-handed job; you’re milking two teats at a time. Your first two fingers and your thumb are the only parts of your hand that touch the cow for milking.

Put your first two fingers behind the teat (horizontally) and your thumb in front of the teat, near the top of the teat – right below the udder. Now, firmly press your fingers and thumb together to grip the teat, and pull in a downward motion letting your hand slide toward the end of the teat.

Milk will be released the whole time your hand is applying pressure and moving down the teat.

During milking, you will use both hands simultaneously, milking two teats at a time. As one hand is pulling down to milk, the other is moving back to the top of the next teat – and a natural rhythm develops.

Milk will be released the whole time your hand is applying pressure and moving down the teat.
During milking, you will use both hands simultaneously, milking two teats at a time. As one hand is pulling down to milk, the other is

moving back to the top of the next teat – and a natural rhythm develops.

Don’t forget to aim!

The milk doesn’t just naturally fall into the pail. You’re pulling on the teat and that changes the angle it hangs at. You have to intentionally place your milking pail in position that is most ergonomic for your movements, and then you’ll still have to aim the spurts of milk – you are milking a live animal after all – she’s almost certainly not going to stay statue still the entire time.

Milk the cow, alternating teats, until the milk stops flowing.

Move the milk pail out of the way to keep the milk from getting contaminated, and wash the teats again. Coconut oil makes the skin feel colder and can get pretty uncomfortable in breezy or cold weather. So, be kind to your cow and wash her teats after milking.

Hazards

Milking a cow is not a mindless task. There are many things to pay attention to and much that can go wrong while milking a cow:

Infection

The cow’s behaviour

Contaminated milk

Infection

As mentioned above, mastitis or udder infection is a serious risk to the cow. In preparation, this is prevented by making sure the teat canal is clear of bacteria and blockages but it is also prevented during the milking.

Similar to the urethra in a bladder infection, mastitis can occur if fluid is left in the teat canal. Therefore, it’s important to milk the cow every day and to milk her until the udder and teats are all empty. If there’s no fluid sitting stagnant for bacteria to grow, infection cannot develop.

The cow’s behaviour

In some ways, milking a cow is like changing a diaper: just because you’re there getting a job done, doesn’t mean all bodily functions are on pause.

The cow suddenly widening her stance is often the 2-second warning for defecation. Arching her back is the precursor for urination – although, Tilly is usually courteous and shuffles sideways away from you before she arches her back.

Cows are also temperamental animals.

If you’ve ever heard the British slang “stroppy cow” take a minute to think about where that comes from. This insult is describing a female as being bad-tempered, argumentative, and usually stupid, fat, and lazy.

A stubborn bad-tempered cow can kick you, pin you against the wall of the pen, or stab you with their horns (yes, female cows can grow horns). A witless cow can be startled by a breeze and knock you over or trample you. The risk of these outcomes depends on the temperament of your cow but you are under foot of a 1,000lb animal – be prepared to move fast in response to sudden changes.

Contaminated milk

The goal is to get a pail of clean milk from the cow. If any contaminates get into the pail while milking, the milk cannot be used. Splashes from the cow relieving herself, the cow moving her feet and debris from her hooves falling into the pail, or the cow kicking the pail over are the most common ways of spoiling the milk

In conclusion

If you’ve managed to avoid all the hazards and got through milking with an unspoiled pail of milk, it’s time to make the trip back to the house to filter and store the day’s raw milk.

Don’t forget to aim!
The milk doesn’t just naturally fall into the pail. You’re pulling on the teat and that changes the angle it hangs at. You have to intentionally place your milking pail in position that is most ergonomic for your movements, and then you’ll still have to aim the spurts of milk – you are milking a live animal after all – she’s almost certainly not going to stay statue still the entire time.
Milk the cow, alternating teats, until the milk stops flowing.
Move the milk pail out of the way to keep the milk from getting contaminated, and wash the teats again. Coconut oil makes the skin feel colder and can get pretty uncomfortable in breezy or cold weather. So, be kind to your cow and wash her teats after milking.
Hazards
Milking a cow is not a mindless task. There are many things to pay attention to and much that can go wrong while milking a cow:
Infection
The cow’s behaviour
Contaminated milk
Infection
As mentioned above, mastitis or udder infection is a serious risk to the cow. In preparation, this is prevented by making sure the teat canal is clear of bacteria and blockages but it is also prevented during the milking.
Similar to the urethra in a bladder infection, mastitis can occur if fluid is left in the teat canal. Therefore, it’s important to milk the cow every day and to milk her until the udder and teats are all empty. If there’s no fluid sitting stagnant for bacteria to grow, infection cannot develop.
The cow’s behaviour
In some ways, milking a cow is like changing a diaper: just because you’re there getting a job done, doesn’t mean all bodily functions are on pause.
The cow suddenly widening her stance is often the 2-second warning for defecation. Arching her back is the precursor for urination – although, Tilly is usually courteous and shuffles sideways away from you before she arches her back.
Cows are also temperamental animals.
If you’ve ever heard the British slang “stroppy cow” take a minute to think about where that comes from. This insult is describing a female as being bad-tempered, argumentative, and usually stupid, fat, and lazy.
A stubborn bad-tempered cow can kick you, pin you against the wall of the pen, or stab you with their horns (yes, female cows can grow horns). A witless cow can be startled by a breeze and knock you over or trample you. The risk of these outcomes depends on the temperament of your cow but you are under foot of a 1,000lb animal – be prepared to move fast in response to sudden changes.
Contaminated milk
The goal is to get a pail of clean milk from the cow. If any contaminates get into the pail while milking, the milk cannot be used. Splashes from the cow relieving herself, the cow moving her feet and debris from her hooves falling into the pail, or the cow kicking the pail over are the most common ways of spoiling the milk
In conclusion
If you’ve managed to avoid all the hazards and got through milking with an unspoiled pail of milk, it’s time to make the trip back to the house to filter and store the day’s raw milk.

Don’t forget to aim!
The milk doesn’t just naturally fall into the pail. You’re pulling on the teat and that changes the angle it hangs at. You have to intentionally place your milking pail in position that is most ergonomic for your movements, and then you’ll still have to aim the spurts of milk – you are milking a live animal after all – she’s almost certainly not going to stay statue still the entire time.
Milk the cow, alternating teats, until the milk stops flowing.
Move the milk pail out of the way to keep the milk from getting contaminated, and wash the teats again. Coconut oil makes the skin feel colder and can get pretty uncomfortable in breezy or cold weather. So, be kind to your cow and wash her teats after milking.
Hazards
Milking a cow is not a mindless task. There are many things to pay attention to and much that can go wrong while milking a cow:
Infection
The cow’s behaviour
Contaminated milk
Infection
As mentioned above, mastitis or udder infection is a serious risk to the cow. In preparation, this is prevented by making sure the teat canal is clear of bacteria and blockages but it is also prevented during the milking.
Similar to the urethra in a bladder infection, mastitis can occur if fluid is left in the teat canal. Therefore, it’s important to milk the cow every day and to milk her until the udder and teats are all empty. If there’s no fluid sitting stagnant for bacteria to grow, infection cannot develop.
The cow’s behaviour
In some ways, milking a cow is like changing a diaper: just because you’re there getting a job done, doesn’t mean all bodily functions are on pause.
The cow suddenly widening her stance is often the 2-second warning for defecation. Arching her back is the precursor for urination – although, Tilly is usually courteous and shuffles sideways away from you before she arches her back.
Cows are also temperamental animals.
If you’ve ever heard the British slang “stroppy cow” take a minute to think about where that comes from. This insult is describing a female as being bad-tempered, argumentative, and usually stupid, fat, and lazy.
A stubborn bad-tempered cow can kick you, pin you against the wall of the pen, or stab you with their horns (yes, female cows can grow horns). A witless cow can be startled by a breeze and knock you over or trample you. The risk of these outcomes depends on the temperament of your cow but you are under foot of a 1,000lb animal – be prepared to move fast in response to sudden changes.
Contaminated milk
The goal is to get a pail of clean milk from the cow. If any contaminates get into the pail while milking, the milk cannot be used. Splashes from the cow relieving herself, the cow moving her feet and debris from her hooves falling into the pail, or the cow kicking the pail over are the most common ways of spoiling the milk
In conclusion
If you’ve managed to avoid all the hazards and got through milking with an unspoiled pail of milk, it’s time to make the trip back to the house to filter and store the day’s raw milk.

What’s Next: filtering and using the raw milk

That’s all for now. Until next time, thanks for visiting, shanti, and happy reading!
A Day in the Life

December 24, 2025
Farm life is slower than city life. Things move at a different pace. There’s no rush to get out the door, beat traffic, hurry into work and field customers, phone calls, emails, and meetings at a relentless rate. There is however, and endless list of things that need to be done.
A typical day starts and ends with the animals – but what happens in between is often left to the whims of mother nature.
In this post:
the animals
the milk
the seasons
The animals
There are many animals on the farm and the day typically starts with feeding and watering them all.
I let the dogs out when I go into the house to fill up fresh water bottles for the rabbits, then they wander around the farm with me (or without me) while I go about checking on all the other animals.

I swap out the rabbit water with fresh bottles and give them each a scoop of food. Then I visit the chickens and toss two handfuls of feed into each enclosure. I check their water and if it’s dirty I toss it and let the self-filling watering can refill itself. If it’s empty I take it back up to the house to refill and if it’s frozen, I take it back up to the house to thaw by the stove.
Next is the cows. I am not proficient at wielding hay with a pitchfork. Each cow needs 30-35lbs of hay per day. The cows get fed twice a day, so that’s 15-17lbs per cow in the morning and evening. With three cows, I’m moving 45-50lbs of hay for breakfast – and then again for dinner.
This usually involves some swearing, a good deal of frustration, and being covered from head to toe in hay by the time I’m done.
It’s important not to drop the hay in any cow droppings and it’s important to not have concentrated areas where all the dung is. So, the hay gets dispersed into three piles that move around the pen.
This tactic both prevents the build up of cow dung in one area and ensures all cows get a fair opportunity to eat. Both the older cows will pick on the calf a little bit and prevent him from getting at the hay pile if they’re already there eating. With three hay piles for three cows, everyone can eat in peace.
Once all the animals have been fed, I prepare grain for the cows. The grain gives them extra nutrients and goodies that they don’t get from hay – and also acts as a diversion during milking.
The milk
After feeding and watering the animals, I return to the house with the old rabbit water bottles (and chicken waters, if necessary) and prepare materials for milking.
I fill a bucket with soap and water, add a cloth, and snap the lid on. I grab a small container of coconut oil and I grab the milking pail.
If the calf is still nursing, the milking cow (Tilly) goes into the lean-to overnight, to prevent the calf from nursing and letting her produce and fill up with milk. If the calf is not nursing, Tilly gets bribed away from the hay and into the lean-to in the morning – just in time for milking.
Then all the cows get grain. The grain is a mix of oats, sweet feed, beet pulp pellets and alfalfa. Feeding grain happens in two parts: the milking cow, and everyone else. Along with supplementing their diet, grain is a diversion. For Tilly, it’s a distraction from being milked. For everyone else, it’s a distraction so they’re not bothering Tilly and making her antsy while I’m in the pen with her.

A bucket of grain gets dispersed along the back of the pen, and while the other cows are busy with that, I bring a separate bowl of grain to the lean-to for Tilly. I set up for milking, I give Tilly the grain, and then I milk her – hopefully with no muss and fuss.
If she was well behaved, I let her out of the lean-to when I’m leaving with the milk – easy peasy. If she was difficult, full of attitude, or not doing her part in the milking ritual, she gets a 30-minute time out in the lean-to before going back into the pen with the others.
She does know what she is and isn’t supposed to do during milking, so the time-out does wield behavioural results. She knows she’s supposed to be let out after milking and she doesn’t like the break in routine and being kept from the others.
Once I’m out of the pen, I gather up all the milking supplies (and the milk) and return to the house to filter the milk.
The seasons
Aside from feeding and watering the animals, the rest of the tasks and chores in a day depend on the seasons.
In the warm season, things grow; in the cold season there are heaps of snow and ice. As the seasons change, the chores and tasks change.
During the warm or dry season, plants get watered every day; there’s maintenance in the green house; things are planted, fertilized, and harvested; and projects are worked on.
In the cold season, tasks become about keeping warm and free of snow. Trees get felled and bucked, wood gets chopped and stacked, and solar panels and electric fencing get cleared of snow and ice. Things freeze and you have to fix it or heat/thaw it. Temperatures get down to -40°C with a windchill.

What’s Next: milking the cow and filtering the milk

That’s all for now. Until next time, thanks for visiting, shanti, and happy reading!
Off-Grid in the Chilcotin Region

December 10, 2025
I’m currently living off-grid in the central interior of British Columbia’s Chilcotin region, on the west coast of Canada. The nearest urban center is 3.5 hours away by car (Williams Lake). The situation is a small farm in a valley, on the edge of a lake.

In this post:

How I got here

The off-grid setup

How I got here

Off-grid living has been of interest to me for a number of years – but off-grid communities only came into my purview about eight months ago – after a frustrated rant about leaving society to live in a cabin in the woods resulted in the knowledge that groups of people already did that – living sustainably off the land, and that if I did my research, surely I could find them, or at the very least learn more about them.

So, I did my research.

I joined a Facebook group called Living Off-Grid in CANADA. I read posts about how people were living off-grid, what problems they were facing, the successes they shared, and the kinds of help and advice they ask for from others in the group.

Eventually, I saw a post looking for someone to join them on their off-grid set up and help out. So, I responded.

We set up a introduction phone call and started chatting back and forth . We spent weeks sussing each other out.

I decided I wanted in.

They decided they wanted in.

So we coordinated logistics and I got on a plane.

Where I’m staying: the off-grid setup

The farm is made up of the house, the barn, the cabin, the coup, the orchard, and 25 acres of land – a mix of woods, marsh, pastures.

My cabin is one room with a wood stove and no running water. Electricity is powered by propane and there is an out house for bodily needs. Water can be procured from the lake and filtered or filled from the tap at the house, which is provided and filtered from a well.

The house is a log home that has gradually been outfitted with all modern amenities, powered by solar panels and batteries. Propane is used for kitchen appliances, the water heater, and the backup lights. A generator is available as a backup power source, as needed. A water tank is used to hold 100L of water at a time, and when it runs low it must be filled back up by the pump connected to the generator.

The farm

The barn and the lean-to for milking are part of a fenced in pen for the cows. The upper level is where the rabbit cages are and down below is where the cows sleep or huddle together against the wind and cold. The pen is encircled by an electric fence and covers an area about half an acre.
Next to the cow pen is the chicken coup. There are four Icelandic chickens, two males and two females. One pair is old enough for breeding and (sometimes) produces eggs. Icelandic chickens can be left alone to roam free-range if the flock has enough numbers. Icelandic chickens are more vicious than the farm chickens we’re used to seeing in Canada. They’ll attack and defend themselves; they can also fly. Once your flock is at least 12 strong, they can safely roam on their own and protect themselves.

Next to the cow pen is the chicken coup. There are four Icelandic chickens, two males and two females. One pair is old enough for breeding and (sometimes) produces eggs. Icelandic chickens can be left alone to roam free-range if the flock has enough numbers. Icelandic chickens are more vicious than the farm chickens we’re used to seeing in Canada. They’ll attack and defend themselves; they can also fly. Once your flock is at least 12 strong, they can safely roam on their own and protect themselves.

The orchard and marsh are opposite the barn. This is only the second summer for most of the trees in the orchard, but they all bear fruit. The orchard includes apple, plum, and cherry trees. The marsh is untouched and runs down to the edge of the lake.

The orchard and marsh are opposite the barn. This is only the second summer for most of the trees in the orchard, but they all bear fruit. The orchard includes apple, plum, and cherry trees. The marsh is untouched and runs down to the edge of the lake.

Marsh

Orchard

Various vegetables and edible plant life are grown around the farm. The greenhouse keeps tomatoes, tomatillo, mint, basil, zucchini, yellow beans, and a couple other varieties of squash.

Peppermint has been planted and grows all over and the little row boat houses different varieties of pumpkin. A row of stacked tires was also the testing grounds for a new attempt at growing potatoes this year.

Mini-Marsol (row boat)

Greenhouse

The rest of the land is primarily wooded. Trees are cut down and bucked every year and those logs are cut and chopped for fire wood.

What’s Next: a typical day on the farm

That’s all for now. Until next time, thanks for visiting, shanti, and happy reading!