Four Element Acres

10/17/2026

It was a crazy year for weather LOL I pulled 80 lbs of green tomatoes off black plants after frost #3 😆 I didn't look into the science because oh boy I'm tired but I thought to myself if tomatoes need heat and sun to ripen maybe just maybe grow lights will move them along. Happy to report I have many, many maters reddening up quite quickly!

10/12/2026

We are so thankful as a family to have been able to make a move and start our farm. We are blessed to have an amazing community rallying behind us and we are thankful every day for our families, friends, neighbours and amazing customers. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Xo The Barker Family

10/05/2026

The pigs redecorated some of their houses. Took out a few walls and really opened up their floor plan. Love what they did with the place 🙄 really brought in a lot of natural light.

10/04/2026

🐗 New Boar Alert 🐗
It was time to bring in some new blood and our big boy was getting, well a little too big! So my sweet Steele is retired and Rocksteady is the new man in town!

10/01/2026

Our communities need people willing to show up — and there are so many different ways to do that. ❤️

Sometimes it means volunteering at an event. Sometimes it means joining a board, bringing your ideas, and helping shape something that matters to your community.

Here’s one opportunity right here in Smoky Lake. 📚❤️

📚 Want to Join the Library Board?

We’re looking for community members interested in joining the Library Board!

For more information, contact:
Lise @ 780-656-4212 email: [email protected].

09/26/2026

Well all the chickens decided it was a good idea to follow me in to the pig pasture this morning. Best of luck ladies 😆

09/26/2026

Waiting on my canning pot to boil....
I thought this might be worth sharing 🤷🏼‍♀️ this was a huge garden fail with a twist. Kind of like a martini LOL tastes good but teaches you a lesson 🍸
Due to resetting my garden this year plus our CRAZY weather, I planted really late (and neglected pruning but that's another story for another day).... I had big, beautiful tomato plants BUT we had a really early frost and it was a HARD frost... AKA woke up to animal water bowls with an icy crust beginning of September 😭
I picked what I could before it hit but so much just wasn't ready yet!! I didn't wrap anything because my garden is SO big I'm just not setup to save it (lesson learned). I woke up to DEAD plants. Wilted. Black. But the weather was looking up, warm and sunny. I didn't pull anything out and I checked back after a few days. Some plants started to pull up their big boy pants and others did not. My bushiest unpruned monsters recovered the best. My squash are awful. Everything is still growing. EVERYTHING. Except my spaghetti squash which literally froze and went see through so weird. I have successfully picked 8 crates of tomatoes after the frost (still checking daily), bags of peppers... acorn squash.... enough healthy happy veggies to can salsa and sauce 🤯🤯
There's a moral here somewhere but my canning pot is ready 🤷🏼‍♀️

09/26/2026

Quarter Cuts has been our go to butcher since we started our farm. They recently opened a new bigger and better shop and have become very active (and hilarious) on social media which makes us love them even more! They do an amazing job, their end products are so clean and professional and we love them! If you are looking for a FRESH not frozen turkey this holiday season they have got you covered 🦃🦃

Pre order your FRESH turkeys now!!! 780-632-9267 or shoot us a message on here!

09/25/2026

What a wet and wild summer ☔️ - we had a lot of big expansion plans for the farm this year. Some were bumped to next year. Some were started and likely wont be completed until next year and some are in progress and NEED to be knocked out before winter so wish us luck!!
Grass cutting and w**d whacking was a full time gig, even with a herd of goats 🐐 🐐 but they have big full bellies and loved exploring new areas.
We managed to demolish and rebuild our no till garden after many learning curves - I will share more on this AFTER harvest craziness 🫛🌶🫑🍅🥒 - garlic will go in next week and I am excited to start planting some perennials next season!
Rabbits have moved to a new rabbitry where they will have better heat/water/lighting over the winter months and they have monitored access to a fully enclosed run for outdoor playtime.
I gave our outhouse a makeover because I like pretty things 🤩
The shop got a new and long overdue roof - the last winter/summer season really did a number on it 😂 - the chicken coop roof/reno is in progress 👌🏻
I stripped the back deck and re-painted it and then carried on to paint the back door, house and window trim and then up went electric netting so NO MORE goats allowed 🤣🤣🤣
We are currently in progress on building a new cow pen with a better stall setup for feeding, halter breaking and loading - 4H necessities!!!! This includes a mini barn with indoor feed storage, a tack room and an indoor stall for segregating/isolating/quarantining.
And most exciting of all we have started Phase 1 of our little on property farm store - I got to spend this last weekend with my best friend repairing and sealing the roof and getting up to shenanigans 🌟

I should probably post more often --- enjoy the photo dump 📷 🤳

07/02/2026

Fresh Babies just dropped! Apparently our goats try really hard to ensure we remember their birthdays lol - Boxing Day, New Year's Day, my Birthday and now Canada Day!!! 🇨🇦 Happy Canada Day from Mama Bea and Four Element Acres 🐐 ❤️