White Rock Farm

White Rock Farm Ordinary food with extraordinary care.

One more thing we are excited about is that we snuck a frost seeding in between snow melts and rain events. Frost seedin...
03/25/2026

One more thing we are excited about is that we snuck a frost seeding in between snow melts and rain events. Frost seeding is done when the pasture soil is frozen but snow-free in late winter or early spring. Broadcasting a biodiverse mix of seed over the whole pasture at this time gives the seed a chance to make seed to soil contact. Because the soil is frozen, it has expanded and made cracks-- a perfect spot for the seed to fall into (ideally). When the soil thaws, the crack closes, leaving the seeds in the perfect spot to germinate and grow. This method allows us to add beneficial and diverse pasture plants without the need to use machines to drill or plow the soil. It leaves the perennial pasture stand in place, still able to feed animals for the season. Although frost seeding isn't a perfect method, with possible low success rates, it is a low-input method that can rejuvenate and improve pasture lands with little to lose if it fails. 

We are excited about the seed we sowed and to play "I spy" through the coming years, spotting new species our livestock will benefit from as well as the wild birds, animals and insect life that abound in our pasture. The seed mix included Birdsfoot Trefoil, White and Red Clover, Orchard Grass, Tall Fescue, Timothy. Also, Chicory (one of Silas' favorite blue flowers!) which is high in natural occurring tannins that can help prevent internal sheep parasites. Then, Big Blue Stem, a warm season species that grows in the heat and dryness of summer, is drought tolerant and very palatable at those times, something our natural occurring cool season plants are not, so good insurance for future drought.

Bring on rotational grazing season!

Another reason we moved the sheep off pasture is that it's one month before lambing time now. This is the ideal time to ...
03/24/2026

Another reason we moved the sheep off pasture is that it's one month before lambing time now. This is the ideal time to get them shorn. Having short fleece for birthing keeps things cleaner and more sterile, and keeps the ewes udder easily accessible for little tiny lambs to find, but we want to shear early enough that the pregnant ewe isn't physically affected by the shearing process. They all got shorn this past weekend, which went smoothly. Having no more warm wool coat definitely has made barn life welcome and cozy to them. We were lucky to have an excellent WWOOFer to help with this transition, working with us to set up the barn and yard, and rolling heavy hay bales into location. Now we are ready to receive lambs in a warm, dry and safe area leaving the pasture free of sheep, as it starts its regrowth, gaining energy to grow vigorously and nutritiously to feed the sheep and chickens for another season!

Winter was real this year, taking quite some time and energy to get into the routine of winter chores in a new location,...
03/23/2026

Winter was real this year, taking quite some time and energy to get into the routine of winter chores in a new location, as we worked through knee deep snow and deep cold temperatures. The animals all fared very well and are happy and healthy, though we all had a deep sigh of relief when the snow melted last week and hints of spring started to pop up.

The sheep were to pasture all winter "bale grazing" and have now moved off pasture and into the new-to-us barn and yard. It's exciting to have animals in there, as there haven't been any animals in it for many years now. They still have access to a large outdoor area where their hay is, but they are now off pasture, where it's getting more soggy and wet by the day. It's important to keep the animals up and out of wet areas, especially in the long term as a whole host of problems can arise from wet living areas-- foot rot, dirty rotten fleece, and cold, sad, stressed sheep. If animals are left on a wet pasture long term, the pasture and soil suffer, something called "poking." This happens when the animals' feet start breaking through the wet sod, disturbing the soil structure and setting pasture plants back. The impacts can be felt long into the next growing season. Although it's far more of a problem for cow herds, as they are much heavier, we want to avoid it with sheep too during this season. In the cold of winter when the ground is frozen with a layer of bedding on top, it's not a problem for the sheep to be on the pasture. In fact, it is beneficial to soil and plants, as manure and waste hay fertilize and protect the pasture with the plants unaffected below.

01/05/2026

We're marching into Halifax on Thursday (Jan 8th) to deliver chickens and lamb. Get in touch if you'd like some: [email protected]

📹 by Liza Magee

Our last batch of meat chicks for the year are 2 weeks old, still in the cozy brooder with fresh grass bouquets daily. A...
09/30/2025

Our last batch of meat chicks for the year are 2 weeks old, still in the cozy brooder with fresh grass bouquets daily. At this age they get their square footage doubled as they are getting bigger and in need of more feeder and waterer space. Also, we are thinking about starting the "hardening off period", which slowly gets them used to outdoor temperature fluctuation and prepares for the move to pasture at 3 weeks old. The space they move into is a covered outdoor space with no heat lamp. It is an exciting moment for them, but important for the farmer to keep an eye and ear out for lonely, sad or cold chickies. Picking a warm sunny day for this expansion is key.

09/26/2025

These "Azure" chicks are growing up. They will be the new blue egg layer's of the layer flock. We raise them separately from the main flock untill they start sounding like the adult chickens, so they aren't as centered out from the adult chickens during the transition. They still have some little chick peeps happening, but are close. Once they are sounding like an adult, their egg laying moment is only a couple weeks off, so approximately 4 months old. Great news for the farmer, and our Egg Club Members. 💙

The hot and dry whirlwind is coming to an end (at least the hot). Phew. As always, lots of lessons were learned from mot...
09/22/2025

The hot and dry whirlwind is coming to an end (at least the hot). Phew. As always, lots of lessons were learned from mother nature. We weren't hit with the drought as badly as market gardens, crop fields or orchards, but it still was tricky to navigate. One win we had was our pasture grazing methods. While many sheep and cow producers are totally out of grass, and have resorted to feeding hay way earlier than normal, we are still out grazing new growth on pasture, with enough graze days left to get us though to at least December! There could be multiple reasons for this, one of the reasons being that we've kept the length of plants equal to the depth of roots. Our pastures have been fallow for many years, allowing roots to go deep into the clay soil and we have not fully cut (just spot cut the lesser quality plants), so we haven't lost the root depth as happens when plants are cut short. This has left a lot of plants standing, shading the ground. As they've been grazed, those plants are trampled, adding more protection to the soil. In contrast, pastures that are grazed or cut short year after year have a far shallower root base, with more chance for moisture evaporation. It was so magical to see thick lush regrowth bound up into desert-like conditions. The sheep couldn't agree more.

Pre orders of lamb boxes are open now. We sell by the half lamb. Each box has 1 leg roast, 1 shoulder roast, chops, ground and a choice of liver if you want. A typical box's weight would be 13-16 lbs (@$20/lb = $260 to $320). A deposit to hold a box is $50. Order by sending an email and e-transfer to [email protected]. We expect the lamb to be ready around the end of October. In the meantime we do have a few leg roasts left from last year, perfect for a thanksgiving feast @$17/lb.

This year we have decided not to grow turkeys. Last year the sly fox figured out how to breach our electric netting, for...
09/19/2025

This year we have decided not to grow turkeys. Last year the sly fox figured out how to breach our electric netting, forcing Silas and his trusty "guard poodle" LuLu to sleep in a tent in the turkey field all summer and fall as the infrastructure needed to keep Ms. Fox out was out of our reach. For the amount of work and infrastructure needed to keep them happy and safe, turkeys just proved to be too much to take on this year. This said, we love raising the turkeys so much and they respond to our rotational grazing techniques so well with spectacular results. We hope to do so again some year. 

In the meantime we have some quite large chickens available for your Thanksgiving feast. They are all close to 7 lbs. They were organically-fed and rotationally-grazed and lived in hot hot heat, guzzling vast amounts of fresh water They caught the tail end of lush green grass. They are $7.75/lb. We have smaller size chickens available as well. Order by emailing [email protected]. HFX delivery will be available multiple times before Thanksgiving and on-farm pick up is available anytime. Our next fresh chicken day will be October 16.

We have become an official WWOOF host farm (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). We hosted three amazing young women this ...
09/16/2025

We have become an official WWOOF host farm (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). We hosted three amazing young women this summer. They were an awesome help to have around the farm and home, and it was so beneficial for both them and us to share our knowledge and techniques with them. Bringing in their fresh eyes and minds to our chore routines gave us new ideas to improve and streamline our chores. It was so satisfying to have company out on the pasture, and to be able to observe and share together the beauty that abounds out there. All around an amazing experience for us both. We look forward to hosting more WWOOFers in the future.

It's been hot, and dry. We are used to running these meat chickens on lush green grass, alas, this batch has been on bro...
09/08/2025

It's been hot, and dry. We are used to running these meat chickens on lush green grass, alas, this batch has been on browns. That said, it's amazing to see them still munching on the brown grass and seeds happily, and they go totally crazy for the hundreds of crickets they move to daily.
We have all sizes of chickens in stock now. Order yours today!
Wish for more frequent updates and first dibs on offerings from White Rock Farm? Join the "Country Club" by emailing [email protected]

The newest equipment addition to our small farm, the "Cackellac!"Cackellac - kak'-uh-lak: (from cakle: a happy sound pro...
08/31/2025

The newest equipment addition to our small farm, the "Cackellac!"
Cackellac - kak'-uh-lak: (from cakle: a happy sound produced by chickens; and Cadillac: a large luxury car; or an outstanding example of its kind, luxury, quality or size.)
Easy to move by one human, excellent protection from weather and predators, ergonomically designed for 80+ chickens. The farmer feels spoiled, the chickens are stoked. Purchased from and hand made in Ontario, an investment that will keep on rollin' for years. Cakle on chickens.

Address

1445 White Rock Road
Wolfville, NS
B4P2R1

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 12am - 3pm

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