Topsy Farms

Topsy Farms Founded in 1972, as an organic co-operative, Topsy Farms remains committed to eco-ethical, sustainable agriculture.
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We sell a variety of 100% Canadian, soft-wool blankets and yarn. Both luxurious and affordable, these goodies will last generations! Wool blankets, yarn, wool, alpaca, hats, knitting

Shoreline Heron"FRawNK goo goo" - G.B. HeronThere is a marsh just west of the farm house.Overgrown, jungle-space.An area...
08/25/2026

Shoreline Heron

"FRawNK goo goo" - G.B. Heron

There is a marsh just west of the farm house.

Overgrown, jungle-space.

An area mostly left alone.

The spring peeper frogs sing us to life in May.

We are fond of this wetland and all that dwell within it.

Our favourite marsh-neighbour is the Great Blue Heron.

A big ol' prehistoric-looking bird who wades in shallow waters.

Standing still.

Motionless.

Waiting patiently for it’s meal to swim by.

Heron stands majestic and sentinel.

Ever watchful of foxes and other predators.

A guardian of shoreline and marsh.

Heron's alarm sound is not attractive to a farmer's ears:

"Frawnk"

In celtic mythology, Heron is seen as the reincarnation of the goddess Rhiannon.

Heron serves as a link to something otherworldly.

Heron knows a secret.

Unknowable mystery.

Heron represents the Lady of the Lake from the King Arthur stories.

The keeper of the sword Excalibur.

The keeper of hope.

The protector.

A shepherd.

The Topsy farmers identify with Heron.

Heron believes in quality time and proper foreplay.

Heron engages in elaborate courtship rituals and dirty-talk "gooo goo".

Herons make good partners.

Males and females share nurturing responsibilities for eggs and young.

Herons value community and nest in colonies when the population is sufficient.

A farmer appreciates Heron as a kindred spirit.

Farmers are content as individuals or as part of a group.

Heron has many lessons to teach.

Heron uses its claw to pluck specialized powdered feathers and scrubs clean (as with a washcloth).

Absorbing marsh guck and fish oils.

This preening acts as preventative maintenance against unpleasant swamp muck getting trapped in its feathers.

It is good to be as Heron.

Topsy also values preventative maintenance and self-care (even if we are not always the best at it).

Vehicles, tools, buildings, and fences.

Attention paid to these things leads to fewer breakdowns and malfunctions at inconvenient times.

Heron reminds us to also tend to home, family, community, and self.

It is easy to take relationships for granted.

Thank you Heron for your example.
📷 Don Woodiwiss
www.WoodiwissPhotography.com
Woody-Don Woodiwiss

08/24/2026

Farming Biodiversity

We're finally getting around to editing and posting some of the saved videos from Lambing 2026.

On this morning, our friend Lisa comes along with Jake to do morning check. They pick up this lamb (a second video coming) and on the way home, the pair pause for a few minutes to talk about biodiversity.

In partnership with Ducks Unlimited in Ontario and Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association , Topsy has been able to create a network of ponds and wetlands to encourage habitat growth for multiple species.

🐸🦎🦗🐌🐞🪲🪳🦦🐝🌼🦋

Lisa Blinston
Jake Murray

Peterborough Calling We're basically down to days before our Michael is off to study business at Trent. For those who ha...
08/24/2026

Peterborough Calling

We're basically down to days before our Michael is off to study business at Trent.

For those who have been following this page for multiple years, you have watched this steady young man grow up.

He hasn't always been so confidently outgoing.

As an infant and toddler, Mike was painfully shy of anyone unfamiliar, hugging tightly to a pant-leg or shirt collar (pic with Poppa Ian).

Perhaps Michael helped you in the Wool Shed.

Perhaps he gave you a tour during Open Barn Shearing day.

Perhaps you've never met him before.

Michael's heart is as big as his hair.

He loves chess and poker, swimming with friends, and stirring a campfire with a good poking stick.

Michael and his brother Nathan are supportive of the idea to keep the farmland as a farm - each help in the ways that they can.

None of the current Topsy Farmers really know what we're doing when it comes to "business" - like, none of us went to school for accounting, marketing, sales etc.

And it should be said that we do not expect Michael to set aside any dreams or ambitions that he might have in his head now or later.

The farm ought to be viewed by the members as a living legacy rather than a weighty millstone.

For financing, Michael has been planning this move for years (of course he has).

There is OSAP, a few scholarships (he maintained an excellent average throughout high school), he has some RESP with Chris Winter Financial and separately at RBC.

After year one, the co-op placement program kicks in which means that he'll be gaining credits while earning a wage (at least that is the plan).

We wish Michael an excellent university experience.

He will be in residence for at least the first year.

He knows who his roommates will be.

Time to fly the nest.

Great things can come from humble beginnings.

The farm teaches that making your mark on the world does not necessarily mean building a skyscraper, it can be as simple as a fencing staple in a cedar post.

We are grateful to the farm friends near Peterborough who have reached out with offers of home cooked meals and other supports (these are 3 who are top of mind).

Kellie Suzanne
Wanderlight Alpaca Experience
Saskia Wagemans

Thank you to everyone who is wishing Michael well, know that he will be blushing while reading your kind messages 💛

Name & NumberCedar checks to see if a farmer is bringing treats.Juniper, her steady lifemate muches some fresh hay, just...
08/23/2026

Name & Number

Cedar checks to see if a farmer is bringing treats.

Juniper, her steady lifemate muches some fresh hay, just out of the frame.

The lambs graze just to the west in the field boringly named 4-1.

A note on (some) field name/numbers.

On Amherst Island, the municipal lot parcels are numbered starting at the Headlands with Lot 1 where the Bluffs are.

When we get to the main farm house, barn, Wool Shed etc, it is Lot 4.

The fields going south from there are 4-1, 4-2 etc.

We have lots of names for fields that are not just a simple number scheme.

The "Wintering Grounds" for example is a field on Lot 2 that just sold to new neighbours Lisa and Randy (thank you R&L for permitting Topsy to use the land).

We have The Battery Pasture where the cannons were during the War of 1812.

In an Arthurian twist of history, the militia were instructed to bury the cannons in situ in case of future USA aggression.

There have been a couple of expeditions with metal detectors to search, but until recently the landscape was overwhelmed by prickly ash.

There's the South Lighthouse and North Lighthouse pastures.

And then there are a few where the current naming system makes NO SENSE whatsoever.

One of the things in our dream world is to have a sign on each fence post especially to help volunteers navigate.

As in, "please go to Patrick's Field and cut burdock."

This is going to be even more tricky as we subdivide the largest pastures.

Frankly, we don't have a good solution for that.

We'll open that gate when we come to it.

You good folks online did assist in the naming of Patrick's Field - Patrick O'Connell, while never an official owner, was a fundamental character in the establishment of the commune in the early days.

We are currently building a Rotational Grazing system on Lot 3 - land we rent from our friends/ neighbours the McMullens.

In field 3-1 (yes, you guessed it, this is one field west from the main farm) we will make 5 new paddocks.

There are 5 McMullen grandchildren... I think we've just come up with our own answer to the naming question.

Do you name things like your car or your house?

We would love to hear some of yours ♥️

Bale Count 912 (so far)We're getting close to the end of haying..Close, like being invited to the wedding reception but ...
08/21/2026

Bale Count 912 (so far)

We're getting close to the end of haying..

Close, like being invited to the wedding reception but not the ceremony.

Maybe another 2 days of cutting.

The biggest fields are completed.

For those of you who played on our little gussing game/ contest... Your entries have been recorded.

We are thrilled that we have achieved our goal of 850 we're thinking of 1000 as the stretch-goal.

Sorry to the folks who guessed "under" 850 - that was a good bet last year with the drought.

This year is the opposite problem - lush fieldseand the constant dodging of rainstorms.

Thank you to the Hay Heroes who contributed to this year's season.

The sponsored hay bales are being loaded and stored at the home farm as we speak.

It will be some fun winter footage/ stories to check in with a sponsor as we unroll a bale and be like "thank you Judith for feeding the flock today."

The hay will see the farm and the flock through winter.

Speaking of the flock, it has been a busy 2 weeks:

Health check and vaccination, weaning, the yearling sheep have been shorn and now for the hoof care while the ewes 'dry out'.

Because the ewes are in the barnyard, it is an excellent opportunity to feed the lesser quality hay to encourage the milk tap to turn off (resource conservation).

We do our best to work with the sheep's natural, physiological responses rather than to force or to trick.

We know one thing about sheep that is certain: any change that is introduced is best done slowly.

The farmers have been going so hard - our bodies cry out for rest:

Forearms and neck muscles spasm, feet and ankles.

That "tractor-back" feeling is akin to buying a can of paint at the hardware store.. "would you like us to mix that for you"?

We are looking forward to cool September evenings and the scent of fresh-fallen autumn leaves.

What is a thing that you are looking forward to as August closes out?

Thank you for being part of this adventure.

Thank you for helping us to keep the farm land as a farm.

PS. Thank you Kubota and Anderson's - we're almost done with the big tractor, we couldn't have done this without you.
Anderson Equipment Sales
Kubota Canada

If you happen to be on Amherst Island today, Atka invites you to stop by the farm to see Kayleigh of Hoof Tracks Livesto...
08/20/2026

If you happen to be on Amherst Island today, Atka invites you to stop by the farm to see Kayleigh of Hoof Tracks Livestock Services shear the yearling sheep.

Just a brief check-in this morning, it's a very hectic day.

Thank you for being part of this adventure.

Thank you for helping us to keep the farmland as a farm 💛

Weaning Day '26It's time to separate bigs from littles.The mamas have been sucked dry.The lambs will go to a pasture kep...
08/19/2026

Weaning Day '26

It's time to separate bigs from littles.

The mamas have been sucked dry.

The lambs will go to a pasture kept specially for their use inside the boundary fence.

The ewes need to "dry out" before moving east to the rich grasslands.

Drying out means giving their body system a chance to slowly stop producing milk.

They are fed hay (less calories than the grass).

The body registers the dietary change and turns off the tap.

It's nature's way of self protection.

Otherwise, the ewes will continue to produce milk and risk mastitis.

Mastitis is the inflammation of the tissue in the udder.

This can also happen in human mothers.

It is not pleasant.

There is much for the shepherds to manage.

Though, the simple act of dividing lamb from ewe is easy.

Left gate, right gate.

If 'twer only that simple.

We rarely have the sheep in the barn; so when we do, it's an ideal time to do medical checks.

Udders will be examined.

Eye lids checked for anemia (red good, white bad).

Hoof care will be performed on any limpers.

The barn workers will also watch for predator wounds.

The whole routine is then preformed on the lambs.

Then tonight it will be loud.

BAAAAAAAAA

Woe to any AirBnB renters in the nearby cottages.

The ewes will relent first.

Accepting that the lamb is gone as she turns her focus to consuming calories and meeting up with her besties.

Did you know that sheep have squads?

This day marks the end of a run that began in February.

The Topsy farmers haven't stopped.

We are at our max carrying capacity for both stress and labour output.

Does it feel like you are at your max?

We can all go longer, further, and farther; humans are good at survival.

We can't sustain that without causing lasting damage.

Just as the ewes need time to shift their bodies.

And the haying tractors need an oil change before being redeployed.

People need to rest.

These last few years of global intensity and uncertainty have felt enormous.

Humans have extraordinarily deep wells of strength.

You have a deep well of strength.

We know it is depleted.

It could be worse.

You could be renting the cottage beside the lamb pasture tonight.

08/19/2026

It's been a long day 🤷‍♂️🤣 Thank you Mike Murray for the excellent film work. At least one of us is competent. Shearing Event this week Wednesday and Thursday - free.
Jake Murray

Great Gates & Inherited SystemsSheep are engines of instant gratification. Sheep Psychology 101: it doesn't matter if th...
08/18/2026

Great Gates & Inherited Systems

Sheep are engines of instant gratification.

Sheep Psychology 101: it doesn't matter if the flock has been in a perfect pasture for twenty minutes; they want to be in the next field.

If a sheep thinks it can get through a fence or gate it already is.

They care nothing for rotational grazing, parasite loads, or burdock control.

The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side.

The trick to good flock management is simple: strong fences and sturdy gates.

When major shifts hit Topsy Farms around 2018 - retirements, moves, and difficult health diagnoses, the family rallied to keep the farmland as a farm.

Through years of change, loss, and growth, each family member found their sphere of responsibility: Shepherd Kyle on animal health, Leah handling retail and books, Sally keeping a steady hand on operations, and Jacob building things in quiet solitude.

Nathan repairing, Michael operating, Randi making food: so many volunteers, so many friends pitching in to help.

The original founders did their best to make do with less, and thanks to their resilience, the farm survived.

Elements of the inherited systems are falling apart.

30-year-old page-wire gates have become the weak spots in an otherwise (mostly) upgraded Gallagher electric fence system.

Eager, Spartacus-like sheep torpedo underneath or bellyflop over these gates - the rest of the flock mobs through/ over.

Jacob’s latest quiet project?

New steel gates attached to secure, well-braced juniper posts.

"I probably should have used a level."

Whether managing a farm, or navigating life, a person is constantly making trade-off decisions.

Making do.

Getting by.

Coasting on the previous work of others (or personal accomplishments from the long-ago).

This only works for so long

Eventually, the weak spots show up.

It is for each one of us to know the moment when an upgrade is necessary.

Thank you for being part of this adventure.

Thank you for helping us to keep the farmland as a farm.

08/17/2026

ASMR Graze 🔊 The flock has just been moved to a new paddock. Sheep don't have upper teeth, they have a grinding pallet. That's what you're hearing in this video - that and the heavier than average breathing because they just trotted 100m down the road. Please don't neg us in the comments: the sheep have free access to water and shade - they are choosing to smash this grass before taking their ease in the afternoon shade.

Address

14775 Front Road
Walpole, NH
K0H2S0

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+18882873157

Website

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