Cove Cottage Eco Oasis

In Oct 2021 I decided to move cross country from BC to Nova Scotia - you can see a Macleans article on that here

I'd found the PERFECT location for my new Eco Oasis - Fox Point Lake in Mill Cove, Nova Scotia. I started work here on the property in Spring 2022 & it's been one heck of a busy summer & fall!

My Plan:

Cove Cottage Studio Suite is open & taking bookings for 2023
Cove Cottage Bunkie - Rustic Chic will be opening in late Spring 2023
Plant a food forest to feed the next generations on this land as well as neighbors. So far... over 100 nuts, fruit trees, every kind of bush, berry or cane I could find, asparagus, and herbs galore. I have plans for many more
Feed myself, my guests and neighbors with delicious free range eggs while the chickens fertilize
Employ Chickens as natural pest control, including tick duty - DO check yourself though!!
Keep the majority of the wilderness part of the property (16+acres) as original wild forest
Bring the cleared part of the property back to life by never mowing again, encouraging native wildflowers, especially host plants. Adding cut flower gardens so people can bring beauty home.
Eradicating all invasive plants. I took 1700lb of invasive ditch lilies to the dump, they were marching into the forest. (I also donated over 100 non-invasive Daylilies and Asian lilies to local lily lovers. - They're pretty but don't give food to humans or local animals so they are gracing other gardens.
Bring in native habitat plants to house and feed local bees, butterflies and birds, etc.
Work with the local critters to live alongside them - I have a specific Groundhog Phlox Garden for example & have protected my fav trees from the beavers. We'll see how this works out!
Use natural-style drainage creeks in low-lying areas - they'll saturate the soil & water the plants - 3 of these creeks were installed this year
Use Hugelkultur Berms to both capture and redirect water. These grow food for humans & animals.
Collect Dozens of bags of leaves from the community to build leaf mold and compost for next year
Collect trailer loads of seaweed from local beaches to help build soil
Collect as much pine shavings as possible - for paths through the wildflowers and soil building