Cove Cottage is a permaculture eco oasis & subsistency garden tucked into the woods, lakeside in Nova Scotia. I'm Gen X & relocated from BC to NS in late 2021 to build my semi-retirement eco dream that will provide food & shelter for generations to follow. 2026 is all about improving our food sustainability.
My calendar has been full for months but a long-term wood working wwoofer got the opportunity of a lifetime, so I have space again.
Mid-July to Sept I'm primarily looking for help to build a rabbit colony enclosure & do similar small building & maintenance projects.
Note: I've got gardening focussed volunteers lined up already for the remainder of the year.
I'm 4 years into transforming my property. I believe in working with nature, instead of fighting her, using natural and permaculture techniques to operate organically. This property was a mowed field with non-native flower beds. I'm transforming it back to native plants while planting food everywhere & keeping the uncleared land as a pristine watershed forest.
The property has a baby food forest with nuts, berries, asparagus and fruit trees, irrigation channels, swales and Hugelkultur berms, my flock of chickens & my cat Tux. We build our own soil & compost, the chickens love this part of their job.
Since I'm in pristine wilderness my land houses porcupines, squirrels galore, bobcat, a bear, grey and red fox, beaver, river otters, deer, mink and I'm sure more critters I just haven't seen yet! In my goal to work with nature, the groundhogs have their own garden, where they munch on phlox and eat any chicken feed or scraps the chickens miss.
My chickens are pretty pampered, I ferment their feed and grow them fodder all winter, which means I get non-stop eggs all winter when most people's egg production plummets. The Chickens free range fall to spring and during the summer they have 2 tunnels running across the property so that they still get a nicely enriched life.
What will a day at Cove Cottage look like? A delish food, working on the property for 1/2 the day, then exploring the lake by Kayak or paddle board, or grabbing a bike and taking a quick ride down to the ocean. We're flexible with hours, so if you prefer to work longer days and take more time off to go explore, that's totally doable!
If you love to cook I love to eat, otherwise I'm happy to teach you new healthy meal ideas. When I'm not working on a fun project or working my day job (from home) I spend time on the water kayaking and watching nature.
I operate an Eco Retreat Short Term Rental as well, introducing people to how the land can be used effectively by embracing nature.
Please note that Cove Cottage is 420-friendly, outdoors of course!
IMPORTANT: I'm extremely scent sensitive so colognes, shampoos etc can set off my MCAS. I ask that you use the unscented products I provide (soap, shampoo, conditioner and laundry soap) AND bring your own unscented personal care products. Cologne & perfume can make me very ill. I'll also need you to ensure your clothes are washed in UNSCENTED laundry soap and dried without bounce as you arrive. If this isn't possible we do have an ozone machine that can remove the odor.
I love to visit & educate, then I love my downtime. I'm a bit of an introvert & also up at the crack of dawn. By 8pm I typically retreat into my own mind as I prep to end the day. If you're an introvert know that after peopling a while, you'll also be able to enjoy time without people while at Cove Cottage.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Flower farming
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Holistic management
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
7
Hectares
|
17.3
Acres
