Coppiced Agroforestry for production of basketry, ornamental and living willow projects.

Nova Scotia

1 review • Updated 5 months ago

Hello all. We are a retired couple living by the coast of Nova Scotia on a large piece of woodland and mixed agroforestry with some organic gardens and fields. Sian is a basket maker, teacher and grower of coppiced willow and Rick is a sailor and all round handyman. We have a cat, Mittens, with 6 toes and a very loving dog Maude. The willow plantation and all its seasonal activities keeps me very busy. From growing to harvesting, sorting, drying, grading, soaking, mellowing and finally making baskets and caskets, there is a lot of stick work. We also have a small summer garden, workshop, gallery and wilderness cabins so there is always something to tend to around the property. We have a guest house with full amenities or a wilderness cabin that is just plain awesome with outhouse, woodstove and all what you need to rest and regroup. We will provide all meals but might ask for some independent preparation for breakfast and lunches. We often go camping in our truck camper and love to walk and hike and explore the surrounding beaches. We live adjacent to an 11 km hiking trail and 1 km from two barrier beaches. We live right on the coast outside of a University town, so lots of cultural events there.

Learning opportunities

Vegetable farming

Viticulture

Wild foraging

Vegetable or fruit preservation

Beer, cider, wine, or juice making

Traditional crafts

Renewable energy production

Methods or systems

Biological pest control

No-till farming

Mentoring opportunities

Woman-operated

Host type

Production farm

Former WWOOFer

60 Hectares | 148.3 Acres

Accommodation

2 WWOOFers

Cabin / Mobile-home

Children not accepted

Pets accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Vegetarian

Length of stay

1-2 weeks

3-4 weeks

Over a month

Sian

Member since 2025

Languages spoken: English Response rate: 100% Response time: typically within 1 day

December 2025

Open

Planned visit

Closed

Nova Scotia

Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Reviews

Marjan

Canada • November 2025

We are grateful and blessed to have experienced Sian's wonderful, warm and welcoming world of everything willow. We felt immediately at home on the farm, where we worked on harvesting, sorting and labeling willow rods, and learned a great deal about willow farming and their uses. Sian is kind, considerate, clear in communication, a great cook and full of stories from around the globe. Her craft is amazing and we were lucky enough to see her at work in their first annual collective open house. We surely recommend an experience at Sian's farm! Thank you Sian.