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Come one, come all, to the paramount farm-tour event of the year!

The annual province wide Open Farm Day is set for Sunday, September 18^th – and you won’t want to miss out on the excitement. Head out along highway 101 between Digby and Weymouth and you’ll find Wild Rose Farm, not far from the Gilbert’s Cove Lighthouse.

Gilberte and Siegmar Doelle and the farm staff and volunteers have been busy planning for this year’s festivities. You can expect many of the tried-and-true activities from past Open Farm Days, such as food sampling, farm tours, a hay fort for kids, and a chance to take home the farm gate door prize. In addition to tasting and touring a bit of the farm, this year, you’ll also be invited to try your luck at a scavenger hunt, have your face painted, or watch a seed threshing demonstration.

For Wild Rose Farm, hosting an Open Farm Day goes beyond just opening their doors to the public. While you’ll be able to say hello to the chickens, guinea hens, cows, and alpalcas, you’ll also have the opportunity to learn about organic farming the French-intensive way. “The hope is that when you leave the farm, you’ll also leave with a sense of how and why we farm the way we do. Open Farm Day is a lot of work,” says Gilberte Doelle, “but it’s also a lot of fun.” Perhaps that’s why Wild Rose Farm is the only farm taking part this year from Annapolis County to Yarmouth County. Gilberte notes that they’ve been participating in Open Farm Day for several years now but it never gets boring. “Every year we add a little something different, plus you get to see our crop rotation in action and how we’re always fine-tuning our farming methods”.

As with much of what happens on a farm, Open Farm Day is a rain or shine event, so pack your gumboots or sun hat and join the animals, critters, farmers and other visitors for a fun and educational afternoon.

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Wild Rose Farm is located at 6804 Hwy 101, Gilbert’s Cove, Digby County, NS. Open Farm Day is Sunday, September 18^th from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

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Wild Rose Farm is a mixed vegetable farm and the only Certified Organic Farm in Digby County. Three years ago, the farm won the Nova Scotia Environmental Stewardship Award. For more details, visit:http://wildrosefarmns.ca

Open Farm Day is a province wide event that creates the opportunity for participating Nova Scotia farmers to open their doors to members of their community. To see a list of all participating farms, visit:http://www.meetyourfarmer.ca/openfarmday/

Monarchs here, there and everywhere! Thanks to Lisa Proulx,"The Butterfly Lady of Lake Larose" for passing along some monarch caterpillars for us to care for. They have now scurried off their milkweed and found nice places to form a chrysalis.

Among the parsley. . .

. . . and rosemary . . .

. . . and even on a fig leaf. Monarchs on fig trees? Only in Gilbert's Cove!

Today the bees were busy after the rain . . .

. . . on the borage . . .

. . . and Mexican torch flowers.

What a glorious time of the year!

You won't want to miss this year's Open Farm Day. We're planning a scavenger hunt, face painting, seed threshing demonstrations and more! Learn about organic farming the French intensive way. We'd love to see you on Sunday, September 18th from 1-4pm. Rain or Shine.

Marie et Joseph Dugas Beans

We're keeping up on the weeding!

Rain, finally!

Nigella glistening after the rain.

Lettuce patterns!

Did you know that we grow milkweed for the butterfly club?