June 5, 2020:

June 5th last year was a bit of a big day for us – as we consider this to be the day we literally broke ground. We hired services from Henry Biggs of Biggs Farms to spread 32 tons of lime on our land and then plow the land to mix in the lime and turn in all the growing vegetation as green manure.

On a side note: The soil, in general, in Nova Scotia tends to be a bit acidic i.e. the pH level is below 7 (for those of us who remember their high school chemistry lessons). Because of previous farming practices being sub optimal, the pH level of our land had dropped a little under 6. PH of the soil can easily be determined by getting soil tests done for level of minerals, organic matter and acidity in the soil

To date we have spread 4 tons per acre of Calcitic lime to slowly bring the pH level of the soil back up to about 6.5.

The tractor that Henry brought to plow our land was monstrous! This gave us a first hand appreciation of the work that was ahead of us.

Here is another view of this large tractor plowing our land – to give an idea of the girth of this machine!