Our Story

We moved to rural Nova Scotia in 2011 and started to farm. Just like that. We never planned to be farmers, it wasn’t like farming was our dream or in our blood. But in our search for a new home we found a beautiful abandoned farm. And so we became farmers.

In the early days, we had a few laying hens and pigs. Then our friends wanted eggs and pork so we expanded. Before we knew it, our friends’ neighbours and co-workers and families wanted our eggs and pork too, so we grew more and also decided to plant a haskap orchard and buy some cows. And as we grew our farm and our business, we learned about how livestock can be used to help heal the earth via regenerative agriculture and we learned about how fulfilling it was to grow food in this way.

And so Sweet Earth Farm was born.

Sweet Earth Farm is a diverse, family-owned farm located in the Cobequid Hills of Nova Scotia, Canada. It is comprised of approximately 200 acres of rolling pasture and old Acadian forest. We are passionate about growing only the highest quality and most nutrient-dense food, including certified organic haskap berries and several species of pasture- and forest-raised livestock.

We are Stephanie, Joe, Luke and Sadie. Hello!

Why Haskap Berries?

We first experienced haskap berries in 2012 during a blind taste test with a group of potential haskap growers. Against several other high-antioxidant and nutritious purple and red fruit juices (including blueberry, pomegranate, cranberry and others), the entire group chose haskap juice as having the absolute best flavour! After learning more about the exceptional health benefits of haskap berries, we decided that they would be the perfect addition to our mixed farm.

In 2013 we started planting our orchard and became certified organic in 2018, prior to our first commercial harvest. We chose to plant only ten acres of haskaps, which allows us to pay close attention to the plant and soil health and other important details, so that we can grow only the best quality berries possible.

Our Growing Methods

We believe strongly in farming practices which promote a healthy ecology across our farm and surrounding landscape; these practices are not just sustainable, but regenerative. For this reason, we grow our haskap berries using organic and biologic farming methods.

Our growing philosophy includes these five general principles:

1. We do not use tillage in our orchard, and only minimum tillage elsewhere on our farm, so that our soil biology remains in tact.

2. We use living mulch and the “chop and drop” approach to manage weeds in our orchard. This further promotes healthy soil biology by keeping the soil covered at all times, without the use of plastic, while adding organic matter.

3. We use aerated compost tea to keep our soil and haskap plants healthy and robust, and resistant to pests and disease.

4. We encourage diversity in our orchard, by planting comfrey, clover, some root crops and other plant species.

5. We use our livestock to generate and spread fertility across our pastures, and to generate compost for our orchard.