Thank you for visiting Nixon Farm! I’m so glad you’re here.
My name is Becca, and I live on a small farm with my wonderful husband Mike, our daughter, two lazy Newfie dogs, Teaa and Rosie, a cat with a lousy attitude named The Stig our mini pig, Mick Jagger (he’s a real character!) and our horse, Stevie Nickers.
This blog is a space where we document everyday moments as we bring a rundown 1800’s farm back to life, decorate our farmhouse and share plant-based, garden-to-table recipes made with veggies grown on our farm.
We are a small family operation specializing in growing an assortment of produce and flowers using regenerative farming practices. Our goal is to grow high quality vegetables and flowers including unique and specialized varieties.
Nixon Farm is biodiverse, bee, butterfly and pollinator friendly. We market direct to consumers at local farmers market, to local chefs and local florist. Produce is gifted bi-weekly to families in need during the summer and fall months (when produce is ready to harvest) and donated to our local food bank.
The Farm
The Calculated Leap Of Faith
In 2019, we took a calculated leap of faith and bought a 1800’s farm.
We had been looking for our very first home for nearly three years.
Over the course of our multi-year house hunt, we were repeatedly outbid or the homes miserably failed pre-purchase inspections (I’m talkin’ an electrical panel in a shower. But don’t worry guys, there was a margarine container in place to catch the excess water. Eh gads!)
Our search criteria was pretty basic: A livable house, zoned for livestock, and max one hour commute to work.
The farm was on the market for about one day, and so many potential buyers attended the open house. As you might imagine, we were pretty darn stoked when we closed on the farm. Think deliriously, no, furiously happy.
Best guess, the property has not been a proper working farm in a very long time. Maybe thirty years..?
Et voila! So began our journey of restoring and rehabilitating this beautiful historic property. Would you like to see some pictures of our farm? I’d love to show you around!
Click here for a full tour of the farm.
Decor
The Couch That Had Seen Its Fair Share Of Dog And Cat
The overall intention for the farmhouse interior is to achieve a comfortable, feet-up vibe that centres around my late Grandmother’s paintings and various treasured heirlooms. My favourite is a beat up old metal teapot.
Prior to purchasing our home, we had exclusively rented for nearly 20 years. This meant that we had not invested much in terms of furniture or decor since the rental homes never felt like home, and our goal was always to buy our own home one day.
Our couch was purchased when I lived in a 400 square foot attic apartment. The stairwell to this teeny tiny apartment was so narrow that the couch had to come in (and later out) via the fire escape! By this time, said couch was nearly 15 years old and had seen a fair share of dog and cat. The cushions had been washed so many times they were as flat and as comfortable as a piece of plywood. Plus, they flipped so many times there wasn’t a ‘good side’ anymore.
While the old couch endured a great deal of cat and dog, our new couch was about to learn some harsh truths about living at Nixon Farm…
So a baby, dog, puppy, long-haired cat and a mini pig walk into a bar– I mean living room.
Stay tuned for the inevitable punchline- I mean, ideas and lessons learned relating to animal, kid and ‘hardworking’ husband (a nice way to say greasy and/or covered in dirt) friendly furniture.
Recipes
I Am Just So Grateful For All The Ways I Can Eat Potatoes
I genuinely admire people who exclusively eat healthy, wholesome, whole food, plant based meals and only occasionally indulge. Sometimes I aspire to do the same, and I’ll make roasted root vegetable ‘fries’ or use turnips from our gardens instead of potatoes in a gratin. Eventually though, I just want mashed potatoes or poutine or french fries.
Do you put potatoes on pizza? We do! Check out our recipe for Potato and Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pizza.
Recipes created in the Nixon Farm kitchen range from Healthy-Wholesome, Plant-Based to Total Junk Food.
No matter where on the junk food to health-nut spectrum the recipes fall, the food always tastes delicious!
Recipes on Nixon Farm are mostly plant-based but not exclusively vegan. With the exception of certain specialty items, like vegan marshmallows (available at most health food stores and can be ordered online) all ingredients for the recipes shared here are available at your local discount department store, you know, that multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of super-centres.