Located in New Ross, Nova Scotia, Canada, Ross Farm Museum is a window into the past of the province's rich agricultural history. Nestled within a serene landscape, this living history museum offers visitors a immersive experience of rural life in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
A picture of the work on site: Employees Lyndon, Cameron and Joyce cutting seed potatoes to plant.
The farm museum was established in 1969 on land originally granted to Captain William Ross in 1816. On site various aspects of traditional farming practices are showcased, e.g. plowing fields with oxen, the way it was in the late 1800s.
Visitors can explore historic buildings such as the original Ross family farmhouse, barns, workshops, and a blacksmith's forge. Interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities provide insight into the daily routines of early settlers, making it an educational destination and preserving and celebrating Nova Scotia's rich agricultural legacy.
An insight into the potato year at Ross Farm Museum
Last fall, the field was prepared by ploughing under the existing ground, followed by disking to break up the soil and applying fertilizer to enrich it. This same process was mostly repeated again in April, except for the ploughing. The area where the potatoes are planted had been used as a pumpkin patch years ago.
After the spreading and disking in of the manure across the field, a section of the field was then set aside for planting different varieties of potatoes, while the remaining area was prepared for pumpkins. Lyndon, the horse teamster of Ross Farm Museum, worked up the new section of the field using Canadian heritage breed horses, carefully preparing the ground with traditional horse-drawn equipment. Once the potato section was ready, Lyndon used the horses to hill up some rows for planting the potatoes.
Field Preparation:
Hilling:
The potato planting was successful and the potatoes could be harvested! The following are a few pictures of the harvesting work. All the potatoes in the pictures are of the Calico potatoes variety, which produced a very good yield.
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