We almost didn’t go to Ross Farm. It was raining and chilly, and we’d already visited Grand-pré that morning, so seriously considered calling it a day and just hanging out in the trailer. But I’d had my eye on Ross Farm since early in our Nova Scotia planning process–after all, Ingalls Homestead, another living history farm, was one of the highlights of our 2017 summer trip. And so, we forced ourselves to head back out in the rain and made the half hour trek into the often neglected interior of Nova Scotia to Ross Farm Museum. (it’s also about a half hour from the south shore and about an hour from Halifax).
And it turned out to be a sleeper hit of the trip, making it onto several end of the year top ten lists!
We were surprised and impressed by how much there is to do at Ross Farm. That big red barn you see there is where the visitors center and gift shop is. Ross Farm is part of the Nova Scotia Museum, so we were able to use the membership we bought back in Parrsboro here. That family pass is $92 CDN, or regular admission is between $4-$10 person, depending on age (5 and under free), or $25 for a family (we loved how many places in Canada had family admission rates, btw. It doesn’t always pay to have 4 kids, but it did in Canada).
When you pay to get in, you get a map that shows you everything there is to do on the site. We started off in the one room schoolhouse trying out some quill pens:
Then headed over to the barn where many of the heritage animals live. Animals are our favorite part!
Someone who worked there kept trying to shoo this rooster away from us, which made me worry that he might be known for attacking visitors or something. But I guess he liked us, because he didn’t give us any trouble. And he was great at posing for photos:
The upstairs of the barn has a whole bunch of old ploughs and farming stuff to look at. Antiques!
While we were hanging out at the barn, petting assorted animals, when this wagon pulled by oxen showed up:
So we hopped on for a ride. The wagon ride takes you on a tour of the site and give you a chance to stop off at places like the blacksmith and cooper shops. We spent a long time in the cooper’s shop watching him make a barrel. You can buy the finished products in the gift shop and, he told us, the barrels made here are often used in historical movies and TV shows.
Then we stopped in at the blacksmith shop before heading back around to where we started.
Our last stop was the Rose Bank Cottage, original home of the Ross family. There were several people in here doing 19th century type things, including making ginger cookies, which we all got to sample (they were yummy).
Outside of the cottage there was a henhouse, where I made all the kids pose for photos:
…and this friendly cat:
And then we were done! We headed back to the campground, very glad we’d made the trip in spite of the weather.
maybe you would like to pin this?
The cat thinks this is a museum of people, with constantly rotating exhibits.
I must go hunt up some historic farms somewhere closer than Nova Scotia.
Ingalls Homestead! (it’s at least somewhat closer than Nova Scotia 🙂 )
Not close enough to keep my hip happy. There’s Farmngton in Louisville, which used to be a farm (where Lincoln visited several times with the Speed family–you should come! You could park the RV out in Spencer County at my new-to-me house in my extensive driveway for free, and the showers are really nice) that I haven’t seen since I was a child. I know it has a blacksmith shop and a lot of gardens, but there isn’t really a farm left. I keep meaning to go back, but it’s never urgent.
I’m always up for some Lincoln tourism!