Forest Bathing at Bar M Ranch

 We had been hearing about forest bathing for quite some time when we finally learned about a local, Nova Scotia, company offering forest bathing experiences. For Christina’s birthday (March, 2022) we finally took the chance to schedule an off-farm day involving a forest bathing wellness walk in the Watershed Nature Preserve, in Wolfville and then lunch at the Wolfville Farmer’s market. This was our first opportunity to meet Wil Bruner, a certified forest therapy guide, for a forest bathing experience. For those of you who’ve never heard about forest bathing, there’s lot of info online, but here’s a short explanation from Soft Pine Wellness’ website (www.softpinewellness.ca).

Nature’s Cure for Stressful Times

“Forest Bathing or “Forest Therapy” was created in Japan in the early 1980’s in response to mental and physical health problems from a more urbanized population. Inspired by Japan’s spiritual and cultural connection to the natural world, scientists began studying nature’s effects on human health. Now Japanese people regularly practice forest bathing within their healthcare system to maintain good health and wellbeing.

A forest bathing walk is like a walking meditation that focuses on the felt senses and each person’s unique perspective. Once the walk begins, you will be offered a series of “invitations”, sensory experiences that helps you connect to the natural world. You may be invited to carefully feel plants with your fingers or listen to the rippling of water. Through the sequence of invitations, a closing activity incorporates the experience.”

Although we spend a lot of time outdoors including in the forest here on the farm, the guided walk provided a new and different perspective of the nature that surrounds us. Even on a cold winter day, after our 2-hour experience, we felt very relaxed and satisfied with the experience that stayed with us for quite some time.

Soon after our walk with Wil in Wolfville, we coordinated the first forest bathing experience here on the farm. Our pavilion is the meeting/starting point for any of our on-farm events. The participants then walked a farm road through a series of hayfields to a path we carved through the woods and around a small pond. The path leads back up onto an existing woods road which continues to a resting spot that we created in an opening in the forest. We constructed rustic benches and stumps in the opening such that people could sit, rest, and participate in the final invitation before walking back to the pavilion. The sights and sounds will vary by season, even when using the same route. Now that the hayfields are cut and the temperatures are cooling, we’re planning a second forest bathing session here on the farm.

                                        

Calf in August!

 Well farming is nothing short of surprises in a normal season but this year we've had a few, including a recent surprise with a new calf!

"Stormy" was born on August 13 in the middle of a rain storm to a young heifer we didn't know was pregnant. Typically our cattle are let in with the bull in late May, early June and that's when they get bred to have a calf in March or April of the following year. This cow was in with the bull for 2 weeks in November of last year and was bred at that time. 

We wouldn't have even known it was born until Christina noticed it walking around while she was drinking her morning coffee. She alerted me with a quick "What's that?!" and we both looked out the large picture window in the house to see a fresh calf taking it's first steps. Since it was a new mother, she wasn't 100% sure what to do, so we have to keep getting the calf back to it's mother and also bottle feeding it for a few days until it figured out how to get milk from it's mother. We're happy to report that both the mother and calf are healthy and the calf doesn't need help from us. That said, it was a stressful few days making sure the calf stayed alive and well with a new mother that wasn't sure what to do with a new calf. This meant we (but mostly Christina) was in the field most of the day watching where the calf went or looking for it if the mother left her somewhere. 

Since posting about this on social media, we've had some questions I'll try and answer in this blog. The biggest question we get was how did we not notice!? Well, the simple answer is she hid it well with no sign of her udder being swollen and her weight not looking much different than the other cows her age. This year, like last, we have an abundance of hay and pasture feed for the animals so none of the cattle look small by any means. This means, even though we see the cattle every day, we didn't notice much of a difference between her size and the other cattle of the same age. 

So since she was born out of cycle, what will we do with her come wintertime? Normally we ween the cattle of the mothers milk after 8 months or so but since she can't be weened off until March of next year, she'll have to stay with her mother during the winter. 

After losing a calf earlier this year, this surprise, although stressful at first, is a nice addition to the farm this summer.