Urban Farm Museum Society of Spryfield
Spryfield, NS

The Urban Farm Museum Society of Spryfield works to celebrate and promote the agricultural heritage of the community, now a suburb of Halifax, and promote rural traditions in urban places.

In the late 18th century, Capt. William Spry, the chief military engineer for Nova Scotia, purchased land and developed a farming community; farmers in Spryfield sold their produce at the city market. When the last farm went out of production in the 1960s, the area became largely dependent on foods produced and brought in from elsewhere.

Today, the Urban Farm Museum Society has established a working farm in Spryfield to commemorate and continue the agricultural tradition of this area. The farm operates on three acres of an old Kidston family field. Through a variety of interpretive programs, hands-on workshops, demonstrations and school programs, the society produces food, offers a teaching venue and promotes local foods in season.

“Come Grow With Us” is an ongoing project for the farm. Every Saturday morning during the growing season, adults, children and families learn about gardening and healthy food options while they grow food. Annual activities include Seedy Saturday in March, where gardeners can buy, sell and trade seeds; a plant sale in the spring; a heritage walk in the summer; and the September Harvest Fair, where people enjoy local food, partake in wagon rides and visit animals. These events help community members celebrate their heritage and raise funds.

Along with setting up vegetable gardens for local groups, farming activities include clearing pastures, rejuvenating the orchard, reconstructing old farm buildings and repairing the farm’s 200-year-old stone walls.

In their efforts to make community members “Spryfield proud,” the society has also produced a cookbook, Foods of Spry’s Field, which has sold more than 1,000 copies.


For more information:
Patricia MacLean, President
10 Kidston Road, Spryfield, NS, B3R 2J7
(902) 477-6087
jamac@ns.sympatico.ca

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