Hello, welcome to the farm…I’m glad you came to visit!

Our little 5 acre farm is nestled on the side of a mountain overlooking the Slocan River in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. We have lived here since 2003, and in 2013 we began our hobby farm with a small flock of laying hens and two pigs.

It was such fun collecting eggs and watching the piglets grow in leaps and bounds, that the following spring we considered adding more animals.  And that is exactly how we find ourselves today, with way more animals than originally intended…Our little farm is bursting at the fences a permanent crew of 30 layer hens and a dozen sheep with their faithful guardian dog, Clover.  For brief stints in the warmer months, we also have 100 broiler chickens, 15 turkeys and 10 pigs.  I have been reminded by my children that we also have 3 other big dogs and 2 cats and a houseful of uninvited mice.

We have built all the livestock buildings by ourselves, mostly with wood we harvested or milled from our property or from the mountains around us…including hand-split cedar shakes on the roof.  Everything has a slight wonky look to it, but we haven’t heard any complaints from the residents.

While we began with the idea of having fresh, organic eggs for our family, we grew to the size that unofficially qualified us as a small hobby farm.  A name was needed, someone reckoned, and we spent the better part of a few years debating various suggestions.  With my oldest studying Norse mythology one year, we landed on a name we all agreed upon…Gladsheim Farm.  Derived from the Old Norse word for “happy home” or “happy farm”, Gladsheim was also the hall of the Aesir gods in Asgard.  With a heavy dose of Norwegian blood running through most of our veins, and living in the shadow of the Valhalla Mountains of British Columbia, Gladsheim Farm just fits.

As a family, we strive to ensure that our farm is indeed a happy home for all of the creatures who reside here, both animal and human.