WILDSCAPE
Homage to the place that holds us
and feeds us
The place that roots us
Everything we do and offer is born from our relationship with a place filled with the stories of the rocks, trees, the coyote, fox, deer, bear, the rabbits, raccoons, snakes and frogs (the spring chorus, oh!), the ravens, blue jays, crows, dragon flies, the giant Oak tree, the maples, cedars, dancing aspen and more. It is a place that sees itself, not as bound by property lines, but rather as an integral part of a 500+ acre, largely untouched forest.
WHAT IS A WILDSCAPE?
The term "wildscape" is meant to describe a hybrid of horticulture and ecology that imitates aspects of the native eco-system. We searched for a way to describe this place that recognizes all the wild ones who call this place home, including the soil we walk on every day. A wildscape is a settler term and is the best we could find right now even though it's not quite accurate. This particular wildscape is part ecological-leave-it-the-fuck-alone (the part of forest where we never go), the forest paths we savour during select seasons, it's marshland where the frogs and other water sorts play, the fields filled with herbs and plants of all sorts where the herd lives, and the acres where the gardens, humans, more trees, house and more wild plants cohabitate.
A Brave-hearted Living History
Flying Moon Farm is located on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe and holds the wisdom and stories of their presence here which reaches back to time immemorial. It also holds the sorrow of historical and ongoing oppression of the land and culture of these original Peoples and their ongoing efforts to enter into Treaty relationship with the Crown and settlers of present-day greater Ottawa.
It holds the stories of the European explorers and fur traders who landed here more than 500 years ago. The Irish and Scottish who came hundreds of years later fleeing famine and hardship for the promise of “free farmland”, only to arrive to find rock and sand and harsh winters.
It holds the stories of horses and humans working together. From the original Ojibwe Spirit Horses who roamed free with their Indigenous human brothers and sisters, to the domesticated horses brought to build railways, farm and log the forests (logs who now form our beloved barn).
All of this brave-hearted, complex and sorrowed history is alive here, right now. The unfolding story of our work with the land and the herd is adding yet another layer to the tapestry of this place through the horse’s unique and innate way of being present with all life.
We recognize our responsibility to educate ourselves in anti-colonialist ways of living, work towards a culture of Indigenous sovereignty, and uplift the work of Indigenous elders, knowledge keepers, and land defenders and strive to live in right-relationship with all the beings we share “home” with.
