Change is constant on this multi-faceted & now multi-generational farm.

July saw a sad day for us as we said goodbye to Maggie and Ollie, breaking a continuous run of 42 years of horses on the farm and signaling the end of an era.

Starting in 1984, we started building the barn for 14 racehorses in training which was our livelihood at the time. As we couldn’t always afford to buy the quality of horse we sought, we began breeding to race as well. This, at times, brought the number of horses in our care up to 26. Along the way, other livestock came and went with currently cows for beef and sheep for lamb, turkeys for Thanksgiving as well as ducks, geese, and chickens.

The end of racehorse training came after the birth of our kids and breeding to sell took over. Our last home bred crop of yearlings sold in 2021 amidst the disruptions to all facets of life during Covid. Maggie was the very last Thoroughbred to see out her days on this farm, accompanied by her buddy Ollie, and in July we sent them to horse heaven due to the infirmities of old age.

With our children and grandchildren now living on the farm and taking over the reins of many aspects of this incredibly diverse farm, we have decided to rename the farm as a whole to Patricia Bay Farm. White House Stables continues as the name of our 32 year farm store operation, within our racehorse stable complex, next to the once again White, gorgeous old house.

Patricia Bay Farm is a nod to the adjoining waters of Patricia Bay and also our amazing landlady Patricia who has lived here since 1938.

We’re taking orders for our free-range, non-GMO Thanksgiving turkeys raised right here on the farm, guarded from all predators by our lovely dogs (Fierce hounds to any predators reading this!). Watch this space for details on pricing, dates and our online order form.

June at White House brings with it ever-present evolution:

One of the biggest satisfactions of being a farmer is the continual learning. After 42 years of raising many different types of poultry, and experiencing the heartbreak when babies are predated, I think we’ve finally got it: when there’s a flock of poultry, there’s plenty of family support to ensure no babies are hurt. So far our 14 goslings are all alive and well,and we have not needed to use the small animal pen to protect them at the early stage of life.

More animals helping us on the farm are Tiny the Turkey and his friend who the Thanksgiving flock won’t accept so they are being kept close to the shop and act as speed control on the farm – so beware as you drive in!

For the garden, as well as selling the ever-popular cattle panels for garden arches, deer and rabbit fencing and gates to keep the garden safe, we now have expanded our selection of planters [Made in Canada]. They come in a great variety of sizes [in 2′, 3′, and 4′ widths – lengths, whatever you want almost] and we now have a black trim as an option.

Wednesday shopper be warned – we are CLOSED July 1st and it’s a WEDNESDAY!

It takes a village to raise a child and we feel blessed to be working on our second generation of humans!

May 16th brings our first Saturday closure of the summer so please plan ahead.

As the weather turns beautiful our herd is seen enjoying the lovely grass.

With the increasing popularity of gardening and food growing we have brought in a Canadian made planter made by Growboxx (https://growboxx.ca/)

These sturdy good looking planters take the back ache out of gardening.

Happy Mothers Day – Happy May!

APRIL SALE

Lightweight panels for anywhere on your property, installed in seconds – no fence posts needed! Great for any small animals: goats, sheep, dogs, chickens, kids (haha). Easy to reconfigure – like fencing LEGO!

GOAT (5′ high):

• 7′ panel
• 7′ panel w/ gate

SHEEP (4′ high):

• 10′ panel
• 10′ panel w/ gate

PRAWN BAIT back in stock – $134.95 (plus tax) for a 20kg bag

Happy April!

Thought the goose eggs in with the chicken eggs suited the topic, Happy Easter everyone

We are OPEN this weekend

Good Friday 10.30 – 5 Saturday 9 -5

The last lamb arrived last Sunday, so the lambing season is successfully over and we can sleep soundly at night again.

Time to pay attention to the garden and get planting.

Lambing is going well, 1/2 way there now and the weather is cooperating allowing these babies fresh grass and warm sunshine.

As well as the tree blossoms, my daughter Constances’ presence on the farm is adding fantastic colors, everywhere I look, with her masses of flower plantings

Meanwhile my son Stuart has brought his work ethic, brains, energy and ideas into the farm store to my great relief. Norman and I are playing more of a supporting role these days. In an effort to not put all our eggs in one basket we have expanded our range of feeds by including locally owned and run Ritchie Smiths feeds, helping ensure a supply of livestock feeds from more then one source in these fast changing times.

Whatever the climate or the fuel prices throw at us, we hope to support all the local livestock in the best way we can, they don’t stop eating ever!

We also have added a range of sheep and lambing products from Alberta to complement the minerals, feed and hay we already offer for our sheep customers

Another new item is a 7’6″ deer fence in 165ft rolls for the high jumping deer out there!

From Feb 14th to Feb 28th we will give 10% off on all fencing, gates and panels to help you get all those garden and farm projects get started

We are loving the lengthening hours of daylight, especially with the younger generation living on the farm. They have the energy that we used to have ourselves, and that created this place as it is, you will start seeing some wonderful improvements and changes as time goes on.

Introducing a girl named Fred, to accompany the boy named Snowdrop… Grand kids on the naming duty

Nicky and Norman have been away for some R+R after fighting off the terrible flu going around and having a wonderful but busy Christmas time with the grandchildren officially moved in to the white house.

Our two Jersey steers are back from the butcher so we are restocked in all your favourite cuts of beef (already sold out of ground! sorry!). Born and bred on the farm, we are proud of the quality of this well loved grass-fed beef.

Of course the cycle continues and we have the first baby of the year, a hefty Jersey/Lowline cross bull calf from lovely Buttercup. Belle is due any day for calf number two!

We have also have a new rice bran in stock after many months of unavailability and it’s cheaper, not a commonly heard refrain these days!

Best wishes for the upcoming Christmas holidays from Nicky, Norman, Chanel, Benson and new hire Ben (Jay, our delivery guys son] also our own wonderful son and daughter Stuart and Connie who willingly jump in to cover for us as needed. We have an amazing staff who love what they do and are really appreciated by everyone.

Filming is done and I really want everyone to know how much we appreciated your support and tolerance over the last 3 months, with the 6 odd closures and the adventure of having the White House become a tv set. We will let you know it’s release date etc!

We are back to our somewhat unusual, but regular hours

Wednesday through Friday 10.30 – 4.30pm

Saturday 9 – 4.30pm

Christmas Eve we will close at 4pm and stay closed for a week, re opening at 10.30 on Friday January 2nd

Once the days lengthen in mid January we will be staying open till 5 pm again.

We will publish a 2026 calendar showing long weekend closures next year.

FINAL FILMING

CLOSED Wednesday Dec 10th for the last filming day

This is what it looks like in the shop area on a film day, Mimi always gets involved!

Open as follows

Thursday 9am – 4.30 Dec 11,

Friday 9 am – 4.30 Dec 12

Saturday 9am -4.30 Dec 13

We promise we will let everyone know when the series, “Crew Girl” comes to the screen.

This old man just showed up at our door, as he does every year…reminding us of all the fun coming up soon, so for our family Christmas, see below for our hours over the Festive Season

CHRISTMAS CLOSURE

Close 4pm Christmas Eve, Dec 24th

Dec 25th – Jan1st CLOSED completely [ no phone, no e mail ]

Reopen Friday Jan 2nd at 10.30 am