Mocking Bird Hill Farm

An experience you'll remember forever!

By Farmer Bob

October 24, 2018

A visit to Mockingbird Hill Farm is like stepping onto the stage of old rural Algoma. The Farm is a working horse drawn replication of a homestead back in the 1930’s…it is a place where time is tethered.

Mockingbird Hill Farm is singularly located on the edge of the wilderness and yet within the city limits of Sault Ste. Marie. Tourists often point to the bush across the road and ask me “What’s over there? I tell them Hudson’s Bay. I doubt there is another city in North America which such a decided and immediate link to the bush.

The Farm is themed with rail fencing, historic buildings, crops, gardens, trails, wildflowers, birds, butterflies and bees. There’s lot’s to do and see.

The place has a staff of one…the old dirt farmer…that’s me…Farmer Bob. Over the many years my sweat has stained every acre of this land and yet I remain a reasonably affable curmudgeon and farm interpreter. Farm walk-a-bouts are largely self-directed by necessity.

Farm activities follow the seasons and the rhythms of nature.

December brings walks through snow sparkled meadows, Christmas tree sales and, of course, horse drawn sleigh rides through the bush. Trails are breathtakingly beautiful by day and romantically lit with a kerosene lantern hanging on the sleigh by night.

I have a big hay-nested chair at the front of the sleigh and from there I sit leaking local colour telling farm stories to folks and stretchers to kids.

Spring sees the opening of the petting barn with its friendly menagerie of critters who like to be petted and hand fed. There’s a goat walk where the farm goats walk the plank to dizzying heights and baby chicks for kids to hold.

Late spring brings blooms and walks through the farm meadows and trails. The wildflower labyrinth is a favorite to ‘trance’ through. In bloom it is a spectacular burst of colour and energy.

Through the summer are horse drawn wagon rides, campfires and picnics. Fresh veggies are for sale at the Farm’s driveway market garden.

Where is Mockingbird Hill Farm!

Harvest time seems to tug on the rural roots of folks and draw them back to the land. The woods and meadows are ablaze in autumn glory, there are pumpkins to pick in the garden and photography opportunities in abundance. Working through the corn maze puzzle can be a ‘cornfusing’ adventure.

Mockingbird Hill Farm is truly reminiscent of a gentler more romantic time. As Farmer Bob I am privileged to be here…homesteading on the Farm is like creating art on a very large canvas.

Hope you will come to visit.

Visit Farmer Bob's facebook page - Mockingbird Hill Farm or Mockingbird Hill Farm!

The Farm is open daily from May 1st to October 31st and we tend to keep farmer's hours - so if the sun is shining we're on the Farm somewhere. From November to April, we're still here and open by appointment. Please call to book your sleigh rides

And since it's a Farm, some activities are seasonal and dependant upon the weather. The following is a likely schedule of things to see and do:

May 1st to October 31st Farm Admission: Adults $8.00 Children $6.00

Hay rides/Sleigh Rides - by appointment - please call us at 705-253-4712 to book $190

Petting Barn, Garden walks and Woodland Hikes, Goat Walk, Buchan House, Church

Produce available August, September and October- snap beans, carrots, beets, sweet corn, pumpkins, gourds, squash and cucumbers

Corn Maze - depending on the weather - about August 17th – October 29th.

Maze Admission: Adults $11.00 and Children 11 and under $9.00 Under 3 are Free

Please bring your own flashlight or purchase one of ours at the gate for $4.

The Farm and the Maze will be open weekends plus Labour Day and Thanksgiving Day (Canadian).

The Farm is a working horse-drawn farm so you'll likely see Farmer Bob out working the fields and gardens with the team. He'd be pleased to answer your questions and tell a few tales while he gives the horses a rest. Just be careful - he may put you to work..... that garden always needs weeding!

OPEN RAIN OR SHINE! AFTER ALL IT'S CONSIDERED BAD FARMING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE WEATHER

Visit www.saulttourism.com for packages, where to stay and other exciting things to see and do in SSM!

Find Your True North

First name

Email address

We will never spam you and will never share your e-mail. Please see our privacy policy.

Thank you for subscribing!

About Farmer Bob

History of Farmer Bob

I was raised on a back road country farm …woodstoves and outdoor plumbing…and that it seems defined me since I have lived traditionally on the land most of my life.

Spent some time getting an education as a young man though and a while teaching school but got restless.

I went north into the bush off the Algoma Central Line and built log cabins on speculation …started with old tools, a clunker canoe and a bucksaw and axe. This went along all right and the robust life agreed with me…I learned how to walk a hard road down.

After four years I tired of sleeping beside a stump, was bushed, so I headed downtown, built and operated two wilderness themed clothing stores, which were wildly successful. I was cool, a media darling, an entrepreneur, was said to have a genius for thematics and marketing… makin’ way more money than I could spend on a Saturday night.

The last thirty years I have been homesteading here on Mockingbird Hill Farm. The Farm is a working horse drawn replication of a 1930’s farmstead.

Mockingbird Hill contributes substantially to local educational, recreational, cultural, and tourism values. The Farm reflects well on Sault Ste Marie…it has generated positive publicity locally, regionally and nationally.

Homesteading is the most satisfying thing I have done in a lifetime.

Gonna stay here right till the end…