Our Story

Big Barn little farm is owned and operated by Susannah Murphy and Will Frankland. As first generation farmers, they were drawn to growing food as a response to a food system that is largely destructive to the environment and in many cases unfair to farmers. As a pair of enthusiastic cooks and eaters, quality and taste have always been front of mind as well. They saw a place for small-scale farming with a focus on supplying for a very local community in a way that worked for people and was gentle on the environment.

After studying organic agriculture and permaculture systems, they embarked on a farming journey with humble beginnings setting up an off-grid vegetable garden in 2009 on family land and taking on 5 customers in their first season. They continued slowly growing the garden and set up a business as ‘Seabright Gardens’, with a CSA model or Community Supported Agriculture, a system where customers effectively buy vegetable shares which are delivered weekly during the growing season. Eventually the pair had enough surplus to begin supplying restaurants and attending farmer’s markets as well. With the support and encouragement of the local community, Susie and Will outgrew Seabright gardens and took the plunge to buy a farm of their own and become full-time farmers. 

In 2019, they along with their two young children, became owners of the property in Meadow Green taking over from a couple of generations of the Vandewiel family who lived and worked various farm businesses on the property.  The farmhouse was once the hub of a much larger acreage which was at one time a thriving dairy farm. The property had been split up over the years and is now a ‘small’ farm of just 8 acres of beautiful fertile river valley soil which is perfect for a sustainable market garden operation. The addition of chickens on the new farm has allowed them to incorporate regenerative agriculture techniques and they farm the land with the perspective of a mini ecosystem where everything plays its part and nutrients get cycled through the farm.  The use of synthetic chemicals, herbicides or pesticides, or the use of GM seeds is never employed on the farm. Now known as BIG BARN little farm, the couple continue their low impact, high efficiency farming techniques and are constantly striving to improve their farming practice and learn more ways to serve the local community with the healthiest, freshest, and most sustainable produce.

Sustainability on Our Farm

Sustainability is a word that is thrown around a lot these days but here on our farm it forms the foundation of why we grow food. Not only do we need to build a sustainable business for our future and that of our children, but we are dedicated to building one that takes as little from the earth as possible and instead, aims to give much in return. We recognize that we are farming on the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, and wish to honour the ethos of land stewardship traditional to First Nations people. We hope to leave this land better than how we found it by regenerating the fertile soil and are working hard to make our operation as low impact as possible on our environment. We use minimal plastic packaging and are always looking for more sustainable solutions in this regard. We use mostly hand tools in our garden and our irrigation system and walk-behind tractor operate on small gas engines. Otherwise, everything on the farm is powered by our 12kw solar system.