Hamingja – Heritage Farm & Nature Preserve

Farm / Hamingja – Heritage Farm & Nature Preserve

Farm Type: Mixed Farm/Heritage Farm

Welcome to Hamingja (Icelandic for Happiness) – Heritage Farm & Nature Preserve, a hobby farm for awareness & preservation of the ancient Scottish Soay Sheep breed, landrace Icelandic chickens and a showcase for the importance of healthy waters to farms and our world.

Our 2025 guided farm tours provide a real time focus on riparian habitat health and offer suggestions for co-existence with beavers as well as providing the usual tours of our site, historical livestock, interactive demonstrations, i.e. carding and felting, meeting the Icelandic Sheep, meeting our livestock guardian dog “on the job”, and learning about honeybees. With our farm’s location on the lands and waters of the former Blueberry Springs Trout Hatchery, we are also offering a close look at the water needs of farms, communities, and our province with fostering awareness to current drought conditions, water quality, and effective water management.  Water is the Farm’s Lifeblood!

There are interactive opportunities for children and families to:

• feed the rainbow and brook trout in the Big Pond
• participate in actual water sampling and analysis to determine water health
• enjoy a children’s “fishpond” discovery game
• become part of “Team Beaver” by building a miniature beaver pond onsite, personally discovering the engineering abilities and restorative effects of beavers on the wetlands.
• feed our Rouen ducks
• view aquatic insects, wetland wildlife and how they connect with the farm
• access  current resource materials
• view a display of a cross-section of an aquifer and its waters at our “Water Table”.
• **Interested in becoming more involved with water conservation? We feature information about local watershed groups, Cows & Fish (co-existence with beavers) and ways to participate in caring for our waters.
• take a short walk to the nearby Blueberry Creek National Healing Forest, one of two Alberta forest sites officially designated towards Truth & Reconciliation, and take the opportunity to explore the labyrinth there

Your Open Farm Hosts welcome you:

• Janina, “the city girl with a romantic view of farming” is a member of the Soay and Boreray Sheep Society from the UK and is a passionate shepherdess, teacher, musician and naturalist who will tour you about the farm and regale you with names and stories of these rare and unique “critters”.
• John is a fish farmer, shepherd, tradesman, bee keeper and musician who is a strong advocate for water stewardship. He is a river man, canoeist and has a passion for everything about water!
• Beulah is an educator, world traveler, and the fibre arts mentor and artisan who’ll involve you in felting, fibre fun, carding and other close up looks at the fleeces of our Soay and Icelandic sheep.

Healing in Nature, we provide opportunities for all ages to connect with land, waters & life. 

There will be light snacks, water and coffee available by donation, but you are welcome to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the Valley visit!

**No dogs or pets please due to livestock onsite.

Artisans and vendors on site offer Indigenous Art as well as rewilding with Alberta wild plants.

At Hamingja – Heritage Farm & Nature Preserve, we are sincerely grateful to live, learn, work, and travel within Treaty 6 and we recognize and  honor this ancestral and traditional homeland of the Nehiyaw, Dene, Niitsitapi, Saulteaux, Stoney Nakoda, and members of the Metis Nation of Alberta who live, carry the knowledge of, and travel these lands for time immemorial.  

• Profile Username to assign to farm listing: HamingjaFarm
• Farm Type: Mixed Farm/Heritage Farm
• Host Name: Janina Carlstad
• Phone Number: 250-219-2771
• Email Address: vikingsoul-2@hotmail.com
• Website URL: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069886441916
• Is your farm accessible: No
• Date: Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17
• Start Time: 10:00 am
• End Time: 4:00 pm
• Address:

  115 Blueberry Meadows Lane, Leslieville, AB T0M 1H0

• Directions:

  We are 32 km east of Rocky Mountain House. Take Hwy 22 from Rocky Mountain House up to Highway 12. Turn east and travel to RR5.2 where you'll turn left and follow that road up to a T intersection and Blueberry Meadows Lane on the left. Turn on to Blueberry Meadows Lane and follow it to the end, where you'll see our farm.

  OR, coming from the east, meet up with Hwy 12 and come to the junction of TWSHP 761 and Hwy 12. Continue past the WPW Yard to the west a couple of km's and turn right on RR 5.2. Follow 5.2 up the hill to the T intersection where you'll see the Blueberry Meadows Lane sign on the left. Follow that Blueberry Meadows Lane to the end and you'll see our farm.

• Latitude: 52.474017
• Longitude: -114.630642
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069886441916
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamingja1?igsh=MW1iZmFxcjYzYjEyMg==
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT3VfG-rmNc1yAKjonCWhMA