Providence Lane Homestead is a small working homestead in the Alberta foothills focused on sheep, regenerative grazing, and land stewardship. This site shares the practical work, ongoing learning, and bigger questions that come from tending animals and land in a changing world.

I started my professional life – such as it was – as a journalist. I’ve spent time in the Maritimes (New Brunswick, actually. I know how to pronounce Quispamsis properly); northern Ontario (Espanola. They used to call it “the smell of money.” If you know, you know); and the Ottawa area. But if you were to ask me, I’ll always tell you that I’m a rust-belt girl, a girl who grew up in the tangle of the Grand and Nith Rivers of Southwestern Ontario.

I didn’t see Alberta coming but in a way, coming to Alberta was a lot like coming home. My grandmother is from “The Peace” and homesteaded near Grimshaw and then Berwyn, AB. When we arrived in Alberta back in 2010, like so many, we found ourselves in Calgary, in one of the sprawling suburbs of the city’s NW quadrant. After a business trip, my husband brought me a magazine from the airport lounge and in the back, there was a real estate sampler. In the sampler, not far from Cochrane, AB, was a small, green prairie-style farmhouse. I was smitten. We went to see it. Two weeks later, we owned it. Three years after that, the sheep started arriving.

Today, Providence Lane is home to a mixed flock of sheep, alpacas, guardian dogs, and the slow, ongoing work of caring for soil, water, and native pasture. Some days are deeply practical, some are deeply reflective, and most are a bit of both.

So welcome! Welcome to an unexpected homestead, built day-by-day and from the ground up.

If you’re new here, you can explore the site in a few different ways:

• Living — reflections on land, food systems, and rural life
• Tending — practical animal care and grazing management
• Gathering — events, workshops, and community projects
• Keeping — resources, tools, and archives
• Connecting — ways to get in touch or collaborate