Our Story
A Peaceful Dawn
Shantodaya means "a peaceful dawn," the rising of calm. We named the farm for our grandparents, Shanta and Uday, who came from the land and taught us what it means to tend it. Every morning here, when the mist lifts off the Middle River and the willows catch the first light, carries their name.
What began as a riverfront property with thousands of willow plants is becoming something larger: a working farm and, soon, a place to visit and stay, built with the kind of patient stewardship that lasts not just for a season, but for generations.
We farm willows because they are extraordinary plants: fast-growing, endlessly renewable, deeply useful, and quietly beautiful. From living fences and garden structures to dried arrangements and biomass, willow is one of nature's most versatile gifts. And it thrives in the Cape Breton climate.
But Shantodaya is more than a willow farm. Sitting directly on the world-famous Cabot Trail, it is growing, deliberately and in phases, into an eco-tourism basecamp for the loop. And quietly, over the years, we hope to weave permaculture principles through the wider land: a long, personal project that keeps us doing things the slow, right way.
The Willows
3,000+ willow plants across multiple varieties, production-ready and growing
The River
Middle River frontage, one of Cape Breton's finest Atlantic salmon and trout rivers
The View
70-metre hilltop with panoramic views of the river valley and surrounding highlands
The Location
Directly on the world-famous Cabot Trail, 20 minutes west of Baddeck, the gateway to the loop