How N.S. veterans are finding peace and purpose on the land

The utter stillness that Tyson Bowen discovered on his 80-hectare farm in Pictou County, N.S., used to terrify him.

In Afghanistan, where he served combat tours in 2007 and 2010, quiet meant something bad was about to happen. 

But since moving to the property about 15 minutes south of Stellarton this spring, the 32-year-old has embraced the slower pace and daily routine to keep his post-traumatic stress disorder at bay. 

"Your mind is like a filing cabinet. You can only hold so much," he said.

"A lot of guys after they come back from overseas and dealing with PTSD or their struggles, they can't find that calm. Here on this property I found it, and I want other people to be able to achieve it, too."

Bowen is working to transform the property into an eco-adventure park for other veterans to find calm and camaraderie.

He's calling it Real Canadian Recreation, and while it won't officially open until 2021, the work he's doing now is all part of his healing. 

He's among a group of veterans in Nova Scotia who are taking care of their mental health by tending the land. 

'I didn't love, I didn't hate'

Bowen served 14 years with the Canadian Armed Forces, rising up the ranks from rifleman to section commander. 

"Our job was to promote security and stability in Afghanistan," he said. "We were patrolling and finding IEDs and doing our daily missions of traveling the roads and meeting families, but also meeting the enemy."

He remembers his company once held a Remembrance Day ceremony at 11 p.m., instead of 11 a.m., because of the threat of rocket attacks. 

Bowen was diagnosed with PTSD in 2015, and medically released in 2018.

When he got back home he was surrounded by triggers that would take him right back to the battlefield. The fireworks on Canada Day sounded like gunfire; the hum of a fan reminded him of a helicopter.

"You get a gift from Amazon and it's wrapped in bubble wrap and your kids start jumping on it and it sounds exactly like gunshots going over your head," he said.

Bowen coped as best he could with alcohol and by isolation. 

"For a while I was numb to everything. I didn't love, I didn't hate. I didn't feel and that's just part of PTSD, and that's an ongoing thing everyday to try to feel," he said. 

That hard work hasn't gone away. But now, along with seeing therapists and counsellors, Bowen said he's found a level of calm he never had before thanks to the farm.

Sometimes, it's just sitting on a hill and looking up at the clouds rolling by with his two young daughters. 

That feeling of peace is something many veterans have found on farms, away from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

Veterans producing food for veterans

Steve Murgatroyd and Jessica Miller, who are both retired from the Canadian Armed Forces, opened up their 2.4-hectare farm near Windsor to veterans who need peace and quiet.

"There's a definite correlation between mental health and working [on] the land," said Murgatroyd, who served 20 years with the Royal Canadian Regiment.

The Veteran Farm Project has been working with five veterans who regularly visit the farm to harvest cucumbers, carrots and cabbage or simply enjoy the solitude of being outside. 

"They don't have to harvest, they don't have to weed. They can just enjoy the space as well," said Murgatroyd. "They can come here and do their thing undisturbed."

Murgatroyd said he acts as a kind of gatekeeper to make sure no one is coming onto the property uninvited. 

"If they have issues with strangers or crowds or anything like that, they don't have to worry about that. They know that somebody is looking after things for them and they've got a happy space to be in," he said. 

Last summer, once the organic produce was harvested, it was distributed to 10 veteran families through the local legion.

Lots of work to do

Bowen's farm was originally owned by a family from the Netherlands who emigrated to Nova Scotia after their community was liberated by the Canadians in the Second World War.

Opening the property up to men and women who served their country feels like coming full circle, he said.

Thanks to the help of friends, family members and other veterans, Bowen is on his way to renovating the old barn to become the retreat's headquarters. There will be bunks, bathrooms and a common room where veterans can stay.

Bowen plans to keep the property open from dawn until dusk for people to stop in for a couple hours or a couple of days. He said there will be no cost to veterans, and he's working now to secure grants and other donations to help with the cost of renovations. 

Whether it's clearing a path through the woods, getting the hay out of the dairy barn or figuring out how to patch the barn's roof and floorboards, Bowen has his work cut out for him. 

But that's the point. 

"The property gives me a purpose every day to actually get up and to do things, and I know that I'm doing it on behalf of the people who have passed away, and who are struggling, and my peers. This is something that we need," he said.

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