Back Road Farm & Forge is owned and operated by Raina McDonald and Ruben Irons. Raina and Ruben met as deckhands on a tall ship bound for Antarctica. After their high-sea adventures, they returned to land and began weaving a homegrown, handmade life in Mi’kma’ki / Nova Scotia, Canada.

Raina grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, and moved to Halifax to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Ruben was raised in Pictou County, attended farrier school in California, and travelled widely—apprenticing with blacksmiths in British Columbia and New Hampshire. He went on to work for several years as the blacksmith at the historic Ship Hector before starting his own business.

Their shared path—shaped by travel, craft, their children, and a deep respect for place—led them to a life rooted in land stewardship, handwork and community. Their homestead is both a permaculture demonstration site and a working forge, where regenerative food systems nourish humans and the more-than-human world, and metal is shaped by fire on the anvil.

Together, Raina and Ruben designed a line of useful and beautiful forged pieces for the home. After ten successful years of co-creating under the name R&R Handmade, 2025 sparked change. This transition opened space for a re-imagined business that more fully reflects where they are today. Back Road Farm & Forge was born.