But in Nova Scotia, the overwhelming response is also a measure of how many people, unmoored by the global economy, are hungry for a sense of community. To many, the proposal seemed to present a connection to a famously rich regional culture full of Scottish fiddling, community suppers and square dancing.

All of that was far from mind when Jim and Ferne Austin decided to turn their store over to their daughters this year. For the two women, Ms. MacLean and Heather Austin Coulombe, the most immediate concern was where to find employees.

“We were in a panic, we were so short staffed,” Ms. Coulombe said.

The Austins opened the business, the Farmer’s Daughter Country Market, in 1992 in Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia, after a life spent dairy farming. The combination bakery, produce market, ice cream parlor, fudge factory and gift shop now occupies a collection of barn-red buildings along the side of the road on a quiet stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Mr. Austin’s father, also a dairy farmer, had amassed more than 600 acres; after sell-offs, about 200 acres remain. The land that is left is mostly mountain woodland — pretty to see, but not of much value unless it were logged. No one in the family wants to shave the hillsides for that.

By the end of this summer, the country market was down by three full-time workers, making it difficult to meet a local grocery chain’s demand for baked goods from the Farmer’s Daughter. The baking business helps the operation stay afloat in the bleak winter months.

Ms. MacLean and Ms. Coulombe tried hiring locally, but said capable and dependable hands were not available. The visa process for foreign workers was too cumbersome, too.

That was when they came up with the idea of giving away land.

The women put together a questionnaire that emphasized commitment and values and made it clear that the land they were giving away was remote and well off the grid.