Area: Pennsylvania

We are two suburban homesteaders with a tiny backyard flock of laying hens, honey bees, and approximately 2800 square feet of garden space. We're located in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. Our goal is to produce as much of our own food as possible through organic methods, while demonstrating what degree of production is possible on a residential plot of land by ordinary people with no formal training in gardening or agriculture. In 2009 we produced over 600 pounds of food from our backyard, and in 2010, over 760 pounds. We expect to continue that trend going forward for the next several years. Since we grow for our own consumption and not for market, ours is very much a polyculture site. We have fruit trees and several types of perennial berries, a large garden of annual vegetables, and many culinary and medicinal herbs. Other interests include light DIY/construction work to address on-site needs, permaculture, herbal medicine (we're still very much beginners), various methods of food preservation, dumpster diving for construction materials, local foods, Transition, ethical consumption, and all aspects of sustainability. We look forward to learning more about the world, other cultures, and many areas of expertise from our volunteers. Plans for 2012 include the planting of a living fence to replace our old wooden one, installation of rain barrels for passive irrigation, as well as a tiny frog pond in the middle of the main garden. We'll also plant more perennial food crops, cook more meals with our solar oven, raise a few chickens and turkeys for the table, and learn to extend the growing season with our new hoop house. Finally, we'll experiment with the cultivation of Black Soldier Fly larvae for poultry feed.

Area: Saskatchewan

Our farm consists of 90 head of cattle - calving is getting close to completed. We have 7 riding horses and 2 ponies (both ponies are needing harness work). The rest of the barnyard population is made up of chickens, ducks, cats, 5 dogs, rabbits, lambs, peacocks and of course our llama Sparky and our two pot belly pigs, Wilbur and Louie. Our farm has been hosting visitors since 2004. We are a family of 4 (daughters ages - 16 and 13yrs) and we encourage our helpers to become a part of our everyday life.

Area: Cartago Province

We have an organic coffee and fruit farm nestled in a small valley of mountains located in Costa Rica. The farm has become a haven for animals in need of care and we currently have seven dogs, three pigs, a cat, rabbit and horse on the property. Our interest is in having an individual/s with interest in nature, animals and enjoying the food of the land. We strive to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prefer caretakers who are the same (No drinkers, smokers or drug users). We are very committed to helping animals in need, and won't compromise that commitment by allowing any type of animal product consumption by our guests on the farm. Even though not all our previous volunteers were vegetarian or vegan, they all ate vegan while staying with us. That has held true for tourist guests as well. If you want to learn about the traditions and language of the people from this beautiful region and assist with our farm projects, contact us for more information.

Area: Montana

Hi, our names are Andrew and Hilary. We are a young family with two children, our son age 4 and our daughter age 1 and are looking for a fun, easy going, responsible girl to help us care for our children this summer. We live and ranch in Centennial Valley, Montana. We raise all natural grass finished beef cattle, train horses and enjoy the wide open spaces. The ranch encompasses 30,000+ acres of mountainous terrain with a river winding through. We border the Red Rocks National Wildlife Refuge and are only 40 miles from Yellowstone National Park. We are a working ranch focused on holistic resource management. We run close to 2000 cattle and 40 horses. We also have a ranch guest program which allows people from around the country and the world to come visit and participate in ranch activities, learn about range land management, low stress stockmanship, natural horsemanship and wildlife ecology. Our house is very small but cozy but we make up for the space we lack indoors with 30,000 acres to run wild in outdoors. We also have three working dogs, two cats and lots of chickens (and sometimes a new baby calf or two that needs help getting started in life). We would love to share our life and our home and our experience with anyone who is interested in learning more about ranching, wildlife, child care and experiencing a way of life that is closely tied to the land.

Area: Burgenland

We are a family of mostly 4 (sometimes 5), 2 kids at school age. We live in a small farm village some 20 km from Lake Neusiedl in the east of Austria; about 45 km from Vienna with regular railway and bus connections. The area is soft and characterized by farm land, wine and a milder climate than in the rest of the country. We are convinced of a more balanced life and thus try to reduce waste, plastics etc. and grow our own vegetables, cook as much biological food as possible and more. We bought this old farm house with garden some 2 years ago and are still trying to bring it in full shape.