Area: British Columbia

We are a little family of 3 (Oliver, 30, Meike, 35, and Emil, 2) who are seeking connection to the land and community. We value sustainability and want to live a satisfying, healthy and creative life. We have just bought a piece of property with the intent of starting an organic farm and forming an ecovillage. We would like to invite like-minded people in our age group (20-40ish) to inquire, help out, learn and perhaps join and create a wonderful interdependent community with us. We are located only minutes north of Greenwood and only an hour from Osoyoos. 142 acres with Jewel Creek running through it. It has crown land on 3 sides and trails all around. Less than 2 km to Jewel Lake. This summer we are focusing on establishing our homestead to prepare for the winter. We are renovating a log house, one of the few buildings that are already on the land. We are planning to eventually build a cluster of natural homes designed to minimize ecological disturbance and maximize use of the fertile, previously cleared areas for organic farming and gardening. We will use building material sourced from our land as much as possible. We are big fans of cob buildings and round houses. We will produce our own power by setting up solar and hydro systems so we hope to get off grid quite quickly. Grey water will be treated naturally and used for irrigation. Composting toilets will provide humanure for some gardens and plants. We want to consume food that is produced locally, ideally on our own farm, but always sustainably. Our organic farm will supply residents and visitors with fresh, organic food; surplus can be sold on local farmer's markets (twice a week in Greenwood) and to restaurants in the area. We will build root cellars to store fruits and veggies for the winter. We are going to incorporate Permaculture principles: zoning, swales, terraces, composting, humanure, mulching, rainwater catchment, hugelkultur, just to name a few. Some of us have experience with biodynamic gardening. We look forward to meeting many cool people and are excited about what we can accomplish!

Area: Eastern Townships, Quebec

We are starting a cultural centre and auberge that will function out of a lovely old chapel and a seven bedroom farm house in the beautiful Eastern Townships of Quebec. The studio has no religious affiliation. Volunteers will work with us on both the house and church as well as the surrounding property, which is located in a peaceful village in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. The official opening date of Staycation Studios is the first of July, 2012.

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: Idaho

Farm Description We are a Jewish family on a small organic (non-certified) farmstead in foothills of the Rocky mountains in north-central Idaho. We are near the Clearwater River and Clearwater National Forest. We have a large vegetable garden and raise pigeons, goats, chickens and our most special crop, and the reason we live the simple life we do, is our children. Our goals are to raise our family in a healthy, country, close to the earth kind of way. So in order to do that we are wanting to finish building up raised beds in the Garden, get our new greenhouse finished and assemble and start operations in a second one. We will be setting up an area for dairy cows this spring, working on our water ram system for irrigation from our stream, salvaging a logging building and putting up a barn. Stays of at least 1 week to several months are suggested. If things work out well we are open to extended stays. We love community. We can use help from February through October. We expect Workawayers to put in 5 to 6 hours of work a day and since we are Jewish each Sabbath (Saturday) is a day off. We try to leave plenty of time for fun. Transportation from Lewiston ID and Missoula MT areas may be possible. Languages spoken here are English, some Spanish, and a smattering of Hebrew. We are very family friendly and children are more than welcome, as we have a bunch of our own. We are able to accommodate vegetarian and gluten free diets. Nearby attractions; The Clearwater river and fishing, swimming and boating is only 8 miles away. Hot springs are about an hour and half drive up river. Also nearby is the Clearwater National Forest and the Nez Perce Tribal Reservation, so exploring there can be fun as well. We are new to Workaway but old hats at community.

Area: North Rhine Westphalia

Our family: thats me - Maria- and Emma (12), Frieda (10) an Hannes (8). We live close to the city-centre of Essen- and in the middle of the heart of the so called "Ruhrgebiet"- lot´s of cities around, lots of cultural events and probably the most open minded people in germany. I have an institut (I´m training social workers in case management and Community Organising) and work a lot in the house (where we also live).