Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
14 Aug 2019
Feedback
15
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
Our farm is a family owned, multigenerational farm situated in the beautiful Okanagan Valley. It's actually two farms tucked up against the mountainside, overlooking one of the most fertile farming regions of Canada.
Work with Annelise and Steve to take care of the pigs, chickens, and cattle; prepare food, get your hands dirty in the garden, landscape, and help with our monthly box program.
Steve has been taking on the family business raising cattle and growing grain and hay while expanding the operation to raising chickens and pigs on pasture, starting an organic feed milling operation, and developing an on farm slaughter facility. Steve has a background in sustainable building, contracting, woodworking, and music.
Annelise moved back to central BC in 2013 after finishing a masters in urban planning and geography at Concordia University in Montreal. She has always enjoyed living in the country and is happy to be able to work with animals as well as use her gardening knowledge to expand this farm's self-sufficiency.
This farming family welcomed baby Etta Mae in August of 2016 so while we like to socialize and have meals together, the house needs to be calm in the evenings and at nap times.
Days are busy, so there's no fixed breakfast or lunch schedule (everyone makes these meals on their own), but we always eat dinner together, or at least we cook communally and may eat on our own schedules. This is a lively place - friends and family frequently come over for coffee or just to visit all the happy animals.
We are looking for WorkAwayers who can help out all around as well as those who are interested in doing their own projects. What you will work on depends on your skills and wishes. We are pretty easy-going people, so we will work something out that fits your idea of a WorkAway stay. As well as learning important skills, this should be an enjoyable and fun time for you too.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
Help around the house
Animal Care
Help with Computers/ Internet
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Help
Work tasks
Help is needed both for bigger projects and for lending a hand wherever needed.
If you have knowledge about sustainable farming, your input and ideas could go into one of the bigger projects, but there are plenty of other tasks.
- help with feeding and taking care of the animals
- helping in the gardens
- helping manage a CSA box
- helping out with meals
- harvesting and preserving food from the garden
- cutting fire wood
- putting up fencing
- doing landscape maintenance and design
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
There is a room available in the house. There are two large living rooms, a kitchen and several bathrooms. There is lots of spare space, upstairs and on ground floor.
If you'd rather stay outside, you can put up a tent and camp on the farm site, waking up to pure nature with the huge forest on one side, and picturesque farmland on the other.
What else ...
We are meat eaters, but there are plenty of fresh veggies and eggs around, if you are a vegetarian or vegan. In that case you can expect to arrange meal alternatives for yourself.
We are so lucky to be surrounded by farms which provide us with fresh and local food. We are following the seasons, enjoying the food the area can provide for us.
For spare time activities, the nearby town Armstrong (3km from the farm) makes for a nice afternoon in town. You can shop for antiques or enjoy a fresh cup of coffee with locals in the hip Wild Oak cafe. We can sometimes give you a lift to town or places around, or you can also borrow a bike and explore the area, or go for a hike on the 300 acre combined property with two creeks, a waterfall and numerous points that look out over the Okanagan valley. Or get really adventurous and hike straight from the property up a trail network that leads all the way over the mountain range and into the next valley.
The community vibe in Armstrong is strong and vital, with lots of young farmers establishing themselves in the area. There are frequent social events and workshops that you can participate in, including Young Agrarians potlucks that happen every few weeks in the summer.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
2-5
Feedback (11)
He was a great help on the farm, working hard when there was work to be done and able to work independently. He was also laid back enough to enjoy days off when there was a lull in tasks or less to do.
It's rare to host someone with whom it is so enjoyable to share space. He always did his part, enjoying the good… read more
I always enjoy spending time with people interested in a diversity of things and open to new experiences.… read more
Feedback
He was a great help on the farm, working hard when there was work to be done and able to work independently. He was also laid back enough to enjoy days off when there was a lull in tasks or less to do.
It's rare to host someone with whom it is so enjoyable to share space. He always did his part, enjoying the good… read more
I always enjoy spending time with people interested in a diversity of things and open to new experiences.… read more
Helping to build up things and taking care for the animals is always very relaxed and you get many opportunities to work self-sufficient. If you’re interested in learning about organic ways to grow food and feed animals, it’s the… read more
I love the work in this farm, the best experience in Canada this summer!
Thanks for all Steve and family. My english continues low and is dificult explain all my thinks.
It was a great pleasure for us, too. Steve is a really good host, who is working nearly all day, but if you help him, he shows you really beautiful places. The farm is huge with a piece of a mountain. The house is huge, too. There are many bedrooms and two bathrooms. Family and friends visit the farm frequently. And these are all nice people who… read more
Cheers,
Steve.
It was a great working and living with Susan and Steve. I can highly recommend the company and the beautifully situated place.
I got to help with taking care of the animals, preparing stables and chicken postures, and helping out in the gardens; planting, weeding and I built my very first herb spiral :-)
Apart from… read more
