Region: Washington State

Our Ranch is a 74-acre spread set in the "Out West" sagebrush steppe canyons and river valley in the Okanogan Valley of Washington. Surrounded by alfalfa fields, orchards, and State lands, It has a timeless peace about it that comes from land whose husbands labored with love and gratitude for its bounty. At age 50, I bought the land that became The ranch. It was a decommissioned orchard and had been "rode hard and put away wet." With my 70 year old friend, Betsy, we began to create from the rubble an oasis of health. We are in the fifth year of transformation and now boast of producing hay, grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and rabbit; all are raised on pasture. As we plant our hay fields and food crops, we will do so as organically pure as possible; however, we have no plans to jump the hoops required to label our products "organic". We are against the ingestion of foods laced with herbicides, pesticides, hormones or antibiotic additives. We mindfully avoid Genetically Modified Frankenfoods. We prefer to grow our own food-- for our people, horses, mules, ponies, steers, pigs rabbits and dogs. Between 2010 and 2011, We have hosted well over a dozen farm volunteers and with their help, we accomplished oh-so-much. Our hats are off to these fine people. As always, we're looking forward to meeting new volunteers. Their chemistry and energy is just so invigorating.

Region: 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.

Region: Lower Normandy

** We are looking for help with gardening and shed repair during June** We are a Kiwi family living in historic Normandy, renovating our amazing 400+ year old farmhouse whilst perfecting our French and generally immersing ourselves in French life. We are returning the house to it's traditional majestic beauty by reinstating the thatched roof and exposing it's stone and oak features, whilst at the same time adding modern twists of glass, metal and bold colour, and the occasional 'kiwi twist'. We are a couple who have travelled and worked in many different countries and enjoy learning about different cultures. Here in France, we have a simple but good life enjoying the outdoors in our pool, jacuzzi, trampoline, kids play area, etc. We are in the countryside just outside an active village, our 6 year old son goes to the local school (a 3.5km cycle to the center of town), we're close to all the historic D-day sites, actually on the D-day 'route-de-libertie', the evocative Abbaye d'Hambye is 5 mins away, it's 40 mins to the famous Le Mont St Michel, and we have easy access to port and airport connections to the UK etc. We're in the midst of an extenstive ecological project to rethatch and insulate our chaumiere. This involves many preparatory phases such as paving and decking terrassing and drainage, exterior insulation, lime repointing and double glazing. Additionally we are in the midst of many other projects - the construction of oak spiral stairs and mezzanine extension; instillation of wooden kitchen worktops and repair of 300 yr old o ak flooring; planting of a New Zealand garden; and several craft projects includingthe polynesian/celtic inspired carved facing boards for the new thatch roof (a great project for anyone with a passion for wood carving / wood carver). We use natural traditional products where ever possible and have a simple organic vegetable garden and we are looking for enthusiastic generally capable people who would enjoy helping us in exchange for access to this fantastic part of France. We are of course happy to assist those wishing to improve their French and/or cultural understanding of France and assist you with access to tourist sights where we can.

Region: Tuscany

We live near Lucca, Tuscany - and have a house with 4 hectares of land. Would be really good to have some help with the pruning of the olive trees, clearing of the land and woods and general work. Also if have basic building skills, to build a couple of garden walls etc that would be great! We are an English couple who live here all year round - and we have an estate agency. Our 13 years old daughter is here with us in the school holidays. The house is 30 mins from Lucca and we have a lovely big swimming pool (120 sqm) in very pretty surroundings. We have a wide circle of friends who we socialize with a lot, love good food (Tuscan and international!) and wine. We have four cats - who live mostly outside - but are very spoilt boys! Do send me an email if you have any queries!

Region: 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 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.