Visit our farm and campground and learn about sustainable farming on beautiful Salt Spring Island, B.C, Canada

Details

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  Description

  Located on beautiful Salt Spring Island visit our small family oriented community with a shared Homestead and Farm. Learn to work and live with others while building skills using sustainable methods. Come share an educational natural lifestyle experience using permaculture design systems and organic gardens with medicinal herbs and flowers, vegetables, berries, indigenous bushes and shrubs species and bio-diversity. Join us in living together in a healthy environment filled with outdoor living, swimming, local hiking, beaches with local markets, alternative building projects and social events!
  
  Be part of a creative small agricultural tourism and Farmstay with exchange on a bright and sunny open landscape 18 acres farm with campgrounds, fruit orchards, vineyard, swimming pond, playing field and forested area. We use only organic, all natural and permaculture practices and materials from the land for our compost and soil, gardening of fruits, vegetables, seed saving, processing for storage and making value added farm products.
  
  Our work season is May until the end of Oct. for hosting. As your host I work as an Artisan at the local outdoor market and will be preparing and for vending value added food products from the farm and at our farm stand. I like to participate in work trade and and be integrated in a social and sustainable farming culture, help out with small building projects and build community.
  
  The work exchange can vary from 10-15 hrs/ week for accommodations provided based on 3 day work week at 5 hr/day during your visit.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Together we learn about a variety of edible and medicinal wild and cultivated plants bringing bio-diversity to the land. This natural system using organic and sustainable and permaculture methods is integrated in our diets and healthy livelihood as we learn to live together becoming more self-sufficient and prosperous.

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  Help

  We have a large Raspberries harvest followed by Cherries in late June. Apples harvest is from September to October until late October for dehydrating, making juice and vinegar each year.
  
  Starting in the Spring we will be pruning fruit trees, removing and or training blackberries, mulching the Cherries, Apples, and Vineyard. Growing Perennial Flowers and Herbs and preparing the gardens for seeding and veggie starts.
  Throughout the season we'll be growing a new generation of fruit trees, irrigating and watering, transplanting, seed drying and saving. Removing/moving invasive species while re-using the blackberry and broom as nitrogen for fixing as mulch while allowing for the bio-diversity and indigenous species to grow. Expanding existing garden beds, working with composting systems, preparing and mixing compost bins for comfrey tea, planting seasonal seedling starts, digging, turning and weeding while adding sea weed and amendments to the soil, transplanting using local plants as mulch on the garden beds and orchards to retain moisture and to keep out weeds. Harvesting herbs and flowers for value added food products and harvesting nitrogen based plants for the gardens, sun drying and dehydrating plants for seeds and vegetable processing for fermentation.
  Each Fall we press and bottle for storing fresh apple cider for vinegar and from previous years ferment with flowers and herbs for salad dressings and in summer we start sun drying plants, harvesting and drying for our seed bank and storage. We package our own herbs and flowers as teas and prepare fresh green bundles, prepare some value added foods with fruit harvest for our farm stand and local market.
  
  You will need to bring your own gardening gloves and seasonal rain gear with work boots as appropriate clothing for getting dirty, digging or clearing brambles etc. Please come prepared, be strong for general moving materials around, digging and preparing new beds for the coming season, maintenance of the berries patches, vegetable gardens, orchards and vineyard! Did I mention weeding, ;) and please come and come in good Health!

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Our small homestead community with hobby farm accommodations are offered in exchange for your seasonal help. The bus apartment sleeps 2 with with a small kitchen and Internet access with ethernet which can be used as a break room and lounge.
  In addition we have a common outdoor kitchen available for campers to socialize, gather to cook meals together. Laundry facilities, hot outdoor shower and common areas such as picnic areas, central outdoor field, swimming pond and outhouse facilities (using hummannure system) are shared.
  Please see photos's for the renovated Blue Bus from March to end October and Bell Tent available from May to mid September with minimum one month stay. Extra campsites can be provided for people traveling with their own tents and recreation vehicles.
  
  Amenities included are power, water access, internet and wifi, swimming pond, hot outdoor shower and laundry facilities and central common property with an open field is available for pleasure use.

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  What else ...

  We are located close to lovely park hiking trails with beach access where we have occasional social events on the property. We have an outdoor cob pizza oven in the common area and a farm stand for vending Artisanal goods.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have outdoor picnic areas with wifi and ethernet for the accommodations with an ocean view and lovely grounds. Longer stays are encouraged and additional campsites with power and water are available for those who have their own camping gear and or camper vehicles.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Campsites with water and power hook-up are provided if you bring your own camper vehicle with a shared outdoor kitchen and laundry facilities, shower and picnic areas and a central playing field with wifi. We are located close to the beach and North of central near Channel Ridge trails and park.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  15 hours for accommodations with shared meal/ dinner provided 3 days/ week leaving lots of free time for enjoying our gorgeous Island and season here!

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