Canada
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Alpaca farm in picturesque rural Nova Scotia.
We are not 100% organic, as our alpacas need a pharmaceutical vaccination once a month and our chickens get medicated chick feed when they are baby chicks. Everything else is organic with the animals. Our vegetable garden is 100% organic. Our blueberry field was sprayed up until this year, but we want to stop using chemicals on it and convert it to organic, which will be much more labour-intensive. This would require more people living here.
We are amenable to stays as short as two weeks or as long as a couple months, if it turns out that we really click. In fact, if someone fits into our lifetime vision for the homestead and intentional community that we want to build, we are amenable to them staying forever! We want to live happily ever after with about 5 more people.
We are LGBT friendly...we are both pansexual and polyamorous.
We have both been vegetarian and try our best to cater to any dietary restrictions. We are a strictly non-smoking household.
We always need 2-3 workawayers here at the beginning of June for our annual shearing of the alpacas...it's a strenuous day that needs a few extra pairs of hands.
Gardening
Building
Babysitting / child care
General Maintenance
Farmstay
Other
Help in the house
Animal care
Language practice
Art project
Rural Nova Scotia is a beautiful place with a lot of history. Travellers can learn about alpacas and their fibre, as well as raising poultry and cultivating blueberries.
We need help with the animals (alpacas and chickens), gardens, blueberry field, woods, stacking firewood, painting, and renovations. There are chores suited to people with a lot of physical strength and also other chores that require less strength, such as working with our alpaca fibre. On days when kayla has a day shift at her job, you might be watching the kids for a few hours.
We sometimes get people who turn out not to be very good at the farmwork and/or not suited to child care. In the past, we have usually let it slide, but due to the high demand for coming to our farm, we have decided to start asking people to move along to another host if this is happening. We don't work people nearly as hard as some other hosts, but neither is this just a place to come and take a rest during your travels.
Helping out with routine household chores - such as a bit of cooking, cleaning, or dishes - shouldn't be considered part of your five hours for the day.
If you are interested in farm-sitting, we might take a drive to Ontario to visit relatives for the second half of your stay. :-)
English, very limited French
Private bedroom. Breakfast you can prepare yourself, lunch is usually leftovers from the day before, and I cook dinner every day. Feel free to offer to help with dinner, but we will usually decline the offer. :) We feed our workawayers very well (as you can see in the reviews), but if there are special/expensive beverages, fruits, etc. that you want, you should bring them with you or get them in town on your days off. Similarly, the shower dispenser always has body wash and shampoo, but please bring your own toothpaste and other toiletries, creams, and make-up.
Internet is available in the evenings, after all work has been completed. Being out in the boonies, internet is very limited and sporadic. If you need regular internet with a lot of bandwidth, you should have a data plan on your phone.
We are 15-20 minutes from 3 very nice towns, half an hour away from the Joggins Fossil Cliffs, and 20-30 minutes away from various points on the Bay of Fundy. Lots to do and see, if you have your own vehicle (no public transit here). If you want to use your days off to travel to Halifax, Charlottetown, etc., and you don't have your own vehicle, it means you need to plan your day-off trips to coincide with times that we are driving to town (unless you are comfortable hitch-hiking). :)
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
