Enjoy lakes, hiking and nature on this 40-acre hobby farm in beautiful Ontario, Canada

Informationen

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  Beschreibung

  UPDATE as of February 2024:
  
  - General home maintenance/cleaning (keeping home tidy, cleaning rooms/spaces)
  - Wood (cutting down trees, cutting logs, splitting, stacking)
  - Gardening (planting seeds, clearing out gardens, picking up weeds, building gardens)
  - Land clearing (bushes and trees)
  - Farm chores (barn cleaning, animal care, field tidy up, etc).
  - Interior/exterior painting
  - Food prep and preservation - meals, snacks, canning/preserving, etc.
  - Home maintenance projects - bathroom renovations, bunkie building, etc.
  
  We would love someone that could stay a minimum 3-4 weeks to maintain consistency for chores/support. We also welcome workaways who want to stay longer and become part of our family (ex: 6 months, providing we all get along).
  
  Accommodation is in our home. We can only accommodate 1 workaway (if you are couple please let us know and we can discuss).
  
  Welcome to our beautiful piece of land just 20 mins from downtown Kingston, Ontario. With close to 40 acres of land, we have built a sustainable family home. Kingston is located just 1.5 hours from Ottawa (the capital of Canada) and 2.5 hours from Toronto. Our property is located in a gorgeous geographical region - the Canadian Shield. It features calm lakes, large maple trees and solid climbing rocks. Our property is 40 acres of mixed woods and fields along with trails and also runs parallel to a 90 acre Nature Conservancy park with trails.
  
  Our family has 4 school aged children ranging in age from 8-15 years of age. Our children attend a local community school in Kingston. They are active, lively and have a love of nature. We spend a significant amount of time together as a family enjoying outdoor activities - swimming, kayaking, hiking, walking, running, skiing, skating and much more! Our weekends are spent together as a family enjoying our property, working on the farm, playing outside, exploring surrounding nature trails or having fun with board games!
  
  Jamin is a retired veteran and stays at home (and has a part time job) and Natalie is a school teacher working in Kingston. You will be spending the majority of your time with Jamin helping on and around the farm (or sometimes working alone). Jamin is easy to get along with and loves meeting new people.
  
  We are open to workaways that are interested in working on our homestead and enjoy spending time with children. We have four, so it can get noisy!
  
  Our home is just 5 mins from two beautiful lakes that are perfect for swimming, kayaking and other water sports. We head into town on a regular basis so there are opportunities for you to visit downtown Kingston and explore the city.
  
  We eat a heavy meat based diet, as we grow and raise on our own animals - organic and pasture raised. We strongly believe in the importance of animal meats and fats . We do welcome vegetarians; however, accommodations are often not available when we prepare the main dishes (aka. you will need to make your own meals in these cases). We provide 3 meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Dinner is shared with all family members. Breakfast and lunch are on your own, especially during the work week when kids are at school. Special treats, snacks and alcohol are to be purchased on your own. We can take you grocery shopping if there are any treats or specialty foods you would like (you are also more than welcome to bake using our supplies and make a batch for all of us if you prefer!). Food is a priority for family and as such we eat relatively healthy. We cook most of our own foods from scratch. We welcome guests who have a passion for cooking as well since our kids enjoy trying to new meals (they are bored of the ones we offer!).
  
  We are looking for workaways who have prior workaway experience and are at least in their mid20's age. The position calls for hardwork and at times heavy lifting. You will be primarily working outdoors, with some indoor work on rainy and miserable days.
  
  We currently have 6 cows, 2 pigs and a flock of chickens, ducks and turkeys (about 30). We raise meat birds and laying hens. Our cows are both dairy and beef. We milk our cow regularly and have access to fresh milk - which often gets turned into butter, ice cream and other delicious foods. We are still trying to figure out cheesemaking - if you have experience with that we welcome you to our farm to teach us :)
  
  We have some large gardens that need caring for (weeding, watering, etc) along with many chores around the home (carpentry, painting, washing/cleaning).
  
  In the Winter, we will require primarily maintenance and assistance of our home, cow milking and wood chopping. As winter comes to end we will require assistance with Maple Syrup (usually the end February to early March). We have 3 large groves of maple trees and in previous years have put out up to 80 taps but we can do much more if we have more help!
  
  Please be prepared for the following:
  -Kingston spring and fall weather is mixed. It could be warm (20 degrees celcius) or cooler (10 degrees celcius). It can be rainy and cool or hot and humid.
  -Kingston winter weather is cold (usually between minus 10 to minus 40 from December through March).
  -Kingston summer weather is typically hot (20-35 degrees celcius) and humid.
  -Bring rain boots, winter boots, work boots, working clothes, work gloves and layers. Merino wool makes a great base layer.
  -We have 4 children in our home so it is not quiet during the day. If you are looking for a quiet retreat this is not the spot for you. If you are looking for fun, adventure and excitement, we are a fabulous bunch!
  -We have internet and cell service, though at times (rain, snow) it can be slow. Downloading movies can be a drain on our bandwidth so we ask guests to limit these activities. Luckily we play a lot of board games and spend time as a family together.
  -You are asked to help with meals (preparation and clean up of meals).
  -You are responsible for helping with chores in the home and keeping up with your own laundry. We will show you how to use the laundry machine. We typically hang our clothes to dry in the house or outside (to save energy costs).
  -Be expected to work 4-5 hours per day for 5 days per week. Work starts at 8am in the morning.
  -Smoking is prohibited in the house and around the children. This can be done outside with discretion.
  -Ensure that you have travel insurance.
  -We can offer rides into town on weekdays when the kids are in school or as we head in for errands/activities. Gas is expensive right now so we will do our best to line up rides into town with our own activities, which happen quite often.
  
  We look forward to hearing from you and discussing opportunities further :)
  
  Natalie, Jamin and family

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  Arten von Hilfe und Lernmöglichkeiten

  Hilfe bei Ökoprojekten

  Gartenarbeiten

  Heimwerker- und Bauarbeiten

  Betreuung von Tieren

  Mithilfe auf einem Bauernhof

  Zubereiten / Kochen von Mahlzeiten für die Familie

  Hausarbeiten

  Handwerkliche Arbeiten
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  UNO-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung, die dieser Gastgeber verfolgt

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  Was ist das?
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  Kultureller Austausch und Lernmöglichkeiten

  Workaways will benefit tremendously from our eco friendly lifestyle and experiences of owning a 40 acre hobby farm with 4 kids. Learn about entrepreneurship from Natalie and Jamin and have fun with the children at the same time.
  
  You will learn about:
  - Gardening
  - Carpentry
  - Animal husbandry
  - Caring for children
  - Maple Syrup
  - Sustainable farming
  - Sustainable living
  - Learning language (English primarily. Natalie speaks French as well)
  
  You will also have the opportunity to meet a community of like minded individuals. Kingston is a fabulous city to learn about sustainable farming and lifestyles. The landscape in Kingston gorgeous!

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  Projekte mit Kindern

  Dieses Projekt schließt möglicherweise den Umgang mit Kindern ein. Mehr Informationen findest du in unseren Verhaltensregeln und Tipps hier.

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  Arbeit

  We are looking for assistance with the following tasks in no particular order. Tasks can be discussed based on the skills you have to offer
  
  Fall
  - Chopping Wood *** HIGH PRIORITY
  - Tidying up gardens and getting them ready for winter/spring
  - Clean out barn and chicken coop
  - Preparing small greenhouse for greens and sprouts for fall/winter
  - Cutting back brush and trimming apple trees
  - Building a cold frame
  - Building a deck
  - Creating wood storage along side of home
  - Creating more walking and skiing trails
  - Creating mountain biking trails & outdoor play area for kids
  
  Winter
  - Maple syrup (March)
  - Chopping Wood
  - House renovations and tidy up
  - Barn work
  - Milking cows
  - Cooking, meal prep
  
  Spring
  - Getting fences ready for animals
  - Building shelters for animals (moveable chicken coops, lean to's for pigs/cows, etc)
  - Seed planting, garden preparation
  - Weeding gardens and building new garden beds
  - Trimming back bushes
  - Food harvesting, preparation, storage, etc
  
  Summer
  - Chopping wood* High priority
  - Garden maintenance and weeding
  - Cutting back brush and trimming trees
  - Building a cold frame
  - Creating wood storage along side of home
  - Food harvesting, preparation, storage, etc

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  Sprachen

  Gesprochene Sprachen
  Englisch: Fließend
  Französisch: Fließend

  Dieser Gastgeber bietet Sprachaustausch an
  I speak english and french.
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  Unterkunft

  Currently, accommodation is in a bedroom in our home. We have a twin bed available for workaways. Washroom facilities are close by. Since there are many of us in the family, we ask that showers be kept short (no more than 10 mins) to ensure everyone has access to hot water!
  
  In the summer, we have a tent trailer and/or tent available for those interested. Washroom facilities including shower is in her our home, along with eating facilities (kitchen) and laundry. We also open our home for your to relax and enjoy at your leisure.
  
  We have bicycles you can use along with kayaks for local trips. We head into town several times a week (times are limited to our school drop off and pick up schedule and errands).

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  Was noch ...

  We live about 20 minutes away from downtown Kingston in a small village. There is a local restaurant and convenience store located close to our home. Otherwise we are surrounded by lakes, walking/hiking trails and beautiful scenery.
  Kingston is 1.5 hours to Ottawa, 2 hours to Montreal and 2.5 hours to Toronto. There is a train station and bus station in Kingston which can take you to larger cities if you would like to visit.
  Kingston has delicious restaurants, lots of arts, music and theatres and a vibrant community.

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  Etwas mehr Information

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    Internet Zugang

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    Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang

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    Wir besitzen Tiere

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    Wir sind Raucher

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    Familien möglich

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  Platz zum Abstellen von Camper Vans

  We have tons of space to park your van. Come on by :)

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  Kapazität - wie viele Workawayer maximal

  zwei

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  Arbeitszeiten

  Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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