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Host rating
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15 Apr 2024
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Details
Description
Located in Bancroft, Ontario, on the Canadian Shield amongst the spruces, lakes and beaver ponds, we have started to cultivate a project on our 65-acre plot of land. We are still in very early stages of setting up our homestead so this is a great learning opportunity for people who would like to know the reality of setting up an alternative lifestyle from the very beginning! For now our main focus is getting our family set up to live comfortably year round.
The tasks are plentiful as we set things up on our property, between setting up and maintaining a summer garden, a perennial food forest, building various out buildings as well as our alternative, ecological home -we have our work cut out for ourselves!
Our family consists of myself - Sophia, born and raised in Canada but I've lived abroad in Holland and the UK for 5 years, where I met my husband Andres. Andres is from Venezuela but also lived in the UK for 10 years and Greece occasionally. We love Europe and all our traveling experiences but we also love our new Canadian homesteading life. We miss our cultural learning opportunities abroad but look forward to inviting others onto our homestead to offer the experience of authentic Canadian living. To share the cultural exchange opportunity between you and ourselves and now our two loving daughters - Lucia 6 years old and Jacqueline 3 years old. We fantasize about them learning other languages and about other cultures with the new and interesting people that come and stay with us.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
If you're seeking an authentic Canadian experience then this is the perfect location for you. We are in the heart of what is known as Canadian cottage country. We are surrounded by lakes, the stunning York river, and plenty of forests. Our property has a mature maple bush standing where we've tapped and processed our own maple syrup. We have a beautiful hiking trail bordering our property. Plenty of wildlife on and around our property. After nearly 8 years of owning our property we have become very familiar with the surrounding area and could inform our 'workstayer' where to go to enjoy more natural, outdoor life and the local culture. There is also the famous Algonquin Park just 40 min drive from us. We also have a canoe which you would be welcome to use at the lake nearby or river. As a Canadian, I am familiar with the local and national knowledge and culture. But you'd be getting a more worldly experience at our place as my husband is from Venezuela, a native Spanish speaker and we both have plenty of experience living and traveling abroad. We love to hear about and share our own cultural experiences. We all know there is no chance of being able to visit every single corner of this precious planet but at least we can share our own stories about our own experiences and invite others on our journeys whilst sitting around a campfire enjoying time together on spring, summer or autumn evenings :)
Help
There are a number of things we are working on. During your stay with us you will be helping on one or a combination of the following tasks.
Building tasks include: completing a small scale roundhouse structure, finish building an outhouse, and a tiny house for accommodations
Gardening tasks include: organizing and caring for our growing collection of perennials into a forest garden as well as some annual gardening
Landscaping tasks include: transplanting trees to make natural fences/barriers/hedges, carving out trails, paths and driveways through the property for hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, and general access
Other always on-going homesteading tasks include: preserving our harvest, harvesting firewood, and maintaining tools, equipment and structures which includes organizing, cleaning, sanding, grinding, painting, and oiling.
Other creative tasks include: making signs for our property and other decorative features, basketry and ornamental weaving from our own harvested wild materials (we are not experts at this yet but would love to learn from someone or learn together!), and other wild crafting such as harvesting plentiful wildflowers for medicinal and cosmetic uses.
NOTE: tasks on the homestead vary and can sometimes turn out to be mundane and/or repetitive but that is the nature of this lifestyle.
Also, please be advised that some of the work requires physical effort and some degree of strength (ie. Splitting and stacking firewood, moving stones for garden walls, shoveling manure etc) That doesn't have to mean to need to be in top shape - in fact, we'd love people to use this work exchange experience as an opportunity to Kickstart a great personal health care routine! We simply tell you this in advance to avoid any surprises when you arrive. By all means, we encourage you to work at a safe steady pace.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
My husband and I speak english fluently with our daughters. My husband speaks fluent Spanish but I would like to learn more Spanish and teach it to my girls.
Accommodation
As mentioned, we are still in very early stages of setting ourselves up on our property. There was NOTHING when we arrived. We stay in a non-winterized trailer at the moment. We have outhouses, an outdoor shower, and our own dug well where we hand pump water and filter it through a basic (but effective!) filtration system. We have a mini-solar system where you could charge a phone, laptop, basic things like that.
Accommodation options are as follows:
1) You can pitch your own tent here.
2) We can provide a tent and bedding for you if you do not have your own and don't mind using ours.
3) We have a camper/trailer available for couples (2 people min or 4 people max).
4) You could park your own trailer/mobile tiny house at our place.
All meals are included.
What else ...
There's plenty to do for recreation. Hiking on the trail that borders our property, swimming at a selection of lakes in the area, fishing, cycling and you'd be welcome to borrow our canoe if interested. The landscape at our place varies between mixed wood forest, an old pine plantation and cleared fields full of wildflowers, so you may just want to spend your time on the land exploring and relaxing.
NOTE- We can accept couples and/or small families only if all the work requested and outlined here can be accurately fulfilled.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have plenty of space for you to park your camper/trailer here at our place.
Can possibly accept pets
Only gentle animals welcome as we have two girls. We also have a dog so they would have to be able to get along too.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
