Join a couple living off-grid and play with baby goats in Yukon, Canada

Details

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  Description

  We are looking for people who like goats and dogs, cats and chickens (animals in general), farming and living off-grid in a frugal lifestyle. One with useful devices, however… we have the Internet, a washer and dryer… and even a plunge blender ( apparently a common device in other places not here).
  We are a couple with four grown children. Our 23 year old daughter is also living with us in the house. The other children live in Vancouver and Whitehorse, and from time to time they will come and visit us at the farm, so that we can spend time with our granddaughter. She is almost two.
  In the winter (October to April) you will share the house with us all of the time. From April thru to September we start housing people at night in various places on the farm, some of them are kind of fun, and we still share the common areas of the house with you. Sometimes you might be alone for a day or two, or ,what is more likely, you will be surrounded by other helpers.
  
  Daily business is doing general farm chores and taking care of the animals: Feeding our goats and dogs, cuddle them if they want to and make sure they are all fine and happy. Sometimes we have a couple of pigs, and we finally got some chickens.
  We need help with building things on the farm; for example maintaining the barn and the fences. We have a portable sawmill for milling lumber.
  We cherish frugality and reuse and repurpose items as much as we can. At the moment our farm is still in the growing phase and we hope it will be a profitable venture someday. We are building things with pallets, and with boards that we cut from logs with our sawmill. We are raising goats for meat, but would love to consider a milk production. With that comes a lot of regulations our farm isn’t ready for. Because of this, often goats get butchered on the farm for people who come. While we are building the farm, we are also working off the farm. We would appreciate stays of between three weeks and three to five months. It’s a great place to experience the snowy winter as well as the long summers in the Yukon.
  Essential gear that you must bring, or acquire when you get here, are a headlamp (more in the winter than summer), good work gloves that you can identify as yours (thickness dependent on the season), strong boots that can get wet, and again, dependent on the season, always expect the possibility of some wet conditions. The likelihood of acquiring some used boots at recycling centres here is high, or we also have affordable chain stores. The slip on shoes known as “crocs” are really useful no matter what the season is.Don’t get the kind with any liner, you want the ones you can wash off easily and get wet.
  The basics according to the season. You can acquire used things when you get here for a farm coat, but please bring your own “town “ gear for coming and going as our laundering ability is limited.
  You will need at least one pair of good work pants that can take having hay poked against them, lumber from the sawmill resting on the front of your thighs, dirty paws from the livestock guardian dogs with no manners jumping on you in friendly play, and impact from baby goat hooves (up to 80 pound baby goat) because they also have no manners yet. They grow out of this thankfully. The only somewhat aggressive goats we have are the mature bucks, and they have reasons, but they are easy to read the signs that they want to get pushy and avoid them, or if you don’t see these signs, then you don’t have to go in there.
  
  If living a self sustained lifestyle and farming interests you and you have some skills you are willing to share, we’d love to have you stay for awhile.
  
  For us it’s really important that workawayers are happy at our place and that we have good communications. We want you to feel welcome and be part of our family.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  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

  The Yukon is an iconic place to explore. Mount Sima is just a 20 minutes drive away where you can go skiing and snowboarding in winter. Whitehorse is a nice city with some museums, cafés, cute shops in downtown and the Canada Game Center with a swimming pool and other indoor sport activities. Around our farm there are a lot of activities you can do for example canoeing on the Yukon River, hiking in the mountains and Alaska is just a couple for hours away. From October to April you also have a chance to see the northern lights, and for a brief time this past August.
  
  We love to meet new people from all around the world and learn from spending time with each other. We can show you how to do general farm work and are open to new ideas if you see how we could do something better. However, it is possible we will see that you are somewhere we have already been in the learning curve. Then we will try and explain why something has to be a certain way. This happens the most often with the goats and the live stock guardian dogs. They are crafty creatures!

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We need someone who doesn’t mind being outside a lot and being around animals, specifically goats. Skills in building projects / shed/ feeders and diy tasks would be greatly appreciated. Our house also needs someone who can help with the minor chaos within, a few hours would do it, if you’re willing to cook dinner, even better.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  In summer (April to September) we can accommodate workawayers in a tiny self-made cabin which we call the „treehouse“ and a campervan that is connected to plumbing with a flush toilet (both suitable for two people). A new option is a parked city bus, with two more spaces, so we have plenty of room in the summer. The workawayers have access to the main house with a bathroom and shower, plus a kitchen, dining and living room.
  It’s been described as somewhat of a hostel type environment sometimes, but it’s not always, sometimes you’re here with us by yourself. Just be prepared for this if there are lots of other people about, but you’ll always have your own space. Honestly, it’s the bigger groups where we get the most cultural exchange! We have have so much that needs to be done!
  
  For the winter months we are more limited where we only have a bedroom with two beds inside the house. For shorter periods of time, we can add a comfortable cot in the living room that is semi private.
  
  
We would like to share meals, and provide the food.

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  What else ...

  We live near Whitehorse, Yukon with an international airport. Car rentals are available, if you want to go exploring for a few days. Activities in the land of the midnight sun are limitless. It’s a great place to be, check it out.
  We live within a short walk to the Yukon River , after mid summer when the water rises.
  
  We hope to make your stay enjoyable.

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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

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We are off grid but can provide a power connection if needed, we have good water available as well.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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