Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
17 Apr 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
2
Email verified
Details
Description
Hi!
Our names are Véronique and Ian and our two kids are Zoë and Elliot. Our family also includes our new puppy Païka, our cat Flaco, 3 chickens and a beehive bursting with little helpers.
We have had amazing experiences working on farms during a year long backpacking trip with the kids a few years ago and want to share this kind of experience with others on our new (ish) farmstead. We have traveled extensively in the past and we love learning about different ways of life. When we get free time, we're moderately obsessed with running.
Our Quebec farmstead is a private homestead producing food for our own consumption, aiming towards maximum self-sufficiency. We are about to start our fifth year on the farm. We have a 5 acre piece of land composed of fields, gardens, a small orchard, a greenhouse, barn, a small wooded area giving access to a small river and our new project of a greenhouse in the snow.
When we arrived, the land was just bare hay fields, so we worked really hard and planted many fruit trees, built the gardens and the greenhouses set up an irrigation system and planted many other trees, shrubs and flowers.
Our farm is located in St-Ours, Québec about 1 hour from Montréal. St-Ours is a tiny city by the Richelieu and is quite beautiful. A car is necessary to get to the cities nearest to our farm. We will be happy to take you when we have to go if you don't have a car.
We have many projects to achieve our goal of being as self sufficient as possible. We want to add an adjacent greenhouse to the house, dig a pond, a worm composting system, and a food dehydrator. We would love to be able to share permaculture and horticulture knowledge and our love of nature.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We would love to share our culture and different cultures as well, different languages and our passion for travelling.
Our farmstead is in a historically rich area, with many historically relevant sights to see and places to visit.
We spent many years travelling abroad and have lots of fun and/or crazy stories and experiences.
Help
Ideally, we would like to find a couple or friends that could share the living area. The travellers will need to help 4-5 hours per day for full room and board or 2-3 hours per day for accommodation but without any meals, 5 days a week. We would prefer non smokers as I am really incommodated by cigarette smoking.
We would like to welcome motivated serious people that plan to stay for a minimum of 2 weeks.
We would also like to have volunteers that are familiar with a plant based diet as we do not eat any animal products. The only exception is that once in a while we will eat eggs from our own chickens but not very often. This is important for us because a lot of our time is dedicated to preparing food.
We would like help with food preparation and cleaning up after meals, horticulture (weeding, pruning trees, watering, sowing, planting, harvesting), food processing (canning, sauces, etc), construction and some child care as well (we have 2 very independent kids, 9 and 11 years old).
The volunteers have to plan for food for their days off if staying on the farm and also for alcohol, special snacks, deserts.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Japanese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
My husband and I were ESL teachers in Japan and Chile so we have experience teaching. We also enjoy learning new languages.
Accommodation
We have a comfortable caravan in a private area of our land that can easily host 2 people. We also have a tent trailer and, if need be, tents are available as well..
There is an outdoor compost toilet near the caravan and there is also an outdoor shower that is heated by a system of composting woodchips. You will have access to the swimming pool, hammocks and fire pit. It is simple and a bit rustic for the moment but we will work on making it more comfortable as we go.
The volunteers will prepare their own breakfast in the caravan and we will have lunch and dinner all together or to the liking of everyone.
What else ...
The St-Ours Canal Historical Site is just a few minutes away by car, also doable by bike. It is a nice area to go for a walk, picnic, watch the boats and have a bite to eat at the nice Ecluse no 10 café.
20 minutes away is Sorel-Tracy where you will find parks, the Biophare, Statera, restaurants, grocery stores, cinema and more.
30 minutes away is St-Hyacinthe where you will also find everything you need, where you can go visit the market area, Salines park and some great restaurants.
Also 30 minutes away is Mount St-Hilaire that has a spectacular view and is really nice to climb.
Then, if you want the really big city, Montréal is more or less an hour away by car.
We could arrange to drop you off in St-Hyacinthe where there are buses available to get to Montréal.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Volunteers will have access to internet at the house.
Space for parking camper vans
We have space for someone who would prefer to stay in their own campervan.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (1)
Some of the tasks he helped us with included planting seedlings, direct seeding, clearing brush, pruning tomatoes,built shelves and rebuilt our picnic table.
He was also a lot of help in the kitchen, and with… read more
Feedback
Some of the tasks he helped us with included planting seedlings, direct seeding, clearing brush, pruning tomatoes,built shelves and rebuilt our picnic table.
He was also a lot of help in the kitchen, and with… read more
