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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
8 Apr 2024
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Usually responds within 12 days
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Details
Description
This is a Private Homestead. We have a full little farm so that we can design a life we want & produce more than half of our food. We share knowledge and experiences. We work hard and eat well.
Looking for hard working, self-motivated and flexible, curious helpers who love to learn while getting dirty.
Demands and tasks change seasonally-
Priority skills that we are now seeking:
-Animal Care
-Gardening & planting
-Manual labour to clear compost
-Preparing & piling Firewood (with splitter)
-Re-roofing a rabbit houses and a chicken coop (4-6ft high)
-House cleaning
-General maintenance & construction
-Log Cabin finishing
**Everyone helps with food prep & kitchen clean-up as part of living together**
Open to 10 day stays if experienced already.
Ideal time commitment is 3 weeks to 1 month
Longer stays for Farmstead Internships available (geared to those with a focus on gardening or building).
We are in our 7th year farming!!
We are former travellers setting deeper roots - into a beautiful place. 18 acres of land, a barn, animals, creative open farmhouse, nestled by a little river, and 50 mins. to Ottawa Canada.
About us:
Elmir works over full time hours so is not always available for farm duties. He is very passionate about all of our projects future and present and joins in as he can! He is skilled at and enjoys streamlining processes.
Brandie is the Queen B here - she lives this space, crafting, building permaculture garden's, preserving food, and taking morning strolls with the animals. She works from home & cares for many.
Éamon (16) is busy with highschool & home on weekends. He is a very caring, enthusiastic, and engaged human that we love dearly.
Zion (22) just got married to Caelah. They live an hour away. He is a kind fun human with great ingenuity and resourcefulness. He was the main motivator to get this farm + we are grateful.
This space: will be used for gatherings. Agricultural education through living an oldschool farm experience, stargazing, art classes, prenatal education, weekend picnics, nature / farm classes, creating traditional gourmet food and farm fresh goodies.
Visitors must have own medical insurance and sign a waiver since life has risks.
You are responsible for your own health and wellbeing. :)
How to get here: There is no public transit from Ottawa to our farm. Some people find creative ways to get to us. If you would rather ask us for a lift $20 covers the cost of gas and we can usually find a mutual moment to do this trip.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
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 host in a community style. Our experiences run deep from our travels and our guests can expect to be made part of the family (and extended family). We can lead you to both city tourist sites (Ottawa) and the country life of the area. Both of our boys are outgoing and we all freely share what we know while continuing to learn. Brandie and the boys are bilingual French / English but we speak English at home. We often have people over. There are strong creative juices to soak in and lots of crafts to try.
Bring clothes for all weather and a head light if you have one.
Expect to get dirty and work hard (there are always jobs on the go and others waiting to be done).
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
5 hours of help a day plus we expect that you fit into our family / community living daily rhythms (meal prep + clean up + sweeping floors is for everyone..) .
We can not offer a very specific predictable work schedule as the days vary.
Extra points for self initiating a job that you see needing done. We appreciate independence and self motivation mixed with some group brainstorming.
On our to do list / some are season dependent:
-Log cabin construction
-Building barn doors
-Farm fencing
-Organic gardening using permaculture concepts
-Housework / cleaning
-Prepping Firewood
-Food preservation (fermentation, canning, meat smoking, butter churning..)
-Cheese making (on hold until next lactation)
-Adding a basement bathroom
-Animal care (yes, this includes cleaning up after them)
-Bread baking every couple of days
-Yard clean-up and maintenance
-Art on the property
-Mini horse groundwork and natural horsemanship training
-Deck construction
-Set up to establishing a forest mushroom garden next year
... let us know what you would like to contribute while you are here :) (some are dependent on season, resource availability, and others are ongoing..)
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Serbo-Croatian: Fluent
French: Intermediate
Spanish: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Comfortable room with a real bed in the house or camping outside - your choice.
Meditation / yoga space.
Shared washroom.
With a house full of foodies - meals are homemade / family style collective efforts (mostly farm to table).
We are adaptable to dietary needs. We eat our own farm raised meats (no pork) and many of our meals are vegetarian.
Cook for us and with us!
What else ...
Our home is under an hour from downtown Ottawa. We may go to the city a couple times a week. We can pick our guests up form Aylmer Quebec or Ottawa as there is no public transit here ($20 helps with gas). At the farm, expect a slower life pace that somehow is always in motion. Let some time slide while enjoying breakfast, petting a donkey, resting in the tree house, visiting a nearby beach on the Ottawa River.. We can hike Gatineau Park, visit other farms..
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We are self employed and work from home too :)
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (25)
During the month I spent there, I did all kinds of things: help in the kitchen, make amazing… read more
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
During the month I spent there, I did all kinds of things: help in the kitchen, make amazing… read more
We exchanged our cultural backgrounds which were very similar, allowed me to fit right in and able to help. They have countless animals and all seem to have been named.
I could only be there for one day since I'm still working, it was such a beautiful… read more
Brandie est d'une très grande gentillesse et patience, elle est douce ! et mon dieu que la nourriture est bonne chez Brandie, tout est fait maison avec des produits de super bonne qualité c'est super agréable !
Marie et moi même avons vraiment appréciée… read more
Thank you Maggie and Joe for being here at just the right time to help in all the most needed ways. From the daily tasks… read more
Autumn is intense… read more
here is our family -Feedback. Thank you again so, so much for having us. It was our first workaway and it was an amazing experience for all of us.
Sammy, 12: I loved working with the animals but I would have loved to have known that there would be so many mosquitos :( - We hit the true bug-season! Thank you for your… read more
Le travail à effectuer était intéressant et gratifiant ; j'ai pu apprendre beaucoup à… read more
Brandie, Elmir, Zion and Eimon, even the animals! All of them made me feel one more in their family since the beginning. The second day they invited me to the thanksgiving dinner with part of their family and friends.
I spend the whole month of October with them. During that time me and other workawayers worked sanding windows… read more
I arrived at the farm super last minute, since my previous host did not work out very well. Eamon, Zion, Elmir and Brandie welcomed me super warmly and I felt comfortable right from the start.
The four of them and all their animals are just gorgeous.
I… read more
Une merveilleuse rencontre, des souvenirs inoubliables, et le cœur gros quand nous sommes parties.... avec l'espoir de revoir tout le monde bientôt.
Tout nous a longtemps manqué: la douceur et la disponibilité de Brandy, la fantaisie… read more
I was welcomed so openly and enthusiastically with ease and good humour.
I felt so happy in the daily routine of feeding the animals and keeping the fires going. A pleasing and wholesome way of life that certainly isn’t… read more
There was a ton of variety! Every day we helped out with various farm chores-- day-to-day things like milking the cow (Velma is such a sweetheart!),… read more
They are a very good family and their children Zion and Eamon have an exemplary education.
Brandie is an artist and has a great willingness to learn new things. Elmir her husband is an excellent host, educated and possesses a formidable sense of humor. Our difficulty in speaking English was… read more
I am so very grateful for getting the chance to meet all of you, to be so welcome in… read more
