Experience off-grid living on a 36 acre farmstead nestled in the Chilliwack River Valley in beautiful BC, Canada

Details

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  Description

  Our off-grid 36 acre farmstead is just over an hour from Vancouver, but far away from the hectic pace of urban life. Cristal and Stephan work full time in public health and education, while raising children, cattle, pigs and chickens! We have four children between the ages of 27 and 20; currently only one of them lives at home. We are not afraid of hard work, but we also enjoy the Italian motto of "il tempo giusto". Craft beer, wine and cocktails on one of our outdoor patios round out many a sunny summer evening, while rainy evenings are best enjoyed in the "spa azul" or the "palais de Cristal" or the "hotbox".
  
  Jade Pond Acres is a work-in-progress: juggling work, family life, animal husbandry, and building additions takes time! We are surrounded by forests and meadows, and a key feature of our farm is the two-thirds of acre fresh water pond -- we swim, zipline into and boat in the summer, and spend free time around the campfire pit on the sandy shore.
  
  We regularly see deer pass across our pastures, see black bears several times a year, and have seen cougars twice in over twenty years. Coyotes and crows annoy the chickens, but our friendly farm dogs Jasmine and Misty do a good job of keeping them at bay.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Cristal grew up in Mumbai and Dubai before studying in London, Chicago and Montreal. Stephan grew up in Chilliwack, but fell in love with the Francophone world as a teenager and lived in Nice and Montreal for a total of six years before returning to the Fraser Valley. Our children have studied in Germany, France, and Norway, and our entire family values the rich diversity of humanity. We have hosted numerous exchange students for anywhere from two weeks to 5 months.
  
  Meals reflect not only our own multicultural upbringings but also our interest in international cuisines. We also appreciate the 100 mile diet; in fact, we are proud to say that in the summer, we often eat food that comes from within a hundred metres of our kitchen! Given that we are a farm that raises pastured meats, animal proteins feature in our meals; we are unable to honour vegetarian or vegan diets.
  
  Cristal is an expert on hiking the local mountains, while Stephan's ruined knees make him better suited to looking at them. Join one of us, depending on your energy level and mood on any given day.
  
  Your experience in our family would not be the typical Canadian experience, in that our remote Chilliwack River Valley farmstead and our lifestyle is different from urban or suburban living; however, we enjoy sharing what we have and explaining what we do with others, and look forward to welcoming like-minded individuals!
  
  We speak English and some German and French. English is the main language of the household.

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  Help

  "Under construction" best sums up Jade Pond Acres. In the short term, fence posts and wire fencing need to be installed, some pathways need to be placed in stamped concrete, and a wood-fired bread/pizza oven needs to be completed. A vegetable garden and small greenhouse need a green thumb, and there is always cooking and cleaning to keep the household going!
  
  Longer term, we would like to develop a walking path around our two ponds, and create a landscaped ornamental garden around one of the ponds (18th century British landscape? Japanese inspired? Who knows?).
  
  We would hope for approximately 20 hours of help a week. Except for July and August, there would be some weekend work and irregular weekday hours, depending on our guests' skill-sets and our own work schedules. During the summer, we work four hours in the morning five days a week and then have the afternoon for relaxing at Jade Pond Acres or exploring the remarkable nature of the Fraser Valley.
  
  You don't need to be skilled, as long as you are a quick learner and willing to work! That's how we learned to build up Jade Pond Acres without prior experience. That being said, you should be willing to learn to operate a tractor and implements, a chainsaw, and a brush cutter, as these are used from time to time.
  
  NOTE: Due to the remoteness of our property and the type of work we will be doing, we are restricting our availability to couples only.

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We have one bedroom available, with a shared bathroom. The bedroom has a queen-sized bed.

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  What else ...

  Chilliwack is located in the heart of the Fraser Valley, with many mountains, lakes and rivers within easy driving distance. While you would need a car to be completely independent, or in really good physical shape and happy to jump on a bike to get around, we are happy to drive you either to public transit or to go on trips together. We also just like hanging out at home, and we are sure you will too, once you get to know Jade Pond Acres. For more on our area, simply google "TourismChilliwack" and enjoy the opportunities!

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4 hours a day, 5 days a week

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