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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
8 Jun 2025
Reply rate
95.0 %
Usually responds within 30 days
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Description
Hi, my name is Victor. I'm a former business man from Montreal, and now I’m a farmer. In 2020 I sold my business and vested all of my resources into sustainable living. My dream and goal is to develop a totally self-sustaining life. We live 100% off grid using solar to power our home and farm. Our water source is a well and aquifer. We're on 45 acres. Between 2020 and 2022 we dug a 3/4 acre 18' deep pond with our own beach. We also built 12 bunkies, (4 cabins that sleep up to 4 people, 1 treehouse cabin that sleeps up to 10 people, 4 cook houses 1 yurt that sits 20 people, 2 cabins for chickens and 1 cabin for rabbits. Our farm is experimental, biodynamic and holistic. We seek to live in the circle of life harmoniously. We are excited about this opportunity to share our dreams with others. Come join us at Anastasia's Domain!
Here is a published article about us when we 1st began in 2020:
Starting a Sustainable Farm – From the Ground Up.
New farmers Victor and Julia left city life in Montreal in 2016, when they purchased a fifty-acre farm in eastern Ontario. The farm is a five-minute walk from downtown Alexandria and is surrounded by 1000 acres of publicly-owned park meadow, forest and wetlands. There’s a public boardwalk right on the edge of their property, which suits the couple perfectly: Their dream is to open the farm to others who want to learn about sustainable farming and homesteading.
To date, they keep bees, chickens and rabbits. They also maintain gardens and an apple orchard. They originally discovered about 150 apple trees when they first arrived on the property and later found another hundred or so in re-wilded bush. They decided to keep some areas as a natural orchard.
Four years later, working with nature is still top of mind as they explore the property’s potential. With every decision, Victor asks, “How can what I do be sustainable, and how can I help others?”
Victor spent several years working in various sectors, from missions to business, before starting the farm. He continues to operate a shipping company in Montreal. Julia is a RailWay engineer from Kharkiv, Ukraine and moved to Canada with Victor in 2015.
“We’re fortunate because we didn’t need this as a source of revenue,” Victor explains. This gives them the ability to try new things on the farm. “As my business advisor tells me, ‘It’s not trial and error – It’s experimental development!’”
Victor’s first passion is beekeeping. He poured hours and hours into research before they caught their own swarms three years ago. That first year, they started out with nine hives, but lost six over the winter.
“I sat in front of my dead colonies and felt real remorse,” Victor reflected. “What was I doing?” But they didn’t give up. The second year, they expanded to thirty colonies and extracted 3,000 pounds of honey, but they still ended that winter with only two live colonies. Victor continued his research. He now credits the work of Thomas D. Seeley, a world-renowned expert, for the changes he’s made since then.
Taking cues from wild honey bees, Victor built his own hives, which are higher from the ground than standard industry hives. They also have thicker walls and mimic the dimensions preferred by wild honey bees, which tend to seek out holes in trees with a capacity of around 70L and openings of about four inches in diameter. He leaves the hives’ two bottom boxes alone and will extract honey only from a third box on top.
His hives are also spread out across his property, along a winding, five-kilometre trail that Victor affectionately calls his “bee highway.” The bees can take advantage of the natural areas bordering the farm, which gives them plenty of space to roam.
“This year, the concept of social distancing really hit home,” Victor comments. “Animals practice that in their own environment naturally.”
Victor, like most beekeepers, is fascinated by the way bees work as one body. “They operate in a collective, it’s a living organism. One colony is like one animal. And I’m operating in the collective – I’m a co-creator.”
This approach to co-creativeness is at play in other areas of the farm, too, where we are hard at work on new projects. So far, they’ve put in an irrigation pond to support their gardens, a greenhouse to provide fresh food for their rabbits in winter, and a sawmill to cut wood from the bush for their hives.
They’ve also built a 4 cookhouses and some 5 bunkies for guests who want to come and learn more about sustainable farming. They already have a few regulars, friends and family who come and help out on the farm.
Julia and Victor have a blended family of seven children, six of whom are grown. Their youngest, four-year-old Anastasia, (now 8) is the farm’s namesake.
“Anastasia means new life,” Victor explains. The idea of new life ties in closely with their purpose on the farm. “We have all kinds of things growing here, and I have the opportunity to co-create. We can carve it into something sustainable that gives life.”
We live off grid, using solar and wind power, on 45 acres of meadows, forest, wet lands and agriculture. We want to build an under ground greenhouse in 1 of our meadows that will be 100% self-sustaining year around.(project has begun and is to be completed with your assistance by August 2025) We are looking for creative visionary people who want to learn about permaculture and develop this type of lifestyle.
This is a pioneer adventure, combining natural living and technologies that are self-sustaining. This is an opportunity to experiment, grow and expand your senses developing a free lifestyle, working with honey bees, chickens and rabbits and gardening year around.
Our workawayers stay is our fully equipped 27' 2021 Jayco RV trailer and a 30" RV with all the amenities provided.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Politics / Social justice
Culture
Pets
Sustainability
Farming
Charity work
Photography
Plant care
Music
History
Books
Architecture
Cooking & food
Drawing & painting
Carpentry
Animals
Beach
Outdoor activities
Nature
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
This is a pioneer adventure, combining natural living and technologies that are self-sustaining. This is an opportunity to experiment, grow and expand your senses developing a free lifestyle, working with honey bees, chickens and rabbits and gardening year around.
Help
We live off grid, using solar and wind power, on 45 acres of meadows, forest, wet lands and agriculture. We are looking for creative visionary people who want to learn about permaculture and develop a sustainable lifestyle.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Russian: Fluent
Ukrainian: FluentThis 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
We have accommodations in 5 off the grid cabins. Each cabin has it's own solar panel, wood heat and cooking stove, and 4 cookhouses that are rented out
Our workawayers stay is our fully equipped 27' 2021 Jayco RV trailer and a 30" RV with all the amenities provided.
What else ...
We are located 1 hour from both Montreal and Ottawa and 4.5 hours from Toronto, in the small town of Alexandria, Ontario. This will be our 1st experience with volunteers. We moved here in November of 2016 and are learning and growing in this life style. We speak English, French, Ukrainian and Russian.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
Any type of vehicle can be parked as we have 45 acres
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (3)
Victor, Julia and Anastasia are a wonderful little family nestled into a hidden part of Alexandria, Ontario. The property is huge and beautiful, there is definitely no lack of nature around. They are very accomodating and included me in a lot of the activities they did together, which was lovely.
As far as the volunteer… read more
It is located in a quiet and beautiful countryside village halfway between Ottawa and Montreal, about an hour away.
There are Victor, his beautiful wife Julia, a promising swimmer son Daniel, and the cute and pretty 5-year-old… read more
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Victor, Julia and Anastasia are a wonderful little family nestled into a hidden part of Alexandria, Ontario. The property is huge and beautiful, there is definitely no lack of nature around. They are very accomodating and included me in a lot of the activities they did together, which was lovely.
As far as the volunteer… read more
It is located in a quiet and beautiful countryside village halfway between Ottawa and Montreal, about an hour away.
There are Victor, his beautiful wife Julia, a promising swimmer son Daniel, and the cute and pretty 5-year-old… read more
