Rural homeschooling family in the beautiful Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, Canada

Infos

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  Description

  Welcome to our homestead!
  
  We (a family of four, with an 8-year-old and a 14-year-old), always have a lot going on ... with building, gardening, home schooling, two active kids, animals, making a living and keeping a household.
  
  Part of our farm family are 2 large outdoor dogs (now one... We just lost our old faithful girl), three cats and 30 or so chickens. In the past we've had ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs and sheep, but they are on vacation!
  
  We live on 5 acres about 6 km outside of Duncan, on Southern Vancouver Island in the beautiful Cowichan Valley... There are so many places to swim in the ocean, lakes and rivers, bike and hiking trails, spots to picnic and enjoy.
  
  Ezra and Hanna both grew up hosting and, since starting our family, have hosted many WWOOFers and HelpXers (We're new to WorkAway). We love it if you're looking to be part of our family and all of life here on the farm... Family outings are your outings and family meals are your meals! If you're more introverted and prefer your own space and quiet time, we certainly respect that, too.
  
  Besides spending time developing our land and buildings, Ezra provides residential tree service and excavating. He grew up on a ranch "off the grid" and has many skills to share.
  Hanna is a veterinarian but staying at home on the farm with our son and daughter. Skills she can share are cooking, baking, food-preserving, nervous system regulation skills, knitting, crochet, some herbal medicine knowledge, tincture/salve/cream making...
  
  We love meeting new people, learning about new ways of looking at the world and new ways of doing things.
  
  We look forward to hearing from you. We don't bite!

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage d'entretien

  Projets DIY créatifs

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Petits travaux d'entretien
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  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Événements/vie sociale

  

  Dev. durable

  

  Animaux de compagnie

  

  Dev. personnel

  

  Ferme

  

  Soin des plantes

  

  Musique

  

  Bricolage / artisanat

  

  Livres

  

  Langues

  

  Jardinage

  

  Cuisine et alimentation

  

  Écriture

  

  Dessin et peinture

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Animaux

  

  Nature

  

  Fitness

  

  Plage
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  The Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, where we live, is a popular tourist destination. There are many rivers, parks, trails, beaches, lakes and the ocean... hiking, biking, boating, fishing, camping opportunities are plentiful. Our most frequented swimming hole on the Cowichan River is only 5 minutes away and there are trails that can be accessed without a car ride right from our home.
  
  Ezra is always building and digging and happy to share his skills and stories of growing up off the grid. Ezra has an immense amount of energy and is often heard saying on the phone "Call me when it's dark."
  Hanna is happy to share many traditional cooking, baking and food-preserving skills, also a little about growing and processing medicinal plants, making salves and tinctures... Knitting, crocheting... Many of our previous helpers have made their first touques here... or at least pot holders :)
  Hanna has had a many decades-long journey with tick-borne disease and has gathered a lot of experience along the way in all kinds of areas, from nutrition to herbal medicine to nervous system regulation and care "tools". If you are interested, ask away.
  
  We are homeschooling our two children and keep changing how we approach this... One year at a time is now the motto!
  
  If there is a specific skill you'd like to learn while you are with us, please tell us! Whether it's using power tools, a chainsaw, how to chop wood or butcher a chicken...
  
  - Join us for a while!

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  We have two "positions" available:
  
  1. Longer-term (several months) housekeeping help in exchange for accommodation (plus meals/food) in a small, comfortable cabin with separate shower/toilet building. Cabin is furnished, with a queen-sized, organic memory foam mattress in the loft bed, eating/seating area, glider chair with footstool, shelving, kitchen with propane stove and oven, fridge and small freezer. Meals can be partially separate or shared.
  We will possibly consider shorter stays for this position as well.
  
  2. Shorter-term (1-4+ weeks) mainly outdoor help. Specific tasks depend on the skills and interests you bring. Some of the work is done independently, some with Ezra or Hanna. Firewood splitting and stacking, fence-building, garden-bed building, spreading compost and wood chips, weeding, picking berries, cleaning eg. a deck, a vehicle, the outside of the house, organizing contents of an outdoor building or gardening tools, watering, pruning, general organization and clean up.
  
  Accommodation is usually in our large guest room in our home, furnished with a queen-sized bed. Meals are shared with our family.
  
  You have to be good with children, comfortable with dogs and be happy to take initiative. We care about you and your experience with us... We expect you to care about our home, our family and farm while you are here and to put effort and care into your activities. In our experience hosting many HelpXers and WWOOFers over the years, usually what you put in is what you get out!

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  Langues parlées

  Allemand: Courant
  Anglais: Courant

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  Hébergement

  Accommodation is either our guest bedroom with a queen-sized bed or, beginning in the fall, in a small, comfortable cabin with separate shower/toilet building. Cabin is furnished, with a queen-sized, organic memory foam mattress in the loft bed, eating/seating area, glider chair with footstool, shelving, kitchen with propane stove and oven, fridge and small freezer.
  
  We eat wholesome, home-prepared meals, with many ingredients sourced from our own and nearby farms. It is easy for us to accommodate gluten-free diets, although strict and very sensitive Celiacs are difficult, as we do bake sourdough bread with gluten-containing grains, so the kitchen does come in contact with gluten. Rarely a day goes by that we do not eat meat, so if you are vegetarian, please be aware that we will try to find alternatives for you, but cannot turn our way of eating upside down.

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  Autres infos...

  We live on a public bus route and have bicycles you can use. There are bike and hiking trails, lakes, rivers and the ocean for swimming...In the summer, rarely a day goes by without all of us heading somewhere to swim!

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Wi-Fi is only available at the workshop. An ethernet connection is available in the house. If you can do your work with an ethernet connection, Hanna's craft room has a desk, a beautiful view and could be an office for a digital nomad.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  There is lots of space for almost anything and we can hook up water and power.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  If you have your own accommodation, we will consider quiet, well-behaved dogs who do not dig, chew, or chase livestock or cats and get along with our dog and other animals. Cats or other pets who stay in your camper are also just fine!

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Mes animaux

  Our dogs and cats are outside... So are the chickens! (12 ans)

  Our dogs and cats are outside... So are the chickens!

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