Heartfelt Homesteading, Garden Life, and Animal Care on the beautiful Island of Manitoulin, Canada

Infos

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  Description

  🌿 Welcome to Our Magical Homestead on Manitoulin Island! 🌿
  
  Hi friends!
  We’re Tala and Dávid, and we warmly invite you to join us on our 100-acre organic farm and forest sanctuary on the beautiful and spacious Manitoulin Island.
  
  Our land is alive with abundance ~ fruit trees, a tranquil pond, vibrant wildlife, and a no-dig heirloom garden full of herbs, veggies, and flowers. We share our home with a gentle livestock guardian dog, 20 Easter-egg-laying chickens, a magical pair of peafowl, five hilarious Nigerian dwarf goats (who we milk), and recently, a herd of seven horses who pasture our 25-acre field.
  
  We’re on a journey toward self-sufficiency and holistic living ~ starting everything from seed, making our own compost, preserving food, saving seeds, and living in harmony with the land. Creativity, mindfulness, and connection are central to our daily rhythm.
  
  About Us
  
  Tala is passionate about dance, music, and sewing. She is currently studying Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy and Mayan Abdominal Massage, sees clients part-time, and runs a small Etsy shop.
  
  Dávid is a carpenter and builder who loves neuroscience, meditation, quantum physics, and creative design.
  
  We value balance... work, rest, and play~and we begin each day with meditation or movement. While you're not expected to follow a daily practice, you're encouraged to take time for reflection and self-connection.
  
  What You Can Learn Here:
  
  Depending on the season and your stay, you might take part in:
  
  Seed starting, planting, weeding, harvesting
  No-dig gardening and permaculture principles
  Trellising, row-covering, seed saving, composting
  Canning and preserving food
  Chicken and goat care (including milking)
  Homesteading systems and eco-building
  Cooking nourishing meals
  Creative projects, art, and music
  Land stewardship and learning about local Indigenous culture
  
  There are lakes, beaches, and trails nearby to explore. Life here is peaceful, slow-paced, and deeply connected to nature.
  
  ✨ 2025 Update: Who We're Looking For:
  
  This season, we are welcoming three types of visitors:
  
  1. Short-Term Housesitters (for the dates below):
  Help with light daily chores (animal care, watering, weeding) while we are away. In exchange, you’ll have a quiet stay in our cozy cabin, homegrown organic food, and the chance to connect with nature.
  
  2. Short-Term Visitors/Helpers (min. 2-week stay):
  For travelers looking to learn and contribute. Help a few hours a day in exchange for lodging, food, and hands-on experience with homesteading.
  
  3. Long-Term Helpers (Summer–Fall, or Winter Stay):
  Ideal for someone (or a couple) looking to live simply and connect deeply with our land and lifestyle. Fewer hours required each week to allow you time to pursue your own part time passions on the side. This option doesn't include all your food (however we still do provide basic pantry staples and garden veggies) but offers more independence, collaboration, and creative opportunity.
  
  What We’re Looking For:
  
  Ideally some experience with gardening or animals, but not necessary
  Open-hearted, communicative, and reliable
  Comfortable being self-directed
  Vehicle access is helpful due to our rural location
  Willingness to engage in both the fun and the messy parts of homestead life
  
  Daily animal chores take about 45 minutes, shared among all of us. Gardening and project hours vary from 2–4 hours a few days a week, depending on the season.
  
  House/Farm Sitting Dates for 2025:
  December 14, 2025 – January 31, 2026
  
  We’re excited to connect with kindred spirits who are eager to learn, share, and enjoy this magical land with us.
  Thank you for reading, and we look forward to hearing from you!
  
  With warmth,
  Tala & Dávid 🌿

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Home sitting
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  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Culture

  

  Événements/vie sociale

  

  Animaux de compagnie

  

  Dev. durable

  

  Dev. personnel

  

  Ferme

  

  Animaux

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Dessin et peinture

  

  Photographie

  

  Soin des plantes

  

  Musique

  

  Bricolage / artisanat

  

  Jardinage

  

  Cuisine et alimentation

  

  Livres

  

  Activités en plein air

  

  Fitness

  

  Montagne

  

  Nature

  

  Danse

  

  Yoga / bien-être
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  An opportunity to slow down and experience a way of living that is connected to the land, nature and wholeistic living.

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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

  Helpers will experience and participate in all the steps of growing a garden: seeding and caring for seedlings in spring, bed preparation, transplanting, weeding, water, harvesting, etc.
  
  As well as food transformation: sourdough, fermentation, preserving, freezing... making sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, tomato sauce, goat cheese, yogurt and soaps..
  
  Daily tasks include collecting eggs and milking goats.
  
  Depending on the skill set, we could use help with some building projects and general maintenance of the property.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Intermédiaire
  Hungarian: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  We are actively studing Spanish but would also love to maintain our French :)
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  Hébergement

  A private room in the house with a queen bed, or optional tenting anywhere on the property. We share a kitchen, and meals together while we are working.

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  Autres infos...

  It would be best if you have your own vehicle to explore the area as we are quite rural. There is lots to enjoy - beaches, waterfalls, canoeing, swimming, hiking trails and local markets.
  
  We have a solid two bars of cell service outside of the house, one solid bar with the phone in the window, but no reception inside of the house. The house itself does not have wifi, but we use hotspot to access the internet and it works just fine for our needs. If you dont have a data plan, ours is shareable. In summary, quite workable, but gives an opportunity to be mindful about technology and instead lean into grounding with nature. :)

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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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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We've got lots of room for parking, many options/ special spots, as well as various locations and platforms for tents.

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  Possible if they get along with our dog and are gentle with chickens and goats.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Mes animaux

Sécurité du site

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