Help our family with organic permaculture gardening and learning self sufficiency in Iroquois Falls, Canada

Infos

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  Description

  We are a small family in the north that is working towards self sufficiency on about 100 hectares of land, there are currently 3 of us working the farm, myself and my husband and our daughter. We are raising a small herd of beef cattle, a small flock of chickens (for eggs) and 2 ducks that spend most of the day on the pond. Our big garden includes several large outdoor plots with raised beds and 3 greenhouses that produce enough veggies for family and friends. In the later summer there are lots of wild berries to forage and as it gets into the fall there are wild mushrooms as well. During harvest season we use preservation practices such as: canning, drying, pickling and fermenting.
  Our animals are treated with love and respect and we take pride in raising them as stress-free as possible.
  Our 2 dogs and 3 cats are living with us in the house so dog walks, playtime and cuddle sessions are part of our daily routine.
  We love to keep farming as simple as possible by using methods like mulching, no-till gardening, composting, crop rotation, permaculture and rotational grazing.
  Our farm is situated about 8 km from a small town which has all the necessities like 2 grocery stores, hardware stores, a post office, library and recreational facilities. The surrounding area is mostly made up of farms, lakes, forests and trees and more trees which provides plenty of opportunities for camping, swimming, fishing, kayaking or just reconnecting with nature. With a little patience and good luck you may even spot local wildlife like moose, bears, coyotes, or the occasional wolf or maybe even a lynx.
  Living close to nature has taught us to be open-minded, to think outside the box and to improvise in unique situations
  Since we moved here from Germany 16 years ago with very little farming background we had to acquire many new skills such as bread making, preserving, seed saving, tractor driving, electrical fencing, handling livestock, and a lot more.
  
  Organic methods: permaculture, mulching, composting, crop rotation, companion-planting, natural pest control
  
  If you are brave enough to spend some time in the Northern Ontario wilderness and you have some motivation, humour, love and goodwill to bring along then we welcome you in our neck of the woods and in our home.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Projets artistiques

  Pratique d’une langue

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We are not a very routine based household, our day's tasks change with the weather and as the need arises, the work is not full-time and you will have some free-time each day.
  Ideally, we are looking for someone who shares in the joys of getting their hands dirty and is able to take pleasure in a quiet and natural lifestyle. We believe that life is our school and nature/food/lifestyle our medicine and are constantly learning more about what this means. We have a deep appreciation for all things art, our daughter has a little ceramics studio on the farm where she makes small-batch pottery and other clay creations , and we strongly welcome fellow creative minds. Free thinking is always encouraged around here as much as honestly speaking one's mind while respecting and appreciating the views and opinions of others.
  We are a bilingual household and and welcome other languages and are willing to teach you a bit of German or improve your English.

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  Aide

  (throughout the growing season May-November):
  
  preparing garden beds and greenhouses for planting
  seeding, container planting, and transplanting
  outdoor and greenhouse planting
  electric fencing and preparations for pasture season
  pasture rotation/fence repair
  haying
  calving season (throughout)
  garden maintenance/mulching/watering (throughout)
  animal maintenance (throughout)
  harvesting
  canning/preserving
  winter prepping the garden
  general housework
  cooking
  clay-processing
  
  We would prefer someone who has at least a little bit of experience in some of these areas, we are willing to share our knowledge and direct you in what needs to be done any new skills you have to offer would be a big bonus :)

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Allemand: Courant
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa propre langue ou en apprendre une nouvelle.
  Contactez-le pour en savoir plus.
  
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  Hébergement

  We can accommodate a single person or a couple (or two friends) at a time, accommodations is a private room in our home with a queen bed with a somewhat separate bathroom. All meals will be provided, which we share together apart from breakfast most days we love this time for connecting with one another. Cooking and clean-up duties will be shared and there is always some farm fresh snacks from the farm should you get hungry. We cook omnivore style meals so if you have special dietary restrictions you are welcome to use the ingredients we have on hand to make your own dishes but if you need anything specific you will have to provide those ingredients yourself.
  Preferred minimum stay is no less than 2 weeks as it takes a few days to really settle in and learn the different farm tasks, ideally, we'd like someone who can stay the whole summer/several months but understand that that may not work for everyone so we are flexible and can accommodate workawayers anytime from May- November.

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  Autres infos...

  During your free time there is plenty of nature to explore and we have bicycles that we can lend you if you want to go for a swim at a near by lake, or you can hop in the car with us to town when we make a trip. The nearest bigger town (Timmins) is an hour drive away and we only make trips there every few weeks, so if your looking to party or a social hub this really isn't the place. We do however like to invite friends over on occasion for a bonfire or BBQ and play beach volleyball on the weekends by the lake which you're more than welcome to join in on if interested.
  
  Since we are quite north in the province we are willing to pick-up workawayers from the bus station or airport in Timmins at a pre-arranged time.

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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

  Cet hôte a de la place pour les vans.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week