Join us in developing a free lifestyle & working with honey bees, chickens and rabbits in Canada

Infos

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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.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Projets artistiques

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet
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  Centres d’intérêt

  

  Politique/justice sociale

  

  Culture

  

  Animaux de compagnie

  

  Dev. durable

  

  Ferme

  

  Bénévolat

  

  Photographie

  

  Soin des plantes

  

  Musique

  

  Histoire

  

  Livres

  

  Architecture

  

  Cuisine et alimentation

  

  Dessin et peinture

  

  Menuiserie

  

  Animaux

  

  Plage

  

  Activités en plein air

  

  Nature
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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

  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.

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  Aide

  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.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Russe: Courant
  Ukrainian: Courant

  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 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.

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  Autres infos...

  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.

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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

  Any type of vehicle can be parked as we have 45 acres

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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