Hi! We are Gordon and Nora, and welcome all people interested in learning about sustainable, resilient, relation-respecting farming. We don't sell anything, mainly because we have yet to achieve total independence from the industrial food system (and that's our goal). Creating relationships and community are a core value. We welcome LBGTQ wwoofers with great enthusiasm.
We run an experimental, permaculture, regenerative subsistence farm about 45 minutes east of Edmonton in the Beaver Hills Biosphere (https://www.beaverhills.ca/). Our land is on the edge of the Beaver Hills moraine, which means we have a lot of clay, gravel and peat, and not a lot of black soil. This is why we have become quite expert at growing in poor soil. We also enjoy a very great deal of wildlife; you will likely see deer, moose and bison while you are with us (as well as a lot of smaller animals).
We grow mainly hay, vegetables, apples and berries, and also keep goats and sheep. We also have an older mare who soaks up all the attention she can get.
In May this year:
*Our sheep will give birth. We will also get a new milking goat, so there will be an opportunity to help the sheep have their babies (one needed her twins pulled last year), and then a lot of milking. We will teach you to milk by hand and also with our little milking machine. It is extremely fun. The babies are all bottle-fed (several times each day!) because it is healthier for them. They stay indoors for a couple of days and then live outside. They are ridiculously cute.
*We need to build at least one new shed and build a new pen for our sheep/goats.
*We will install drip irrigation and mulch all our gardens. That is interesting and quite technical: a good opportunity to learn.
*We will continue working on new hugelkultur beds. This is an opportunity to learn how to build excellent gardens in difficult soils. This involves a lot of shovelling. You will definitely build muscles. We will also build mound garden containers using wattle fencing techniques with willow.
* At the end of the month, we will plant seeds and seedlings and repair our hay shelter in preparation.
In June the work is mostly around looking after animals, including feeding with a bottle, and picking berries. Lots and lots and lots of berry picking. You can also learn to can them if you like. This is a good month to come if you are not very strong.
In July, depending on hay growth, we will start to cut hay with a scythe and whipper snipper, and make small square bales using the most annoying method you will ever see. July will also involve continuing to harvest and can berries..
In August, we will likely still be working on hay, and will start to pick and can apples.
In September, we will harvest and process/preserve a lot of the vegetables.
We are happy to cater to WOOFERs' learning needs as much as we can. Opportunities for learning include creating raised growing beds from barn litter and difficult soils, how to obtain and use natural fertilizers, organic pest control, using goats as draft animals, goat husbandry including their tricky health requirements, looking after their feet.
We provide all the food but breakfast and dinner will be on your own in the trailer. We share lunch at the picnic table outside, weather permitting . We are extremely COVID-wary, so shared meals will be served only outside and we do not allow any visitors inside our home.
If weather is not cooperative, woofers will take their meals in their accommodation: an older 27-foot holiday trailer with a queen bed, shower, composting toilet (ie bags for poop, which are then deposited outside), couch, and eating nook. The trailer offers a full kitchen, hot running water, electric kettle, your own mini fridge and a gas range. The trailer has wifi.
We are less than an hour from Edmonton, which is a lovely and fun city where we will be happy to drive you to on your days off. Other attractions include Indigenous pow wows and rodeos ... we like going to both and will be happy to take you.
We have a very large, loud and friendly dog, and a very friendly terrier.
We are on a major migratory route for waterfowl near Beaverhill Lake and are close to the Ministik Bird Sanctuary, Blackfoot Grazing Reserve and Elk Island National Park, all of which are superb for wildlife spotting. There is not a lot of local human-made entertainment but we do have a giant swimming pool (34 x 17 feet, five feet deep) which woofers can use between June and September as long as they help us to maintain it. It is not heated.
We have regular safety meetings and stringent safety requirements/rules, especially as we are working with heavy equipment, large animals and long, sharp blades. Safety first!
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Sheep or goat farming
Raising of other farm animals
Wild foraging
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Natural cosmetics fabrication
Traditional crafts
Green Building
Methods or systems
Animal drafting
Biological pest control
Holistic management
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
2
Hectares
|
5
Acres
