Our family moved here from Milano over thirty-three years ago. Since then, we have built a place that focuses on nature, food, and community, with the goal of living and working in harmony with the land. Our property is a family-owned and operated Italian restaurant and nature resort with cottages, wood cabins, and glamping tents. Our 88-acre property also functions as a wildlife sanctuary, with a large lagoon, forest, nearby mountains, and a beautiful lake, located about two hours north of Vancouver.
Our property features several gardens where we grow vegetables, herbs, flowers, and fruit, used in our restaurant and daily meals. The flowers are also used to decorate our tables and accommodations. We grow as much farm-to-table produce as possible. Our food is rooted in Italian tradition with a West Coast fusion, focusing on fresh local seafood, wild game, and pasta.
The property is very international. There are always WWOOFers and staff from all over the world, creating a social and welcoming environment. Many lifelong friendships are made here, and the experience is often described as a simple and real Canadian experience.
We care for a variety of animals including chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks, pheasants, turkeys, pigeons, and doves. There are always fresh eggs, and help is needed with feeding and general care. We also have two resident cats. We are proud to be a respected bird sanctuary and protected wildlife reserve, you can find all sorts of wildlife on the property such as beavers, turtles, otters and more!
Throughout the season (March through October), help is needed with a variety of tasks including basic grounds maintenance, landscaping, watering flowers, tending to vegetable gardens, small building and maintenance projects, as well as housekeeping, cleaning, dishwashing, and occasional help with boat rentals.
In exchange, we offer simple shared accommodation which includes a private bedroom, full kitchen and bathroom plus a lounge/dining area. We also provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner (mostly Italian cuisine focused on seasonal, natural foods, seafood, and pasta), internet access in common areas, free use of canoes, and a good working environment. Meals are shared either in the restaurant or in the house, and are an important part of the experience. We have a private dock on the Ruby Lake for swimming, canoeing, yoga and so much more. We are also only 10 minutes by car from the ocean where bioluminescence thrives during summer, and there are plenty of hiking trails in the surrounding mountains. It is a unique place where mountain, lake, and ocean all come together.
As part of our commitment to the environment, we have also donated over 20 hectares of land to the Iris Griffith Nature centre for wetland and wildlife studies and biodiversity.
We also host occasional events in our outdoor amphitheater under the stars, including our annual “Chefs in the Woods” event in July and our end of season party in September.
Ciao, pura vida, la dolce vita.
Natural methods: vegetables, herbs, fruit and flower gardening
Certifications: not certified organic
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Raising of other farm animals
Forestry
Wild foraging
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
35.6
Hectares
|
88
Acres
Accommodation
