Family Farm in Thousand Islands area. Work hard, play hard, learn lots, eat well!
Ontario
Love Nature? Want to help with conservation? We are looking for WWOOFers with building, gardening, sewing and forestry experience this fall. At Lost Bay Farm, you'll work hard, eat extremely well, and play a lot. We love sharing what we've learned about organic agriculture during the 50+ years we've been gardening. Our dream is that every WWOOFers will leave here with new skills and interests! We can only accept WWOOFers for a minimum of 2 weeks unless they have their own transportation.
Our 55-acre farm is on the Canadian Shield in the United Nations Frontenac Arch Biosphere, a 45 minute drive from Kingston, Canada's first capital city, where there is lots to see and do. We live near a small lake, with a sauna and canoe for your enjoyment.
We have been hosting WWOOFers since 2004. Please read our reviews so you can see what they have experienced.
You will be welcomed as part of our family, and share meals with us. We are a retired couple, both working as volunteers for wildlife conservation; your help at Lost Bay Farm helps us make this contribution. Because we can't always work with you, you must have a mature attitude, be able work independently at times, and be able to follow directions in English. We can only accept non-smokers.
Lost Bay Farm is a 20-minute drive from the world-famous Thousand Islands, and a 40-minute bicycle ride from Charleston Lake Provincial Park, which has sandy beaches for swimming, old trees, and fine trails which we hike in the summer and snowshoe in the winter. Bikes are available for you to ride, as well as cross-country skis (you'll need your own boots) and snowshoes for winter recreation. Our property borders on a small, peaceful lake--great for just hanging out after work. If you are an experienced rider, you may want to help us keep our semi-retired horse Bokhara exercised. We also have a dog Zelda, and chickens for eggs.
WWOOFers help us to grow and store organic food, care for chickens and Zelda, build and repair structures, combat invasive species, fix fencing, help cut firewood for winter, maintain the flower gardens as well as the kilometers of trails on our own land, which you are welcome to hike, ski or snowshoe. Meals are organic, and can be ovo-lacto vegetarian; you will be treated as a member of the family while you are here. WWOOFers are expected to help with meal preparation and cleanup. We love to cook, and enjoy sharing recipes with WWOOFers. If you are qualified to drive in Ontario, it would be most helpful since Cameron's eyesight isn't good enough anymore to continue driving.
Accommodation is an apartment attached to our house where there is a bedroom, a bathroom and a studio.
We look for WWOOFers who have a conservation ethic. We live next to the Lost Bay Nature Reserve. WWOOFers help keep invasive plants from getting into the reserve or spreading into the forest.
We enjoy including WWOOFers in our social activities, if they wish. Emily is an ESL qualified teacher and is happy to help you with English; we also speak Spanish and French at an intermediate level. Cameron retired from a career in journalism.
WWOOFers work 5 1/2 hours Monday to Friday, half days on Saturdays. Work is varied. Sundays are free time. We believe that you should have free time each day for your own enjoyment.
Our area is one of the most biologically diverse in Canada (#1 for vascular plant biodiversity in Canada) , with a huge variety of trees and woodland plants including a wide variety of spring ephemeral flowers. Wildlife is abundant; there are deep-forest birds, such as pileated woodpeckers and red-shouldered hawks, shy animals such as fishers and coyotes, endangered species such as Blanding's turtles, Cerulean warblers and Whip-poor-wills. There are also species that are simply a pleasure to watch, such as deer, beavers, herons, osprey, otters, the occasional bald eagle, rabbits, and butterflies. You will hear many varieties of frogs, especially in spring in the early evening.
Certification: Our operation is too small to be certified. We have strictly followed organic practices since 1970.
Current projects: Mulching, compost making, fall seeding, harvesting, repairing structures, weeding, dock construction, trail maintenance, preparing food for storage.
Internet access available.
We live in Nature, and we care for the land and its many creatures. We try to live as lightly on the land as we can. We look forward to sharing our way of life with you!
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Poultry farming
Forestry
Wild foraging
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Renewable energy production
Food justice / sovereignty
Methods or systems
Holistic management
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
22.3
Hectares
|
55
Acres
Emily
Member since 2008
Languages spoken:
English, French, Spanish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 93%
Response time: typically within 1 day
Ontario
Kingston and Brockville both have bus and train service. There is also a daily train to Gananoque, which is the closest to Lost Bay Farm.
Reviews
Anton
Germany
•
December 2025
Also um Klartext zu sprechen; zur Weihnachtszeit also vom 23-26 habe ich nahezu nichts machen müssen und wurde wie von meinen Großeltern versorgt.
Die beiden sind sehr nett aber haben ihre Schwächen. Camaron ist sehr alt und hört schlecht während Emily sehr viel redet und politisch überzeugt ist.
Annie
Canada
•
October 2025
My time at the Lost Bay Farm was very memorable.
The family- Emily, Cameron, and their dog, Zelda, are wonderful hosts. Emily and Cameron welcome Wwoofers as part of their family 🍁🌿❤️
My daily work was varied and seasonal. For the end of September-October, I was mainly helping with harvesting and preparing the garden for winter, picking up firewood, helping Cameron with clearing a piece of land for a horse pasture, and canning and preparing food. I learnt a lot about caring for chickens, protecting the garden from diseases and frost, and of course, Canning foods!!
I enjoyed spending time with my hosts. Cameron’s (slightly wry) sense of humor, Emily’s outgoing liveliness, their amazing stories and extensive knowledges. We shared a love for food. Emily is a great cook, and we had amazing meals. We are people with different life experiences and daily habits, and learnt to see and appreciate our differences, adapting to each other, enriching this exchange experience.
I had opportunities to go to local events and got to meet some of their friends. I also got to know the local advocacy work that Emily & Cameron are actively involved in. It was impactful to witness a tight-knit and united community.
In my spare time I explored nearby parks and trails. I was grateful to have come at a beautiful time of the fall when the land was covered with beautiful colors and foliages.
Thank you Emily & Cameron for such an amazing experience at Lost Bay Farm!
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Margot
Canada
•
September 2025
Les hôtes sont sympathiques et accueillants. L'endroit est merveilleux et la liste des tâches bien établie chaque jour. Il y a beaucoup à faire chez Emily et elle donne de bonnes explications, Le déroulement de la journée se fait sans pression. Très bonne expérience.
Thomas
United Kingdom
•
August 2025
I cannot recommend Lost Bay farm enough, I had such an amazing time WWOOFing with Emily and Cameron. There was lots to do, but it never seemed like you were being used as 'free labour' by them - in fact, Emily or Cameron were nearly always working alongside me, so it felt like a family all working together. Tasks included lots of gardening, weeding, watering, fixing irrigation and harvesting - July and August were a great time to go since I got to experience such a mix of things. It was never dull, and tasks were varied throughout the day, so I were never doing one thing for more than a few hours.
There were also more miscellaneous tasks which added to the interest and fun of daily life - everything from chainsawing, to fixing a dock/jetty, to making sauerkraut, to changing a tractor tyre or pulling out a highly invasive species. I enjoyed the variation of each day. Sometimes a friend popped by to the farm, and I got to meet them, so there is lots of opportunity for cultural exchange and meeting new people, which I loved.
Finally, special mention goes out to the most wonderful, 'bestest' girl in the world, Zelda the dog. She is the friendliest, most gentle and loving dog, and would come outside with me to supervise some of my tasks, adding joy on top of joy.
Thank you for such a wonderful time and I would absolutely love to return in the near future!!
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Aude
France
•
May 2025
I've had an incredible stay that represents completely the spirit and values of Woofing. I learn a lot. Emily is an expert. The tasks were varied. Emily took the time to explain and show me. My hosts have an immense respect for all living things, plants and animals included. Emily is an excellent cook and always choose excellent products too. I've been completely integrated into the life of the family and I had the chance to take part in number of events. I extended my stay by almost two weeks and It was really difficult to leave, but hey, I've got to let you have your stay at Lost Bay Farm!
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Charlotte
Germany
•
January 2025
I had the most amazing time with Emily and Cameron!
I got to live in a lovely home with very kind people and adorable pets. You’ll feel at home there immediately.
Emily is a great cook and it was so much fun preparing the well balanced meals with her.
Because it was winter a lot of tasks like food prep or seed inventory were done inside but I also got to explore the beautiful surroundings while doing trail maintenance. We were blessed with several cold weeks and lots of snow which made for great ice skating and snowshoeing.
Among other things I learned more about cooking, growing veggies, art, self sufficiency and caring for animals.
I can only recommend you visit this lovely place!
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