Medicinal Herb Farm, Educational Centre, Reskilling Festival, Agritourism Destination, Eco Retreat
Manitoba
*Note: We only offer outdoor communal spaces in our campground, with a covered outdoor kitchen, fire pit, cook-stove, and well-appointed compost outhouses with running water wash stations. Because of this, we will only accept WWOOFers during summer months, unless our camper is available during spring months.
We welcome you to our prairie homestead – 80 acres of poplar and pine forest, marsh, and meadow, where we run a medicinal herb farm, Awaken Herbs, retreat spaces, and more. Situated on the boundary of farmland and cottage country, the farm is a stone’s throw from Lake Winnipeg and her beautiful white-sand beaches, as well as breathtaking boreal hiking experiences. It’s a place where you can come to plant your feet on the ground, open your heart to the wide open prairie sky, and reconnect with skills of the past.
The farm lies on the original lands of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and on the homeland of the Métis Nation, on Treaty 1 territory and we are neighbours to the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation. We are city folk who have ventured out to the country, to live closer to the land, and we have a heart to facilitate reconnection with nature through land-based experiences, reconnection with others through a vibrant and loving community, and reconnection with important skills through workshops on homesteading and permaculture topics, retreats, and our festival-conference-summer camp experience, Take Root Fest. Our family is comprised of two parents, two young adults, and two youth who learn at home. Willow is a gentle giant Great Pyrenees who is an amazing companion and protector for our children and their hens. She loves visitors and warms to them quickly.
The farm is roughly half pasture/meadow and half forest. There are several different forest ecosystems right here on the farm, from a boggy area with mosses, ferns and many other unique plants and fungi, to mixed poplar and alder forests with their own woodland goodness. A 4-acre planted pine forest is soon to be home to a lion's mane mushroom cultivation area, as we strive to diversify this monoculture. The pine forest is also where we have created the Poplar & Pine Campground, which features beautiful campsites, a communal kitchen and fire pit, a set of humanure outhouses and an outdoor shower. This special spot is currently where WWOOFers stay on the farm. We do have a Winnebago that could be an option for WWOOFers, depending on availability. WWOOFers are welcome prepare some or all of their meals in the campground, using produce and eggs from the farm in addition to items from our kitchen, or to join our family for some or all meals.
In 2024, we continue growing our medicinal herb farm, building infrastructure such as a cob oven and a root washer, workshop structures, and more. Our children have built a forest obstacle course and bike course in a small forest on the property. Our weekly rhythm includes many walks on the farm, where we harvest wild edibles and medicinals and bring them in to infuse into oils, make into tinctures, dry for teas, preserve for future meals, and more. We also harvest and preserve (ferment, dry, freeze, etc.) cultivated foods throughout the spring and summer, such as asparagus, berries, rhubarb, jerusalem artichoke, currants, gooseberries, and more.
There are plantings of wonderful fruit trees in various locations, including wild plums, crab apples, chokecherry, saskatoon, sea buckthorn, and buffaloberry that we tend to with homemade holistic sprays, pruning, pest control measures - and, of course, we enjoy and share the harvest! We have a small flock of laying hens and collect eggs daily. They have a generously sized run that we're working on making into a chicken paradise. We're working on establishing a compost system that incorporates their bedding and provides amendment for the gardens.
Amidst these daily garden and orchard tasks, and small building and permaculture projects, we also work regularly on prep for a homesteading festival we run - mowing, renovations to a workshop space, painting signs, creating and maintaining special spaces on the farm, such as the Prayer & Meditation Labyrinth that we installed last year.
There truly is never a dull moment (unless you count hanging in a hammock under the stars at the end of a day as dull ; ) We are happy to work with WWOOFers to focus work hours on projects of interest, whether to use an existing skillset, or develop a new one sharing the skills that we can. We also love to learn from our guests! See full listing of 2024 season projects on the Opportunities page.
We're located near Thalberg, Manitoba, 40 minutes north of Winnipeg, with a scenic drive - 20 minutes to several white sand beaches on Lake Winnipeg, with more another 20 away - 10-15 minutes from Gull Lake - 15 minutes from Brokenhead Wetland Interpretive Trail - 25 minutes to a series of Canadian Shield lakes and falls.
The area offers great beach days (some of the world's top sand!), swimming, kyte-boarding, wake-boarding, canoeing and kayaking, paddle-boarding, hiking, and other nature-based activities. - Winnipeg, a 40 minute drive from the farm.
Read more
Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Forestry
Wild foraging
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Natural cosmetics fabrication
Food justice / sovereignty
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
Holistic management
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Production farm
13
Hectares
|
32
Acres
Kris
Member since 2020
Languages spoken:
English, Spanish
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 3 days
December 2025
- Mon
- Tue
- Wed
- Thu
- Fri
- Sat
- Sun
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- 31
Open
Planned visit
Closed
Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Reviews
This host doesn't have reviews yet. Be the first to review Kris!
