A small off grid farm, foraging business and learning centre nestled in the sub arctic wilderness

Northwest Territories

2 reviews • Updated 2 days ago

*****Availability: May 15 to Sept 30*** About us: Established in 2010 Laughing Lichen is a small 12-acre farm located 30 kms by road from the city of Yellowknife, NT. We operate a wildcrafting business, learning Centre and market gardens from our location. The entire farm is run via solar power and located in the boreal forest. Herbs and veggies are grown on site while wild mushrooms, berries and wild herbs are foraged in the surrounding wilderness. Many of the products harvested on site are processed and dried in a timber frame herb drying barn. There are 3 large dogs, and a parrot on site, as well as a flock of laying hens and quail, we also help run a dog rescue organization so are often fostering rescue dogs in addition to our own. In addition to foraging and growing local food, we are also a learning centre and offer training and workshops to others about sustainable foraging, harvesting wild foods, growing local food, food preservation, and also conduct research on traditional indigenous ethnobotany. The market garden aspect of the farm is a new operation and the gardens although small are productive. In 2025 we will have 3/4 acre of established market gardens, as well as a small greenhouse. Laughing Lichen is a business with a hard-working team of dedicated staff, volunteers, as well as a family of three Amy, Ian and daughter Wren. Amy is the founder/Owner of Laughing Lichen, Ian is a timberframer/carpenter (https://sherpatimberworks.ca/). Activities and participation WWOOFers will participate in the maintenance of the market gardens during the growing season from June to the end of September. This includes: • Planting, tilling soil, soil preparation, composting, cleaning, clearing of land for gardens, weeding, watering, pumping water and harvesting and preserving garden produce. - feeding, watering, collecting eggs, cleaning and caring for Chicken and Quail flock • Accompanying our team on forays into the forest to collect herbs, berries, and wild mushrooms. • Participate in the cleaning, processing, packaging and manufacturing of value-added products. • Supporting staff and volunteers with visiting groups, farmers markets and workshop. Feeding and caring for flock of laying hens. • Some duties may include assisting with building compost bins, installing fences around the farm, and painting the site structure and fences. If WWOOFers are interested there is also green building (timberframe) occurring on the farm and there may be opportunities to learn about this if one is interested. Woofers are expected to volunteer approx. 25-30 hours per week. Note: We have both paid STAFF and VOLUNTEERS on-site. A WWOOFER is considered a VOLUNTEER. Staff members are experienced with various safety certifications and are the senior members who supervise and mentor others. A 4 week minimum commitment is required for volunteers. Longer stays are preferred, so WOOFERS offering to stay longer stays will be prioritized. Volunteers should have a willingness to learn and a passion for the work that we do. This position suites someone that is hard working, eager to learn about permaculture and growing food in the sub arctic wilderness! Personal Accountabilities: • We are seeking like minded volunteers that mirror our values. • Demonstrate high level of enthusiasm, energy and resourcefulness. • Enjoy getting your hands dirty, love the outdoors, and be able to deal with the mosquitos! • Be physically fit in order to perform tasks safely. • Maintain personal cleanliness and appropriate attire. • Be an excellent communicator • Be responsible, have the ability to cook your own meals, clean up, and do your own laundry. (This is considered personal time, shared meal prep is encouraged as well as communal eating depending on the day of the week.) • A WWOOFer will be a key player in seeing through the processes of the market gardens, Chickens and quail care, foraging and wildcrafting and the processing of harvested products. These roles require a strong mind as well as a good deal of physical fitness. What to expect from an average day: Mornings generally begin at 8:30 am and involve feeding and watering animals followed by early morning gardening tasks (gathering herbs or watering before the heat of the day - if not gardening foraging in the forest), followed by general garden work (weeding, planting, or harvesting). If foraging for wild products, volunteers will accompany staff into the forest on a hike to harvest from 8:30 to 12 noon - following the harvest and after lunch everyone meets in the barn to process collected plants/mushrooms/berries and put them onto the drying racks. If harvesting wild mushrooms or berries they are cleaned in the farms commercial kitchen and either dehydrated or frozen. Lots of time is spent maintaining the gardens, general care, watering, and weeding, supporting the chicken and flock of quail, and farm dogs, and processing gathered plants. Preparing and clearing land may occur as the farm is growing, evolving and developing new garden areas. For watering lake water must be pumped from the nearby lake into a water tower and then used to water the gardens via a gravity fed system. In the fall there is firewood gathering and berry picking. There are several buildings on site that are utilized for the various tasks. One is a large 3000 sq ft manufacturing and processing building with a commercial kitchen for cleaning, washing, and processing harvested food. In addition there are outdoor washing stations in the gardens. There is also a large bathroom with washer/dryer, flush toilet, and shower for WWOOFers, students, staff, and volunteers. A second larger building is a post and beam timber frame barn where the bulk of foraged and grown plants and veggie are processed from the field and placed onto drying racks to shade dry. We also have an outhouse on site for campers with a composting toilet Note: We are in the wilderness! It is peaceful and quiet here. There are lots of mosquitos and biting insects, LOTS! There are wild animals such as black bears, cougars, wolves, foxes, coyotes and moose that live where we work. WOOFERS sleep in private quarters. Laughing Lichen is in the perfect location for those who love nature, wilderness, peaceful and wild places. Lakes, rocks, short northern trees, and rugged landscape. Our farm is a good fit for those who enjoy living in a not very social environment. The evenings are quiet and peaceful when staff leave the site. A perfect time to borrow the bicycles and ride to a nearby lake for fishing, hiking and swimming, or for having a campfire , or read a book, cooking a nice meal. As a WWOOFer we ask that you: Start on time each day, to safely follow rules of the farm and learning centre. Be polite, respectful, and courteous to all staff and other volunteers on site. The Laughing Lichen team is made up of hardworking, dedicated staff who work from 8:30 - 5 pm each day 7 days/week. We value a team player that is an independent self-starter and will support staff in the work that they do. We are located in an off-grid wilderness setting, there are many lakes nearby, one with a beach (1 km bike ride or short drive from LL). Hobbies of the family farm and business include, windsurfing, climbing, hiking, food preservation, bushcraft, wild foods, beading, basket making with foraged materials, bushcraft, foraging, canoeing, and enjoying the outdoors. We have a outdoor small bouldering wall nearby, we have canoes and fishing rods available, we have a diverse book library of resources for those interested in reading learning new skills. We are a learning Centre and happy to share knowledge on wildcrafting, food preservation, and growing food, or herbal medicine. Evenings are generally quiet as there are children on site. Woofers are expected to be fully independent and to retire to their personal lodgings in the evenings, vacating the main buildings and shower facilities by 8:30 pm. There is a firepit and sitting areas for relaxing after a hard day’s work, or cooking communal dinners and enjoying a cozy fire. Laughing Lichen has WIFI but no television. As an off grid farm, we have limited water consumption, and a composting toilet for volunteers. We have hot showers but expect all staff and volunteers to be energy and water conscious. We live in one of the best places in Canada to view the northern lights (Aurora Borealis). They are best in the winter but can also be seen in May, late August, and September. September and May can be colder times of the year to visit. Heat is provided if required WWOOFers must also come prepared with warm clothing suitable for cooler weather and potential frosty nights from May 15-June 10 and Sept 1-15th. Accommodation/food: WWOOFers are provided accommodation in a small private camper. Each unit has has its own equipped kitchen with potable water, fridge/freezer, and propane oven/stove. There is also a composting outhouse toilet nearby and inside our main building flush toilets and hot showers. We have three seperate trailers for volunteers and students and each is a bit different but all are set up and fully furnished. Bedding is provided. WWOOFers will have full access to a wide range of fresh herbs and veggies from the gardens and fresh eggs. As well pantry staples are provided such as pasta, bread, oats, flour, cereal, cheese yogurt, fruit, coffee, tea etc. Please advise of any specials dietary requirements. Volunteers are expected to prepare their own meals although we often do offer group family dinners or campfire cookouts on a weekly basis. Laughing Lichen is located a 30–40-minute drive from the city of Yellowknife. If you require transportation to the city for errands you will need to carpool with the owners of the farm when they are in town. If volunteers have their own vehicle, it will allow you more freedom to explore nearby trails and parks.

Learning opportunities

Vegetable farming

Poultry farming

Forestry

Wild foraging

Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas

Seed saving or production

Vegetable or fruit preservation

Beer, cider, wine, or juice making

Traditional crafts

Renewable energy production

Methods or systems

Biodynamic agriculture

Holistic management

No-till farming

Permaculture

Regenerative agriculture

Mentoring opportunities

Woman-operated

Host type

Production farm

4.8 Hectares | 11.9 Acres

Accommodation

3 WWOOFers

Camper / RV

Campsite

Cabin / Mobile-home

Children not accepted

Pets not accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Vegetarian

Vegan

Length of stay

3-4 weeks

Over a month

Cara Amy

Member since 2023

Languages spoken: English, French

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Response rate: 93% Response time: typically within 13 days

Northwest Territories

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Reviews

Echo

Canada • July 2025

Amy and Ian were fantastic hosts who were so kind, generous, and invested in me experiencing the Northwest Territories to the fullest. They both were excited to support my interests and were brimming with recommendations for places to hike, canoe, and meet others in the community. During my stay I went on a canoe camping trip with another wwoofer, and I had a blast solo exploring the trails and lake systems. I enjoyed my work on the farm, from planting & weeding, to unique projects like building rock planter flower beds and constructing pea trellisses out of local jack pine and willow. Most of all, I loved foraging, being out on the land, and learning about plant medicines. Amy is a wealth of knowledge, and is so passionate about teaching others. If you come curious, you will learn a lot! All of the staff are very cool, interesting, and friendly people who also had a lot to teach and share with me and I cherish the friendships I made! Daytime on the farm tends to be high energy, busy, and fun, then at the end of the day, there is stillness, mellow and quiet, which for me struck the perfect balance. I had a very comfortable private camper to stay in, tons of delicious healthy food to eat, and many, many moments of awe and joy while experiencing the beauty of this land. I feel so fortunate to have these experiences and to have learned so much in my short 5 weeks. I only wish I could have stayed longer!

Sandrine

Netherlands • August 2023

Laughing Lichen is such a great place! I stayed here for 5,5 weeks and had the remote/ off-grid experience that I really wanted during my Working Holiday. It was very interesting to learn all about natural cosmetics, and go wild harvesting/ gathering/ foraging in the wilderness of the Nortwest Territories. Amy has so much knowledge about nature and is very willing to share her knowledge with you. I’ve learned many new skills. Amy is a very hard-working woman and it’s very empowering and inspiring to meet such a woman like that! She made sure I’ve met many people from the small community in town, and it’s because of her was able to go out and do fun activities with the locals (for example: I went fishing, paddling and to a summer solstice party. I had a lovely trailer to stay in, and I was able to drive to town (Yellowknife) from time till time (for example for groceries). The only thing that I personally found a little bit hard was that the other WWOOFers that stayed on site, they were not very social and isolated themselves from activities and even just having a chat, so outside of work the WWOOFers spent little to no time together. But this negative is on the other woofers and not on Laughing Lichen itself! Thanks for everything, I miss it already!

Reply from Cara Amy

Thank you Sandrine for the lovely review, I hope you can find ways once you return home to spent more time in the forest and garden as you mentioned! Happy travels and thank you for joining us at Laughing Lichen for the 2023 season!