We are a queer couple who are passionate about food. We are currently looking for some help with the 2026 harvesting season starting with berry picking in early July through to the orchard harvest mid September - mid October at our Read island location. Summer is a wonderful time to visit the Outer Discovery islands as it usually is our best weather, there will be baby goats to tend (due mid May) and the garden is full of fresh organic produce.
maya has been living on Read island for 30 years building up the garden using regenerative practices based on a small herd of goats & flock of chickens . She is a qualified herbalist who makes many of her own tinctures & remedies. She is originally from Germany but has now been living on Read for most of her life creating the beautiful gardens that surround our homestead.
dood is a retired science teacher who is an Iyengar yoga instructor. She is originally from England but has lived in Canada for 28 years. She has a property on Quadra at which you will stay en route to Read. She is involved in sustainability initiatives on both Quadra & Read living part time on the two neighbouring islands.
We want to encourage gender fluid & queer folk to explore their connection with the land through participating in the WWOOFer experience with us. We both live together on Read in the spring & summer months where we belong to a small tight knit island community of about 100 people. One of our dreams is to increase our food production beyond meeting just our personal & animals needs to contribute to the food sovereignty of the Outer Islands.
Our property:
We are situated on a small rural island & acknowledge that we live & work on the unceded territory of the Homalco nation. We are located on about 7 acres, next to a salmon bearing creek, with a 3 acre clearing in which the main house & gardens are surrounded by the meadows for our goat herd. The property is drug & alcohol free. We are completely off grid & while we have a shower/ bath in the house the toilet facilities are outside in an outhouse in order to save water as we are on a gravity fed well system.
maya has planted a small orchard over the years which is now mature including cherry, apple, pear, grape vines & hazel nut trees. We grow a wide variety of food crops in beds including many berries, squash, corn, greens & tomatoes.
You will get here by taking a ferry from Campbell River on Vancouver Island to Quadra. Then you will stay overnight on Quadra at dood’s property in a small cabin where we will meet up with you. We will then travel together across Quadra on dirt roads to Hoskyn dock (about 40 minutes) where we keep our boat. We will take you across to Surge Narrows dock on Read Island where we will drive across Read on dirt roads towards Evans Bay. Whilst you are here you will have access to loaner bicycles & we will carpool to island events.
Accommodation & meals
Once set up WWOOFers will be very comfortable in a newly built cabin by the hazelnut grove - ideally if there are 2 of you we would like you to be willing to share a bed although we could set up a second mattress in the one room cabin in a pinch. You will eat your main meals with us in the house which is about 1500 sq ft with several covered porches and beautiful garden beds, including a fig and apricot tree, along the south facing side. There is plenty of space for everyone to feel comfortable whatever we are all doing.
We enjoy a variety of local foods, including goat meat, seafood, wild mushrooms, and of course, our own vegetables. Our diet also includes once or twice weekly vegetarian meals (so if you have a specific diet we may well be able to accommodate your needs). Homemade gluten free breads, kefir and cheeses are a staple. Part of our passion with food is about cooking with local ingredients which equates to amazing meals, prepared with love every day, If you are interested in learning about all aspects of food, from the seeding to the preservation to the table, we might be a perfect fit!
About your stay
We suggest you bring appropriate clothing for our island weather. This includes rain gear and gumboots, if possible. Hat, gloves and scarf too.Layers are best, as the temperature can fluctuate quite a bit at any time of the year.In addition to personal toiletries, please bring a sleeping bag, if possible (if not, arrangements can be made).
Read Island is a unique place.There is much to see and do here and we will try to facilitate any local activity our WWOOFers wish to engage in during their time off which will likely include typical island pursuits such as kayaking, swimming & hiking.
We appreciate connecting with like-minded people. If you have a love of food, love working with all aspects of food and are willing to put in the time required to create and honour all that sustains life, we'd love to host you! We ask that all that come to stay with us show respect for each other, everyone and everything that shares this planet with us.
Organic methods: We practice crop rotation and regenerative agriculture.
Certifications: We primarily grow food to sustain ourselves & our animals, although grown without chemicals and pesticides, we have not gone through the process of becoming certified.
Current projects: Spring/Summer 2026
We are currently looking for people willing to help pick our wide variety of berries in July continuing with crop care through to the orchard fruit harvest in late September - early October.
Finishing work to the interior of the WWOOFer cabin in which you will stay
Renovating our plumbing from the well to the house
Replacement of fences around the gardens & goat fields
Tending the garden and current greenhouse (plant, water, harvest)
Foraging for materials to sustain the goats (branches), gardens (seaweed) & foodstuffs (nettles, mushrooms etc.)
Looking after the goats & chickens is a large part of our day so you should be prepared to get close up & personal with our critters!
Limited internet access available
Read more
Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Viticulture
Wild foraging
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Renewable energy production
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
LGBTQ+-operated
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
3.5
Hectares
|
8.6
Acres
