dakota Varen

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since Apr 26, 2014
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Recent posts by dakota Varen

Hello out there,

I was just curious , because im doing some research from the west coast about the east .. and am lacking information. If i were looking to purchase land in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick with the intention of starting some sort of small scale market/ CSA business what sort of zoning should i be looking for ? I know what im looking for in regards to acreage , proximity , ect ect , but is there a particular zone regulation that has to be followed to produce food to sell? Sorry this is probably such a basic question , but i just dont have any farmer friends in the area to ask & google has given me no help!

thannnkkk youuuuu
9 years ago
Hello Ross,

Beautiful piece of land you have there! Im also from nova scotia, and my partner and i have been looking for an opportunity like this on and off for a year or two now. We are currently living in Quebec for the winter but are planning to visit family every now and again in the up coming months. Where in nova scotia is your property?


Hope all is well!
9 years ago
Working as an Intern on and off for four years now i've come to realize that having a goal makes all the difference. Having done a handful of internships i have a very good basic knowledge of the works of a farm, so as the growing season slowly creeps up and i start think about my next intern position i try to think what it is i would really like to learn for that year. For example this year my interests really lie in the business side of things. Trying to see the side of farming that isn't often shared with interns narrows my jobs search down , because now i need to find someone who is looking for help with book keeping and paperwork ( not everyone will be willing to share personal information with interns ). Working a specific list of what you want as an intern and what you want to offer as a hosts narrows the possibilities , which may seems scary but in the end i believe will offer you the best opportunities. It's very easy for a farm to sound perfect, and there are a lot of them out there. So narrowing your searches will help you find what you are truly looking for.


Im not the best writer but you can quote this if you like
- dakota varen
He`s 28 . Not two. just so you know.. hah
10 years ago
Helllo Freya

My name is dakota.
Your land looks beautiful & im sorry with what happened with your trying to share land in the past, thats more than awful.

Introduction!!:
Yes, Im dakota, Im 22 and am currently partners in crime with a young man from quebec, Vincent (28) We are currently living in cawston BC , rather close to you and have been working for the past six years on a large fruit orchard working grapes, apples and peaches. I run the veggie gardens that feed the family/ workers on the farm and vincent does heaps of work all around. We have been looking into starting a project of our own for some time now. When ever the season ends in BC we usually pack up and head somewhere else where farming is still an option. Cental america, Australia are a few of the places we went the last couple of winters. And in doing this we have seen some amazing farms and gained experience that school and book just doesnt offer.

We are rather intimidated by the idea of starting something of our own but in the best of ways. We know we have the knowledge to do and cant wait to see all our past years put to work.

Would love a chance to talk to you more. Please feel free to ask any questions!

Hope all is well

Dakota
10 years ago
Hello you guys,

My name is dakota.
I'm a youngish farmer from Nova Scotia. I have been farming my little heart out for just the past four years but it seems i have gotten myself into a rut. You see i dropped out of university ( studying agriculture) with the idea that instead of spending all this money i didnt own on learniing about farming in school i could just go out and do it. Which i have. In the last four years i've done Internships, Jobs , wwoofing, work away , farm sitting, exchanges ALL OF IT & all over the world, Canada, Australia, Central America. And its been amazing. But this year i came back to my old job which i loved for the past two year and it seems they have changed directions(said rut i spoke of earlier) . Which is wonderful, change is great... but the directions they went were away from our little markets gardens ( my job ) . So it seems i have been spending my last weeks working in the vineyard which is ... nice. My problem is , i told myself if i didn't go to university i wanted to put myself in a constant state of learning. My dream is to have my own farm one day and though grapes are great i probably wouldn't have more than a plant or two ...and shoot thinning for three weeks isn't really teaching me much.

I have always worked in Organics and that is where i would like to stay. My interests really dance around permiculture & feeding your local community, markets, CSA , feeding restaurants all without mono cropping. I have worked with almost all veggies grown in north america as well as fruit, Bees ( i have heaps of bee work ), Goats, horses, chickens, ducks. I've done farm construction: green house, chicken coops, nurseries, eco building, alternative building , medicinal plants, Everything to do with veggies; planting, weeding, harvesting, processing, selling.. all that fun stuff.

I definitely don't know anywhere close to everything about this stuff , but i do feel i have a very good grasp on the run and upkeep of a farm and im so interested in keeping myself growing and learning in this amazing field( could be a bit of a play on words there... ).

I'm wondering if any of you fine folk might have, or know someone who might be in need of some assistance. Preferably i'm looking for work, but in saying that, money isn't horribly necessary if the right opportunity comes up.
I'm currently living in Cawston BC and would like to stray not to far if possible but i'm open to other things!

Feel free to message me with any questions or ideas!


thanks you guys
10 years ago
Helllo hello, Me and my partner are on the same hunt for like minded people. Also in our mid 20`s from Canada, this is our third year traveling around farming and have started thinking it would be nice to settle down for a while.

We have contemplated the idea of buying land but traveling farmers aren’t the most well off and private land doesn’t really interest us that much. My partner and I are looking to start working towards building (or joining!!) a community centered small scale ‘farm’ ( for lack of a better term) . We want to help move a community closer to self-sufficiency by growing food, brewing beer, baking, working with materials found locally to build eco houses and alternative structures, working toward having a free school; creating a learning space for people in the community to come share and learn from one another, growing a medicinal garden so people needn’t rely on pharmaceuticals, learning how to personally reuse the things we consume and not just send them AWAY & to treat natures gifts as exactly that and not as ‘resources’

if you think you guys might be into the same stuff we would love to talk. And we are also super open to new ideas.

over and out,

dakota
10 years ago
Hey Matu,

Thats great do you guys have something in production already? or same as us just have some ideas floating around. Either way we would love to speak more. there is so much other ideas that would have just left this post to long that we are also interested in. The Free School is a big part of it though. We have gotten into a lot of different kinds of natural building so thought it would be amazing to have a place solely devoted to being a learning space . So if people in the community or travelers, anyone really wanted to give a class they would be able too and anyone could come if they wish. FOR FREE. example, food production, music, building class, bee stuff ect ect .
10 years ago
You guys are GRREEEAATT! thank you so much i think we might try to build either of those little waterers today! ill get back to you guys if we have any questions. Thanks again
10 years ago