We are building a natural home and a permaculture food forest on six acres, surrounded by thousands of acres of public land. We like to hunt (deer, moose, turkey, grouse, waterfowl, small game), wild forage, grow vegetables, tend fruit trees, make maple syrup, trade and share with friends and neighbours, support local, ecological farmers, practice herbalism and natural healing, yoga, zero-waste and mindfulness.
The house is currently under construction. It's a 34x34 foot timber frame and will have two foot thick cordwood walls, an earth roof and an earthen floor. It will be heated with wood, from the property using a masonry stove and will have a large kitchen for processing food, cooking and preserving. We have composting toilets and rainwater catchment.
Off-grid and aiming to need only 800-900 watts of solar power to run all that we need. The long term goal is to create a place for family and friends to retire and live together helping each other. We are minutes from pristine lakes and are located on a small river with many trails for recreation.
We are arts and crafts focused, with an emphasis on sharing knowledge, skills and time with each other and reducing the need for cash exchanges. Food plays a starring role as well. We eat seasonal, home grown, or preferably ethically and ecologically produced.
We are seeking an artistic and creative individual, with building experience, an interest in permaculture, who enjoys hard work, outside with bugs, likes rough camping, living off the land and wants to be part of what we are creating.
A drivers license is important, as we are 20 km from the village and quite a bit farther for major supplies. A good understanding of basic carpentry is essential. Experience in any of these would be helpful but we are willing to help the right candidate learn; landscaping, vegetable production, hunting, fishing, foraging, cooking, smoking, drying, canning, forest management, tree felling, wood splitting and natural building.
Once the house is complete we will be working on a wood shed, a sauna and then some small artist's cabins dotted around the property where we each can have our own personal space, while using the house for meals, arts and crafts, entertaining workshops and growing plants.
We are located in West Quebec where french is spoken but we are primarily english speaking. This area is popular for winter tourism. We get quite a bit of snow and it lasts through the end of April. We enjoy snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and campfires in the winter.
There would be no wages, but, some of us work off-site a few hours a week to pay for the few bills we have. We encourage trading with friends and neighbours. We are not retired, and don't ever plan to with the way our governments handle our money. No rent need exchange hands. Instead we ask for your time and skill. All you need to pay for would be any additional food and beverages you wish to supplement your meals with, and your own phone and vehicle, of course.
Our immediate goal is to complete the roof of the house before the snow flies. At that point we can start installing windows and doors and closing in the walls so we can live inside while we finish it.
I'm sure I forgot to mention a pile of important details so feel free to ask. If the idea of this sounds intriguing and you'd like to find out more, we can talk about your experience and goals and whatever else we can share with you to see if you think you might be a good fit for our family.
