And Welcomed we were!

This is part of  Heather and Henk’s Workaway listing:

Hello, we are Henk and Heather, a married couple who own and run a 140 acre mixed Certified Organic Farm in Frankville, Ontario. We have been farming for about 10 years, but both of us have farming backgrounds. Henk quit his job 3 years ago so we could devote all of our time and energy to our farm. We raise beef, pork, goats for milk and meat, Jersey cows, meat chickens, turkeys, have laying hens and make our own maple syrup. I make cheese, yogurt, and kefir from our own milk. We also have two large gardens. We are vendors at a market in Ottawa and go there twice a month for our CSA deliveries (starting April 1st). We would welcome help with the farm chores, feeding, watering, looking after baby goats, (deliveries are March/April 2017) fencing, building projects, stacking wood, cooking, planting, weeding and watering the gardens, canning and preserving, lawn mowing (ride on mower) maple syrup production and helping prepare for market deliveries. We have three children, (19, 21 and 23 ) all out on their own now, but will visit often and sometimes help and stay for dinner. My elderly mom also lives with us.

We love the simple things and enjoy the fresh air, country life and the delicious food our farm produces. We don’t stay up late and are usually on the go by 7:30am. A typical work day would involve farm chores, which usually take us about 2 hours, but with help likely 1 – 1 1/2 hrs. We come in for a hearty breakfast, usually eggs, sausages, pancakes, homemake yogurt, or kefir. And coffee of course 🙂 Then we plan our day, which could include any of the above activities. We usually work all day til chore time in the evening, but you will not be required to help that long. 5 hour days would be normal, and if you could be flexible that would be appreciated. Some days may be longer but would be offset by shorter days.

We are just as interested in learning from you as you are from us! We don’t get a chance to travel, so having people from other countries and cultures come to us is a wonderful opportunity to meet people and learn ourselves. We know there are always better ways to do things, so are eager to meet people with innovative ideas to make our days more streamlined. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes and new ideas can go a lot way! We welcome your input.

We are a fun-loving family and always try to make the most of each day. We both have a great sense of humour and are easy to get along with. We do work hard though, and are looking for someone who likes to have fun, laugh, be willing to work hard and be easy going and diligent with tasks and jobs. The help required isn’t always physically difficult, but sometimes just slow and steady. The ability to work without constant supervision is an asset. Please no drugs or drama.

Can you see why we were drawn to their farm!  We were able to learn so much from them.

Our first few days though were full of rain.  It rained and rained and rained and rained!!!

So we settled in, unpacked, and worked on some indoor chores (see next post).

Little Plate was basically an angel the whole trip to Canada and so it was time for a difficult transition to balance things out.  Henk and Heather were very understanding of toddlerhood and so patient with the up and downs of being two.  It can’t always be sunshine and butterflies right!  We are so appreciative to be here and to have such wonderful hosts.