job posting for farm couple [General]

2010 Apr 20
a friend sent me this posting. while i'd love to pack up my family and try it, i know i am not cut out for life on the farm.

maybe one of you is feeling the need to jump ship and try something new?

www.goodworkcanada.ca

here is a copy and paste of some of the job description:
2 positions -- Looking for a very special couple
IMMEDIATELY

If you have always wanted to be a farmer but never knew
where to start, this is the opportunity you've been looking for.

Upper Canada Heritage Farm is looking for a couple to set up
residence on our 100 acre farm. Learn about raising heritage
breeds, focussing on the Large Black Pig. We cater to the
Ottawa market and our business is growing by leaps and bounds.

This family needs a dedicated couple -- live in or live out
-- to care for the animals with the same commitment that we
have. We will teach you everything you need to know about
raising heritage pigs, chickens, ducks and cattle. We offer
you the opportunity to establish your own market garden,
raise your own animals, put down some roots and live your
dream of independence. In exchange, you will help to manage
our heritage pigs, farrow to finish, pastured operation.

We are looking for the perfect couple -- committed to a life
of farming, living off the beaten track, being innovative,
open and creative, not afraid to try the untried.

This farm incorporates traditional farm knowledge with an
unorthodox philosophy. Raise animals for meat, but raise
them with respect for their natural tendencies and indulge
their needs. A happy pig is a wholesome pig.

Upper Canada Heritage Farm is located 20 minutes SW of
Merrickville. We offer room and board (negotiable) and a
weekly stipend of $100. Tenting available immediately.
Trailer to come.


2010 Apr 20
WAAAAA!

2010 Apr 20
They have amazing pork. I want to buy bulk beef from them, but I have no deep freezer :(

2010 Apr 20
What I'd like to know is where Heritage Farms is going to get all that money, that $100/week, to pay the happy couple.
Seriously, would anyone here be willing to trade their present lifestyle to do someone else's dirty work for $100/week? If so, let us know if you get the job!

2010 Apr 20
they pay room & board ontop of the $100 a week. i think you take this job if you are interested in being self-sufficient, growing your own food, canning, preserving, living off the land, things like that. other farm jobs offer similar wages, without also offering your own land to do with what you want.

2010 Apr 20
$100 dollars a week, + room and board isn't too shabby. While I am overpaid, many minimum wage slaves would benefit significantly by something like that. Not for myself, but for others I could see the benefits.

2010 Apr 20
the job ad may have well been titled "seeking slave labourers"

perhaps they looking at transitioning ownership and this is merely a grooming/training period? at any rate, $100/week is absurd (coming from someone who has done plenty of farm work!)

2010 Apr 20
Wow. Living in a tent and working on land you don't own for $5200/yr... Someone has actually come up with an agricultural production system more exploitive than share cropping. Take that modernity!

2010 Apr 20
Personally I think it would be a great opportunity for someone - and a fair price too. Consider it an internship to learn the ropes. I'd consider something like that in a heartbeat given the right circumstances.

2010 Apr 20
i agree zym. you do this kind of job because you want to learn the ropes, live independantly and be self-sufficient. you don't need much money, your food and lodging are covered. much better to try this out, then to just decide to raise livestock or farm without prior experience.

we have lived off grid in the summer before and loved it. never providing our own food though.

there are a lot of families who live alternative lifestyles - homeschooling and unschooling and i could see this being a great way to spend a year.

2010 Apr 20
Hence stipend, not salary...

2010 Apr 20
"right cirucmstances" for me would be :
- actually having gotten my proper severance pay from Nortel, instead of a big goose egg
- room and board for my family, not just 2 (trailer would be fine, if mobile home sized)
- a way to continue my Aikido training
- spousal approval

bonus : $100 per person, not per couple

If I'd gotten my proper severance I could probably afford to take a year off and do something like this. Maybe even 2 years. Would be pretty awesome to do. A dream come true, really. Heck, if we were planning to move back to Nova Scotia soon I could even see us doing it right now after selling off our house here. Without my severance.

2010 Apr 20
HFF, can you enlighten me as to what 'unschooling' is?

2010 Apr 21
What an incredible learning opportunity. If my partner and I weren't saving for a gap year, I would definitely be into this.

2010 Apr 21
Prahs Technically it's only exploitative if the owners are making big profits off of the labour provided. I'm not sure if that's the case here. There was a post on Foodies a year or so ago (I think) about an organic farm that was offering 'work vacations'. Room and board only, no wages, and lots of hard work. Apparently not uncommon for bohemian wannabes from the big city to want to get back to nature for fun.
monty Ha. That's exactly what I expected you to say ;-)

2010 Apr 21
Yeah, hands up all you naysayers who also pine for lower costs, high quality local food.

en.wikipedia.org

2010 Apr 21
PiO - For sure. No doubt the owners are on the level. And I agree it would be a good way for someone to burnish their farm labour chops.

I just find it amusing how we all look wistfully at modes of life that people struggled for centuries to escape. Serfdom in this case.

2010 Apr 21
People pay money to work on Dude Ranches in the US.

With the right marketing, Upper Canada Village could get $100/week for the 'Eco Tourism' or Agricultural Experience !

2010 Apr 22
For the right individual or in this case couple I think it would be a fantastic opportunity if you really want to see if this lifestyle is for you or not. Sounds like the potential for great learning from hands on experience.

I definitely would go for it but somehow I don't think myself, my husband and 4 kids in a tent would work out ^^ oh to roll the clock back a few years and I'd be so there.

We're doing our very first CSA meat order with Upper Canada Heritage Meat this year and they are having an open house on May 1st. While there gonna peek about and see if they found a couple yet or at the very least what exactly they had in mind in terms of a set up and offer.


2010 Apr 22
chicken - i'd love to hear what you learn about their set up.

2010 Apr 22
as much as i see the "romantic" illusion of this arrangement, i agree with urbanroutin. More people are moving away from this type of life than into it. Many farmers I know have children who have no plans to take over the family business. Hard work, huge risks, high debt, low pay until they liquadate at the end of their working life. Its a big problem in the farming community. There are a handful of young enthusiastic people getting into small niche farming, selling at farmers' markets, but there needs to be more to sustain the industry.
It looks like Upper Canada Heritage Farm is doing well, and she should (maybe) be back at the Ottawa Farmers' Market this year.

2010 Apr 26
Upper Canada Heritage Farm will be at the Ottawa Farmer's Market this year as confirmed by telephone when I was inquiring about the CSA share. She mentioned pickup is available at the market.

Hip - will post if I have any "new" news after the visit.