Farmstead Caretaker & Hospitality Coordinator

Applications for this position are now closed. Thank you for your interest. Please continue to follow our programs at SCFF.ca. Future opportunities will be posted here.


Are you someone who feels truly at home outdoors, you love hearing the birds overhead, you keep your camera handy in your pocket for capturing magic moments, and you have a deep appreciation for the beauty of nature

Do you delight in bringing spaces to life, both in-person and online, and do you love the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of your work create smiles for others?

If so, we’d love to invite you to apply to be our part-time Farmstead Caretaker and Hospitality Coordinator at Shibagau Creek Forest Farmstead 

Here at Shibagau Creek Forest Farmstead we recognize the impact of nature and the simple beauty of peace and quiet in creating memorable guest experiences. This new role is the heartbeat of our 2026 operations, where outdoor stewardship meets hospitality, and every task is an act of love for the land, our guests and their memories. 

You’ll thrive in this role if you enjoy:

  • Tending to the outdoors; mowing, trail clearing, brush cutting, and landscape care so the land feels beautiful, safe, and guest-ready.
  • Prepping the farmhouse interior for new arrivals; cleaning, changing linens, restocking supplies, and adding those thoughtful rustic and charming touches that make guests feel truly welcome.
  • Welcoming, Orienting and Managing rental turnovers with attention to detail 
  • Bringing our space to life online; sharing stunning photos and stories, keeping social channels vibrant, engaging, and responding to guest inquiries with warmth.
  • Collaborating with us to identify new ideas for beautifying the space and enhancing guest experience.
  • Proactive, independent problem-solving; seeing what needs doing and making it happen.

Please submit your resume and cover letter to us if you:

  • Love being outdoors in all weather, and take pride in caring for the land.
  • Are dependable, reliable, self-motivated, and comfortable managing your own schedule and daily tasks.
  • Have a great eye for detail; both in cleaning and creating Insta-worthy farm moments.
  • Bring experience, or a strong comfort level with basic landscaping equipment, maintenance and indoor cleaning.
  • Are savvy with social media (Facebook and Instagram,) and enjoy storytelling.
  • Are warm, welcoming, friendly, and love creating lasting memories for others

Bonus points for previous hospitality experience, coordinating Airbnb inquiries, attention to detail cleaning and/or gardening maintenance.

Schedule & Compensation

  • Part-time: 3 days/week (May 24 – Sept 30) requiring a flexible schedule
  • Compensation: Minimum wage + commission on new Airbnb rentals/event bookings

Our Mission

At Shibagau Creek Forest Farmstead, we nurture conscious connection; between people, land, and imagination. As stewards of these 100 acres, our mission is to provide sanctuary for reflection, learning, and community. 

Here, we invite like-minded people to gather, share, and practice sustainability, creativity, and practical skills, co-creating time in harmony with nature. Guided by a vision of balanced living, we honor our roots as settler stewards and re-foresters, sharing this land as a haven for personal growth, hands-on learning, and the joyful reimagining of what’s possible when humans live in partnership with the land.

Through May to September, we offer rental stays in our farmhouse, and run  workshops, events, and retreats in the barn and outdoors.

If you’re craving work with heart and variety, where your independence is celebrated and your creativity valued, you’ll find a sense of purpose and belonging with us, helping shape the legacy of land, nature, and guest experience at Shibagau Creek Forest Farmstead.

Our Vision is to inspire conscious connection and joyful living in harmony with nature, nurturing a community where people, land, and imagination thrive together.

Please apply here:

Please also check us out online on Facebook and Instagram

Summer 2026 Bookbinding

detail of hands gluing papers

Two workshops with Peter Sramek are planned for 2026 that will cover experimental folded and sewn artist’s books, including a potential for drawing and collage to create contents for binding. Topics such as boxmaking, alternative sculptural structures are also possible depending on interest, so please get in touch to let us know: workshops@scff.ca. What about: From concept to embodiment – the digitally designed, printed and hand bound artist book?

3 people holding book projects

Dates for 2026: July 11-12 and 25-26. More information will be forthcoming. If you are interested in attending a workshop, please contact us. Registration information will be posted here in coming weeks.


Workshop #1: Album explorations
This workshop will consider a variety of structures appropriate for inserting contents, be it photos, prints, drawings, collages, envelopes that hold items or more. For anyone wishing to bring together collected materials in an album format, this workshop will provide inspiration and binding techniques.

Workshop #2: Options for folded artist’s books will be presented and the group may decide to focus on particular techniques. Participants are encouraged to bring visual materials to work with or collect them onsite. Sewing and gluing will be simple and appropriate for those without binding experience, while more complex approaches can be selected by those looking to develop more advanced skills.


2 people gluing box parts
placing clamshell box in press while gluing

Photography: Master Class with Peter Sramek – August 28-30, 2026

Looking down towards a pond in a Japanese garden

Develop your photography with guidance from Peter Sramek (sramek.ca), longtime OCAD University professor and founding member of Gallery 44 Centre of Photography in Toronto. Whatever your experience with photography, this workshop will meet you with appropriate content as you enjoy a weekend with a group of creative participants.

people walking in a field
Photo workshop, September 2025.

This program is designed to support you in your photographic journey, whether primarily visual, conceptual or technical. Field work will explore the farmstead landscapes and the local area, while discussions will address approaches to making images, with focus on participant interests. Engage with the landscape, explore portraiture, create site interactions to photograph. Consider aspects of light, composition and moment. Share your images in creative evening sessions. If you bring an ongoing project, a portfolio discussion will provide feedback.

group sitting at a table with laptop computers
Preparing image files, Photo workshop, 2025.

Participants will work with digital cameras, but are free to also shoot film for later processing. Technical aspects can be covered if desired. Digital results will be reviewed onsite and those interested may experiment with historical cyanotype printing (blueprinting). Gear is not the focus and a basic camera or phone for making exposures is all that is required.


blue print photo of man standing with branches and a chair
Self-portrait, Sardar Farrokhi, 2025.

If you are interested in attending a workshop, please register online or contact us at workshops@scff.ca. Participants will stay the weekend at SCFF or arrive for each day’s session.


Practicalities

Participants will arrive in Tamworth on Friday afternoon or evening and may stay an extra night on Sunday to make a long weekend should they desire.

Cost: $590 includes tuition, accommodation and meals;
$390 for those who do not require accommodation.

A deposit of $100 will hold your place with full payment due 3 weeks prior to the workshop. A non-refundable fee of $100 will apply if you cancel less than 3 weeks prior.

Ride sharing can be coordinated where possible. Pick-up and drop-off in Napanee is also possible should one wish to take the bus or train from Toronto area or Montreal.

Summer 2025 Photography Workshop

group sitting at a table with laptop computers

Natural Inventions – Staging in the landscape – Sept. 5-7

blueprint image of book on moss
Walden, Taimaz Moslemian, 2025

Similar to last year’s land-based workshop, we invited photographers to engage with the land in staging site-specific assemblages using natural materials which were then photographed. Over the weekend we used cyanotype printing methods to turn digital images into tangible prints. The participants this year, who included experienced artists and photographers, presented their portfolios in our evening session adding to this engaging event.

people standing outside with a table and images
Exposing cyanotypes, Peter Stranks, Sardar Farrokhi and Taimaz Moslemian, September 2025

If you are interested in attending a future workshop, please contact us at workshops@scff.ca. Participants may arrive on Friday to stay the weekend at SCFF or arrive for each day’s session. Registration and accommodation arrangements will be posted.

Experimental Artist Books 2025

2 people holding long blueprint strip while washing it

Our 2025 experimental bookbinding workshop involved making fold books on long strips of Japanese washi paper, utilizing cyanotype (sun prints or blue prints) solution which is exposed to sunlight. Collaging images and photographs copied onto transparencies provided the contents.

The resulting long accordion strip was bound using the drum leaf glued method of binding (no sewing) and hard covers were pasted onto the accordion section.

Boxmaking Workshop 2025

2 people at a worktable gluing paper for binding

The boxmaking weekend was a great success with beautiful results by each participant. We enjoyed ourselves, worked diligently and went through the steps of constructing, covering and assembling double-tray clamshell boxes covered in colourful Japanese papers.

If this workshop intrigues you, get in touch to let us know to schedule a repeat event.

June 27-29 – Women’s Biking and Dreambuilding Weekend

woman wearing biking helmet and sunglasses

Join Jennifer Marschal and Victoria for a unique retreat incorporating biking through the local Ontario countryside, walking in the forest, taking time to slow down and take in nature while visioning into living a life you would absolutely love.
Jennifer offers content-rich, interactive workshops that take participants on a journey in which they design, define, test, and experience a crystal-clear vision of the life they would love – a life that is in alignment with their highest purpose. They will have a unique opportunity to “step into” the life they are imagining and feel a resounding “yes!”
This retreat is designed for women who love to stay active while having a “time out” from their family and work. By consciously slowing down and bringing mindfulness to activity, this weekend is a perfect time to connect with your inner self, create transformational new thinking patterns, while meeting like-valued women and giving yourself permission to disconnect from busy-ness. 
Register early to avoid disappointment. Maximum 8 people.

Contact victoria@scff.ca for more information.

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