Volunteering

Are you looking for a more in depth experience? Do you want to learn with specialists in their fields? Do you want to give some time for the Terra Perma project because you too believe that a society more fair and more environmentally friendly is possible and necessary?

Send us an email at info@terraperma.ca with a description of yourself, your experiences, you motivations, your expectations, your availabilities, and we’ll find the best option for everybody.

Agriculture Intern

Interested in permaculture, organic food and agro-ecology? The Maple Gardens and TP Bergerie are looking for two special interns to assist them with their farming projects. There are two separate food projects on the land, livestock and vegetable gardening, but, in the spirit of agroecology and permaculture, both projects work closely together to eliminate waste and minimize external inputs to create a closed-loop agro-ecosystem. Join us for a month (or more!) this summer and:

–  Assist with our newborn lambs
–  Learn garden planning that prioritizes polyculture instead of monoculture
–  Companion planting for pest managements and higher yields
–  Create high quality compost rapidly
–  Paddock creation and grazing management
–  Soil building
–  Ethical animal farming
–  How to grow delicious, plumb produce
–  No till & organic gardening
–  Permaculture principles
–  Carbon sequestration methods through livestock and vegetable gardening

Terra Perma offers a beautiful place for you to set up your tent, all meals (and unlimited coffee!), daily access to our forest park and lake, free access to all workshops hosted by the Maple Gardens and the TP bergerie, a magical time with an amazing community, a part of our harvests and fantastic time.
We are looking for reliable, responsible and hardworking individuals with strong desire to learn new skills. The ability to work independently as well as in groups is essential. Good communication skills are a must.
Interns are expected to perform physical labour, outdoors in various weather conditions for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.
We are accepting interns from the 1rst of May to the 15th of September, minimum 3 week commitment.

ECO Construction Intern

Terra Perma prides itself in its dedication to erecting ecological buildings and experimenting with different building techniques adapted to the QC climate. Eco-construction implies using natural products to build low impact, sustainable structures. This year, Terra Perma will be building a wellness center using various building techniques as well as do interior finishing on a number of cabins. This summer, the intern will learn :

–  General conventional construction techniques
–  General woodworking techniques
–  Passive solar building methods
–  How to work with live edge wood
–  How to use power tools (drill, chop saw, circular saw, table saw)
–  How to erect a modern yurt and it’s different components
–  GREB building techniques
–  Work with limestone and other natural finishes
–  Hard landscaping techniques
–  Working with excavators and other machines

Terra Perma offers a beautiful place for you to set up your tent, all meals (and unlimited coffee!), daily access to our forest park and lake, free access to all workshops hosted by the Terra Perma eco-construction school, a magical time with an amazing community, a part of our harvests and fantastic time.
We are looking for reliable, bilingual responsible and hardworking individuals with strong desire to learn new skills. The ability to work independently as well as in groups is essential. Good communication skills are a must.
Interns are expected to perform physical labour, outdoors in various weather conditions for 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.
We are accepting interns from the 1st of May to the 1st of September, minimum 3 week commitments.

TRAIL DAY

Date: May 20th (rain day May 21rst)

The Terra Perma Forest Park is a private nature reserve of 250 acres established to conserve our beautiful boreal forest and the animals it protects as well as creating opportunity for low-impact outdoor recreation. The park boasts over 15 KM of trails for our enjoyment. The early spring is a good time for cleaning up trails from all the dead fall, over grown bushes and possible broken bridges from the changing elements in the forest parc. Before opening to the public, Terra Perma organizes a volunteer trail clean up day to ensure everyone can be safe and enjoy the park. Tasks include:

–  Cleaning overgrowth
–  Establishing stepping stones over muddy paths and creek crossing
–  Bonifying trails to demark them properly
–  Creating signage to clearly indicate paths
–  Removing debris from paths and the lake front
–  Removing garbage left by less conscientious guests
–  Building bridges
–  Raking, shoveling, and flattening paths for easier access

After our day of work in a fun atmosphere, Terra Perma will offer a home cooked meal made of local produce by a blazing bonfire. We offer a complimentary access to our forest park for you to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

CANNING DAY

Date: August 26th, rain day August 27th

Terra Perma is organically creating a sustainable agro-ecological system in order to provide food security for its members. We produce many seasonal vegetables, ethically raised lamb and our own beverages. In Quebec, our growing season is quite short, and we must, therefore, put a lot of energy into preserving the summer by canning, smoking and preserving our produce. Terra Perma organizes a volunteer canning blitz at the height of the harvest period in order to have a maximum of home-grown products through the winter. Join us in the end of August and participate in canning a maximum of products. Volunteers will learn:

–  Make your own pesto from our home grown organic basil
–  Make your own onion confit
–  Make your own wild harvested jams
–  Dehydrate foraged forest mushrooms and herbs
–  Make your own tomato sauces
–  Lacto-fermentation (vegan kimchi, pickling, etc.)
–  Smoking peppers and garlic

After our day of work in a fun atmosphere, Terra Perma will offer a home cooked meal made of local produce by a blazing bonfire.

MAPLE DAY

Date: February 18th, rain day February 19th

Maple syrup is quintessentially Quebecois and Terra Perma prides itself in its Maple production. We have over 600 trees tapped and, in 2016, we produced over 250 liters of high quality, delicious syrup. Maple season involves a lot of work in a relatively short time span and we require many volunteers for the season to be successful. At the beginning of the maple season, Terra Perma organises a Maple Volunteer day.
Tasks include:

–  Tapping more trees for more syrup
–  Chopping and moving wood for our traditional maple boiler
–  Cleaning and organizing the maple shack
–  Clearing maple trails for easier access to our taps
–  Sanitizing existing taps

This day promises to be a fun day in our maple forest. Spend the day in the woods on snowshoes, learn traditional agroforestry techniques in order to make maple syrup with the least environmental impact possible, sample our syrup and meet some amazing people. After our days work, Terra Perma will offer a home cooked feast by a blazing bonfire and a bottle of syrup for you to take home.