Apprenticeship
Hands-on dairy and cheese making. Room and board. One spot at a time.
What This Is
This is an immersion, not a job. You live on the farm, work alongside us, and learn the full process of making cheese — from caring for the animals to pulling a finished wheel out of the cave. You'll also learn milking, butter, cream, yogurt, and everything else that comes from a working dairy.
One-month minimum, two to three months preferred. Year-round. We take one apprentice at a time, so you get real mentorship, not a group tour. You'll put in about 30 hours a week helping with daily farm life — milking, animal care, cheese work, and whatever else the season asks of us. It's physical, it's hands-on, and it's real.
What You'll Learn
Everything connects. The cheese starts with the soil and the grass and the animal — not with the vat. You'll learn the full chain:
- Daily farm rhythm and seasonal awareness
- Animal husbandry — dairy cow care, feeding, health
- Hand milking and machine milking
- Cheese making — soft cheeses, hard cheeses, aged cheeses
- Butter, cream, yogurt, and other dairy production
- Sanitation with hypochlorous acid (HOCl) — no chemicals, no residue
- Fermentation and preservation principles
- Pasture management and rotational grazing basics
Daily Life
The morning starts with the cows.
Day begins at 7 or 8 depending on the season. Milking, feeding, and animal checks come first. Then cheese work — whatever stage we're at that day. Afternoons are for farm tasks: mucking stalls, moving hay, shoveling manure, fencing, firewood, or whatever needs doing. Evenings are yours.
Expect about 30 hours a week of hands-on work. Some days are full. Some are quiet. The farm sets the pace, not a clock on a wall.
Downtime is real downtime — hikes through the forest that backs onto crown land, time with the animals, reading, or just being still. There's no shortage of space out here.
Living Arrangements
Your own 12×12 cabin with a sleeping loft. Electricity, heat, and internet. Running water in the summer; outhouse year-round. Shared laundry on the property. Simple, warm, private.
All food is provided — made from what we grow and raise here. Some meals are shared, some you make yourself from what's in the kitchen. You'll eat well.
Partners and kids are welcome. Pets — maybe, depending on the situation. We can talk about it.
This is rural Alberta, about an hour north of Edmonton. You don't need a vehicle — we can pick you up from the airport and drop you back off. But it is remote. Forest, pasture, big sky, and quiet. If that's what you're after, you'll love it.
Who This Is For
A good fit
- You want to learn cheese making from the ground up
- You're comfortable with physical work — heavy pots, shoveling, standing
- You can commit to at least one month (two to three is better)
- You're self-directed and don't need to be managed
- You're genuinely curious about food, animals, and land
Probably not
- You're looking for a vacation with farm scenery
- You can't handle moderate physical work (lifting, standing, shoveling)
- You need constant wifi and urban conveniences
- You're not comfortable around large animals
- You want a structured classroom experience
The Exchange
This isn't employment and there's no cost to you. It's a straightforward exchange — your time and help for room, board, and everything we can teach you.
What we provide
- Private cabin on the property
- All food provided from what we grow and raise
- Hands-on mentorship in cheese making and dairy skills
- Airport pickup and drop-off
- A real, working education you can take with you
What we ask
- About 30 hours a week of participation
- Willingness to do the unglamorous work — stalls, manure, hay
- Respect for the animals, the land, and the people
- A minimum one-month commitment
Interested?
Tell us a bit about yourself — who you are, what draws you to this, and when you're thinking of coming. We'll have a conversation to see if it's a good fit for both sides.
Get in Touch