Come to the farm and heal your soul. This is your chance to stay on a small regenerative farm for a few days. Speak with Mary about your reasons for staying at the Old River Farm. Ross and Mary will provide an orientation to the 200 acres and work out an itinerary after you arrive. The hosts are busy working. Some guests help out by preparing supper or working in the garden. Lots of privacy. Silent retreat. Painting. Writing. Working. Sky watching. Bird watching. Roaming sw Ontario. The space Wifi: DLink - No Password. Guests climb the outdoor stairs to the deck and enter the first storey from the deck. This is the silo kitchen and the dining room. There is a great view of the Thames River, the wetlands on the river flats, and the cattle paddocks. Think of the Silo as 5-star camping. There is one bedroom with a queen on the 3rd storey and a second bedroom on the 2nd storey featuring a twin bed and a double futon. The master bedroom with the Queen bed is separated from the bathroom by a set of stairs which are poorly lit. Bring a flashlight. You will need it to go down one flight to the bathroom at night. This is not an accessible structure. You are constantly going up and down the stairs encircling the silo. The silo has a fully equipped kitchen. There is a coffee maker and a French Press for making coffee. Talk to Mary about meal planning. Please buy groceries locally. There are two grocery stores in Glencoe: No Frills and Foodland. There is also a St. Vincent de Paul second hand shop. Borrow what is missing from Mary. There is no barbeque. There is a big dining room with a smart TV screen that doubles as a great work space. It features sturdy wood tables and chairs that can be set up cafe style, classroom style, or boardroom style. The Sony Smart TV has an HDMI cable you can plug your computer in to display presentations or conduct Zoom meetings. The large southwestern facing deck has a table and chairs. It is cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon. A great place to watch the sunset. There is no living room with comfy couches. Remember to sign the guest book. And leave detailed comments for future guests on Airbnb's feedback. Guest access This is a Farm Stay. Five-star camping. Not a luxury experience. Guests come to experience the outdoors. Commune with nature. Learn about agriculture. The unique silo is a bonus. Guest quarters are on the 2nd and 3rd storeys. The ground floor is the cellar. The hosts come and go to access supplies. There is a 2-piece public bathroom also at the Silo base. While the kitchen and dining room are the guests' domain, that doesn't mean guests might not be asked to share the kitchen. Guests sometimes help freeze greens, prep meals, or host an event. You never know what might be planned on the farm during your stay. When you arrive, drive right up to the base of the silo's outdoor stairs. Mary or Ross will take your party for a tour at this point prior to unloading your luggage. If no guided tour, check out the silo and decide what goes where. There are decisions to make about who sleeps where before dragging your gear inside. After unloading luggage, park your vehicles away from the silo in the Guest Parking Lot or park on the grass. Do not park on the gravel or the pavement. (That is like parking in the middle of the street. Farm vehicles have the right-of-way.) Other things to note The Silo was created over the course of 15 years by Mary's father, Stew Simpson. He was inspired by something similar he had seen in Nebraska and Iowa. Stew suffered depression and he wanted to welcome people to the Old River Farm for a mental health retreat. He also wanted the farm to be a demonstration site for regenerative agriculture. He finished the Silo not long before he died at the age of 94. All of our guests love caring for the silo. Our guests clean their way in after they arrive to disinfect and clean their way out so it is ready for the next guests. In fact, our guests leave the silo cleaner than they find it. (The hosts have also cleaned, prepped, and disinfected prior to your arrival.) Water: We don't drink the water from the silo unless it is boiled first. Our guests fill the big blue dispenser with treated water from the Shop. Sewage: There is a dedicated septic system. There is a 2 piece bathroom on the ground level but we avoid using it for number 2. Better to use the 3 piece bathroom on the 2nd storey for both number one and two. We are fussy about waste management. We sort our waste into four categories: (1) garbage (2) recyclables (3) compostable (4) burnable. Please be waste conscious. Do not waste food. Make sure Mary shows you where to empty the containers when they are full. The Kitchen Garden Please help yourself to herbs, vegetables and greens in the raised beds. There is parsley, sage, and thyme as well as a wide variety of greens throughout the seasons. Mary will show you what’s available in season. Pets Pets are not allowed in the Silo. We chat with our guests about the pet’s experience, training, and purposes. We always figure something out. We have a local dog spa or maybe your dog deserves a holiday at his/her own pet hotel.