I recently came across the Fairburn Farm Culinary Retreat. Situated on 130 acres in Vancouver Island’s gorgeous Cowichan Valley, the retreat offers getaways, cooking classes, boot camps, and a guest house. It is run by food activist Mara Jernigan who, after a career in the restaurant industry, is heavily involved in the Slow Food Movement. The farm is owned by Darrel and Anthea Archer, who operate the local Cowichan Water Buffalo Dairy (awesome).

The classes and bootcamps offer a unique “field to table” cooking experience, drawing from the farm and highlighting the local farmers’ markets. The retreat specializes in Italian cooking, and I can imagine that their wood burning stove churns out many a fresh buffalo mozzarella pizza.

Judging by their website, you should plan ahead. Courses are booked out to the fall season already, and after learning more about this amazing retreat, you may not be able to wait that long!