Volunteer exchange in les Cevennes, South of France
2012
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Meaning of the colours:
Volunteers are needed for this month and enquiries are very welcome for the whole year.
Part availabilty for volunteers this month and enquiries are welcome for other months of the year.
No volunteer availabilty for this month but please feel free to email about volunteering during other months that are marked in green or yellow.
Area: British Columbia
Our historic ranch is located in the scenic San Jose River valley. It is 1200 acres of meadows and woods with a (small) river running through it. We use holistic management practices on our ranch. Our cattle are grass-fed using management intensive grazing with portable electric fence. We do not use herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and our cattle are not given growth hormones. We are committed to ranching in a sustainable manner and strive to improve the health of our soil through good management practices.Area: Canary Islands
I am Matt, a 28 years old boy living in a small appartment with terrace in the beautiful and warm island of Lanzarote (The Canaries). I am an open minded and respectful person and I like and really enjoy meeting people from everywhere and learning new things from them. I can communicate in spanish, english and italian.Area: Lower Normandy
** We are looking for help with gardening and shed repair during June** We are a Kiwi family living in historic Normandy, renovating our amazing 400+ year old farmhouse whilst perfecting our French and generally immersing ourselves in French life. We are returning the house to it's traditional majestic beauty by reinstating the thatched roof and exposing it's stone and oak features, whilst at the same time adding modern twists of glass, metal and bold colour, and the occasional 'kiwi twist'. We are a couple who have travelled and worked in many different countries and enjoy learning about different cultures. Here in France, we have a simple but good life enjoying the outdoors in our pool, jacuzzi, trampoline, kids play area, etc. We are in the countryside just outside an active village, our 6 year old son goes to the local school (a 3.5km cycle to the center of town), we're close to all the historic D-day sites, actually on the D-day 'route-de-libertie', the evocative Abbaye d'Hambye is 5 mins away, it's 40 mins to the famous Le Mont St Michel, and we have easy access to port and airport connections to the UK etc. We're in the midst of an extenstive ecological project to rethatch and insulate our chaumiere. This involves many preparatory phases such as paving and decking terrassing and drainage, exterior insulation, lime repointing and double glazing. Additionally we are in the midst of many other projects - the construction of oak spiral stairs and mezzanine extension; instillation of wooden kitchen worktops and repair of 300 yr old o ak flooring; planting of a New Zealand garden; and several craft projects includingthe polynesian/celtic inspired carved facing boards for the new thatch roof (a great project for anyone with a passion for wood carving / wood carver). We use natural traditional products where ever possible and have a simple organic vegetable garden and we are looking for enthusiastic generally capable people who would enjoy helping us in exchange for access to this fantastic part of France. We are of course happy to assist those wishing to improve their French and/or cultural understanding of France and assist you with access to tourist sights where we can.Area: Midi Pyrenees
My husband and I are moving to a wonderful old farm in the South of France within the next few weeks. I am 43 and he’s 48 years old and we have 5 children (21, 21, 19, 17 & 11), 1 cat and are planning to buy 2 dogs very soon. My husband is Belgian and loves to cook, and I am English and work for a non-profit AIDS organisation. My 11 year old vegetarian German/English daughter lives with us, the rest of the kids come for visits. The farm is in a beautiful rural area between Toulouse and the Pyrenees, very close to Boulogne sur Gesse. For your free time we have an above ground pool, table tennis, table football, Wii, king size trampoline, dvds and cds, books and magazines, badminton, wireless internet etc. Within walking distance there is a public outdoor pool, boating lake with fishing, shops and a weekly market. The gorgeous city of Toulouse is just one hour away in one direction and the mountains just one hour south!! Nearest airports are Toulouse-Blagnac, Pau-Pyrenees and Tarbes –Lourdes.Area: Washington State
Our Ranch is a 74-acre spread set in the "Out West" sagebrush steppe canyons and river valley in the Okanogan Valley of Washington. Surrounded by alfalfa fields, orchards, and State lands, It has a timeless peace about it that comes from land whose husbands labored with love and gratitude for its bounty. At age 50, I bought the land that became The ranch. It was a decommissioned orchard and had been "rode hard and put away wet." With my 70 year old friend, Betsy, we began to create from the rubble an oasis of health. We are in the fifth year of transformation and now boast of producing hay, grass-fed beef, pork, chicken and rabbit; all are raised on pasture. As we plant our hay fields and food crops, we will do so as organically pure as possible; however, we have no plans to jump the hoops required to label our products "organic". We are against the ingestion of foods laced with herbicides, pesticides, hormones or antibiotic additives. We mindfully avoid Genetically Modified Frankenfoods. We prefer to grow our own food-- for our people, horses, mules, ponies, steers, pigs rabbits and dogs. Between 2010 and 2011, We have hosted well over a dozen farm volunteers and with their help, we accomplished oh-so-much. Our hats are off to these fine people. As always, we're looking forward to meeting new volunteers. Their chemistry and energy is just so invigorating.



