Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
2 Feb 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
56
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Details
Description
You want to slow down, listen to birds and bees whilst doing something lasting for the planet? Come and join us!
We are an English-German couple living on a small off-the-grid farm near Serpa in the Guadiana Natural Park. Our focus is on sustainable off-grid living, re-greening and re-planting, soil rebuilding and enhancing wild life.
Sharing this beautiful place with us are so far our rescue dogs Charlie and Whiskey, some happy chickens, lots of wild birds, insects, reptiles and plenty of bees from a local bee keeper. We have established natural meadows again, encouraging wild flowers, created lakes, ponds and streams, installed insect hotels and shrubby hides for wild birds. The wildlife and especially all kind of bees seem to approve.
We are also renting our neighboring property, which has been severely abused and neglected and is in dire need of restoring, helping and protecting hands of people, who care about the planet and nature.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We speak German, English, Swedish, intermediate Spanish and Portuguese and are happy to share, practice and help/be helped to improve! Intermediate English or German is needed to understand the inner workings of our off-grid place!
We are interested in Permaculture and have already amazing results to show, we are on the right track! We are happy to share what we know and are happy to benefit from your knowledge and experiences.
For people never having experienced the dynamics of a free-rage flock of happy and healthy chickens, touched one or fed one from your hand, we are happy to share our gained wisdom and let you take over the daily responsibilities. It might make you another Chicken Ambassador and hopefully lead to better lives for more chickens around the world!🐓🐣🐥✌️
For those interested in the inner workings of off-grid living - happy to let you into the secrets and show you, it is possible without sacrificing your modern life-style and set you on the path of self-sufficiency on land or on the water.
Help
Projects (forever ones and seasonal): Olive harvest - ALWAYS around 2 weeks after the first autumn rains / Olive tree pruning - shredding smaller branches for mulch - cutting bigger ones into firewood / Planting more trees, bushes and flowers / Weeding / Making swales to stop soil erosion / Installing and maintaining walking paths / Landscaping / Finish the transformation of shipping container into workshop with storage / Dry stone wall repair / Grass trimming / Chicken care, entertainment, training and taming 😉 / everything in and around our veggie and herb garden, food forest and orchards - weeding, planting, making new beds, pruning, harvesting, eating...
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Swedish: Intermediate
Portuguese: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We love to practise and improve our Spanish and Portuguese. In exchange we can help with English. Jana holds a CELTA certificate of Cambridge University and has taught German in New Zealand and Germany and English in Australia, Spain and Germany.
Accommodation
We have three different choices for fully vaccinated people only (Tetanus, MMR, Polio):
1. FOR WORKAWAYERS TRAVELLING WITH THEIR SELF-SUFFICIENT CAMPERVAN:
What we DO offer:
parking and water on private land in Guadiana Natural Park. Normally no legal camping allowed here! Depending on your vehicle (900m medium-rough dirt track needs to be managed) we have level parking near the house or hidden in a secluded valley (for 4WD only) and water.
What we asked for: 3 hrs per person per day you stay here, completely flexible. We got a lot of very varied outside jobs to choose from. Or have your own whole mini-project.
What we DO NOT offer:
• Catering ( IF veggies and fruit are in abundance and the chickens madly laying we’ll be happy to share the excess occasionally)
• bathroom/shower facilities
• toilet emptying, as we are off-grid and have a biological septic tank
• electricity (unless it is sunny, you have an adapter to normal EU socket and we have excess solar)
• washing machine (facilities are available in Serpa)
• waste disposal apart from compostable waste
• open fire facilities
2. IN A SEPARATE OFF-GRID HOUSE:
The house is for self-catering Workawayers WITH THEIR OWN TRANSPORT. The house can sleep 4 people and has two bedrooms with 1 double bed each (140 cm x 195 cm and 150 cm x 195 cm). There is a fully equipped kitchen with gas stove and oven. The water is from a bore hole, not specially treated. Waste water is to a septic tank (NO antibiotics, please. Kills the tank!) Electricity is provided by solar and via a small battery bank. Laptops are a no-no, normal phones and tablets can be charged depending on the sunshine. The bathroom is to share between all occupants of the house with 2 sinks, 1 shower and 1 toilet. The lounge/ open plan kitchen is the communal area for all occupants in that house. Please treat it accordingly. It has a table with chairs, two settees and two armchairs. We will provide you with a budget for food, drinks, etc. (loo paper and whatever else you need). If you are here in the colder months, you can purchase gas bottles for a HotSpot should you require additional heat apart from the open fire. You will be responsible to keep the house clean and the firewood stocked up (not part of working hours).
3. IN OUR MAIN HOUSE WITH THE HOSTS:
This option is for singles, friends travelling together and couples ( families with children only for option 1&2). Minimum stay 1 week, maximum 3 weeks. Longer might be possible, to be discussed during your stay.
Food will be provided following our principle: LOCAL – SEASONAL – HAPPY. Vegetarian or omnivore - same principle applies! There will be no option to prepare separate meals.
One room with twin beds, which can also be a big double and one with a double bed. Shared toilet, shower and kitchen for the whole house. We cook on wood, gas and with the sun, have only solar and wind power and our water comes from our wells and boreholes. The accommodation is in the main house with us - like visiting family members or friends.
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Participation and communication are the key for all available options and we have to 'click' for it to work.
Beating around the bush, sulking and talking between the lines are not our style and we do not wish to be surrounded by these vibes. We appreciate straight forward communication. If this is something you have trouble with, please choose a different host.
We do not commit beforehand to any long-term stays.
What else ...
We are completely off the grid. Water and energy saving are therefore absolutely essential. We are long term sailors and travelers, used to this way of living and happy to advise you.
If you need it, please bring your own internet!
We provide three meals a day for Workawayers staying with us in the main house. For option 1 and 2 please read accommodation section carefully. If you are a ‘grazer’ and rely on a constant flow of snacks in form of cookies, fruit or whatever in between, please bring your own supply. We do NOT (in the main house) cater for special food needs and also do not provide a constant flow of beer and wine. Should you need that, please contribute your bottles to the household. Please read accommodation section for details!
WORK: be prepared to be/work by yourself at times. Our farm is secluded and we do not host a continuous stream of Workawayers, all depending on work, heat and time of year.
Our houses and lands are strictly non-smoking and non-vaping, NO EXCEPTIONS. Do not choose our place to finally stop smoking. Try that somewhere else, please.
We have a working relationship with a local organic beekeeper. There are about 15 hives on our land. If you are allergic to bee stings please remember to bring your EpiPen.
TRAVEL: We are in the middle of the triangle of airports Lisbon, Faro and Seville. We'd prefer you having your own transport but will, of course, pick up in either Portugal: Serpa and Mertóla or in Spain: Paymogo.
On free days or in your free time you can hike, bird watch, go and explore the biggest waterfall in Southern Europe - Pulo do Lobo or if one of us goes to town, we can drop you off in the historic market towns of Serpa or Mertóla. From there you can take regular busses to all sorts of destinations.
We have a 'Take one - Leave one' bookshelf in German and English, an extensive selection of our own books, you are welcome to borrow during your stay. There is no TV. We love any type of games, are keen Scrabble players and have a selection of quite some fun board and card games. There is also a dart board and James is very competitive...
When you have reached this line we would love to hear from you and ask you kindly to
😉start your message with a funny personalized greeting to our amazing fury family members 🐶🐶
Why? We are sick and tired of copy and paste messages from people without the courtesy to read our profile. We will NOT reply any longer to generic messages. Our time is too valuable.
We also have a possible opportunity for a long-term stay. We are looking for a like-minded person or couple interested in the occasional house sitting: chickens, watering duties and general cleaning. At times we will be here as well and other times we can be away for up to three months. Details to be discussed in person after trial workaway period and if we 'click'. You would have to have your own transport and internet!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
If your van can manage a dirt track with a few potholes, we would be happy to let you park here. You need to be self-sufficient. Please read accommodation section.
Can possibly accept pets
Only trained and non-hunting dogs, nothing else. Sleeping and feeding outside. No pets inside the bedrooms as courtesy for future allergic guests.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
4-5 hrs/day, 5 days a week (3hrs/every day of stay for campers), flexible on how and when
Feedback (25)
Originally I wanted to stay with Jana and James for three weeks, well, that turned into over two months! Says everything, doesn´t it?
One of the best workaway places I've ever been to. But now let's get into the… read more
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(4.9)
Originally I wanted to stay with Jana and James for three weeks, well, that turned into over two months! Says everything, doesn´t it?
One of the best workaway places I've ever been to. But now let's get into the… read more
Their property and the work they’ve done there is stunning, really well thought out and with lots of love for the detail.
I was super warmly welcomed by Charlie, their puppy and one of the sweetest and smartest dogs I’ve ever met( and I met lots of dogs) and his awesome… read more
We stayed two weeks at their place and learned so much during this time. Jana gave us a big tour through her little paradise and explained us a lot about permaculture. We are really inspired by their way of living and are motivated to bring some of the ideas about off-grid living to our new home in Germany.
We… read more
How they balanced time with Mira and working on the land was incredible. Landscaping, planting, making and collecting fire wood, fence building, weeding and of course without Mira 😍, we would still be… read more
We stayed at their house for two weeks during which olive harvesting (or rather tree yoga and olive meditation) became one of our main activities. Jana and James made us feel at home as soon as we arrived and welcomed us into their family.
We had most meals together which were lovingly prepared for us and… read more
It was awesome working under Jana's untiring tutelage. Where does she find the energy? I guess one has to dig deep to come up with all that, but so inspiring are those hardscrabble hillsides. Try to keep up the good work! I know there is much still to be done, so best of luck guys.
Not a lot to say. It depends on you.
If you want to fall in love with a land and see the results of your work day by day, if you want to wake up with the sun on your face and go to bed after you looked at astonishing stars, if you want to open your mind and speak with an amazing couple who really… read more
They are extremely kind, generous, and hard working people. While I was there they made sure I did work I was enjoying, they took me to a local cheese festival, cooked incredible food, and helped me plan my future travels!
I would highly recommend Jana and James to future workawayer!
Thank you so much for… read more
At Jana and James there was a very nice balance between working and chilling with board games, sharing stories and sometimes a drink for the sunset. The day usually started with a long cosy breakfast with good coffee, followed by… read more
