Area: Southern France

We are a couple who have swapped the office for the outdoors and are renovating an old stone farmhouse in the beautiful and spectacular mountains of the Cevennes region in the south of France. Our land is in a secluded valley just 5 minutes walk from a small village and 5 minutes drive from a medium sized town which has all the typical Southern French characteristics as well as lots of local idiosyncrasies. So far we live in a caravan in a barn while we work on the farmhouse and cultivate the garden.

Area: England

I am an English language teacher (RSA DELTA qualified) who now works as a coach and mentor for other teachers rather than teaching myself, so I'd like to keep in practice with a bit of occasional informal language support for people coming to stay. I live in a lovely village in the middle of Charnwood Forest, close to Loughborough and Leicester. My house and garden are comfortable, but a little too large for me and my daughter - as I'm busy at work 4 days a week I'd welcome a bit of help with practical tasks around the garden and house. I play music (violin and sing a bit) mostly with friends in pub sessions. I enjoy spending time outdoors and growing vegetables. I've got lots of friends and like to spend time with them - also a chalet near woodland about a mile from my home where we spend time in warmer months.

Area: Nogueirinha, near Oliveira do Hospital

Quinta da Laranjeira (Farm of the orange tree) is located in the rural village of Nogueirinha, near Oliveira do Hospital in Central Portugal. The traditional house has been fully renovated and has two bedrooms, the lower level is self-contained with a combined bed/sitting room, separate shower room and toilet. Within easy walking distance of the house is a small shop with adjoining cafe/bar and the local Associação (social club). The 1.2 hectare Quinta sits on hillside with a mix of woodland and terraces. The (upper) wooded area supports native trees, and the (lower) terraces are used for cultivation of our small crops, vines, Olive and fruit trees. We are an English couple, Patrick (54) & Elaine (45), we share the house / land with our dogs, Daisy & Rrrags, we also have three cats, four hens and a cockerel. This year (2013) with the help of our 'Workaway' volunteers we've completed the heavy forest clearance, in the future this will be a relatively easy maintenance job for March (weather permitting). We've a number of projects for the remainder of the year requiring specific skills. We hope to create a 'garden' (apart from our cultivation areas), as we would like some colour other than green! We also have vegetable planting and weeding to do in addition to normal land maintenance. We are also extending the kitchen and doing other building work. We've had quite a few volunteers now, and they have been a great help with general work, our needs now are more specific and concentrate on two key areas of experience, horticulture and construction, a person with experience in both areas would be ideal. IMPORTANT! Quinta da Laranjeira is not an 'eco' project and we will not be persuaded to make it one. We use powered machinery for cultivation and land maintenance. We use insecticides and fertilizers on our crops and chemical treatments for control of problem species. We feel it's important to make this clear to potential volunteers to prevent them working in an environment in which they would be uncomfortable. We are not vegetarians or vegans, and have no intention of being converted! We eat practically all conventional foods including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products and vegetables. Anyone with an unconventional or alternative diet would probably not enjoy a stay here.

Area: Liguria

Hi! We are a family, me and my daughters Galadriel and Lùthien, and we have two small apartments with garden on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast in Sanremo. We host tourists, especially Italian, French and German, so we need help during the year, with tourist and other things.

Area: Colorado/ New Mexico

We are just establishing a large organic garden on our working horse ranch. moved from a 320 acre organic farm to high altitude clean air. We are immediately building 3 cabins. one pumice volcanic rock cabin, one local wood cabin from mountains and local saw mill. cabins already in progress for guest houses who come to learn riding and horse training as well as sustainable agriculture totally off grid. solar water well, solar power, up at 7600 feet close to ski areas but in a valley where we grow cold weather crops. BUILDING A GREEN HOUSE for winter and long season vegetables starts. BUILDING HELP WANTED IMMEDIATELY TO HONEST WORKERS We heat with wood and solar. Single mens housing only so far. Its on 100 acres building site and 32000 acre grazing for horses to ride on. its a close walk to the Rio Grande river and one of the largest free standing mountains in north America, a native holy mountain. large elk herd, deer antelope. we have large horse herd of free ranging horses with breeding stock we have raised for 107 years. NO SMOKING OR SMOKERS We have internet and phone access and dogs and horses.