Country: Czech Republic
Description
Breathtaking countryside surrounds the property, both forests and open fields. The country roads are lined with pear, apple and cherry trees, and there's an abundance of wild flowers such as chamomile, poppies and cornflowers. Visitors to the area often spend time picking mushrooms and wild fruit (bilberries, strawberries & raspberries all grow in the forest near the house). Other local wildlife include deer & wild boars. In the summer the garden is lively with birdsong, you can visit the bats in the attic and watch the firefly in the evening. In the winter there are wood fires, snow cover, blue skies and beautiful frosted trees.
We can offer good food, WIFI & native English conversation practice.
Area
Type of work
Other,Art project,
Animal care,
Help in the house,
Help with Eco project,
Farming,
General Maintenance,
Cooking / shopping,
Building,
Gardening
Work
If you have no experience of any of the above we have lots of wood chopping and reconstruction work which will help you build up your muscles and appetite!
Languages spoken
Accommodation
What else ...
Local sights includes the Hussite fortress town Tábor, plentiful walks and cycle routes (on well marked out routes), a narrow gauge railway, Cervena Lhota (a red castle in a lake with an outdoor theatre) and countless outdoor swimming opportunities. In the winter you can ice skate & cross country ski (the nearest downhill slope is 10 miles away).
There is a village with basic shops, pubs and restaurants 4km from the house, from where there is a direct bus to Prague. There is a (n early) daily bus from outside the door to Ceske Budejovice - the main town of the region. We also have (old) bikes you can borrow.
The house is two miles from the site of the last Czech Hussite battle in 1435. The property is well situated for those wishing to visit the 7 World Heritage sites in the area.
We are happy to give volunteers from a week to a month long trial here, and then if we're all happy it can be extended to 3 months - it really depends on the individual. We have been living in house shares for many years, so we hope we're okay to live with! We can commit to a long stay (up to 12 months) only after spending time with a volunteer.
While you are here, we can teach you what we know about sustainable living, edible mushrooms, knitting and restoring woodwork.
One of us is veggie and the other is a keen cook and meat eater - so we're always happy to accommodate herbivores, carnivores and anything in between. We eat a (sustainable) mainly vegetarian diet, but also cook a Sunday roast dinner.
Please let us know approximately when you would like to visit.
We are full during the following dates:
September 10-20
December 1-31
Be warned... if you want to come during the colder months - the temperatures really drop over the winter so you'll have to be quite hardy to stay here ( & the composting toilet is outside!). We keep the fires burning in the rooms that are in use, however we don't have central heating and it can go as low as minus twenty five degrees C outside. It really depends on how harsh the winter is. 2009-2010 snow first fell on the 13th October and was still on the ground by Easter.
My Photo Album
Click to enlarge.
Feedback left about host
(Excellent)
Zoe [Jun 24, 2010]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectThank you both for all your generosity! Enjoyed learning about wild foods and experimenting with new recipies and ideas...really appreciated the efforts made to open me up to genuinely czech experiences also- the food, pubs, language, quirks, a fascinating place indeed. Your focus and motivation is inspiring, your hearts and minds are open and flexible, and zabka the kitten, cuter every day! Best of luck for future developments
(Excellent)
Jessica [Jun 07, 2010]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectNic and Mike are truly wonderful hosts - kind, very generous, encouraging and fun to be with. It felt like one big family while I was there - sharing cooking (great food!) and looking after the lovely dog and cats, working together in the house and on the land, as well as evenings out and weekends away together. They are hugely inspiring just through being themselves - creating a sustainable and welcoming home with great patience, determination and a willingness to experiment and learn. I feel changed by the experience and very much look forward to spending time there again.
(Excellent)
Jenna Smith and [May 23, 2010]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectFirst of all, a huge thank you to Nic and Mike for hosting us. We had nothing short of an awesome experience with them, despite snowy weather and frozen pipes! They are truly fantastic hosts and the projects going on at Novy Mlyn will inspire and interest anyone. While we didn't get to leave as much of an impact as we were hoping (mostly due to the constant need to replenish firewood), we will definitely jump at the chance to go back. Nic and Mike were passionate about making our experience as good as it can be; they are great hosts and travel buddies and friends. Until next time!
(Excellent)
Richard [Dec 11, 2009]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectThank you Nic and Mike for the most amazing experience, the best hosts we could have hoped for. Missing you guys and the cats! Will definitely try to come back and visit to dig up the new poo hole. Anyone given the opportunity to come here should snap it up! Lots of love Katie and Rich. xoxoxox
(Excellent)
sian [Oct 24, 2009]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectI had a great time at Novymlyn! the hosts nic and mike were a lot of fun, easy to get along with and very accomadating. I learnt new skills, czech history and culture. it was a great experience!
(Excellent)
Esther [Oct 09, 2009]:
-> A Czech eco /sustainabe living projectwe love you both so much! we had the most wonderful time during our stay with you and you were so incredibly generous and welcoming and fun, thank you for everything we will send cheddar cheese to you as soon as we can now we know how precious it is! good luck and we will be back with friends x x x x x x x x
Feedback left by host
(Excellent)
host profile [Jun 06, 2010]:
-> JoeJoe & Kim were a pleasure to host. We had lots of nice meals together and they worked hard to create a living roof for us on the hen house. This involved waterproofing the roof, constructing and fixing a frame and gathering the gravel and sedum plants to fill it. It looks very fine!
Though with us only for a short time, we were really grateful for the expert knowledge about solar photo voltac panels which Joe shared with us, and we look forward to seeing the photos that Kim took of the project as well as our newly arrived rescued kitten.
It was very nice to spend time with such gentle souls and we hope that they'll make it out this way again in the future.
(Excellent)
host profile [Jun 06, 2010]:
-> JessicaJessica was my partner in crime for the week she spent with us - together we foraged for all sorts of interesting foods - not only stinging nettle - which featured heavily in our repertoire of very, very local food, we also experimented with Dandelion root coffee and Ground Elder in a variety of forms.
I can recommend her as a workawayer without hesitation, and really hope that she can come and visit us again in the future.
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> JaakkoOur project benefited greatly from Jaakko's experience as a joiner. We now have a fantastic hen house, for which we are incredibly grateful., as well as a much better compost container. Under the direction of Joann, he also constructed the frames for the raised beds in the garden, and joined in with shifting wheelbarrow loads of rubble.
After Jaakko had been with us for a few weeks we realised that we could trust him to look after things at the project and were able to take our first real holiday in several years. We returned to find that all had been well cared for, and surprising amounts of work had been undertaken by workawayers in our absence.
We're incredibly grateful for his help and wish we could have kept him longer!
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> JoannIf you are offered the chance to host Joann you should accept it quickly! I have a feeling that she will be very much in demand as her career as a herbalist and permaculture gardener develops.
Not only was she good company, interesting and songful, she also provided us with an excellent plan for our garden, including a planting schedule for us to follow for the rest of the year. As a direct result of her work, we will be far more self-sufficient in terms of food this year than last - and she even inspired me to start using our abundant supply of nettles as a vegetable! Very tasty.
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> ClaireClaire was great company, and knew some really good recipes! She was quickly able to pick up skills such as working in a mosaic with Emily, and was a great help during her time with us.
We hope to see her again soon.
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> Carl-HenrikWe had a great time with Henrik and the other workawayers who made up such a well-humoured team in the Autumn/Winter 2009 - it was a real pleasure to host Henrik. He worked very hard and was good company. We hope he'll call in on the project again in the future.
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> EmilyEmily arrived at the project just in time for a cold snap, which heralded the start of a particularly long and hard winter. We spent a lot of time finding ways to insulate the house against the coming cold - such as by putting up extra layers of curtain on the windows and sewing together quilts to make thicker blankets. Emily also built a lovely mosaic on a windowsill and drew a beautiful 'no cats' sign for the bedroom allocated to those with allergies.
We hope we will see her here again in the future.
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> Jenna Smith andGoodness, Jenna and Dylan are hardy souls!
When they arrived with us, we were at the end of a particularly harsh winter - and were coping with the major problem of the drainage system being frozen solid, as well as a new puppy and indoor temperatures down to about freezing. We do hope that this never happens again and that they come back when the climate is somewhat more gentle.
They cooked fantastic breakfasts, great bread and tasty meals, chopped wood (a major undertaking in the snow) and carried it to the fires in each room, and generally kept the home fires burning. They were great company and we enjoyed some lovely weekends with them. Dylan also took some fantastic photos round and about.
The snow remained for their entire visit, I hope that they come back to the project when it's not blanketed in white, pretty though it is. We're grateful for their work and company.
(Very good)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> JamesJames came to our project while while we were away, so we only spent a very short time with him. While he was here, visitors restored a lovely shelving unit, planted willow and cut a lot of wood. They also had a fantastic Thanksgiving - by all accounts - organised by James.
It's a shame he wasn't with us longer!
(Excellent)
host profile [May 18, 2010]:
-> noelNoel is from a rural background and has a qualification in gardening - his knowledge of permaculture helped us make decisions about how to plan the garden. In particular, he wrote a great blog post for our site and inspired me to read 'one straw revolution' and start experimenting with no dig planting methods.
Of course, he worked hard, but also he had some interesting specific skills, such as helping us plant out willow as a sustainable fuel crop. Though I couldn't understand every word he said because our accents are very different, he was an interesting character and we had some very funny nights out as well.
(Excellent)
host profile [Feb 24, 2010]:
-> RichardThanks for visiting us. We had a great time with you and hope you continue to have grand adventures during your travels. I can wholeheartedly recommend you to other hosts.
(Excellent)
host profile [Oct 07, 2009]:
-> CarolineIt was a pleasure hosting Caroline this autumn. I am really grateful for her help with organising all sorts of things... such as the tool room and the kitchen. Caroline was willing to try all sorts of different types of work and it was lovely spending time with her on the porch in the evenings. We hope that she will come back and see how we're getting on.
(Excellent)
host profile [Oct 07, 2009]:
-> EstherEsther and Rosie brought with them bundles of creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge of eco technology (from their experience working at CAT in Wales). I was able to leave them to get on with a range of different activities - from restoring furniture to making a spaceman costume for Mike's surprise Alien birthday party. I hope that they will visit again!
(Excellent)
host profile [Oct 07, 2009]:
-> RachelRachel was a great guest. She shared some lovely recipes with us and was very capable generally. We had many nice evenings playing Bananas - a word game which she brought with her. I hope that she will be able to visit us again in the future - I'm sure she'll see a lot of progress!
(Excellent)
host profile [Oct 05, 2009]:
-> sianSian worked incredibly hard and was great company. She is welcome back here any time and we hope she'll be able to come and see how we're getting on in the future.
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