Help us around our family hobby-farm and learn organic and permaculture practices in Chidlow, Australia

Details

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  Description

  We live 45 km from Perth, 20mn walking distance from the Chidlow Post Office, bus stop, forests & lake Leschenaultia. In the last 20 + years, we have developed our hobby farm: built a solar-passive straw-bale home, established an extensive garden as well as grown three children, home-schooled with the help of back-packers!!! They are now young adults, two of which still mostly live at home.
  With our daughters, we grow vegetables, flowers, herbs & fruit trees. We have 3 cows, 12 goats, 1 old sheep, lots of chickens, an old pony, 3 bee hives & lots of visiting native birds.
  Nowadays we find ourself busy with cheese making, fruit processing, honey extracting, cooking wholesome vegetarian meals,...
  We are interested in gardening, natural therapies, healing herbs, music (mostly classical or traditional, but also folk etc..).
  Our goal is to produce our own organic food so as to enjoy a healthy lifestyle as well as enhance the health of the planet. Check our Fb page: ask us for the link
  
  Our re-vegetation areas require seasonal jobs of mulching, watering and raking leaves, weeding and re-planting. All of those jobs are in a very pleasant environment, and areas are small and interesting due to the diversity of plants.
  The house was built with straw-bales, and rendered with clay, painted with lime-wash. Inside and out. It is very pleasant and colorful. we have composting toilets, and a grey water system. Being a solar passive design, the house is pleasant in summer and winter alike, although heatwaves can bring the temperature higher, in which case we end up at the lake for a much needed cool-down swim!
  The garage, in which is the ‘guest room’, is made of second-hand materials and pine. The guest room is set with a double bed. it is cozy and comfortable, although wifi access is only at the house.
  The other outbuildings are the animal shed, the hay storage area, a little rock studio yet to be finished, and a small glass-house.
  
  We do volunteering at the local community garden, do bush care revegetation and weeding, and organize a monthly fund-raising French Folk dancing event in the village (Le Grand Bal de Chidlow) People love coming to our place for the overall experience of small holding sufficiency, and we often have visitors. we still have our two daughters living mostly at home, one of which is the main gardener/cheese maker. We are 20 MN walk from lake Leschenaultia, and minutes from state forests. if you wish to come and help us, let us know!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  you could be learning any of the following depending on the time of the year you are coming, and the priorities we have at the time of your visit: Organic and permaculture practices & techniques, regenerative attempts, Gardening, Composting, Propagating, Mulching, Pruning, Environmental recovery/regeneration work, beekeeping, animal care, poultry care, Sheep/goats/cattle care, some fencing, building and natural building techniques, occasional handyman skills, cheese making, grape juice and home made wine making, fermenting foods, preserving & processing food, bread making. we speak equally French and English at home...and more such as painting the clay on the strawbale house with lime and oxide...

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  Help

  Help includes general house and hobby-farming activities such as gardening, and maintenance tasks, with occasionally some more skillful work such as rock wall building, shelter building or else, checking bees/ extracting honey etc… You can be part of our activities such as folk dance and community garden, and bush care.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Thai: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  Accommodation is in annex adjoining the garage (used as storage) with a double bed. It is separated from the house, toilet and bathroom is shared with us but separate bathroom near annex is underway. We can fit 1 – 2 guests, strictly non-smokers . We cook only vegetarian meals, mostly organic, shared with the family. We can accommodate vegan and gluten free diets.

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  What else ...

  Our life is very much centered around the garden and local community, and we eat mostly from what we produce. We are also very much mingled with the community. Sometimes you might join us for a movie night at the local hall or a folk dance night we organize. Lake Leschenaultia is only 2 kms away from our house. You can walk there and swim from September to May depending on the weather. It is also a great place to observe wild life. You can walk to the lake easily from our house, or to the shop or the bus stop. Perth city is only an hour and a half away by bus and train.
  You can borrow a bicycle and ride to John Forest National Park, only 15 kms away. The old railway line provides an easy ride. we also have the Bibulmun Track 15 kms away from here, and so is Mundaring Weir. The pipeline going from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie is a few minutes away by walk and provides an opportunity for walks, as well as the numerous forests around.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  small campervan only

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  25 hours per week, 5 days - (we feed good organic meals in exchange!)

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