Young permaculture project in Giarre, Sicily, Italy

Details

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  Description

  ** Looking for two volunteers from the end of May for carpentry and clay working **
  * Summertime Is coming! We wake up at sunrise to work really early in the day because of temperatures! Really sweaty and full of mosquitos! It will be fun! 😁💪*
  
  Hello! I'm Alberto and this is a young permaculture project born in 2019.
  I have purchased an abandoned citrus grove that we are transforming into an edible forest rich in biodiversity.
  The land is 7000 square meters, with many lemon trees, olive, pears and grapes.
  We are on Etna, a few minutes from the sea and the mountains. We are 150 meters above sea level and the subtropical climate allows us to grow many exotic fruits and live outdoor 9 months per year.
  Anyway we live outside 12 months per year 😎
  We are not a company, everything we produce is for self-sufficiency.
  Inhabitants of this land are Acab (the dog), Dima (the cat) and me 😁.
  I have friends coming often and you'll have the chance to know other good souls 🙏
  I usually host volunteers that stay 2 weeks, than we decide togheter if make if longer.
  Between november and february I look for a volunteer per time, two (rarely three) the rest of the year.
  
  Something more about me:
  I am an easy going person, outgoing and funny, also empathetic, open minded and caring.
  I behave as a kid when I am happy and relaxed, as an adult when we work on priorities.
  Sometimes thinking about everything Is overwhelming and I can lose focus 🙏 that's also why I ask for help 😁
  I like to cook and I almost always do it, I am not a chef but whatever I make finishes 😁
  I am Sagittarius, Acquarius rising, for anyone interested of knowing it 🙏
  
  What I look for:
  My first goal is make feel the people comfortable, relaxed, safe. Second step make them indipendent in the land, puntual and focused.
  When we are under the same roof we are friends: we work togheter, talk about ourself, making food togheter, helping each other.
  Tasks are many and everything can suddenly change because of weather, commitments, or just feeling weak.
  The time here is different: days are longer, and weeks are shorter 🤔 Remember It!
  Good travelling anyone!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You could learn that you can feel at home even far from your house :)
  This project is on developing to be off grid, so you could learn many informations around permaculture, building, making a garden, creating an indipendent photovoltaic system and so on.
  I am willing to teach whatever I have learnt about wildlife in these five years😁

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  Help

  Coming to my land is an experience of wildlife 😁 It's hard life only during the time you need to get used to it 💪.
  
  Daily tasks are cleaning up the outdoor kitchen, feeding the animals and doing general maintenance.
  
  Almost everyday we work on something different, and
  obviously everything changes between the hot and cold seasons. Also, days change depending on the weather 🕺
  
  From late Spring to early Fall we wake up before sunrise to work until late morning then we often go to the sea to chill until sunset and water the plants after.
  
  From Fall to early Spring we wake up at sunrise and we work until lunch, then we go to sleep after dinner 😁. We mainly work on harvestings to fill the pantry! We sow new seess, weed, prune, graft, etc..
  
  !!!Winter is only for really adaptable people!!! 💪 if you want to start your own project it would be the perfect season for training 💪
  
  The Land every year requires some big works that I ask help for:
  January: prune grapes, dig out oaks and blackberry shrubs;
  February: prune olive trees, pear trees, Ivy;
  March: prepare the summer vegetable garden, seedings ect...;
  April: graft olive trees, citrus trees, pruning citrus trees, harvest lemons;
  May: look after the vegetable garden, harvest medlars, weedings, work on safety against summer bushfire;
  June-July: water new plants, weedings;
  August: water new plants, make tomato sauce;
  September: harvest grapes, make grape juice, harvest hazelnuts, harvest prickly pears, new plantations (trees and vegetables)
  October-November: harvest olives (biggest task of the year! Ask for further informations), plant onions, fennels, peas, broad beans;
  December: plant new trees; harvest lemons;
  
  ***Ongoing projects:
  - we are building a little shelter with wood, straw and clay 🙏, we will start again with clay and carpentry in Spring;
  - we are working on a second caravan to make it cozyer 💪;
  - we are making a vegetable garden 😁;
  - we are going to plaster the compost toilet and make It really fancy 🥹;
  - we start building the inside of a shelter;. ***
  
  ***Projects and dreams for the next months:
  - Building a solar sistem;
  - Building a Little greenhouse;
  - Building a second compost toilet
  - Plaster a 5000 litres container for making a pool out of it 🥹;***
  
  *** Dreams for future future 🫣
  I would likes to make a documentary about the lifestyle of the community we have made, with single episodes for every project. The dream is big, I would need a videomaker for 2-3 months. I know photography and I would use it for doing this. I need time to concentrate on that, and It could give a traveller the opportunity to see many projects all at once. If you are interested let me know 🥹***

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Spanish: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  Want to improve spanish and keep training english. I can teach maaaany italian gestures, they belong to italian language! 🤌
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  Accommodation

  !!Life here is outdoors!! Be sure you're ready for It 🙏
  No comforts, no hairdryer, no fridge, and many other missing things 😛 compost toilet outside, shower outside, dog's hairs and chickens everywhere!
  Dirty nails, seeds and leaves on your hairs, scratches on armpits, mosquito bites are part of the experience 😁
  Volunteers will sleep in a cozy roulotte (with heating system) 🤙 It can fits two volunteers (always same gender).
  There is a compost toilet ,an outdoor kitchen and an outdoor shower. Water Is precious, so we ask to use it very very carefully :)
  If you bring bath stuff like shampoos, soaps ect.. please look for biological ones, because water goes to the trees 🙏
  I can provide you working clothes (tshirts and trousers), safety shoes (must be used), towels and extra warm clothes. I have a full closet of all kinds of clothing (sweatshirts, pants, bathing suits, blankets) so pack extra socks and underwear rather than an extra heavy layer!
  A volunteer here must bring plastic shoes for the shower and a good headlamp (USB recharge 🙏).
  We have little electricity, enough for charging phones and other devices.
  We have to make economy of water in here.
  We handwash some of our clothes and we use laundry for big stuff.
  I do not have internet, you can use my phone as hotspot sometimes.
  I suggest to travellers that stay more than a month in Italy that's worth buying an italian simcard.
  Life's here is totally outdoor and pretty tiring for the body, but also wise and satisfing.
  We'll always cook and eat togheter. I am vegetarian, but meat and fish consumption is allowed.
  That's a very simple lifestyle, we do not have that much, but we have everything we need 🤗

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  What else ...

  We are 30 km north from Catania, not far from the Giarre exit of the A18 highway. It is possible to reach us by train from Fontanarossa Airport. The trains go toward Messina and the station to stop is Carruba (is a minor station, not all the trains stop there, so check this :) )
  Walking around the land is pretty akward because the roads are not suitables for pedestrians 😟 using bikes is possible but all the roads here are pretty steep 💪.
  I will always pick you up and drop at Carruba station when needed to visit Taormina, Acireale, Catania or Siracusa, don't worry about that 😎
  Buses can bring you everywhere in Sicily, they departure from Catania station.
  Hiking in Etna is something we do once or twice per season, but if you enjoy going there I can drop you there and pick you up if someone pays for petrol 🙏
  We are building a big community of people that have lands and help each other, so during the stay you'll participate in parties and meetings with other people who have permaculture projects, also going to their places helping for what they need 😁

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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