Profile information
Host rating
65 %
Last replied
24 Apr 2023
Feedback
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Email verified
Host offers payment
Details
Description
Our Homestead is a three-woman operation located on just under an acre in the stunning Blue Ridge Mountains in downtown Burnsville, NC. While we’re too small to cover the expense of being certified organic, we use organic seed whenever possible and always employ better-than-organic restorative growing practices. We believe strongly in supporting both the land and the community that nurtures us by nurturing them in return.
To that end, we are a virtually zero waste farm that uses no artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or single-use plastics.* We also strive to be zero input, meaning almost everything the farm needs to run is actually produced on-farm. For instance, corn stalks get chipped into the mulch we use on our beds, and old chicken litter and food scraps get composted to enrich our soil.
We’re also dedicated permaculturists who began turning our one-acre property into a self-sustaining food forest back in 2017. This is an ever-evolving, living project that yields new fruit (figuratively and literally!) each year. Every choice we make on-farm is designed not just to benefit our crops, but also pollinators such as butterflies and bees, songbirds, native critters, and the land itself. Each year, our soil gets richer and healthier, and we never cause run-off or other environmental pollutants. Crops are sown, weeded, de-bugged, harvested, and prepared (dried, bundled, threshed, winnowed, packaged, etc.) by hand; we use no heavy machinery on our farm, and our single gas-powered tool is a small wood chipper.
Lastly, we are responsible employers who believe in a fair living wage, and responsible neighbors who believe in access to healthy and nourishing food, water, soil, and air for all. We donate food, labor, and financial support to nonprofits and educators all over WNC who do the vital on-the-ground work of achieving these goals, such as Dig-In Yancey, the Reconciliation House, the Arthur Morgan School, and local food banks.
We cater primarily to a 25-week annual CSA, but we also set up at a weekly farmers' and artisans' market and host an honor stand on-farm. Because of our focus on the CSA, we grow a TREMENDOUS variety of crops, mostly in smaller quantities, and are always experimenting with new and unusual things--especially perennials!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We will teach you permaculture, food forest, and square foot gardening techniques--if your dream is to start your own homestead, mini-farm, urban farm, or food forest, you will leave a long-term stay here with the knowledge of exactly how to do that. We will also introduce you to all the incredible nature and culture Western North Carolina has to offer: the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Smoky Mountains National Park, the WNC Nature Center and Arboretum and the Biltmore, Mount Mitchell, the incredible arts scene (world-class Appalachian folk and bluegrass, world-class fine and practical arts and crafts), Asheville's culture and foodie / craft brewery scenes, the many local festivals we hold, etc.
Host offers payment in line with the minimum wage
This host offers accommodation and payment.
Host has indicated that they will pay at least the minimum hourly wage of their country for each hour worked and that accommodation will also be provided. They are asking for help with a business or business activity. Contact the host directly via the site messenger for more information and details about the wage provided. Any arrangements should be agreed in advance with your host.
Help
We're seeking one or two people (no children or pets, please!) who are extremely reliable and have at least some experience with organic gardening. More is better, but we're happy to teach quick learners. Duties will include helping us care for every aspect of the mini-farm. One day that may mean breaking down cardboard and chipping branches to sheet-mulch resting beds; another day that may mean transplanting starts or weeding or helping us erect a hoop house or planting new trees or putting insect bags over every peach in the orchard. Basically, if a task needs doing in an orchard, a garden, or a chicken coop, it needs doing here at some point. Carpentry skills are a big plus but not necessary. Ingenuity IS necessary, as we are often trying to solve problems with a hodgepodge of tools and equipment that weren't necessarily designed for it.
During the slower months (Jan, Feb, Mar, Nov, Dec) we'll be looking for a total of about 15 hours of work per week. During the busy months, we'll be looking for a total of about 30 hours of work per week, but we can certainly split this time between more than one person. In addition to accommodations and a food stipend, we'll provide an $8 per hour salary.
Ideally, we are looking for a full-year (2023) or at least a full-season (April through November) commitment, but we will consider placements for a minimum of three months. The educational component is simply too intense to cycle through folks any quicker than that.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
German: Beginner
Accommodation
Our accommodations are primitive, but provide many opportunities for recreation and exploration. We have an outdoor shower with hot water, an outdoor sink without hot water, a small camp kitchen area under our covered patio, a composting toilet, and a camping tent with your choice of cots or air mattresses that you can either locate on the covered patio near the shower/sink, or well away from the house if you'd prefer privacy. The weather is temperate here, but we do have four distinct seasons.
For food, we will provide each person with a $50 per week stipend; there are three supermarkets and a health and nutrition shop within walking distance. We will also provide a share of the harvest from the farm, primarily "seconds" or "ugly" produce that is delicious but cosmetically blemished (there's often quite a lot of that--it's what we eat, too!).
For personal hygiene, we will provide you with fully biodegradable body, hair, and dish soap.
You will have access to our wireless internet, our address for receiving items in the mail, our trash/recycling/compost, all the power and hand tools in our workshop for any projects you'd like to pursue on your own time (table saw, circular saw, impact driver, the whole nine), a short private hiking trail on our neighbor's land, our garage for small storage, one shelf of our honor stand refrigerator for cold food storage (we will also allot you some freezer space in the house for frozen food storage), and the full use of our property for mindful recreation. Our current farmhands practice archery in our yard, have a pole dancing pole and a stone-knapping setup under our covered porch, butcher roadkill and tan their skins in the downwind corner of our property, and use our workshop to build custom cabinetry in their camper van. We want you to feel at home here!
What else ...
There's so much to do in your time off I don't even know where to begin. We've got some of the best hiking and camping in the world here. Also a huge fine arts scene, several excellent theaters and music venues, a local brewery with live music most days of the week, rivers everywhere for fishing/swimming/rafting, canoeing, a quaint historic downtown that pre-dates the civil war (and many other quaint historic places and buildings and museums all over the area), festivals, art shows, galleries, live music, a local community college and a local arts and crafts school you can take cheap classes at (plus many local crafters that offer the same--there's actually a glassblowing gallery and school two blocks from our farm!), etc.
We strongly encourage you to google "Burnsville NC," "Yancey County NC," "Blue Ridge Parkway," "Penland School of Crafts," "Celo NC," and "Asheville NC" to check out all the amazing cultural and natural resources and events here, as well as to get a handle on the general vibe of the area (which is often called The Seattle of the East). Plus the photos are incredible!
Many areas of our downtown are walkable, but the area at large requires access to a vehicle because there isn't one here you can borrow and there's very little public transport.
In terms of life on the farm, we are all pretty quiet, calm folks. No smoking, drinking, drugs, visitors, parties, heavy scents (perfume, cologne, incense, etc.), or loud noises on property. We are queer, feminist, and liberal; you must be comfortable with this. Neatness is paramount for our farm help--your areas must always be tidy and you must be sure to always put your tools away (we are admittedly bad at this ourselves, which is why we make sure our farmhands aren't!). We have a very friendly, exuberant dog and two sweet barn cats that you will probably interact with a fair bit, so fears about or allergies to either would probably be detrimental. We are a high-risk household medically, so we are very Covid-careful; it's fine if you're not vaccinated and don't wear masks, but we can't ever invite you into our home in that case. (You will never need to wear a mask if you don't want to, except for short periods on rare occasions when we're working very closely together for teaching purposes; we will provide the masks in these situations.) If you are comfortable wearing a mask and are vaccinated, you can do your laundry for free in our house; otherwise, there is a laundromat within walking distance.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have pretty reliable high-speed wireless internet that you will have access to. Occasionally the internet cuts out for a couple hours after midnight for system repairs, but otherwise it's consistently excellent.
Space for parking camper vans
We have about 20 spare feet of driveway space where you can leave your van or small RV in the shade of a lovely wild cherry tree. (If you have a larger vehicle and want to know if it will fit, please give us the specifics and we'll check for you.) We have hookups for electric and water. You will need to dump your sewerage and non-biodegradable graywater at a local campground or use our composting facilities.
Can possibly accept pets
IF you have your own camper/RV and your pet stays in the vehicle AT ALL TIMES, then we can accommodate that. Otherwise I'm afraid not.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Very flexible, but some early mornings or pre-dusk hours will be required.
