ElkePu

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Andalusia

Description

Hi All,
my name is Elke from Germany. I quit my job in 2019 and since then I have been travelling between Germany and Portugal, Azores, Spain. Discovering I could live with less money and more time I am looking to extend my travelling and working experiences as long as possible / as long as it pleases me. That's why I am here.
I don't smoke, I am more or less vegetarian, which means I rarely eat fish and even more rarely meat.
I love plants, especially perennuals, which is why I started my first volunteering on a permaculture farm in central Portugal. We built swales, planted a lot of trees, worked in the nursery, made hot compost, learned about worm farming, natural building etc.
The year after I built a cob house with 5 other students on the Azores islands.
Last year I did my permaculture design course at Danyadara in Andalusia, Spain. There we harvested olives, preserved them in different ways, learned about fermentation, planted lemon trees, created our design for a 3.7 ha area, built a strawbale wall, a grey filter water system for the outdoor
Showers including a ferro-cement pond , learned about non-violent communication, sociocracy and other important things about living in community.
In summer 2022 I spent 6 weeks in Northern Spain, where I was volunteering to build a strawbale house uding the CUT technique. I learned a lot and also some Spanish.

Interests

Languages

Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent

More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Animal Care

Languages

Hospitality/Tourism

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

General Maintenance

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Helping around the house

Helping with Computers/ Internet

Creating/ Cooking family meals

More details about your skills

Hi All,
I am Elke from Germany. When I quit my job as a translator with a big corporation in 2019 I first went house and garden sitting for a friend on the Azores island Faial. Later this year I did a portuguese course in Lisbon and then headed to central Portugal to volunteer on the wonderful permaculture farm Keela Yoga Farm. I had registered for 1 month, but ended up staying almost 3 months. We did a lot of tree planting, creating swales, hot compost piles, drying herbs, ferment food, cutting wood from the forest for our wood burner, planning and creating guilds, some natural buidling (finishing a strawbale cob wall in the greenhouse), and many other things.
The year after was a bit difficult for travelling, but I managed to go to Sao Miguel (Azores) and we built a cob house with foundation and roof.
Last year I worked with a wild seed farmer in the South of Germany (Rieger Hofmann GmbH) for three months and learned a lot about seeds, harvesting seeds, planting seedlings, cleaning the herb beds.
In November I did my Permaculture Design certificate with Danyadara in Andalusia.
So am very much into permaculture, plants and animals, but I also love meeting people.
I really love working with herbs, producing my own herbal medicine, creams and soaps.
I also tried to grow some mushrooms, but not in nature, just on a strawbale.
In summer 2022 I volunteered for a project in the mountains of Northern Spain where we built a strawbale house using the CUT (cell under tension) technique.
When I am back in Germany I spend a lot of time with gardening, learning how to make sourdough bread and ferment vegetables ;-)

Age

60

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements
  I don't eat meat.