Description
We are a British family with 2 teenage children. We moved to France a few years ago to start a self sufficiency Eco-friendly permaculture project. We currently have 2 goats, 1 poney, 7 chickens and 2 dogs. We are passionate about being self sufficient and following a permaculture philosophy, we have made some progress.... however, we need help! This is our main focus at the minute, progress on our own is slow. It is a great way to be outdoors in the French countryside whilst learning valuable skills in self sufficiency.
We are also renovating our house and need help with this.... this part we would really appreciate people with plumbing and electricity knowledge for advice, but there are plenty of jobs which we need help with, so we can accommodate anyone with basic skills to more advanced.
We are also keen to get people that love social media and the internet as we find we struggle to find the time to keep our digital profile up to date, so any help with this will be fabulous!
We have a lovely old stone farmhouse in the South of France with about 5 acres of land and a tractor. We do everything ourselves and are very hands on with all aspects of our project.
We have a 16 year boy who loves weight training and fitness, who helps out a lot, especially if it involves driving the tractor and we have a 12 year old daughter who loves animals and is really helpful with their care.
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Aide avec des éco-projets
Jardinage
Bricolage et construction
S’occuper des animaux
Aide dans une ferme
Aide informatique/internet
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
Anyone that comes to stay with us can interact in English or French so they can improve language skills if either of these languages are at a learning stage - And if we have any French speakers that stay with us you will help us enormously! We can offer the great outdoors with (mostly) wonderful weather to learn life long and relevant self sufficiency skills. We are well read in no-dig and permaculture practices and we are happy to pass these skills on to anyone who comes to stay with us. We have animals which need care and attention and which are vital to a permaculture way of life. How we harvest what nature provides us and use it to help us sustain ourselves.
We can also help people learn practical skills in renovation due to our on going work in the house.
In terms of anything digital, we would love to learn from you!
Projets impliquant des enfants
Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.
Aide
There is always something to do here, there is not a specific job that is required, there are a number of ongoing projects. Our focus currently is setting up our farm. Last year we planted about 50 fruit trees, all of which need some care, but we are laying our no dig beds and are big followers of no dig / no till vegetable production. We need some help with our animals, fencing, sowing vegetables, bed laying, finishing our swales, woodchipping, composting etc etc, you name it we need an extra pair of hands. We have 5 acres, so we are small but we are very much at the starting up stages and we do everything by hand in true permaculture style. Also we have some general gardening which is in need of help.
In addition to the farm we are renovating our old stone farmhouse - we need some help with electricity and plumbing advice. We have a variety of jobs that need starting or completing. We have some rendering to do and installing some light fittings and some tiling and hanging pictures and painting. So from basic to more advanced.
We are so busy on a daily basis that keeping our website and social medias up to date is really hard. We would love to make this part of someones stay with us - to help spread the word our little project, with some blogging / vlogging / reels etc. We would love to learn from you regarding this!
Langues
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Français: Intermédiaire
Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
We are English speakers and live in France, so we have a spoken level of french. We would welcome anyone that wishes to learn either of these languages and we welcome French speakers to improve our French - although this is only as addition to our other needs.
Hébergement
We have 2 rooms which can accommodate 2 people in each room. They are not double rooms, so individuals can comfortably stay here sharing with one other person of the same sex. Obviously we can also happily accommodate couples in this setting as well. Each room has it's own bathroom, so it is a private space for some R&R when the time suits you. One has it's own entrance as well. Both spaces are part of our home in which you will be welcomed to spend time with us, but they are completely private spaces.
We live on the edge of a village and we can cycle there in 3 minutes - although coming back takes a little longer as it is on a slight incline! We have bikes which you can borrow to take to the village. In the village there is a typical French Boulangerie and chocolaterie, and there are restaurants and cafés to watch village life. 5 minutes away by car (If we are available we will take you - although there is a regular bus route as well), we have a wonderful small town which bustles with French life, with markets and boutiques selling local wine and olive oil, which a large selection of restaurants and cafés.
We have a fantastic salt water pool which we love to use and you will be very welcome to spend your down time there and use with or without us.
You will be welcomed to eat with us for every meal. We can be flexible as we appreciate you may wish to venture out so we'll make arrangements that suit you.
Autres infos...
There is so much to see and do here. Our village is very quiet but just a few minutes away we have the beautiful Saint Remy de Provence where Nostrodamus was born and Van Gogh's hospital is situated. He was a prolific painter in this region and you can follow in his footsteps and see where he painted numerous of his famous works. We are situated in the foothills of the Alpilles. A region of beautiful craggy limestone hills, which you can explore on hikes and bikes. We are a 30 minute bus ride away from Avignon with it's famous Palais des Papes and you can kayak sous le pont D'Avignon! Other cultural events, music, festivals, arts and theatre are abundant here.
Arles is another bus ride away which is where Van Gogh lived and painted his famous Sunflowers, so once again you can follow in his footsteps whilst taking in the Roman splender of the theatre and Arena, with many cultural events.
We are a region famous for olive oil, rosé wine, soap, Rice, bulls and wild white horses on the beach of the Camargue. If you want to find a true part of old Provencal culture, this is the region for you. Throughout the year, the Alpilles villages celebrate the old life of Provence, including it's original language.
We are up early every day, especially during term time and in the Summer months, making the most of the long days.
Informations complémentaires
- Accès Internet
- Accès Internet limité
- Nous avons des animaux
- Nous sommes fumeurs
- Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
I welcome anyone who wishes to work away from home. We have fibre wifi making working easy. In addition we would love to learn from you regarding our digital profile.
Espace pour garer des vans
We have space for you to park and use the space. Let us know your needs.
Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux
We can cautiously say yes to pets. We love all animals, but we do have 2 of our own dogs. One is very friendly with other dogs, the other, our Jack Russell is not - (both are very sweet with people). We also have electric fencing around our livestock, so you will need to be aware of this at all times.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Plus de 2
Nombre d'heures attendues
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week