Welcome to our self-reliant homestead and enjoy simple, joyous, frugal living in Violet Town in Australia

  • Favourited 261 times
  • Last activity: 26 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: 1 month or more

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Please read our profile carefully. If you feel you are the right person or people for us, I look forward to receiving your application.

    Our place is a self-reliant homestead and small farm on the edge of Violet Town, just 800m from the train station. The property is well established, as most tree planting was done between 1996 and 2000, and is a living, working example of permaculture design. We have been hosting woofers, helpers and interns since 1999, and are new to Workaway.

    We have a large established fruit and nut orchard, an olive grove, vegetable gardens, chickens, milking goats, bees, forestry for shelter and timber, and large dam for irrigation and swimming. Our house is made of timber and mudbrick, and we catch our own water. Most of our food comes from the house garden and farm, including a huge range of fresh fruit all year round, a range of vegetables for each season, honey, cheese, olive oil, table olives, and home killed or hunted meat. Although we do have meat, most meals are vegetarian, just to keep up with the garden produce!

    Staying here can be like being in a big share house, with shared meals and conversation at the table, except that this share house supports itself with its own agriculture, animals, and forestry.

    If you like to balance social time with some quiet time, there are plenty of quiet spots available for your free time, and some quiet solo tasks if you prefer that sometimes.

    Travel to here is easy: 2hrs from Melbourne by train directly to Violet Town station or via Benalla if coming by train from Sydney. Minimum stay 1 month.

    Please make initial contact by writing. In your application, or on your profile, please ensure that you outline your work experience, what study you have done, your skills, passions and interests, why you are interested to come here, and include at least one photo of you. We do like to see your smiling face. References or positive reviews can be helpful if you have them.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Staying with us is an opportunity to contribute your great positive attitude to the very positive version of the future that we have developed here. You can experience what low budget, self reliant regenerative living and applied work can lead to after 20 years. It is a chance to experience permaculture living and discuss contemporary permaculture thinking. And it is a time to live within and eat from a regenerating human managed ecosystem, based on tree crop agriculture.

    One previous visitor (Gabriel, a post-grad doctoral student) described our farm as "an outdoor university and a perfect getaway from our consumer society."

    Wifi and small library of self-reliance/permaculture books available. David teaches and consults in permaculture, and our permaculture design course is based here.

  • Help

    Help

    Helping here suits people who enjoy being active and productive doing well organised tasks, and are seriously interested in self-reliant sustainable living and organics.

    Type of tasks: 'garden farming' help, combined with learning, and share of household tasks, including food preparation from garden/ farm ingredients. Depending on your skills and interests and our needs, tasks can include caring for our vegetable gardens, orchard, goats and chickens, cheese making and other food processing (tapenade, preserves, etc.), fruit picking and grading, bee keeping and honey extraction, forestry, and sometimes building and building maintenance.

    Weekends are mostly free time. Weekends can be completely free if you decide to go away somewhere. If you are here, then weekends are free time other than sharing basic animal and household tasks (just as you would need to do on a weekend at your own home).

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    For accommodation we have 2 indoor bedrooms, and a cob and strawbale cottage.

    The main room of the house is a shared space for meals and breaks during the day.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    There is walking or bike riding in the nearby hills, some nice swimming places nearby including in our large dam right here at home, and access by train to larger towns or to Melbourne on weekends.

    This place is for people who share our commitment to simple, joyous, frugal living. This is not the place for using an electric hair dryer, synthetic chemical body care products, or for industrial junk food. We have good food here, and the whole point of this place is to live lightly, by living from our own surrounds.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    Have good internet speed and reliability, and a large desk to work at within the wifi range. Balance of farm/ household work to digital self-employment is by discussion/ agreement.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    Shady parking spaces close to amenities

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 4-5 hours, 5 days a week (25 hours)

Host ref number: 332236581236

Feedback (17)



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Accuracy of profile: (5.0)

Cultural exchange: (5.0)

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