General help lifting and shifting, and pergola building in beautiful Umbrian hills, Italy

Details

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  Description

  Hi Workawayers we have are looking for help a few times this year.
  
  STAY 1: March 7th to 25thCut chestnut poles for a pergola, erect pergola, bring down firewood and poles from woodland, move some scaffolding and remove some rubble from the ruins, stack some bricks.
  
  STAY 2 : Summer TBC July August 10 days to 2 weeks Building a filtration system/reed bed The figs are coming and the tomatoes are in full flow, so we are making passata. then chutneys
  STAY 3: September we are log gathering and cutting to keep the house warm. Clearing wood fallen near the stream by the house. In the veg patch we are planting winter crops. Cutting grass tidying the end of the summer and making ready for the chestnut harvest.
  STAY 4: AUTUMN October 9th to 23rd Chestnut Harvest; our main larger groups of 4 or 5 workawayers gather for great memorable times (two weeks)
  STAY 5: Olive Harvest 27th Oct to November 10th
  STAY 6: November 10 day to 2 week inside Painting and decorating.
  
  We are, Marcus an Architect, Lucy an Artist (50years old!) and Lola a joyful soul who is 13. We have hosted some 70 plus Workawayers starting in 2010, so I guess you could say we are experienced hosts. We welcome single travellers but we find couples or two friends are ideally suited here as you bringing your own guaranteed company for a beautiful walk or bike ride. We like responsible people, ideally with experience but we have many skills to share with willing people. We have a handful of chickens/ducks to feed, 2 affectionate dogs that always welcome a cuddle and 2 cats that are not always so open and a number of bee hives.
  
  We live on a hillside with a view down a valley & woods all around. We follow the seasons, planting and tending the veg patch. Life here for us is a mixture of nature and creativity, art, ceramics and architectural making projects. We need helping hands throughout the year as the circle of life turns, not so much with the art but the general upkeep and harvest. It may be preparing ground, planting tomatoes, collecting chestnuts or olives, making preserves, bringing in wood, building, cleaning the house or just looking after the chickens, ducks and cats.
  
  Length of STAY;- We prefer a two week stays minimum ideally, the longest stay we had was 3 months planting trees in our orchard.
  
  ACCOMMODATION;- We have a 2/3 bed separate house for visitors, with it's own kitchen, bathroom etc, which gives your own space and away time. Generally however we eat in the main house together. Taking it in turns to clear/ wash up etc. We are always happy to learn new recipes if you wish to share your cooking skills.
  
  FOOD;- We are not vegetarian but do not eat much meat. We are trying to take life back to first principles, producing as much of our own food as we can or source it from the local market.
  
  WORK:- Is generally quite hard physical tasks, but it is a great environment to work in and company makes doing easier.
  
  Life here is a mix, low tech hands on working the ground and having fun being creative.
  
  We are 10km away from Citta Di Castello a town of an ideal size. We tend to go in to town twice a week, including most Saturdays, which is the main market day, but we try to avoid too many car journeys. So you need to be the kind of people that are happy being in nature, walking/cycling, reading, making art and just being or baking! There are bikes, if you want to explore the hills or visit a village about 5km away that has a shop, a small bar and some things to see. If you go a bit further you find yourself immersed in Renaissance art and all sorts of wonderful history.
  Surrounding visits become part of the routine.
  
  OCTOBER;- Generally the second week we start to collect the Chestnuts. This is magical work in the autumn weather. It is weather dependant and sometimes we have to wait for dry days. We pick in the morning or afternoon and then sort at the table where many conversations occur, wondering on chestnuts, and life in general.. Then its dinner and its pretty nice to relax, play some games, sing some songs. We have to plan time off to fit in with the harvest, when they are falling and when we have collected.
  
  NOVEMBER generally the second week we need Help for olive harvest: We like to get a team of about 5 people, Ideally two couples and one single, ( to make beds arrangements easy)
  Olive is governed by the weather; sometimes we have an early rise but picking starts once the dew and dried a little. Breakfast then to the olive groves in the fiat panda to collect, or by foot, depending where, a picnic or back for lunch.
  once we start we have to keep going as the olives can spoil if left too long. We have to push through and rest after we have taken the olives to the press at the end.
  
  We hope to hear from you
  NOTE: we would ask for references from previous hosts or work related associates, we are especially looking for people who are possibly driving or taking a lot of care to be as safe as possible. More questions are being asked, and long term visitors need to be willing to identify themselves to the local Commune.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  As a helper here you have the chance to get involved in a homestead, semi self sufficient, semi off grid way of life.
  
  What you will be involved in here at any time of the year are things that are happening across much of rural Italy at the same time. Whether that be planting or preserving tomatoes, harvesting chestnuts or olives, or preparing the garden and house for winter. making bread or you can ask for a lesson in pasta making and if we are many, and you are a real foody and experienced cook you can take over the kitchen duties. So you will find genuine Italian experiences that you cannot buy as a tourist, you can only truly experience them by living, working and doing them.
  
  We are developing and improving our system all the time and like to share our knowledge and experience with, and learn from our visitors. We believe in reciprocity, being resourceful, environmental, working with the seasons, nature's diversity and beauty, peace and tranquillity.
  
  There is sometimes the potential ART lessons between harvesting or jobs.
  
  We are both very technically capable in practical making and have skills, building, sustainability, architecture, back to basics as they say- Cooking, a very creative life.
  We are on the doorstep of Leonardo Da Vinci and Pierro Della Francesca.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Help makes all the difference. We have all the skills but a hand to get various gardening and odd jobs done would be great. People with experience in building is sometimes useful, some healthy people with muscles often necessary. See above for details.
  
  We need help with the garden and building pergolas collecting wood, then the chestnut harvest in OCTOBER then Olives starting around 2nd week NOVEMBER or a bit before for about two weeks , chestnuts lasts 2 weeks to a month maximum. You need warm clothes, layers, hardy shoes, as chestnuts are prickly, even gloves if you have them! There are beautiful views and tasty food guaranteed! Walking outdoors picking chestnuts, competing who can find the biggest one! and then philosophical debates as we sort them! Good coffee, good house, healthy work! Environmentally sound.
  Our working day is flexible with a mix of the primary projects and smaller fill in things. There are painting jobs or gardening, take your pick. We generally get going after a cup of coffee and a morning chat at 8.30 - 9 although it can be earlier depends on the heat of the day. ...and occasionally we need house sitters for Summer trips away or Easter.
  
  We like people that are flexible and go with the flow rather than trying to be rigid with a program. Sometimes we do work things at the weekend but then sometime we take a weekday to go out and about on a trip.
  
  We welcome visitors into the house as friends not hired help. In that exchange, we ask that you muck in with food preparation and tidying up (we do have a dishwasher and quite a few mod cons to help)
  We also ask that you respect our home and tidy up after your selves and kept it as you found it, or tidier! Otherwise in giving help you create new work for us.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  We speak English and Italian but we need a bit of work on our Italian.
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  Accommodation

  Rustic farmhouse, with lovely country views of Umbrian woodland hills, with walks all around.
  It is a blend of traditional with modern quirky creative interior.
  Wi-Fi in most areas of house except when there is a storm and sometimes it goes down for a day, NO Television.
  Good showers, clean comfy beds
  Dish washer and washing machine.
  The water is heated by solar panels or a Wood burning boiler, so sometimes in winter autumn, if the sun is not out or I have forgot to light the boiler at the right time there can be a delay. Good to plan or ask just in case.
  
  For the summer months you can also camp in tents in the terraces for a beautiful view and more 'closer to nature' experience, you can't beat the sounds of nightingale, swallows and deer on your doorstep in the morning!- frogs and fire flies, wild boar, and porcupines and wolves at night if you are lucky!

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  What else ...

  The best way to contact us first is Email, WhatsApp or text. During travel and meeting up use Texts to mobile phone which is often better than calling due to poor reception at the house itself. There is a place we put our phone that we regularly check when we are expecting news.
  Getting here:
  Plane to Perugia Airport; Pretty easy to pick you up from there. OR
  Plane to Pisa airport or Rome; take Train to Arezzo Station or Perugia Ponte S. Giovanni ; either we pick you up, 40min drive for us or... From Perugia Ponte S. Giovanni you take a train/bus to Citta di Castello. From Arezzo if we are busy to pick you up there is a bus opposite the train station to hop on, destination San Sepulcro or Citta di Castello. you get off at Le Ville or Monterchi (be careful not to miss the stop!) and we can pick you up from there; a 10 min drive for us.
  
  Picking you up from Arezzo- Depends how far you have come how late you arrive, what day it is and how tired you are! (an Ice cream or coffee stop on arrival at Arezzo train station always a must for a tired traveller.)
  
  From Pisa Airport there is a train to Arezzo with one change at Florence MSN.
  (check Trenitalia.com for train times, and best to print out your journey to make it a lot easier when you are travelling)
  
  Citta Di Castello is our nearest town, we are 1km from the Tuscan border near Monterchi next to a little hamlet called Prato. See our website for all this and more details.
  Change of clothes useful for mucky work, sturdy shoes. Wet in November.
  
  General; water in Italy is in shortage in the Summer so you have to use it mindfully, we also heat water and get electricity from the sun so we understand it's worth and also use it with care. We are a pretty resourceful family!
  Hope to see you soon!
  Time off: Walking, films, chats, reading, painting or cycling in time off. Weekly trip into town sometimes more if shopping needed. Visits from friends and neighbours. (No bus into town.)
  It is important you communicate your needs and ask lots of questions by email before you come (and during your visit if you are in need of anything), so you are clear about what to expect and so do ask any and as many questions or clear any worries away that you may have. We also tend to keep it quite open so people are freer to leave if they feel like it. But sometimes people ended up staying much longer than they intended!
  We tend to fill the day working and eating and chatting, also making time for you to go for walks or have some free time, also the weekends are for you to do as you wish.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  The car park. They can use the showers etc. But only one van at a time. Space for a tent or two.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Flexible 5 hrs 5 days a week

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