Join me and help make the farm come back to life in Namdalseid, Norway

Details

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  Description

  Come, live and enjoy the beautiful Norwegian farm life. I am 37 years old and recently moved back to Norway after living in the US. The farm is my family farm where I grew up, and the location has been in my family's ownership for over 300 years. This is the perfect place to go fishing in the lakes, the rivers, and the ocean, hunting moose, deer, and birds in the fall, and enjoying the snow and skiing in winter. In the spring and summer, it's all about making sustainable food and growing flowers and vegetables, caring for the animals and preparing for a new winter. The farm is not a business, and the animals we raise and the food we make is for personal and family consumption - together we are trying to become as self-sufficient as possible.
  
  The farm is situated in the middle of Norway, about 2h drive north of the regional capital, Trondheim, in the village of Namdalseid. The farm is beautifully set in a valley overlooking a small river and with beautiful views of the mountains and the sunset. I live here with my Norfolk Terrier dog, Liam, and about 80 egglaying chickens, 8 turkeys, and 16 goats.
  
  I would love your company and help!
  
  A little bit more about me: I just moved back to Norway in 2021 after spending 6 years in the US. In december of 2020 I had a pretty bad car accident in Florida, and had internal head injuries that was making it hard for me to continue the high level of work that I was doing in the states (Being a business trainer/consultant and running my own design firm and combining that with clients I worked with on nutrition and health) and was also making my capacity of just doing everyday normal tasks a little limited, that combined with a rough breakup and separation from my long-term husband from the states, made a move back to Norway the best decision to take. I needed the escape and a route to get some space, calm and time to heal / and what is more perfect that doing that back on the family farm!! I moved back in May of 2021, and have since been renovating and making the farm come back to life, after a 20year slumber where the house has been empty and nothing has been growing/ or any animals living on the farm. My dad and his new wife live in a house next to my house at the farm, which is also the house I grew up in. My father is always there, and he is able and willing to help if needed. It is super exciting for me to see my childhood and family farm come back to life! My healing is going very well, and I am now back to working full time as a Nutrition Expert.
  
  The help I am looking for is divided into three categories:
  1) Day to day: The general upkeep of the farm, the buildings, the animals and the garden. This would include taking care of the chickens, turkeys and goats, cutting the lawn, doing gardening, taking care of the food preparation, cleaning and general housekeeping to keep the house nice for everyone.
  2) Larger projects: I also have quite a few bigger projects that would be GREAT to do this season. One example is that I want to build another outdoor space/greenhouse (we already buildt one last season, and its is FANTASTIC! Now we need to build another.) I also want to build a Pergola for chill in the sun and grilling. And I have a few other ideas of building a sauna etc.
  3) The community. Im used to not be alone, and also used to the life in NYC, London and Oslo, and I miss the community feel. I would like to go hiking, biking, paddling, fishing etc with a group of new friends.
  
  The 2024 season will be the fourth year doing workaway, after over 100 incredible people have come here to help the farm grow over the past three years. Theres already been many good memories built and friendships forged, and this season we will focus on the larger projects and getting the farm closer to being self sufficient.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Learning old Norwegian traditions and reviving the survival skills needed to sustain a farm, with making and preparing food, maintaining the buildings, and taking care of the animals.
  I am fluent in Norwegian and English.

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  Help

  Your help with everyday life on the farm is very much appreciated. This would include taking care of the animals, gardening, carpentry, painting and also some clearing out stuff from the main house and barn and making the farm better. I also have three cabins, a lake cabin, a mountain cabin and a forest cabin, that all need general upkeep and some love!
  
  The farm and stay here with me is ideal for a single individual, a couple or a group of friends who like to take time out from the stress of a city to enjoy the Winter / Spring / Summer / Fall in the rural farmlands of Norway.
  
  There is a vast number of tasks that CAN be done, so the stay will very much be adapted to your skills, wants and where you want to use your or gain more experience. The following is a list of specific items that can be part of your stay with me:
  Developing the chicken coop, as we always try to make the life of the chickens bigger and better!
  Building, developing, and maintaining the vegetable garden. We have vast flower beds, 8 vegetables garden boxes, a strawberry field that needs to be remade and also vegetable fields for potatoes, carrots, beets etc.
  Developing and maintaining the fruit trees and making jams and sauces. And in the fall produce cider from the apples.
  Renovating bedrooms with painting, building, furnishing, wallpapering etc.
  Fishing in the ocean, rivers, and lakes. Net fishing, pole fishing and boat fishing are possible.
  Picking wild berries. Raspberries and cloudberries are abundant.
  Picking mushrooms, I am an avid forager and have been a mushroom specialist for years.
  We could also be growing mushrooms in the basement on the farm, and thinking about starting to cultivate to sell at the local markets.
  We are building a second greenhouse and will need to take good care of it and the contents.
  We are replacing the dock at our mountain cabin,
  Renovating and sprucing up the forest cabin,
  Painting the barn and fixing some siding etc there.
  I also want to build a nicer outside space in the garden.
  And maybe build a smoker to smoke meats, a hottub for the colder days, a sauna and some cool projects like that.
  Also thinking about producing honey (getting bees), making goat cheese, and maybe getting more animals.
  My dog, Liam, is a show dog, and you can help train him and make him show-ready.
  Want to explore hydroponics, termal greenhouse, winter greenhouse etc.
  I love to cook and try new recipes, so if you are into cooking you will find the old cookbooks from my great-grandmother enthralling.
  
  There is no need for any particular skills prior to coming. All you need is your smile and good mood :-)
  Though, if you do have a specific skill, that will for sure be put to use, if you want to!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Norwegian: Fluent
  German: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  The house is from 1960, and not many updates have been done over the years. Its comfortable, but not luxurious. You will have your own private room in the main house, you can choose from one of the 8 bedrooms in the house. There are three bathrooms and an additional toilet on the first floor. We will make communal meals together. You can also use the kitchen to make your own food, but eating together is part of the best experience. High-speed wifi is available throughout the house. In short, it's comfortable but not luxurious.

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  What else ...

  The Farm is a work in progress. Is everything perfect, not by any means, but we are making strides to always improve. Some of the methods of homesteading (trying to be as self sufficient as possible) might seem weird to the modern human. An example of this is the ancient traditional way of keeping goats and sheep, where their own excrement mixed with straw and woodchips create a living soft and warmth producing microbial underlay for them to walk on and sleep on, that will protect them from bacteria and keep them warm at night. I care enormously for the animals, and we are always trying to make their lives as good as possible. The goats roam free outside (with No-fence technology) year round, with access to shelter, water and heat. We have to force them inside when the temperature drops below -15, or when they are about to have their babies, to protect them from the cold. The chickens have recently gotten new coops to roam in, and coudnt be happier. And we are hatching turkies and chikens year round!
  
  You will have access to the forest, mountain and the lake cabin not too far away from the farm. Nature is right around the corner! The farm is secluded, and there isn't much to do around (the closest town is 30min by car away).
  I have my car that you can use If you need, or I can take you as well if that works.
  We also have some old bikes on the farm that you can use.
  
  I do not accept smokers and my farm is a drug-free zone.
  
  I am looking for adults in their late 20s and thirties from all over the world with all different backgrounds!
  
  This is communal living, and we are spending alot of time together. There is no difference between saturadays and mondays on a farm, and you are in charge of your own time. The expected hours are towards improving the farm: 25-30h a week of building, renovating, gardening, foor preservation etc. The rest of communal living: cooking, cleaning, organizing etc is something we all do together every day.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  You can totally stay on the farm and be a digital nomad. I have high-speed fiber connection and mesh-wifi throughout the house. I am also working online doing training workshops for entrepreneurs and working with my nutrition clients, and would love to collaborate on projects I am working on as well. The goal of workaway is to help the farm progress, so if you are a nomad and you are going to work while you are on the farm, the expectation is that you are clearly communicating with me and the rest of the workawayers how you are scheduling your week. The expectation is that everyone on the farm does around 30h of work a week - not including meals and general housework.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have all the space needed to host your car or van!

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Would love to have another dog here, however my Liam is a little difficult, so we will need to talk about the situation! Other pets might not work out, but ask.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  30h a week

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