Non profit family farm, experience rural life off grid in Mazaleon, rural Aragon, Spain

Infos

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  Description

  We are a non profit making enterprise.
  
  We live in Aragon in rural Spain on a finca producing almonds and olives.We are members of the local cooperativa where we sell our olives, and sell our almonds locally.
  
  Without irrigation and larger volumes, this is not a profitable enterprise.
  
  However, we enjoy life in the peace of our finca but we also get involved with the local community. We moved here 10 years ago and run a 10 hectare farm using natural methods as well as having a rural tourism project in the village.
  
  WORKAWAYERS WILL BE ACCOMODATED IN OUR APARTMENTS IN THE VILLAGE, AND WILL BE TAKEN TO OUR FINCA EVERY MORNING, WEATHER PERMITTING. THERE WILL THEREFORE BE ROOM FOR FLEXIBILTY AROUND HOURS AND FOOD PROVIDED.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Aide dans une ferme
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  We live in an area where there are not many foreigners and Spanish and a Catalan dialect are the main languages. It's a chance to see the real Spain in a rural location. There is plenty of opportunity to practice Spanish if that is what a workawayer wants. We tend to speak English in our home because that is our native language.
  We try to make our "footprint" as small as possible.
  Workawayers will experience a slower pace of life in stunning surroundings. We have plenty of wildlife to see, such as hoopoos, polecats, eagles and foxes. In late spring we hear nightingales! There are many local fiestas normally which if you want you can get involved with too!

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  Aide

  WE NEED HELP IN BRINGING OUR HUERTA INTO CULTIVATION FOR SPRING AND ALSO, PERHAPS PRUNING OUR ALMOND TREES BEFORE THEY START FLOWERING!
  
  YOU WILL BE ACCOMODATED IN ONE OF OUR SELF CATERING APARTMENTS. THESE ARE HOLIDAY RENTAL APARTMENTS, WITH THE TOURIST LICENCE, SO IT IS NOT LIVING OFF GRID. OUR FINCA IS CURRENTLY RENTED OUT LONG TERM, SO WE JUST TEND THE LAND AT THE MOMENT. WE LIVE IN THE TOP APARTMENT, AND WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SPEND TIME WITH YOU IN OUR APARTMENT. IF YOU LIKE THE IDEA OF THIS, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH AND WE CAN NEGOTIATE A HAPPY BALANCE FOR US ALL.
  
  HARVESTS
  
  We farm organically as much as we can and we are hoping to get the accreditation for our olives at least.
  The almond harvest happens in Sept/October. During harvest times, we operate a more normal workaway routine, with us providing a communal meal around 1pm after the work is done.
  Normally almond harvesting takes place from September onwards. We have 1,000 almond trees so sometimes we have to call in a tractor with a shaker to at least get the almonds off the trees.
  For the olive harvest in mid December we aim to make the most of daylight hours, which at that time of year are 8:30 until about 17:30. We do not expect our workawayers to work these hours though! We can agree exact hours when you arrive. But the more help we have, the easier the task is! In an average year the olive harvest takes 2 weeks. Harvesting is not unduly physical. For the olives we have a vibrating machine which "tickles" the olives off the tree onto large mats which we place under each tree. These are emptied as necessary into our trailer. Once we have a full trailer we take it to the Cooperativa to empty. We always aim to make it fun. If it rains we don't harvest. The weather in December can be very cold at night but by 10:00 it is usually about 10-12 degrees and by midday you are in tee shirt and jeans harvesting in the beautiful Aragonese sunshine under clear blue skies. Certainly an experience you won't get in many places.
  We never expect more than 3.5 hours help for 5 days per week in return for the main meal and breakfast. This we regard as fair. We are generous, fair hosts who do not seek to exploit. Neither do we want to be taken advantage of.
  
  
  OTHER FARM TASKS
  
  At other times of the year we prune our trees and cut the wood to use in our aga stove in the winter.

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Intermédiaire

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  Hébergement

  You will have your own apartment in our village house. Our website is where you can see details of our more recent project. We get some of our power from solar panels, and heating/hot water is via a biomass pellet burner.
  
  We never expect more than 3.5 hours help for 5 days per week in return for the main meal and breakfast.

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  Autres infos...

  Our village has limited public transport links. We can collect from Calaciete which is served by a good bus service. See for details. The nearest train station is Caspe(see )
  This area is rich in historical monuments from the time of the Iberos. We are 120km from Zaragoza. Buses go regularly from Maella and Alcaniz if you want to explore more and from these 2 towns onto the rest of Spain. Public transport is cheap as it's heavily subsidized.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have good wifi in our house in the village. On the finca, the mobile signal is patchy.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  For farm help, 3.5 hours 5 days a week.

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