Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
12 Feb 2018
Feedback
18
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Badges (3)
Details
Description
Update Summer 2017:-
So... we've hit breaking point (2 jobs and a young child) and decided to scale down operations... So The horses are gone, Sheep will be gone before winter. Half of our growing area won't be planted next year...
BUT if there is someone interested (in gaining experience - before buying your own place or something like that), then I'm happy to take a couple for a whole season, e.g. all the land we aren't using will be yours to farm how you want. I can advise and transfer the knowledge I've built up over these last 10 years. As this situation is a bit different than the usual 2 week stay, we will need to chat via skype or similar before we can say yes...
I guess it's unlikely anyone will take this offer up, but I'm just putting it out there...
If no-one takes up the offer, we will continue taking volunteers for short periods as before, but with less animals and less growing area...
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We (Simona and Damian) are part of an extended family, living in 4 houses on the same plot. We grow some of our own food, and keep 2 horses (soon to be 3), 7 sheep and poultry. We don't sell anything, just for our own needs and for friends. We brew our own beer, wine, and press our own juice. Sometimes distill harder stuff.
I grow the veg, and own the sheep. My Wife had one horse, sold it, but when the foal is born, we will have a horse again, her sister has two. Her father looks after the poultry and grows crops in the fields with me. Her Mother has a small veg plot.
We are not afraid of making our own tools, and have a home made tractor, and a soil trommel. The Open Source Ecology organisation / website is very interesting for me right now.
Accommodation is in a 2 bedroom cottage we have built in the garden, Food:- you can either eat with us in the evenings, or cook for yourself (the cottage has a kitchen). Breakfast and lunch you will have to make yourself (we provide food). We are meat eaters, but have no problem cooking vegetarian if you are that way inclined.
Internet:- We have Wifi in the cottage, and can lend you a laptop or computer for use in the cottage if needed.
We live in a village with several pubs and shops, there is a small town 3km away, where you can get everything you need. The area isn't too spoilt (yet) although there are 3 small (international) supermarkets in the local town. We are surrounded by national park, so hiking 5 minutes away from the village. Mushroom foraging 3 minutes away.
There is a strong regional identity to this part of the world, which contributes to the strong tradition in folk music / dancing and self sufficiency
Our land (aside from our gardens) is @ ~1Ha Horse grazing, ~1Ha Sheep Grazing, ~1Ha Forest, ~0.5Ha crops.
In our Gardens we have veg plots, a greenhouse, and very soon a passively heated/ cooled poly-tunnel.
I work 9-5 in a nearby town, so are usually not around during the day (on weekdays), so this time is your own - although if you are happy to work on your own at these times, then I can give you stuff to do. We work in the garden/fields in the evenings/weekends.
We have bikes which you can borrow. Occasionally a car.
We are in the Village Pisek u Jablunkova, not the City Pisek
If someone is already booked in on the dates you want, then it's still possible you can come (If you don't mind sharing the cottage), as the cottage has 2 bedrooms as well as a fold out bed in the living room.
We have a page on facebook showing photos of what we have been upto through the years, just search for damianandsimona
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Animal Care
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Working with Raised Beds - Palnting / Weeding / Harvesting
Working with Row Crops, sowing, weeding, rotivating, harvesting
Building Fences
Looking after sheep
Chopping Wood
Lots of ad-hoc projects
Languages spoken
Czech: Fluent
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Accommodation is in a 2 bedroom cottage, It has a kitchen, bathroom, 2 bedrooms (a double with leads to a room with 2 singles), also the sofa in the living room folds out into a double bed. Heating is by a wood burner (which you need to light and feed wood into :) )
What else ...
In summer, there is a lot of events (live music e.t.c.) around here, in winter, there is just the pub / cinema e.t.c. Lots of hiking in this area. I have a media server which is accessable via wifi, which is full of (mainly english language) video / music / ebooks.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week, flexible / no pressure :)
Feedback (12)
He stayed for around a month, and got through a load of work, independently and with little instruction. Going above and beyond with the work, getting things done on his own initiative… read more
Really nice easy going people, who got through a load of work independently.
They claimed to have little experience, but they did faultless work with minimal instruction.
They did a lot of weeding, erected the polytunnel, tidied the garden after winter, setup the sheep field (electric… read more
Feedback
He stayed for around a month, and got through a load of work, independently and with little instruction. Going above and beyond with the work, getting things done on his own initiative… read more
Really nice easy going people, who got through a load of work independently.
They claimed to have little experience, but they did faultless work with minimal instruction.
They did a lot of weeding, erected the polytunnel, tidied the garden after winter, setup the sheep field (electric… read more
We stayed longer than planned, and we had a hard time to leave anyway, It was so cosy in the nice cabin,it was so nice to have barbecue and beer with Damian and family, it was cool to see the effect of your work everyda. Damian and Simona are always friendly, never force you into doing something, never annoyed… read more
The accommodations were excellent - We had a whole guest cabin to ourselves for the week we stayed, which was such a luxury after a month on the road staying in hostels and… read more
He is super organised with spreadsheets for everything and he… read more
I can confirm that what she has written above is true, and at my place she has helped in the fields, cooked us dinner and painted my tipper truck with cool zebra stripes :)
She can also work a mini digger :)
All round nice person, easy to… read more
The work was varied and they are very open about what jobs would suit you. Also they are super… read more
