Help renovate our 500 year old farm house and create a sustainable garden in the beautiful area of Wachau, Austria

Details

• 

  Description

  >> Before you contact us, please read the details about your accommodation <<
  
  >>UPDATE 20.04.24. HELP US CLAY PLASTERING!!! NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED, WE ARE HAPPY TO INTRODUCE YOU.
  
  We are currently looking for couples or friends traveling together to help us with our garden and house renovations. We just recently got a new roof and are currently busy with the wooden cladding on the outside of the roof, over the next few weeks we will be fitting windows and doors, building a very big wooden stair case, laying a brick floor in the basement, plastering with clay plaster for an entire month, preparing create (Estrich), have electrics and plumbing done, and by fall hopefully start tiling and putting in a floor - all while somehow keeping on top of our huge garden with lots of vegetables and fruit trees. We are happy to teach you, there are no previous skills needed
  
  May: Brick Floor & Stair Case
  June: Fitting Windows & Doors & Finish wood cladding on roof
  July: Clay Plaster 300m2 of wall
  August: Pouring Creete
  September: Lay Floors
  October: Kitchen & Bath rooms
  
  
  We are a small, young family of three, Jack (30), Paula (32) and Malia (3 years old ) who just recently moved to a very old farm on the Austrian country side in the beautiful area of Wachau. Jack originally comes from northern England but moved to Vienna after meeting Paula, originally Austrian, in a workaway project in Morocco in 2017. Fast forward 7 years and we now live here together with our little girl. Jack works as a carpenter, he is originally a trained builder but later specialzed in heritage carpentry. He has been working with wood and construction for the past 13 years. Paula on the other hand decided to ditch her academic career after finishing University and discovered Ayurveda and being a Doula as her path. She runs her own Ayurveda Studio in Vienna and accompanies mothers into motherhood with her work as a Doula. Malia is a funny little lady, she is very happy and open to new people. We raise her bilingually. We all share a passion for good food and exploring new places, whether its a new neighborhood on the country side, a bustling Indian city or just a beautiful spot in nature anywhere on this planet.
  
  We just recently moved onto our piece of land and are currently living the simply life in our tiny houses in the garden while the house is being finished. We dream of having an, independent, somwhat self sufficiant life in our beautiful new home. The building itself is about 500 years old, it has lots of character and charm. It comes together with about 25 fruit trees, Apricot, Apple, Cherries, Peaches, Pear, Walnut, etc., quite a bit of forrest and a small little pond. Everything is in a very overgrown, rundown condition and needs a lot of work, love and patience over the next few years. Our vision is to turn this piece of land into a little enchanted permaculture garden, filled with an abundance of fruit and vegetables, beautiful naturla structures like drystonewalls, herbs spirals, hillbeds, two sheperds huts for guests, some roaming chickens and a larger pond to swim in. The house will have two appartments for guests on the top floor and our private family apartment in the ground floor. Since taking over the farm in March 2021 we took a long time to plan out the renovations and are now finally ready to start. Our approach to the whole project and restoring the house is doing it as naturally as possible, we strongly focus on sustainability and natural resources.Our preferred materials will always be wood, straw and clay as alternative building materials as well as sourcing used materials and goods through willhaben (the austrian version of ebay). As the project is very diverse, so are the jobs and skills needed. We will need your help in all of the following areas: Construction, Gardening, Harvesting, Child Care, Household. Due to the sleeping arrangements we are specifically looking for traveling couples.
  
  We will provide you with accomodation and food and expect you to help out 20h in return. Working more than 20h is welcome but not a must. Work will be Mon-Fri from 8.00-12.00, afternoons and weekends are usually free unless we need to swap things around for some reason.
  
  Jack is a very skilled carpenter who can teach you just about anything building related, depending what we will be working on at that moment. He makes beautiful furniture, is skilled at joinery, window and door fitting, floor laying, plastering, tiling and even knows the basics of electrics, plumbing and mechanics. Besides that he is an excellent chef and bakes delicious bread. A true handy man and foodie.
  
  Paula on the other hand is more the "all over the place" type of person. She is very social, always up for a new project and will happily share her passion for alternative healing and Ayurveda with you. She pulls the strings behind the scenes, organizes family life and makes things happen. During the week she is in Vienna for two days to work.
  
  A typical work day could look like this
  
  (Breakfast can be arranged individually, we don’t have breakfast)
  8.00 - 12.00 Work
  12.30 Lunch
  13.00-18.00 Freetime
  18.30 Dinner
  
  We will continue to work in the afternoon. You are welcome to join or explore the area or just relax.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
• 

  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

  ×

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  What's this?
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Both of us have volunteered in various workaway projects around the globe including Sweden, Myanmar, China, Japan, Costa Rica, Whales, France and Morocco, which allowed us to exerience not only lots of different projects but also lots of different types of volunteers. This allows us to have a very concrete idea of what kind of project we would like to be as well as which kind of people we would like to host. On our farm you will be able to experiment and pick up a lot of new skills in the areas gardening, renovating and leading a household. You will also get to experience austrian country side life style, learn a new language and explore the beautiful region of Wachau.

• 

  Projects involving children

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

• 

  Help

  Please read the description above to see which kind of work we are looking for during a particular period.
  ————————————————————
  
  Being trained or skilled in any of these fields is an advantage but not a requirement:
  
  For renovating the house and structuring the garding we are specifically looking for volunteers who have experience with alternative building such as woodwork, joinery, carpentry, clay plastering but also electronics, plumbing and any other kind of building.
  
  For the garden we are specifically looking for people who can help with harvesting, lawn mowing, drystone wall making, digging, tree cutting, weeding, etc. (pretty much the regular garden stuff). If you have any experince with permaculture that would be fantastic, we are absolutely newbies to this chapter and would love to learn.
  
  AGAIN: NICE TO HAVE EXPERIENCE BUT NO REQUIREMENT.

• 

  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Swedish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  Amongst the three of us we speak english with each other, Jack speaks good german and Paula speaks mothertongue german as well as some spanish and swedish. We are open to teach and learn other languages from and to you.
• 

  Accommodation

  We are currently living the simply life in our tiny houses in the garden while renovating our house. Our house is a yurt, yours can be a tent, a Sheppards hut or inside the house under the roof.
  
  There is a cute self built composte toilet, and a Sheppards hut with a little bathroom and shower.
  
  We can provide bedding but are happy if you bring your sleeping bag.
  
  We also provide bycicles which allow yo to take trips into the nearby villages or connect to bigger bus and train lines.
  
  If any of this makes you unsure or if you have any questions, please get in touch.

• 

  What else ...

  Our farm is located in the incredibly picturesque area of Wachau which is famous for its apricots and white wines and therefore reffered to as the austrian tuscany. There are many incredibly beautiful villages to visit in this area, each of them making you feel like you are inside a Postcard. Scenic Long distance cycling routes along the danube, heritage hiking trails through the vine yards or a refreshing dip in the danube are just a few opportunites to spend your freetime. With the bikes we provide, you wil be able to get anywhere to explore. Vienna and Linz are just over and hour by car away and Krems about 30min. Some more options to spend your free time.

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  We have mobile unlimited wifi which should be fast enough to work with, we don’t really need, so it can be entirely used by volunteers.

• 

  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a a spot to park your van if you are traveling with your van. There is water nearby and electricity can be arranged.

• 

  Can possibly accept pets

  WELLBEHAVED dogs are welcome. Please ALWAYS first inquire wether you can bring your pet.

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

• 

  Hours expected

  20 hours per week- sometimes weekends will be off after the work was done during the week ; sometimes while weeks will be off and work will be done on the weekends

Feedback (4)