Help welcome in our garden near Sintra, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  We welcome you to help us work in our garden near Sintra, Portugal! We are a family of 3 living since one year in Portugal. Fernando is from here and his whole family is around. Carole is French/American, we speak English together. Our son is 3, full of energy and likes to be in the garden with us and with Workawayers :-)
  
  We have a huge garden that needs a lots of care and attention. We try to apply permaculture principles, respect nature. We eat almost only organic food and are vegetarian. We like meditation, yoga, permaculture, agroforestry, ceramics, mosaic, and much more!
  
  We work remotely at home so we do not have much time to dedicate to our big garden but we have lots of ideas and want to be able to grow food! this is why we have opened our space to Workawayers to get help ! At the same time you can benefit from being so close to the beautiful surroundings of Sintra.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Our house is in the suburbs of Sintra, and 15 minutes walk from the train station leading to Sintra (2 stops) or Lisbon downtown (35min), so there is plenty of opportunity to visit the beauty of Portugal in this area on your days off. Here in our suburb, you can mix with the locals and practice Portuguese!

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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

  Welcome to our home and garden. We have recently moved to Algueirao, Sintra, Portugal and have a huge garden! 1000m2 and there is a lot to do, from weeding to preparing and maintaining vegetable beds, to small construction projects and more.
  
  We would love to get some expertise as well in fruit tree pruning, also landscaping to make it look more beautiful yet with permaculture as a priority.
  
  We are also happy if you like to cook and can cook a few of the meals, and/ or playing with our little boy who is now 3-years old. But it is mostly the garden that needs time and care.
  
  In the summer there are lots of fruit trees that give fruit (pears, apples and also nectarine and quince) and we also need help to pick them (especially if they already fall on the ground) and process them, so if you have experience making jam or preserves that would be great.
  
  Since we are working in our home-office during the day, your work will be mostly on your own. We have time in the mornings and evenings and weekends to show you around and do work together.
  
  We ask for about 4-4,5 hours of work per day, 5 days per week. We ask to be ready for work at least the first 4-5 days when you arrive before taking days off. We can discuss in advance which days you take off, sometimes it is best for us if your days-off are on a weekday so that we can work together in the garden on the weekends, especially when you first arrive. We provide food on your working days and ask you to be responsible for your own food/groceries/meals on your days off.
  
  Please contact us if you are really motivated to work and help us in the garden!

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent
  German: Intermediate
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Bambara: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  You have a private room in our downstairs apartment below our house, with shared bathroom and kitchen.
  
  We will share some meals upstairs when we are home and others you are free to use the kitchen to cook. You will have breakfast independently downstairs in the mornings. Please tell us what you need so we can provide with groceries for your working days. On your days off you are responsible for your own food/meals, there are supermarkets 8-10min walk away. We do ask you to stick to vegetarian food in our house (no meat nor fish).
  
  We also ask to take good care of the apartment downstairs, to keep it tidy, dishes washed and especially to take measures to prevent mold build-up, which means: tipping the windows open during the day and closing at night and turning on the dehumidifier. We ask you to clean the apartment before you leave (your room, bathroom, fridge and common space used) and bring the waste and recycling outside to the dedicated bins - so that everything is ready for the next Workawayer or guests.
  
  We provide you with sheets and 1 towel. We have a washing machine you can use to wash your clothes once per week.
  
  Our house is in the middle of other houses and does have some roads around, so we are NOT in nature and we do hear some sound of cars (and some barking dogs of the neighbors) so it's not a garden to camp in (although our dream is to find a place in nature in the future!).
  
  We do have quiet time in the evenings after around 20h30 when our son goes to bed.
  
  To arrive at our place we will give you our address so you can easily find the way to us by public transport and walking (15-min walk uphill from the train station) or by Uber/Bolt.
  
  The weather is not what you think here in the Sintra region, even in the summer it is always colder than in Lisbon. In the winter as well as spring and fall it can be very rainy and cold. Even indoors with a heater it still feels cold so make sure to come prepared and with warm clothes in inside and outside.

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  What else ...

  During your time off you can visit Sintra and all its beautiful estates, palaces and castle. The beach is also reachable by train and bus (1h30 total time) ! Lisbon is very easily accessible by train (15min walk to the station then 35-40min ride)!
  
  With all there is to do and see around, please still make sure you are motivated to work and help us in the garden, especially on the first 3-4 days when you arrive !

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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