Painting, forestry and cookery in the countryside close to Oslo, Norway

  • Favourited 126 times
  • Last activity: 20 Feb 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    We are Christopher and Marie, a middle-aged couple in Oslo.
    Christopher is a researcher and also half American, so he is a English native speaker.
    Marie is a lighting designer and speaks English and French. We both speak Norwegian of course:).

    We share a countryside property called "Vestereng" (meaning the Western fields) with Christopher's sister Lisbeth and her husband Arild.

    Vestereng is situated in the countryside in Hobøl, about a 60 min drive from Oslo. The property consists of fields, a young forest and gardens, the latter including a swimming pool.

    During summer, there is a lot of coming and going at Vestereng. Sometimes we are two people, sometimes ten. With you we are going to be even more.

    Christopher's and Lisbeth's parents built the place in the late 1980's. We have two houses, one big and one small, and a barn.

    Workawayers should be comfortable around cats and dogs.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Gardening
    Farmstay help
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Workawayers will have a good chance to practice English and Norwegian. You might also say hello to deer, foxes and the occasional moose. More interestingly, we do a lot of nice stuff in the forest, not only wood chipping, but also using the wood chips for composting, amending the soil etc. This is not exactly permaculture, but it is inspired by that.

  • Help

    Help

    PAINTING: We need help to paint the big house and maybe the small as well.
    This might take a week or two with two people working.

    FORESTRY: We need extensive help in the forest. Most of the forest was logged 10 years ago and some more was logged recently. There is a lot of cleaning up to do.

    In Norway most people replant with spruce after logging. What we do, is to encourage the native pioneer species as well as adding other native species to get a biodiverse mixed forest. We have also added hazel nuts, chestnuts, walnuts and cider apples. We hope to add more species this summer.

    The "cleaning up" of the forest is real hard physical work. It is recommended to be in reasonably good shape.

    What we are looking for, is upto six people that can help us for two weeks in July.

    2-3 persons will paint the house(s). 3-4 people will work with us in the forest and the garden.
    In the case of heavy rain, we have a messy barn to demessify and some general cleaning to do.

    COOKING: We are going to be many people. We would like a designated person to do the cooking during the weekdays.
    This person should be a good allround cook (and does not need to do painting and forestry!). The menu will include meat, fish and dairy products, but we are delighted to do vegetarian meals as well. The cook will get the weekends off as everyone else. It might be a good idea that the cook arrives ahead of the others, in order for us to plan the menu and buy the ingredients. It is also great if the cook has a driver's licence.

    To clarify: We are looking for upto six people for painting and forestry + one person for the cooking.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    French: Fluent
    Norwegian: Fluent

    This host offers a language exchange
    We are maybe not very much into learning new languages, but are happy to help with the languages we speak!

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    Sleeping arrangements: We have several beds in the attic which also has a bathroom. It is also possible to camp outside for those interested. At the barn it is possible to sleep outdoors , but under a roof; during heat waves this is very comfortable. (It is nicer than it might sound.)

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    The house is in the countryside not far from Oslo, but the public transportation is not very good. We are happy to arrange for excursions during the weekends, but during the week we mostly stay at the property. Workawayers travelling with their own vehicle will be able to do some evening sightseeing during the week; there are several nice villages/small town by the fjord to visit.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    Yes.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    This host can provide space for campervans.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 849129693482

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