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Host is looking for help immediately
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
2 Aug 2025
Reply rate
94.6 %
Usually responds within 6 days
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Details
Description
LOOKING FOR THESE PROFILES (or what you are eager to learn) for the month of July (starting from the 8th of July until August 12th):
- BEEKEEPING: honey harvesting (middle of July)
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- Cleaning out spaces, PHYSICAL HELP with lifting/replacing things
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- PERMACULTURE experienced/enthousiast: weeding borders, gardening, harvesting and everything related + cooking delicious food for everyone w/harvest.
-> We prefer if you combine both competencies or interests, as different tasks or projects combine these. It's an extra plus if you have some diy skills, are hands-on and have a good physical condition.
- GENERAL HELP with cooking + household (these tasks are supported by all members on a daily basis, cooking & dishes, etc. are part of the day in a slow life and are not considered as work or for women only ;)
>>> Hi! We are a green minded couple and part of a growing community, working mainly on food forestry, ethical greening, sustainable designs involving edible greens, forest bathing, and some photography.
We are located in the idyllic green part of Flanders in de Vlaamse Ardennen.
The location offers beautiful sights over hills, a food forest with orchard and some small wilder pieces of older forest, edible gardens and flowers, cow and horse meadows around, and beautiful green surroundings and scenic areas.
Here are some key things to expect with us: learning by doing, nature, slow living, sustainable living, outdoor and vegetal cooking, organic farming & permaculture (for own consumption), sustainable farming architecture, designing & landscaping, organic gardening, edible gardens, edible food forest, healthy food, exchanging our knowledge,..
We love to experiment with and in nature, and always to keep learning by doing. And we share our knowledge from both sides, while doing this. Bit by bit we are living a more natural, slower life in doing so. To give you some examples: we make our pizza's in a wood oven, and eat them on wooden plates that we also made ourselves from upcycled pieces of wood. We grow a big part of our veggies, fruit, herbs, flowers, etc. prefer to make our own bread and fermented goods, teas, natural medicine, and the most delicious lemonades with our fruit! We sleep outside during the summer months to experience nature as much as possible and go on hikes whenever we can. We interact with different other projects and in different cities, collaborate and exchange in a positive community spirit.
We are looking for responsible people wanting to learn, share and collaborate and help make this place into a unique one. This involves all aspects of living together: cooking, household, helping in team & with instructions, solo time, shared time, communication, self reflection & awareness or helping on yourself and group dynamics.
We appreciate it if you have an understanding of polite or compassionate communication and respectful co-living, especially if you stay for a shorter time and we don't have the time to get to know each other fully first. Joining our project is about more than a cheap travel experience, and to function as a group we need to help as a group. It means feeling dedicated to what we are working on, to sometimes help independent on things; have a flexible attitude in helping on repetitive, hard or challenging things, or doing daily tasks that also need to be done; be proactive and ask questions if needed in order to understand and learn the right things, building trust. Another important thing is how you behave to the other members of the group and to us - your hosts. We open our project and sometimes our home to complete strangers. We give you our trust to handle this with respect.
In doing so, we try to give you an unforgettable experience where you can discover yourself, try out different interests before making long-term decisions, discover the world and how it works; in a unique way from a local perspective (which is pretty much the most awesome way of travelling according to us), take a break from your life with more meaning and community feel, and learn essential practices for your own projects, but even more important: to develop attitudes towards interacting and developing your personality and attitudes. These last things will help you build a life for yourself and a network.
About us:
We are in our early 40's and both love working in the food forest, combined with jobs in green management. We work very hard on our dream to make our home self sustaining, and to make this project self sufficient in the long-term.
We know all there is to know about beekeeping since some years, including how to manage the asian hornet, about nature & tree management, constructing, plants, edible greening & food forest, a big deal about farming and working with a small tractor, landscaping & gardening, natural food, good health, foraging, and trekking & travelling. We also have extensive bio-arts and art technician expertise from past experiences.
We are wild about our project, always willing to share our help and skills and exchange knowledge. We've hosted lots of interesting people during this project and are curious to meet new volunteers these next seasons. Experience with volunteer management in this and previous projects, and as volunteers with other projects and nature organisations, and with teaching people with different backgrounds, makes us very aware of offering a quality experience to our visitors. We try to make good teams with compatible competencies and characters through the right selection and coaching during your stay. If you want to learn new things, we will try to give you all opportunities for this. We know what it takes to start your own dream project and we will answer all your questions and help you growing and be available for guidance afterwards. We both have extensive experience in guiding and teaching people new skills, and are eager to share this with you.
Are you into this Workaway experience, where you can learn things you really need and want to know about sustainable living, food forestry and farming and it's infrastructures / landscaping / gardening / living a greener and slower life, then we would love to hear from you !
- Accommodation this summer will be in a tent to share with others, comfortable beds included.
- Room for 1 (small) camper/van, an outdoor toilet and shower is available.
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PLEASE SEND US A MESSAGE WITH:
- Your motivation to visit us, and/or what you want to learn.
- Some references about yourself. If not on Workaway yet, then from other platforms, facebook, LinkedIn, ... (+link).
- Please understand that confirming to volunteer help is an engagement, and other people and team members will count on you.
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Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Pets
Culture
Self development
Movies & TV
Farming
Charity work
Plant care
Music
DIY & crafts
Books
Art & design
Photography
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Architecture
Hitchhiking
Drawing & painting
Carpentry
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Camping
Water sports
Dancing
Outdoor activities
Hiking
Cycling
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
The exchange:
We take time to prepare meals from the food forest together as much as we can, cook together, get to know each other, camp outside and enjoy nature and an essential way of living, from where often dialogues start and we get to know each other and exchange our most precious experiences, stories , recipes.. stuff for a good camp fire at night, or a lovely walk in the neighbourhood.
We also love doing forest bathing together, maybe yoga, sports if you prefer, and you are free to do what pleases you in the free hours and days of course.
A bit of crafting like basket weaving, making herbal mixes, bath salts, food foraging, outdoor cooking, food preservation, taking a cutting from a plant and learn about this in the small plant nursery, learning about edible plants and how to care for them, preparing hives for bees ... these are all lovely things to do whenever the opportunity is there. Very often, Workawayers bring their own crafts or arts and learn us about them or leave gifts in our heart with just being their lovely selves, and offering help with whatever they can. Or with exchanging a life changing recipy :) Often we visit other nice projects or permaculture gardens and their own community events, or go on a more touristy tour or a festival, depending on what we feel like.
You can learn a great deal from us. (Sustainable) techniques, materials, ecological ponds and wadi, landscaping, nature management, trees & plants, animals (chickens, all zoo & wildlife), slow living, designing, (helping with and in) nature, sustainability, sustainable travel.
There are many different plants, veggies and spices to experiment with. We love cooking with them, and also DIY cosmetics or home objects can be made with these!
We are curious to meet new traveller friends who are into these same aspects and want to make community in a new -green- movement!
Help
-> looking for people with an interest in and/or knowledge of cooking & preserving techniques, with good plant and cooking knowledge as well;
-> farming fruits and veggies (for own consumption);
-> techniques or assisting and willing to help out physically;
-> helping with beekeeping and learning more about it;
-> general and diverse tasks involving farming;
-> crafting or assisting gatherings/workshops in do-it-yourself food foresting, crafting & slow living
+ You can discover the surrounding areas during your free hours/days.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
French: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
We speak fluent English, and moderate French. We love to practice both languages. Our mother tongue is Dutch (Flemish).
Accommodation
Welcome to sleep in the beautiful food forest and enjoy the lovely bird songs!
We are partly off grid, which means living in nature and partly using our own energy supplies, not too close to shops or any other city life or comfort services. There is some smaller cities at biking distance. And as we have the comfort of a train station nearby, non-stop WiFi, water and electricity, a supermarket within a 10 minute bike ride, many bakeries, the site isn’t a challenging off grid.
If you have a medical or mental condition or special requests, we need to know this in advance to see if we can provide in your needs. Don't be afraid to talk about it. We are discrete and very helpful people!
What else ...
The train station is at only 2,5 km, with direct connection to the city of Gent.
By bus or train you can go to Brussels in about 1 or 1,5 hour.
De Vlaamse Ardennen are gorgeous in all seasons. Discover every piece of it by foot or bike, or by public transport.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
If you are a digital nomad, please reach out for more info and about the exchange we can make.
Space for parking camper vans
We have space for 1 van
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Different breeds, wilder original breeds (4 months)
Bear
Feedback (15)
We shared a very good enthousiast spirit and group dynamic, and we loved it. Even when the energy was lower or the dust in the house was getting too much, the big smile was there with all of us. You are a very motivated volunteer, who we believe can find joy in anything he does, and a… read more
I couldn't have had a better start to my Workaway Journey :)
In the short week I spent with them I got to build 2 wooden doors that slide on rails, a door for their lovely (and expressive) cat bear, and help make a second Hornet trap.
Besides fun and hands on… read more
They welcomed me so nicely with good accomidation in there warm home, yum food, lovely company. I did a variety of jobs, where I could learn, and build some muscle in the process:) I highly recommend a stay!
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
We shared a very good enthousiast spirit and group dynamic, and we loved it. Even when the energy was lower or the dust in the house was getting too much, the big smile was there with all of us. You are a very motivated volunteer, who we believe can find joy in anything he does, and a… read more
I couldn't have had a better start to my Workaway Journey :)
In the short week I spent with them I got to build 2 wooden doors that slide on rails, a door for their lovely (and expressive) cat bear, and help make a second Hornet trap.
Besides fun and hands on… read more
They welcomed me so nicely with good accomidation in there warm home, yum food, lovely company. I did a variety of jobs, where I could learn, and build some muscle in the process:) I highly recommend a stay!
after the week in your Hostfamily,
I'd like to thank you both for the amazing experience.
ranking:
work experience 9/10
food experience 10/10
cat experience 100/10
culture exchange 10/10
Area and Project 100/10
hospitality 10000/10
thanks a lot guys.
I will come back to try the Sauna and also get my music box.… read more
With them I had my first experience with… read more
We loved… read more
We wish you more beautiful encounters.
Keep in touch & welcome back again.
And big hugs back from Mr. Bear :)!
Maaike and Ilias were incredibly welcoming, and are very kind, interesting, and patient people. I loved their dynamics, and calm and peaceful way of living. They produce most of what they eat, which is quite refreshing,… read more
You were responsible, hard working, supporting, and we wish you the very best on your trip through Europe. No doubt you will enjoy it! For all other hosts: you want this guy as a volunteer ;)
We truly enjoyed hosting you Xin, and working together was just so much fun. Even during intense days, you could invent a nice dish out of some herbs and plants you… read more
It was a great experience getting to know you, and working together with you at the farm house, and camping together out there. You were taking on every task… read more
Thank you for your help, and… read more
I've been in the farm for about two weeks in which I have seen changes and learned a lot of different things thanks to the great knowledge of ilias.
In addition to Maaike and Ilias there were also two other guys: Ming and Vilbjørg .. it was great to spend time with all of them working together during the… read more
Such a hard and dedicated worker - always finishing a job at the end of the day, and very well done- , a nice personality to have around, a burst of energy - even on the hottest days in Belgium - , easy going, creative in the kitchen, and loaded with interesting travel stories, which is… read more
The couple have several projects, but what we did most was related to… read more
