Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
24 May 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
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Details
Description
Tasks in summer (April to June 2025):
# Heavily mulching all trees, planting vetiver grass on the farm pond to stabilise soil
# preparing nurseries for vegetables
# preparing beds for turmeric and tubers plantation
# preparing fields for monsoon cropping
# clearing fields of thorny bushes and weeds to make it ready for monsoon trees planting
# Building check dams for water harvesting
# small carpentry help.
Tasks during monsoon (July to October 2025):
# Planting vegetable gardens, millets crop and other crops
# setting up structures for black pepper plants,
# planting more fruit trees
# Building check dams for water harvesting
Help with hosting guests when needed.
We are a homestead aiming for self sufficiency. We are married partners (Madhu and Sampada) who have moved away from the hustle bustle of city life to this quite village along the western Ghats of India. We are with the help of friends and family, trying to build a permaculture farm which will be self sustainable.
Though both of us are Engineers by educational qualifications, we moved away from our core field of study and worked in the sector of education for children coming from less privileged background for more than 15 years. We continue to teach and try to create a welcoming and open learning space for the kids in the village. As we explored various aspects of life, living on a farm is something that stayed with both of us and hence we dived all in. We are conscious and thoughtful of background of people around us and try our best to not judge or put you in any brackets. We are not religious but big fan of Kabir songs and bhajans (Bhakthi poetry). We look forward to the music and movie recommendations from anyone who visit us. We also look forward to learn, cook and exchange recipes with all our visitors. Come prepared with a playlist and a unique recipe that represents the place you come from. We are LGBTQ+ friendly, look forward to challenge existing social, ecological and economic power structures through the lives we lead.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
House sitting
Interests
Politics / Social justice
Movies & TV
Sustainability
Farming
Culture
Writing
Plant care
Photography
Performing arts
Music
Gardening
Drawing & painting
Books
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Art & design
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Sailing / Boating
Outdoor activities
Nature
Mountain
Hiking
Dancing
Cycling
Adventure sports
Camping
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We live in small traditional village based in Western Maharashtra, a state of India. It is a coastal belt. Volunteers will be able to interact with the villagers and explore traditional Konkani cuisine, local fish, forage wild seasonal food, experience traditional form of devotional hymns (abhang and bhajans).
You can join us while cooking and learn some local bread making skills.
Festivals are celebrated with great enthusiasm and villagers would love for you to be a part of it. There is always singing and dancing (traditional style) during every festivals.
We regularly have musical/JAM sessions where we exchange songs from various countries and in different languages. We have some instruments like ukulele, flute, harmonica, cymbals and khartals. Feel free to bring your own instruments.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We started working on our land on 2022 March. In the last 3 years, we are thorough with basic systems like water facility, major tree plantation, drip irrigation, facilities around living space for us and the volunteers and agro tourism setup. We now need help in sustaining these systems, troubleshooting as and when needed, planting and managing vegetable fields, harvesting and processing various fruits, grains, pulses, vegetables and more.
Some activities are yet to start like, making bunds to arrest soil erosion, building check dams to harvest water, setting up camp sites as eco tourism activity, planting/building live fence around the farm.
Spending time on our farm can be a great opportunity for people wanting to learn sustainable farming/gardening practices.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Marathi: Fluent
Telugu: Fluent
Tamil: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
We interact will village kids and we can use this opportunity to teach them a new language.
Accommodation
We have a mud house built using traditional methods which has attic space for volunteers to stay. We have accommodated more than 10 people at a time. It is a basic dorm style accommodation which will be shared when there are more volunteers. Private rooms can be made available (in the attic space) to couples and long term volunteers (more than 1 month). There are enough spaces around the house to pitch tents.
We provide mattress (hard foam) and beddings (bed sheet, pillow, warm blankets) and mosquito net. There is a provision of hot water kettle, tea powder, coffee and sugar in he volunteers space.
All meals and tea will be provided. We expect you to help us with cooking and cleaning post meals.
What else ...
The place we have is very scenic with a flowing stream on one side and hills on the other side. Visitors can simply sit by the river and have a lovely time. The place is also very rich in biodiversity and an excellent place for bird watching, identifying butterflies and insects. You may go for a nice stroll or a jog. Travellers may also be able to visit the nearby beaches (40 kms from our place). There is also an old fort (dilapidated condition) but an excellent example of water harvesting and full of natural beauty which can also be explored.
There are local buses available to go to the nearby town.
We are trying to live a simple life here with as much as possible being a conscious consumer. Food available will be mostly local. We do not encourage any kind of packaged food items.
We provide 3 meals everyday (breakfast, lunch and dinner) along with morning and evening tea. We would love if workawayers can cook something from their place and culture for a day or so for us. We would encourage you to adjust your cooking with things available in the house or local markets and completely avoid using pre packaged food items like biscuits and things like that.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We currently do not have a wifi connection. We are dependent on mobile hotspot. Airtel and Jio work fine. We are in the process of getting wifi connection and will update here as soon as done.
Space for parking camper vans
We have a space in front of our house where 1 four wheeler and 2-3 two wheelers can be parked. There is also another open space near the house where vehicles can be parked.
Can possibly accept pets
Yes we need to accommodate our pets first. We have a dog and a cat. Be prepared to be smothered with love and be a bed for them to sleep on
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (34)
incluso el primer día fuimos al río y después de un largo viaje en autobús y un poquito de calor, el río fue algo espectacular.
las actividades dentro… read more
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Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(4.9)
incluso el primer día fuimos al río y después de un largo viaje en autobús y un poquito de calor, el río fue algo espectacular.
las actividades dentro… read more
The work is interesting, varied enough, physically intense sometimes - as it should be, since this is a farm :) -… read more
Madhu and Sampada are truly amazing people! They are very helpful, they also helped me a lot on the journey to get to the farm, since I had problems with the buses, they stayed in contact with me the whole time. They are very open to sharing their culture with volunteers and listening… read more
Their farm is a little paradise in the nature of Maharastra, next to a little town called Nargoli and near a beautiful waterfall.
The tasks were easy, and mainly done with the local workers… read more
They provided us with lots of good meals, all kinds! Life on the farm is busy, but Madhu and Sampada tried to take their time and sit down with us every chance they… read more
Quick to understand and get the tasks done,a lot was achieved-watering plants,planting vettiver grass, moving stuff and cleaning guest rooms, filling sandbags for raising pond height etc. Hanna is an amazing artist with her painting and created… read more
You will say yes to a peaceful and joyful place, to disconnect and be surrounded by nature - there are nice walks to do around, a river and waterfall very close by, the loveliest terrace with hammock for the perfect afternoon… read more
He has previous experience in farming and growing nurseries and has a green thumb to make seeds sprout that would otherwise be difficult. He has made seed beds and transplanted many vegetables and trees- he also made a… read more
I had the opportunity to learn a lot… read more
Among many farm tasks like mulching, clearing weeds, pest controll and cleanup jobs- his skill… read more
I couldn't recommend this place more. The hosts were so thoughtful and kind and they made me feel comfortable with bringing up anything… read more
We exchanged a lot on cultural practices and differences, and they were very inclusive with us even within… read more
Madhu and Sampada are building a very amazing life for themselves and are so gracious and wonderful to share it with others. They ensured that we were taken care off and helped me with any issues I was facing. It was so refreshing to see how they always help their staff and… read more
Being in professional retraining in the field of ecological transition and sustainable development, I was offered the opportunity to work on the self-sufficient permaculture farm.
I have carried out some very interesting tasks related to permaculture techniques.
I… read more
We learned a lot about living on the indian farm. Now we know how to build traditional indian stove, what mudhouse is, how to make compost system, etc. I absolutely enjoyed to fall asleep under stars and wake up with birds sounds. The river with waterfalls is one more thing, that i miss a lot.
We wish you… read more
We got the chance of watching the… read more
