Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
22 Jan 2024
Feedback
35
Facebook verified
Email verified
Badges (3)
Details
Description
Hello there!
We are Clare & Paul, we run our own family home, farm & market garden in harmony with the land and (as much as possible) in accordance with earth loving biodynamic principles.
We have a variety of delicious organic 100% spray free organic vegetables growing on our Market Garden in Iona, about 25 minutes from Koo Wee Rup.
We have happy chickens out on pasture living in busses protected by Buddy - our Anatolian Shepherd Dog, plus 25 sheep roaming around, a lovely rose garden and a fruitful orchard with a large variety of apples, citrus, figs, plums, nectarines and more..
Koo Wee Rup is right on the Western Port Bay within driving distance to the beach, nature reserves, Phillip Island & the fairy penguins, 5 minutes from Koo Wee Rup and Tooradin town centres, and about 15-20 minutes from more major shopping towns of Cranbourne and Pakenham.
On the end of a quiet dirt road our 60 acre property is home to the sheep, our happy pasture fed chooks, our lovely cat Willow Midnight, our barn kitten Jimi Ginger, and a very very cheeky and extremely loveable affectionate kelpie pup, Bella aka Bell Bell.
We're looking for like minded people to come and help out around the farm and exchange knowledge of growing food, cooking and eating the food we grow, sustainability and living on the land.
We really appreciate people with a good work ethic who are keen to get up with the birds, work hard, get their hands dirty and lend a hand with the big picture of what we're creating out here...
Ethical, sustainable food - grown with love and in harmony with the earth and becoming a part of our big happy family & "farmily" in the process! 🌞
Some days there's lots of physical tasks to do on the farm to keep you fit and active, and some days are perfect for just relaxing and enjoying nature on your days off, baking bread, making art, reading books and going on wonderful adventures on your days off!
We have paid work available at the market garden, and for people wanting to do their farming 88 days we offer a trial first to make sure you're a good fit! Farming is very physically hard work and you need to be sure you're up for the challenge!! :)
We are looking forward to hearing from you if any of this sounds like a good fit for what you're looking for...
This is really a "choose your own adventure" farm and we're in peak season so there's lots to do and plenty of help needed!! We're excited to meet like minded people keen to lend a hand and become a part of the farmily!
*Please note, we are prioritising people who can commit to a minimum of one month.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Prior to farming, we both LOVED to travel the world and feel very excited to have world travellers helping on our land & homestead now that we have a slice of paradise to share...
Between us we have a lot of skills and knowledge in many areas other than farming having spent a lot of time in India, Central & South America, Asia and Europe travelling, working and studying cultures, yoga, art, martial arts, spirituality, music and more..
We really enjoy sharing healthy, home grown, vibrant meals, cooking skills, music and conversation.
Between the two of us we have our hands very very full! With the farms, farmers markets, the homestead, and our home in the girls we are excited to welcome new friends and "farmily" to our slices of paradise and become a part of the magic.
We hope you will come and enjoy your stay with us and learn lots of new skills while you're here! :)
Warmly,
Clare, Paul, Matilda & Elodie
Help
We are looking for a variety of different people to come and be a part of the fun here on the farm...
Firstly, there is "true blue" aka genuine (paid) farm work to be done and we are happy to remunerate people for this hard hands on work, especially if they can handle the very physical nature of this task.
You can also do your 88 days with us if you're able to keep up with the physical nature of farming. We are only able to offer this to a small number of people each year.
Currently, we're looking for one very strong, hardworking, diligent, down to earth person to join the team for the upcoming season, starting immediately, and another role will be coming available in about a month(November).
There is always lots to do around the homestead & setting up the home permaculture garden such as mowing the lawn on the ride on mower, pulling weeds, tidying, setting up structures, planting seeds, weeding and watering garden beds, collecting eggs from the hens, bringing them extra feed, working on projects and hopefully you will be sharing your own skills and knowledge with us too! :)
We have been working on and off on a beautiful fruitful backyard permaculture garden and would love some extra hands for that project, it's been stopping and staring with the past couple years of lockdowns so extra help with that would be amazing. Often the business of the farm will take over these kinds of projects so it's really up to whoever is staying with us when we can get our hands dirty in this area.
We also completed the Old Dairy conversion into an extra living space for farm staff and workaways - fully self contained and great for socialising!
Such is the nature of living on the land, we recommend our farm workaways have a good level of physical health/fitness/strength coming to the farm as the tasks can sometimes be quite physically demanding (some days more than others). If this is an issue, please let us know right away so we can be sure to arrange less physical tasks for you to enjoy.
Other than that we love help sharing the cooking of the main meals of the day & keeping the homestead & the big farm shed clean and garden tidy.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: FluentThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
We have a variety of accommodation on offer!
The farm is situated on 60 acres in Koo Wee Rup where we have two modern private powered caravans with bedding all included (one with a double bed & a single bed and the other with two single beds - both are currently empty - ready for your arrival!).
We have also converted the old 1920's dairy into a " winter room" with a cosy fire place and "summer room" kitchen, living room, bathroom, kitchen & laundry.
We also have a tent available in summer for those who prefer privacy and sleeping on a mattress on the earth.
We love to have a shared meal aka Pizza Night with everyone on Saturday nights, a tradition left here from a former workaway from Argentina! This has evolved into a pot luck style roast dinner, which is a lot of fun to share our favourite dishes!! Or Clare will cook up a feast for the hungry farmers in the home kitchen...
A super abundance of fresh organic veggies & eggs is on offer to eat every day too of course, that you can even pick yourself!
Lunch & Dinner are generally solo or shared meals cooked communally or individually from the amazing variety of food we grow ourselves and breakfast is 'help yourself' to museli, eggs, toast, fruit, rice, etc. :)
Please BYO 'special ingredients' and luxury items and things you need for yourself or we can take you to the supermarket if you need/don't have own car.
What else ...
The farm in Koo Wee Rup is in a great location - only 1 hour bus trip from Melbourne - the direct bus leaves from Southern Cross to Koo Wee Rup and we can collect you from the Bus stop in town and bring you back to the farm.
If you're arriving to Melbourne by plane - hop on a shuttle bus from the airport direct to Southern Cross/Spencer St Station.
If you're arriving by train or bus - you will land at Southern Cross.
There is a lot to see and do in the local areas and further afield to our farm, especially if you have your own car. Otherwise, there is a bus close by in KWR.
Koo Wee Rup and Tooradin have many lovely cafes & second hand shops to enjoy an afternoon off or relax away a morning. You can put on your walking shoes and get yourselves here easily by foot in about half an hour or 5 minutes by car.
20 Minutes away from the Farm is the Pearcedale Moonlit Sanctuary to experience native Australian wildlife & little further than that is the Mornington Penninsula with Hot Springs & beautiful beaches.
Local beaches to the farm are only a short 20 - 30 minute drive and on lovely days we offer workaways to come with us to enjoy the sunshine and rest by the ocean.
Melbourne is a thriving metropolis & a bus departs from Koo Wee Rup central & will take you to Cranbourne & Pakenham train stations which will then take you to Melbourne City.
If you have your own car/van then you can easily get yourself to the city or perhaps take yourself to see the wild life at Wilsons Prom, fairy Penguins at Phillip Island, the beaches and Hot Springs along the Mornington Peninsula, amazing beaches, gourmet food, transformational workshops, concerts, diverse culture & nightlife the 'Garden State' of Victoria has to offer!
In the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Ranges near by, there are countless nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, cafes, shops, parks and gardens, and of course, Puffing Billy steam train meandering through the mountains... so much to explore!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have decent internet access with our wifi dongle and just had it upgraded to include more data. Our internet does drop out on very windy or very cloudy days. #farmlife
Space for parking camper vans
Plenty of space for your own vehicle, van, campervan etc
Can possibly accept pets
As we have animals living on the farm, any more pets probably wouldn't work. But happy to discuss if you think your dog would fit in well here and is very good with small children, dogs, cats, chickens and sheep.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (21)
To fellow hosts - We highly recommend taking on Sina if you're ever lucky enough to… read more
We enjoyed our stay in Koo Wee Rup in Victoria a lot. We worked 25 hours a week and we became a part of the thriving… read more
Being part of what they are building over there was awesome to me, I learned a lot of things from Paul, he knows so much about all the veggies growing process, and his vision about that is fantastic. Also go to the market to sell the veggies we harvested was so grateful and… read more
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.7)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
To fellow hosts - We highly recommend taking on Sina if you're ever lucky enough to… read more
We enjoyed our stay in Koo Wee Rup in Victoria a lot. We worked 25 hours a week and we became a part of the thriving… read more
Being part of what they are building over there was awesome to me, I learned a lot of things from Paul, he knows so much about all the veggies growing process, and his vision about that is fantastic. Also go to the market to sell the veggies we harvested was so grateful and… read more
No routine here, You will never get bored, there is always many things to do and always different (market on weekends and daily task at the farm). We also had the opportunity to build two tables to improve the common area and fix the… read more
From the moment she landed on our farm she was super dedicated to our project and our family and we were so very lucky to have her to stay with us even if it was for only a couple of weeks. She helped us completely gut a bus for our… read more
I will definitely come back to see you and would love to help you again… read more
Thank you for the great and honest feedback! Yes, you're right! Farm life isn't always easy is it?! Very physical work, some days very early mornings & some days late evenings. Goodness me! We really enjoyed your effort and energy and your cooking!! We hope you find what you're looking for out on the open road and many adventures… read more
Because it's rather always 100% positive. I mean, I have been to Disneyland and it was not 100% positive.
I believe it gives a biased impression to the potential volunteer who might be disappointed facing the reality.
Therefore I will try to be more objective and balanced… read more
Thank you for all your amazing hard work, effort, energy and sparkling conversation.
I wish we'd spent more time down time together - you are such a great energy to be around!
We hope the next steps on your adventure are as wonderful and magical as you are!
Warmly,
Matilda, Paul & Clare
Wishing you all the very best for the future.
Warmly,
Matilda, Paul & Clare
I am really grateful for everything i… read more
Thank you for having me and… read more
Arigato dear friend! You were so much more than a workaway - you became part of our family and we love you and miss you! Thank you for the almost two months you lived here at our farm. We are so grateful for all your hard work, effort, energy, time and patience. We absolutely LOVED having you here and would welcome you back again and… read more
Love Clare, Paul & baby Matilda
in other words all the work pays off thank you for letting me" smashing it!!!" in your farm
best regards Mark Dakwar… read more
People who choose to come and stay with us, get up with the birds, work hard, share delicious meals full of veggies, come to the farmers markets and share travel stories, songs and more by the fire...
The most recent addition to our farm was an all… read more
You were really patient with me, you teached me a lot, explained me several times with smile when I didn't understand the language and welcome me like if I was from family... live in the farm and work there was really peacefull and great, the work interesting, the food just… read more
We HIGHLY recommend Nadja to any prospective farms :) Thanks Nadja!
We were so grateful for her knowledge, experience, wisdom and enthusiasm!! And the stories... so many amazing stories!!! Thank you Michelle!!! Thank you for sharing part of your incredible life journey with us :)
We've been learning from each others. We became friends.
I stayed at Clare's and Paul's place for 3 weeks. After few days of adaptation I started to really enjoy my time. During the week I worked on my own and then could go the rhythm I wanted, put some music on... The help was not… read more
