aktualisiert  

Learn about homesteading by the Appalachian Trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, USA

  • Letzte Aktivität : 10 Feb. 2025

Verfügbarkeit

  2025 

 Geforderte Mindest-Aufenthaltsdauer:  Keine Vorgaben

Jan
Feb
Mär
Apr
Mai
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Okt
Nov
Dez

Informationen

  • Beschreibung

    Beschreibung

    Hello! We are a small organic berry farm & hiker rest stop in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. We love to grow berries and vegetables while also helping backpackers who visit us off the Appalachian Trail.

    For the past several decades, this small farm has been popular with locals (who pick our berries - blueberries, raspberries, currants, elderberries, gooseberries, cranberries, etc.) and Appalachian Trail thru-hikers looking for a place to relax and replenish. We provide freshly baked cookies and cold homemade drinks for free to the hikers who stop by. With permission, we allow backpackers to tent on our spacious lawn or sleep on our beds (especially when the weather is bad) in the airplane hangar if we have space. AT hikers know us as “Cookie Lady 2.0” or “the Northern Cookie Lady” and seem eager to stop at our farm since we have been long time “trail angels” in our area going all the way back to the first Cookie Lady (Marilyn and Roy Wiley) in 1985. We also sell blueberries and other berries at local farmers' markets and make preserves, both with blueberries and other berries we grow. Our vegetables are grown in our Hugelkultur garden beds in a sustainable no-till style.

    There's always a lot to do, and we welcome people who want to pitch in, especially those who are enthusiastic about gardening.

  • Arten von Hilfe und Lernmöglichkeiten

    Arten von Hilfe und Lernmöglichkeiten

    Kunstprojekte
    Hilfe bei Ökoprojekten
    Gartenarbeiten
    Heimwerker- und Bauarbeiten
    Mithilfe auf einem Bauernhof
    Zubereiten / Kochen von Mahlzeiten für die Familie
    Hausarbeiten
    Handwerkliche Arbeiten
    House sitting
  • Interessengebiete

    Interessengebiete

    Events & Sozialleben
    Nachhaltigkeit
    Haustiere
    Kultur
    Leben im Camper-Van
    Film & Fernsehen
    Farmarbeit
    Fotografie
    Musik
    Bücher
    Heimwerken & DIY
    Geschichte
    Gärtnern
    Kunst & Design
    Gartenarbeiten
    Kochen & Backen
    Zeichnen & Malen
    Tiere
    Wandern
    Outdoor-Aktivitäten
    Gebirge
    Camping
    Natur
    Yoga / Wellness
  • UNO-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung, die dieser Gastgeber verfolgt

    UNO-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung, die dieser Gastgeber verfolgt

    UNO-Ziele
    Keine Armut
    Kein Hunger
    Gesundheit und Wohlergehen
    Hochwertige Bildung
    Geschlechtergleichstellung
    Sauberes Wasser und Sanitärversorgung
    Bezahlbare und saubere Energie
    Menschenwürdige Arbeit und Wirtschaftswachstum
    Industrie, Innovation und Infrastruktur
    Weniger Ungleichheiten
    Nachhaltige Städte und Gemeinden
    Nachhaltige Konsum- und Produktionsmuster sicherstellen
    Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz
    Leben unter Wasser
    Leben an Land
    Frieden, Gerechtigkeit und starke Institutionen
    Partnerschaften zur Erreichung der Ziele
  • Kultureller Austausch und Lernmöglichkeiten

    Kultureller Austausch und Lernmöglichkeiten

    Each day during the summer, you'll meet many new people as they make the small detour from their Appalachian Trail hiking to visit our property. They come from all over the country and world & appreciate our hospitality. We are known as “Cookie Lady 2.0” to these backpackers. It's easy to strike up a conversation and make a new friend who you would otherwise never have met. During blueberry season (mid-July to early September), there are also plenty of locals and travelers who come to pick our berries. With our expanding five-person family and two dogs on top of all of this, it's really never lonely here. The Berkshires are also full of artistic and cultural events.

    You'll also learn about our small-scale, homesteading-style operation. We grow our berries and vegetables organically and love sharing the practices that we have found effective. We could teach you about the wild edible plants in the October Mountain State Forest surrounding our property and show you our favorite spots in the nearby mountain towns, whether you're looking to hike, swim, dine, or enjoy arts & culture.

  • Projekte mit Kindern

    Projekte mit Kindern

    Dieses Projekt schließt möglicherweise den Umgang mit Kindern ein. Mehr Informationen findest du in unseren Verhaltensregeln und Tipps hier.

  • Arbeit

    Arbeit

    Regular tasks include watering/weeding the gardens, greeting hikers, preparing and providing cold drinks/cookies, mowing, weed-whacking, splitting/stacking firewood, and doing the dishes generated by the hikers. There are also plenty of larger projects around our farm, like stonewalls that we are building and putting together a new cabin/shop that was recently constructed. And we're always thinking of landscaping & art projects (like sign making) to make our property more beautiful & welcoming.

    We do earn an humble income from our berry operation, so we do not expect help with picking berries or maintaining the patches.

  • Gesprochene Sprachen

    Englisch: Fließend

  • Unterkunft

    Unterkunft

    We have a mini-bus with two built-in beds. The bus has been decorated with colorful fabric and lots of decoupaged birds on the ceiling and walls (see photos). It's not anything fancy, but it's relatively private and the beds have memory foam mattresses and also loads of blankets, pillows, and curtains. We have a few cubicle bedrooms set up in our airplane hangar that could also be used. You could also camp on our property. We'd provide meals, which we often share with hikers who complete chores for us, and give you access to our house's shower/kitchen/laundry, but we primarily expect our helpers to use the Porta-Potty which is cleaned once per week.

    There is no WiFi, but there is strong LTE reception with T-Mobile & Verizon (we use our smartphone's hotspot to stream Netflix on our laptops regularly, for instance).

  • Was noch ...

    Was noch ...

    We're located in Berkshire County, which is a popular tourist destination with an abundance of arts, culture, and outdoor recreation attractions a short drive away. While our farm is surrounded by state forest (October Mountain’s 16K acres) and at an elevation of 2,000 feet, we're a 15-30 minute drive from attractions like Mass MoCA, Tanglewood, Waconah Falls, Kripalu, The Clark, Mount Greylock, Herman Melville’s and Edith Wharton's home, and the Norman Rockwell Museum.

    We're also located right on the Appalachian Trail for those who want to hike, and there are pristine lakes and streams surrounding our secluded property.

  • Etwas mehr Information

    Etwas mehr Information

    • Internet Zugang

    • Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang

      Eingeschränkter Internet Zugang

    • Wir besitzen Tiere

    • Wir sind Raucher

    • Familien möglich

  • Platz zum Abstellen von Camper Vans

    Platz zum Abstellen von Camper Vans

    Dieser Gastgeber bietet Platz für Wohnmobile.

  • Hier sind Haustiere in der Regel willkommen

    Hier sind Haustiere in der Regel willkommen

    Dogs are okay if they are low-key and don't mind some slightly territorial but ultimately friendly golden retrievers.

  • Kapazität - wie viele Workawayer maximal

    Kapazität - wie viele Workawayer maximal

    zwei

Gastgeber Ref-Nr.: 734415557223

Website-Sicherheit

Feedback (6)



Weitere Bilder

Feedback

Dies sind zusätzliche optionale Bewertungen, wenn Mitglieder Feedback hinterlassen. Es wird die im Schnitt hinterlassene Bewertung für jede Option angezeigt.

Korrekte Angaben im Profil:
(4.8)

Kultureller Austausch:
(5.0)

Kommunikation:
(5.0)











Easy farm-sit in the Texas Hill Country, USA
House sitter needed for our off-grid living in the Bradshaw mountains, central Arizona, USA