Help with House project, gardening, land and vineyard in Nelas, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Moved to Portugal 5 years ago, my family is originally from this area. I moved here with my husband and 2 small children, we bought a old stone property with land and are creating the first ever Passivhaus in our area (there aren't many in Portugal). My family is originally from Portugal, all my exdended family lives here. The land suffered after the 2017 fires so we are working to create new ecosystems and bring nature back to life, using Permaculture/food forest principals. It's a beautiful area, lots of history. My husband works remotely and our children go to school here. We also look after a vineyard and produce our own wine including sparkling wine which we would not expect workaways to make but taste if they wish to. It's been a busy time as we are doing lot of the house build ourselves. We love walking in the Serra Da Estrela mountains which are not far away, and there's lots of garden projects on the go too. Myself and my family are now fully Bilingual in Portuguese and English, we love explore and developing the area and are also involved in the community.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are Bilingual in English and Portuguese so you can practice language skills, get to know rural life in Portugal. We like to go walking in the area/and mountains on weekend. We go to local events, experience festivals and get to know the local culture. Learn about wine making from us, and basic agriculture on small scale. Try aerial silks in my training space we are building at the back of the house.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Whilst we are busy with our house project we need help in the garden. People who can work independently and as a team. The jobs include helping look after the vegetables, from planting/ weeding/ fertilising/ harvesting. We have areas that need grass cutting, and general pruning keeping bushes at a sensible hight. We also use a tractor to do jobs such as wood chipping to put around trees and plants. We also have chickens they need cleaning out, changing food and water and general maintenance. We have two beautiful dogs that need walking everyday. We sometimes would like to go away for a short holiday so also people who would be willing to stay and look after the animals whilst we are away and water plants. There are also DIY job opportunities if this is something you enjoy doing or woodwork and carving if you enjoy this too!

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  whilst we are restoring our house we are staying next door in a rural country house. It has 2 bathrooms we share, one out on the balcony and one indoors, there are many options for accommodation from camping/living indoors with us/campervan space for those with their own accomodation. The rural country house is small, it has an old fireplace and wooden floors and ceiling. we have washing machine, hotwater, dishwasher and heaters and wood stove for the winter months.

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  What else ...

  We have mountain bikes which you can borrow and there are some local mountain biking and walking trails. Nelas is the nearest town 2km away with supermarkets and pharmacies. Lots of vineyards to visit, historical buildings, at different times of the year have keys events, winefestival, cheese festivals in the mountains, carnivals, medieval festivals, saint days with traditional parades. Not too far from river beaches, most places need to drive to, but can also get buses and lifts. At the moment we are very busy with the house and family life we usually take Sunday's off to go and do something different, like walking, day trip or visit family. If festivals are on the weekend we go and usually on sunday afternoon.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

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