Portugal
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We are a young couple with some experience on self-sufficient-living that in 2015 got a piece of land close to a small growing community of close friends in a beautiful valley at the highest mountains inside the biggest natural park of our country. We need help on creating a Natural Farm to support our small eco-community!
Rita is a health-food enthusiast and loves to work with different kinds of art-craft. She likes to explore with Medicinal plants, Fermented food, ways of preserving food and appreciates doing basketry, wool-work and book-binding. Also likes to produce cleaning and hygiene products like natural detergents, soaps and salves. Walking in the nature, singing with friends and doing yoga are some of the other things she enjoys.
Gonçalo is a nature lover with a passion for Permaculture and Natural Farming. Studied Organic Agronomy and has been practicing it since 2008, with the help of volunteers, interns and apprentices. He enjoys sharing and to make music with friends.
Unfortunately in 2017 a massive fire went over this beautiful valley but in the same year we were blessed with our first home-birth daughter Dana. Lukcly, in 2020 Rui, Rita's brother, decided to join us to broad is farming knwoledge and improve is carpentry skills. In 2021 we were double blessed with the home birth of our twin sons, Aziz and Arsu. With us lives also 2 female dogs and 1 female cat besides many wild animals.
Until now, with the help of lots of amazing people we build two yurts, a greenhouse dome (toilet and nursery), recovered a ruin for a kitchen and build a rootcelar with eartbags and a workshop with a greenroof. For the volunteers we build a small kitchen, toilet and shower. Also built a roundhouse shelter for the volunteers but in 2020 a group of 4 young volunteers with 18 years burned it so since then wen can only camping is possible. This year, we are doing a crowd funding to pay a neighbor to make us a Tipi to replace the shelter for the volunteers. Also done a stable for the farm animals with roundwood. Made a vegetable garden with huegel beds a small food forest and planted many trees and bushes. We have the help of horse,goat, sheep, chickens and bees to regenerate pasture where we plant trees and shrubs in order to convert it to an poly-crop system. Some small earth works like dams and swalles have also been made in other to extend the already existing ancient irritating system.
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
General Maintenance
In north Portugal we have strong culture of family agriculture that is still practiced by beautiful old people and some young new amazing neighbors. You will meet some of those and can get to visit them to chill-out or help on farming maintenance in exchange for services, products or money and learn some knowledge or skills with joy!
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
This year we will need help maintaining the vegetable garden, implementing and maintaining food forests, building simple structures with roundwood and recicled materials, harvesting herbs, vegetables, fruits and processing them, farming maintenance (cutting and caring fire-wood, moving electric fences and farm animal summer shades, cleaning the stable), enjoying live, sharing experiences and much more ....
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
We only need help for around 3 hours/day according to goals, therefore we only provide accommodation (camping tent, mattress and blankets) and shared facilities (kitchen, dry toilet and solar shower) so, you buy your own food. Minimum time of stay of 2 weeks.
There's also a natural pool in the stream and according to the season, mushrooms, edible and aromatic plants, berries, acorns and chestnuts.
We are at north-central Portugal, in a mountain with two glacial valleys, a lot of water on lakes, rivers and streams, that you can follow to find abandoned farming and shepherd houses surrounded by wilderness. There's tow villages close to us: Linhares da Beira (+/- 5km), an historical place with a military castle, a local association, a craft-shop, a cosy bar, a gourmet restaurant and two hotels ; Figueiró da Serra (+/- 2km), with more vivacity has tow local associations, a grocery-shop, tow bars and a hotel with restaurant. We have a car that we use often to bring needs from outside but there's also a bus passing in Figueiró da Serra every day at 9am that goes to the closest town (Gouveia +/- 20km) and comes back at 5pm.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
You have to bring your own internet connection. In the village close by theres a coworking space you can use!
We are in the mountains so access is tricky and finding flat spaces to park is not easy...
Can accept dogs if they are not good chicken hunters!
More than two
3 hours a day,5 days a week
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