Profile information
Host rating
Not yet rated
Last replied
25 Apr 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 1 day
Feedback
-
ID verified
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
Join us to help build beautiful and delicious things
This place is an experiment. Begun in 2019 by two former city slickers, the experiment has produced (though not totally unexpected, still quite surprising) results. One of the results, for instance, is that the conductors of the experiment are now, if not wise, less foolish.
This place is a 2-acre coffee, pepper and areca-nut plantation in Coorg (Kodagu), South India. Correction: It used to be that. Now, it is home, food forest and a cliche — a piece of paradise on earth.
If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. So said the philosopher. You don’t have a TV? What do you do for entertainment? So said one of the rare guests who visited us. If you agree with Cicero and not the aforementioned guest, then perhaps our small homestead may agree with you. We welcome like-minded couples or individuals to join us in our experiment.
It’s been more than five years since we moved here. We’ve planted over 50 varieties of fruit trees, some of which have started to bear fruit. You are welcome to partake in picking and enjoying the fruits. We also have a modest vegetable garden where we like to potter around. At the risk of sounding immodest, our garden is our most beautiful masterpiece. So, you know what it means when we say we wish to share it with you. We are not growing younger and would appreciate and welcome younger minds and hands to help with the gardening, landscaping, earthworks and maintenance work.
Home is a small yet airy, brilliant and beautiful 3-bedroom house, inspired by and built using the architectural principles and techniques of Laurie Baker. Aiming to become self-sufficient, self-reliant, off-grid, free from the matrix/system, etc., our home is completely solar powered. We have a rainwater harvest system to collect and store water, if and for when the well goes dry (which it did the second summer we moved here).
We try to minimise single-use plastics and do not use any synthetic chemical fertilisers or pesticides in the garden. We follow natural/organic farming (or gardening) principles. We prefer to call our place a garden rather than a farm, for obvious reasons (ever heard of the 'hanging farms of Babylon' or ‘the farm of Eden’?).
Apart from us two human dwellers, our place is also home to 5 hens, 2 roosters and 5 ducks and a drake. Of course, they have their own living quarters — a henhouse and an enclosure with a small pond respectively. Other residents and visitors include birds, bees, reptiles, rodents, wild elephants and boars, as well as many others who would prefer to remain unnamed and we respect their right to privacy.
This is our private residence and not a homestay or bnb. Visitors are advised to temper expectations of creature comforts associated with commercial lodgings, resorts or hotels. We have all the essentials but some luxuries are missing — no TV, no wi-fi, no room service or housekeeping staff and no night life.
Well, the nocturnal life (bandicoots, boars, snakes and owls) don't care much for human company. So, it's best to stay indoors after dark. We are in a semi-remote eco-sensitive wildlife zone in the Western Ghats and the closest village or town centre is 2.5 kilometres away.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House sitting
Interests
Sustainability
Movies & TV
Farming
Writing
Plant care
History
Gardening
Drawing & painting
Cooking & food
DIY & crafts
Carpentry
Books
Art & design
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Nature
Mountain
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Now to toot our horn. We are Sonia and Arun, a semi-retired couple, in their fifties. We did a PDC (Permaculture Design Course) at Narsanna and Padma Koppula’s farm Aranya. (Narsanna and Padma are pioneers of permaculture in India). There's plenty of learning opportunities for those interested in permaculture. If you have done a PDC and are fencesitting on whether to take the plunge to start your own farm or garden, you can learn from our experiment here. Other than that, we have found out that (though it sounds very humdrum), you can learn a lot just by getting your hands dirty, playing or working with soil, and observing the fauna and flora.
We have a fairly large library of books which include mostly English fiction as well as a few permaculture and gardening related topics. We practise yoga though we are not certified teachers and you are welcome to join us in morning yoga practice.
We are curious about food: growing, preparing and eating. If you are too, then we can exchange skills and knowledge of food preservation, pickling, fermenting, winemaking etc. During coffee and pepper picking season (December - February), there's plenty to learn and do: picking, drying, roasting, grinding and of course, drinking coffee. In our experience, coffee tastes better when you have picked, processed and brewed it yourself.
'My Solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.' Thus spake Nietzsche. Thoreau went to the woods because he wished to live deliberately. We welcome you to our fortress of solitude. We are not much good at small talk, but we are good listeners. We'd love to hear stories of your adventures around the world.
Help
Gardening and landscaping is what we mostly need help with. This includes planting, pruning, weeding, creating living hedges along the boundary, mulching, clearing rain gutters along the periphery, coffee and pepper picking, drying and processing (harvest time is around December-February), feeding poultry and such. Automated tools like a battery operated chainsaw for pruning and brush cutter (weed whacker) for weeding are available.
Earthworks and landscaping includes laying paving stones for walkways, duck pond cleaning and maintenance, digging swales etc.
Maintenance and repair tasks of the hen house, duck enclosure and the human habitat. Though the hen house is fairly secure, there have been breaches made by dogs and snakes. And of late, someone's stealing the duck eggs; we don't know if it's the neighbour's cat, crows or peacocks -- they all have been seen hanging around.
We do not have any resident workers or staff. Except for specialist work like tree cutting and pruning for which we hire local workers, we do most of the gardening ourselves. So you can expect a hands-on, communal environment
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Malayalam: Fluent
Accommodation
We offer a very nice place to stay, cool, comfortable and roomy. Two bedrooms each with double beds, ensuite bathrooms with bucket shower and western toilets. The volunteer living space is on the first floor of our home, we live on the ground floor.
The space you will have access to is an independent unit with its own private entrance, a living space, two balconies, a kitchen with cooking gas cylinder and stove. We prefer guests who will cook and clean after themselves. You can buy groceries, basic food provisions or staples from shops in the nearby village centre about 3 kms away. That said, we can have occasional communal lunches or dinners with guests potluck-style, where we can share what we cook in our respective kitchens. An outdoor kitchen with firewood stove (smokeless chulha) is also available which can function as a communal cooking and eating place. There's a small covered patio as well as an outdoor space for alfresco dining during clement weather.
What else ...
We live in a eco-sensitive wildlife zone in the Western Ghats, surrounded by forests and hills. There's plenty of opportunities for hiking, trekking and wildlife safaris. Nearby places of tourist interest include a protected forest and wildlife sanctuary (Nagarhole), waterfalls (Iruppu Falls), Tibetan Buddhist settlement and temple (Bylakuppe).
Weather is very intense. Heavy rains during monsoon is often accompanied by gusty winds and thunder storms. Trees falling, lightning strikes are regular occurences. Please bring sensible clothes which will protect you from the elements. Waterproof shoes are highly recommended.
We intentionally live in harmony with nature and are very cautious, careful and discreet in our interaction with our neighbours, be it plants, trees, birds, bees, insects, animals or humans.
We moved here from the city in 2018, for the peace and quiet and that's what you can expect. So please turn lights off by by 9 pm. Loud music or boisterous activity is frowned upon. Meditative silences and forest bathing smiled upon. Smoking or chewing tobacco and drinking alcohol is not encouraged though tolerated if done discreetly. We do not entertain visitors or have parties or hold social gatherings and expect the same from volunteers.
There is no wi-fi internet or landline telephones. Volunteers can use internet on their mobile phone for which they can get sim cards in the town (service providers include Airtel and Jio).
If you have a medical condition, allergies, a bad back or other health handicaps, this is NOT for you. Though there is a government run health facility in the nearby town to deal with emergencies, for critical medical support one has to go to Mysuru (Mysore) which is about 5 hours by road. We live in a remote area which may sometimes get cutoff from the rest of the world due to landslides damaging roads and blocking access.
There are no trains. The only way is by road. The nearest airport is in Bengaluru (Bangalore) or Kannur (Cannanore).
A few simple house rules:
- Clean up as you go. We expect the volunteer living space to be swept everyday and mopped at least twice a week. This includes the bathrooms, living room and kitchen.
- Please lend a hand to clean and maintain common areas in and around the house.
- Please avoid loud music or any kind of boisterous activity which may cause disturbance to neighbours as well as the original residents (birds, bees and animals).
- Lights off by 9pm. Respect the circadian rhythm.
- Use water judiciously. Water is pumped from an open well and overuse can lead to the well going dry.
- Bring a raincoat and umbrella as it rains often and a hat for sunny days.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
