Spain
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We are a Spanish- Portuguese couple with two children (3 years and 2 months old). We also have a dog and a cat. We speak Spanish, Portuguese, English and a bit of French.
We are developing a design for sustainability project. To achieve this we use permaculture.
This is a perfect place for learning and sharing your knowledge about permaculture design and practice, bio-construction, energy systems, gardening, self sufficiency, and zero-waste living solutions.
We began our project in February 2015, so we are still in the starting phase. Since then we have achieved lots: we have planted the first 200 trees of a forest garden, seeded a family vegetable garden based on sinergetic agriculture, constructed and installed a water storage and management system (two ponds, one swale, storage tanks, and a hydraulic ram), and installed a photovoltaic-based energy system. We have also rebuilt a little stone house a build a round house made of straw bales and clay, where we live. We have hosted more than 20 volunteers since then and we love the experience.
We try to be synchronized with nature here. We aim to adapt our life to celebrate the cycles of the Sun, the Moon and the seasons of the year. A typical day starts when the sun rises. We practice an hour of yoga and after that we have breakfast. During the morning, we focus on the everyday maintenance (which is a constant and ongoing priority) and any specific tasks that we are working on. We have lunch at around 2pm and rest until around 5pm (in summer) when it is not too hot. During the evening we do more light jobs or we enjoy free time. We have dinner at sunset. We eat vegetarian food only. After dinner we like to talk, play music, watch a movie or read. We also really enjoy looking at the amazing sky we have here at night.
What to bring:
- Work gloves
- Work shoes. Rubber boots in winter would be a very good idea.
- A torch
- Tent, van or car to sleep in
- Sleeping bag
- Sun cream and a hat in summer
- Natural laundry powder. Please, bring only NATURAL soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Farmstay help
Help with Eco Projects
We live in the Spanish-Portuguese border so, visitors can live both cultures and languages.
Next task we want to achieve are:
- Maintenance in the forest garden: mulching, water, weeding...
- Vegetable garden maintenance: harvesting, planting, seed keeping...
- Build a bioseptic water treat plant.
- Build the chicken place.
- Painting
- Swales digging.
We prefer volunteers who are able to stay with us for a minimum of 14 days, because this allows you to get to know us and the way we work here. Longer stays are, of course, possible by arrangement and providing everything works out for everyone involved.
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
The roulette where we lived for two years is now empty and available. Is very comfortable but have no heater inside.
You can also provide your own space for sleeping. We have a campsite space with a tent for two people and you can also bring your own. There is enough space for a van or caravan if you bring one. We have showers with hot water in summer time (for winter, heating system is coming) and a compost toilet.
The project is situated into the Taejo International Park. It is a very wild area, full of animals and plants native to the Mediterranean forest. It is a perfect place for watching birds, such as eagles or vultures. Near by, there are also many sacred and ancient places, such as dolmens (megalithic tombs), and menhirs (large upright standing stones). There are also plenty of other activities to do in your free time, such as: riding a bike, climbing, taking a dip in the natural swimming pool near the border to Portugal, or visit the nice Portuguese villages of Marvao and Castelo de Vide. This is also a very special place if you are interested in astro-tourism.
The nearest town is 1km away, and we are 6km far from Valencia de Alcántara, where there are all the services you can need.
With a normal car, you can get to our place very easily. By public transport, there is a daily train that connects Valencia de Alcantara with Madrid, and also daily buses to Caceres city. If you come from Portugal, Castelo de Vide and Portalegre are the nearest villages that have buses to Lisbon and other big cities.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Two
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
