Help with daily life, household chores, gardening and farm tasks on our small organic farm in the western fjords of Norway

Details

• 

  Description

  We are a family of four, Hanne Marte (37) and Kristian (32) with our daughter (5) and son (3). We are starting up and running a smal farm with sheep, goats and hens. As for now we have 25 sheep, 9 goats and 13 hens and a rooster. In the springtime, april - may, we have a lot of lambs and goat kids.
  
  We also have a big vegetable garden that we are expanding in a market garden design using no dig methods with seaweed, feed leftovers from the barn and compost. All done by hand. We have a traditional potato field and a big garden with berries and fruit in late summer and autumn, all for our own consumption.
  
  Our kids spend most of the time at home. Hanne Marte works at home, with the children, on the farm and renting out our traditional farmhouse. Kristian works full time as a traditional carpenter, sometimes away, other times at home in his workshop. He also does a lot of work at the farm and repairs everything.
  
  We use organic methods without fertilizer or pesticide. We are starting up with planned grazing with our animals to regenerate our soil.
  
  The feed for our animals we cut with tractor and harvester and preserve in a tower silo. We also use more traditional methods like drying hay on a rack and drying branches with leaves.
  
  The sheep and goats graze freely in the mountains behind our farm from late may until early october. About once a week we hike and try to locate them to make sure they are okey.
  
  
  We are almost self-sufficient with food, and we try to make most of our food from scratch. We slaughter animals for our own consume on the farm, and preserve everything. We ferment vegetables. We make jams and juices from berries, plums, appels and pears.
  
  Our diet consist mostly of animal food; sheep and goat meat, fish, organ meat, eggs, broth and diary products. We buy milk from a local farm and make unpasteurised sour milk and yoghurt. For other meals than dinner, we mostly eat (homemade sourdough) bread meals. We eat vegetable according to season on our farm. We do not include a lot of vegetables in our diet and most of it is homemade fermented vegetables.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
• 

  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

  ×

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  What's this?
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We have a simple lifestyle and try to live as sustainsble as we can. We are alsmost self-sufficent in food. So this is topics we like and knowledge we have.
  We are engaged in keeping traditional methods of handcraft, farming, and food preserving alive.
  We are open minded and like to think out of the box.

• 

  Projects involving children

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

• 

  Help

  Above all we need help in the house for things like cooking, dishes, tidying, vacuuming, cleaning and sometimes help with the children.
  
  We live by the season and the help varies through the year. April to October is high season and quite busy.
  
  In april we start preparing the garden, making new beds, maintaining beds with more compost, sowing inside etc.
  
  Late April and may we have lambing. Then we need a lot of help with the children and in the house since we get quite tired from all the other work.
  If you can cook and can adapt to our diet we are very happy i you will help us with that.
  Sometimes watching the children and activate them is what we need.
  
  In august and september we need help with picking berries and fruits and preserving it.
  
  In october vi slaughter and preserve all the meet for the next year.
  We cut the wool ourselves and we need to be the two of us, so then we need help with the children.
  
  In the wintertime we need help with cutting wood, repairing and building for new projects.
  
  We sell excessed meat from our animals directly to local costumers, so we will not ask workawayers to work with the livestock.
  
  We always have dreams and projects that we do not have enough time for, like building å portable hen house, maintaining gears and implement, maintenance and painting buildings, building a processing room, putting up and repairing fences, making wood chips, lawn mowing and so on. So if you have some special gifts or interest we might be looking for that too. ;)
  
  We want to learn more about using our wool and skins, making decorations from nature, using our food in a new way with new tastes, and much more! :)
  
  Above all we need help in the house like cooking, dishes, tidying, vacuuming, cleaning and help with the children.

• 

  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Norwegian nynorsk: Fluent
  Norwegian: Fluent
  Dutch: Intermediate
  French: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
• 

  Accommodation

  You will stay in your own room in our house with internett access. Normally we turn of the wifi during the night. (We can make exceptions if necessary, but let us know early)
  
  We have a simple lifestyle and try to live as sustainable as we can. We only use degradable soaps, try to limit our waste, warm our house with wood burning and limit how much we shower. We hope you will respect and adapt to this.
  
  We are almost self-sufficient in food, and do not go to the supermarket frequently. Our children do not eat sweets or other ultra-processed food, nor sprayed fruit and vegetable, so if you buy this for yourself please do not offer it to them or eat it infront of them.
  No smoking inside. We want silence after 10pm.

• 

  What else ...

  From Oslo airport you can fly to either Molde or Kristiansund and then take a bus to Batnfjordsøra, or you can take the train to Åndalsnes and then travel with bus to Molde and eventually Batnfjordsøra.
  
  We live in a quiet rural place. The forest and mountain behind, the smal river in front, with other farms on the other side.
  
  Our farm is 2km away from the fjord, with a tiny cosy beach, a marina and a dock where you can catch fish. There is also the church. The smal town center i 7km away, and has two supermarkets, a library, tank station and bus station. We live 40 min from Kristiansund and 40 min from Molde in the other direction.
  Nice places to visit by car is the Atlatic ocean road, Trollstigen / The Troll path / ladder / road, the Troll church, the Troll wall, Romsdalen, Åndalsnes, Mardalsfossen, Innerdalen etc.
  
  We also have a smal very simple cabin (old mountain pasture/ seter) you can use 1,5km steep hike from the farm.
  
  A lot of our work tasks are outside and the weather here can be quite wet. It can also be cold during summer. So bring good waterproof and warm clothes and shoes for every season.
  
  Feel free to ask, we are looking forward to meet new inspiring people!

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

• 

  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

• 

  Hours expected

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week