Immerse yourself in farm life in beautiful green Las Ubinas La Mesa Nature Park, Asturias, Spain

Details

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  Description

  In May 2023 we moved from The Netherlands to an old monumental farmhouse in beautiful lush Las Ubinas La Mesa Nature Parc in Asturias, Northern Spain. We are Rob and Elvira from Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Rob has extensive experience in renovating houses, and Elvira is a startup entrepreneur focused on sustainable innovations. It is our wish to live in a more sustainable way, closer to nature, and discover new and old ways to tackle issues.
  
  The farmhouse is like a museum; it has typical Asturian wooden grain sheds called a horreo and a panera, an area to smoke meats, fish and other products, a big cider press to produce apple cider and more. We are well underway to restore all these elements, and will include some modern features (kitchen, bathrooms, solar energy) while respecting the layout of the house. The house is on the edge of a small village, and there is a big community of off-grid / permaculture people in the area.
  
  There is a big finca with pastures for animals (no farm animals yet), and an orchard (apples, pears, prunes, cherries, kiwis). We created a vegetable garden and a greenhouse and we have some harvest but it needs to be improved. Water is not an issue in this part of Spain fortunately.
  We grow for our own personal use only, but the harvest can be so plentiful that we have a surplus. We exchange this surplus with other people in the valley who grow or produce stuff we do not have. So kiwis for pumpkins, marmelade for oranges, apples for wool etc. This is a very good system, also to get to know other people in our valley - many of whom have permaculture gardens, small homesteads, or a business in (ancient) arts & crafts.
  
  We have a blog about our adventures here in Asturias, and we are also busy writing and filming for our blog- ask us for the link.
  
  Around the house we have 3 domestic cats and a few feral ones that came with the house. Also we have a border collie puppy named Panda. She stays mostly outside.
  
  There are hiking paths behind our house, and the whole area is an outdoor activity paradise (hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, climbing, swimming a.o.). Oviedo is the closest big city, and the beach is not very far either. We are about 40 min. from the Camino del Norte (Santiago de Compostela trail).
  
  We speak Dutch, French, German, English and we are learning Spanish. It would be wonderful if you could help us with improving our Spanish while you are staying here!
  We have a guest room with a double bed and a guest bathroom. The kitchen is still under construction, but everything is functioning and there is a dishwasher. Internet is super fast, we have fibre connection and 5G.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House sitting
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  Interests

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Beach

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Self development

  

  Events & social

  

  Technology

  

  Videography

  

  Sustainability

  

  Culture

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Farming

  

  Writing

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  History

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Photography

  

  Gardening

  

  Blogging

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Winter sports

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Mountain

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Our farmhouse is like a museum; you will learn with us about historical ways of life in Asturias. In our valley there is a lot going on when it comes to arts & crafts and entrepreneurship: markets, workshops, fiestas, and of course when we exchange our surplus vegetables and fruits we meet other people in the valley and learn about their lifestyles. The nature is overwhelming here, so green and lush, it is the perfect location to go out for a meditative walk or a long hike. Or to just sit under a beautiful big tree...
  Oviedo is the closest city with its beautiful historical centre. This is also an important city on the Camino del Norte (Santiago de Compostela route). If you like meditating, hiking, climbing and mountain biking in unspoiled nature you will definitely enjoy your stay.

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  Help

  Immerse yourself in rural Asturian life: join us in all our daily activities on the farm like picking fruits to make jams, cakes, juices and syrops, maintaining the vegetable garden, repurposing a typical historical wooden outbuilding into a living space, visiting the weekly market to buy groceries, Spanish class, and the monthly meeting of the permaculture group in the valley, doing research into the old ways in the valley , and for content creation for our vlog -, taking care of the animals, helping in and around the house (some cooking and cleaning), meditative forest walks and more.
  
  Do you have gardening skills, or know how to set up a permaculture garden? We have to maintain and improve our vegetable garden and design a plan for an agroforestry project on our land.
  
  Help is also needed filling our own blog/vlog/hub dedicated to searching a new way of life, a blog about the extraordinary entrepreneurs in our valley. We have met with many people and initiatives here in the valley, and we would want to learn from all the people here who are living a more holistic, sustainable life. Helping with this will require IT and multimedia skills, and a lot of curiosity!
  
  Preferably 1 person, and no dogs (so sorry, our cats just don't like new dogs very much...).

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  German: Intermediate
  Spanish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  We need to improve our Spanish!
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  Accommodation

  You will stay in a private double bedroom with access to a sitting area on the first floor. You have a private bathroom. There are 4 toilets in and around the house: 2 'normal' ones in the bathrooms, and one is on the ground floor outside, and we have compost toilets (in the former chapel).
  Breakfast is yoghurt or bread and tea or coffee, lunch is normally at 13.30 or 14.00, dinner around 20.00. We normally have bread and salad or fruit for lunch and a hot meal at night. This can of course be switched (so hot meal at lunch). We can cook vegetarian, but we are not strict vegetarians. You are welcome to teach us more vegetarian recipes with local products!

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  What else ...

  In your time off you can go hiking to the villages close by, you can rent a bike to ride the Senda del Oso to Proaza or Teverga, you can go rock climbing, swimming in the river, visit Oviedo or go to the beautiful Asturian coast. Also the Picos de Europa are close by, and Leon is also worth a visit (especially when it rains in Asturias).
  There is a bus that goes to Oviedo, the closest train stations are Trubia and Pola de Lena. We have a car and go to Oviedo at least once a week, you are free to travel with us, or maybe it is possible to drive there with somebody else from the village or the permaculture whatsapp group.
  We keep the alcohol level low during weekdays, and we don't smoke.
  Be aware that work on the farm requires physical labor, and since we are in a mountainous area paths can be steep.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  We have super fast fiber internet, and 5G phone connection.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  If the campervan is small than it can probably access the road behind our house. If it is big, there is a big parking space below the village.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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