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Description
I’m a permaculture teacher living on 5 acres in Castlemaine. My home is built using medieval techniques and is beautiful and unusual. I need some help with making some changes to the buildings ( they are mostly made of cob, with wattle and daub walls), and with establishing gardens around the buildings.
Castlemaine is a very beautiful area with a great community. It’s at the epicentre of permaculture in Victoria and there are heaps of places to go bushwalking, mountain biking and so on nearby.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Open house dinner parties with people from the local community, excursions to other permaculture properties, working bees, trips to Melbourne, just general yarning (story telling), plus I can also teach shiatsu. Ever wanted to swim in a dam, cook on a rocket stove, built a drystone wall, or made cob?
Everyone from anywhere in the world knows different things, we all have different knowings and skill sets and I am keen to learn from you too. Whether it’s words or recipes or stories from your country, songs or practical skills or computer skills, or general world wisdom that comes from being a traveller.
Help
I’d love help from people who have natural building experience, or with skills related to hard landscaping using materials to hand like the local rocks and earth and timber. Also from those who enjoy garden related activities like making soil from compost, growing vegetables and fruits, and doing bush management activities. Some of these are skills I can teach, others you may know more than me. Some of the time I’ll be working alongside you, some of the time I will be away at work (I work part time for a funeral director) so you would be working without me. I am hoping to have two or three workaway helpers at a time so you wouldn’t have to work alone.
Skills I can teach if you are interested, foraging wild food, many cooking skills, fire safety in the bush, permaculture (I teach Permaculture Design Courses), pickling, composting methods, life hacks for neurodiverse people.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
My home is like a tiny medieval village and you can either be housemates with me in the main house, or stay in the gatehouse which is more basic, or if you prefer you can camp in the bush. I have rooms with beds, bedding, and tents with beds in them, it’s your choice.
I’m a good cook with lots of experience and can flexibly cook for any dietary needs.
Some of the time I am here and will provide your meals, other times I will be away for work of family reasons and will provide you with food and then you can prepare it yourself. I am very accommodating and we can talk about what you need and how best to arrange things for your skill levels. I have previously had a wholefoods cafe, and have taught cooking classes, and food is a special interest of mine so this shouldn’t be a challenge.
Property is not wheelchair friendly (very medieval) and the unfenced dam makes it unsafe for small children as there is a risk of drowning.
What else ...
Walk to the Castelmaine Botanical Gardens, enjoy the historic buildings in town, mountain bike trails nearby, film clubs, art and yoga classes, many cafés, steam trains, goldmine historical sites, birdwatching, bushwalking, we are near Daylesford and the mineral springs area which has waterfalls and a more lush landscape, only 1.5 hours train ride to Melbourne, and the property here is very peaceful. Expect to see kangaroos and echidnas and many wild birds in the area if you are here for long.
House rules, we don’t have a rubbish bin so we keep plastic wrappers to a minimum.
We are on septic so be as natural as possible with soaps and shampoos as possible, I am happy to provide these.
No sprays are to be used. Not perfume, not deodorant, and definitely not fly spray or anything like that. I am chemical sensitive and the air, water and earth here are also to be protected from these.
If you swim in the dam, you can’t be wearing scented products or sunscreen, as six kinds of frogs live here which would be harmed by them.
So my house rules are the permaculture ethics. 1. Earth care
2. People care
3. Reduce excessive consumption and share surplus resources/ Future care
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Because the work that needs doing here is best done in daylight, it won’t work for me if you are a nocturnal person. Summer here can be very hot and sometimes the best time to do things is early in the morning. I don’t yet have internet at the house but phone reception is alright. So far I’ve got by by hot-spotting from my phone which has been adequate.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Photos
