updated   Last minute

Help out in a self-sufficient quinta in the making in Central Portugal

  • Favourited 448 times
  • Last activity: 21 Apr 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Laura and Andrew own a small farm in Central Portugal. We are committed Christians. We aim to become as self-sufficient as possible on our land, producing wood for fuel, vegetables and fruit for food and wine and keeping some livestock for meat and composting waste. We have been here seven years and there is still a lot more we would like to do!

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Travelers will learn how agriculture was carried out a generation ago as this part of Portugal is both very rural and relatively poor, so that things have not been modernised as in other places. Local festivals and events have been disrupted by the Covid 19 situation as might be expected, so cultural exchange at present is limited.

  • Help

    Help

    The volunteer would help mostly with the goats - milking, moving, feeding, mucking out their stall - and with cooking some meals.
    More generally, volunteers are needed to help with all the tasks necessary to maintain the gardens, vegetable plots, animals and the woodland areas. Our goat needs milking twice a day and the milk processed into cheese, yogurt and so on and we are happy to teach volunteers how to do this. We also make a good deal of wine, not only from our grapes but from fruit, pea pods and so on, and we are happy to share our brewing methods. We also can always use help with cleaning the house and we love it when volunteers cook us their favourite meals.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    Portuguese: Intermediate
    German: Beginner
    French: Beginner

    This host offers a language exchange
    We very much want to become fluent in Portuguese, so any volunteers who want to teach us Portuguese in return for some English language tuition would be extra welcome.

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We rent out the top part of our house and live in the basement flat. Volunteers generally stay in a caravan which is situated in a pleasant woodland area about 100m from the house. It is also possible for them to sleep in a double bed which is in our storeroom in the house.
    Volunteers should expect to help out in some way with either the preparation or clean-up of the meals in addition to their allotted daily tasks elsewhere on the quinta. Breakfast usually consists of toast or muesli, porridge, yogurt or scones. On special occasions we make pancakes! Lunch is our main meal when everyone eats together, and we tend to browse on snacks in the evening.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Volunteers could take advantage of the many walking and cycle trails in the area. Anyone with an interest in wildlife would be delighted with the range of flora and fauna here. There are river beaches for swimming and relaxation, the highest mountains in the mainland of Portugal, the Serra Estrela, are quite close, and it is not far to visit cities like Coimbra and Viseu which offer much of interest to visitors. Bus and train links between major centres are good and quite cheap.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    We have a mobile router that volunteers can use when they stay in our caravan, or indeed wherever they take it.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    There is enough space for a large campervan but no electricity or water hookups for it

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    5 hours a day, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 291943355126

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