Learn healthy and sustainable living with health food and sauna in Rautalampi, Finland

Details

• 

  Description

  We are Vessi and Marie, living and working at Sahala, a historic and modernized organic farm surrounded by forests, lakes, and fields in eastern Finland.
  
  Vessi is an agronomist with a background in preventive health, nutrition, forestry, and entrepreneurship. Marie is an active and thoughtful partner in both daily life and the development of the farm. Together, we run a multifunctional place that combines agriculture, nature-based living, craftsmanship, and well-being.
  
  Sahala is a large and diverse environment: forests, gardens with health berry bushes, fields, animals, and many buildings that require ongoing care. Life here follows the rhythm of the seasons. Spring and summer focus mainly on outdoor work—gardening, field tasks, park and forest maintenance, and harvesting berries and mushrooms. Autumn and winter shift more toward forestry, repairs, organizing spaces, firewood, and indoor tasks.
  
  Volunteers usually help around 4–5 hours a day and share lunch together on weekdays. The atmosphere is collaborative and respectful, and we value people who enjoy learning by doing and taking part in everyday life rather than just completing tasks.
  
  Volunteers stay in a separate shared house with private rooms, common spaces, a kitchen, and sauna facilities. Meals are partly shared and partly self-prepared using ingredients from the farm and local shops. Sauna is an important part of life here, and nature is always close—lakes, forest roads, wildlife, and quiet spaces for rest.
  
  In free time, it’s possible to enjoy activities such as sauna, swimming, walking or cycling in the forest, fishing, berry and mushroom picking, horseback riding (for experienced riders), simple crafts, or local sports groups in the nearby village. Internet connection is stable, and occasional shared trips to the city are possible.
  
  We welcome volunteers who already have some experience with farm life or practical work, who appreciate sustainability, health-oriented living, and a calm, substance-free environment. This place suits people who are independent, open-minded, and comfortable living close to nature as part of a small international community.

• 

  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  House & pet sitting
• 

  Interests

  

  Sustainability

  

  Culture

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Charity work

  

  Carpentry

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Plant care

  

  Gardening

  

  Languages

  

  Photography

  

  Performing arts

  

  Animals

  

  Cycling

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Winter sports

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping
• 

  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  What's this?
• 

  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Our lifestyle is rooted in practical, experience-based knowledge of nature, biology, health, sustainability, and everyday community life. Much of what we do is informed by long-term observation, experimentation, and reflection—always connected to real life rather than theory alone.
  
  We enjoy sharing this knowledge openly with visitors through daily work, conversations, and shared routines. Travelers often learn about organic farming, forestry, seasonal living, sauna culture, preventive health, and how a small, values-driven community functions in practice. Just as importantly, there is space for exchange: volunteers bring their own perspectives, skills, and ideas, which enrich life here as well.
  
  For those who are curious and reflective, time at Sahala is not only about helping on a farm, but about gaining new ways of thinking about nature, well-being, and sustainable ways of living.

• 

  Help

  Various sensible tasks related to forests, buildings, gardens and agricultural management. Training 2 riding horses is also wellcome.

• 

  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Finnish: Fluent
  Swedish: Intermediate

• 

  Accommodation

  We offer warm, clean, and comfortable accommodation in a shared community house. You’ll live together with other volunteers, while still having your own private room, each equipped with a small fridge. The house includes a shared kitchen with ample refrigerator and freezer space, as well as a large, cozy living room with a fireplace where people often gather to relax, read, or talk.
  
  Sauna is an important and much-loved part of life here. We have one large communal sauna and several lakeside saunas, which we use regularly for relaxation, health, and social connection. Sauna evenings are often shared and unhurried, offering a simple and natural way to unwind together after the day’s work. Occasionally, we also host external sauna guests.
  
  Sauna bathing is deeply rooted in Finnish culture, and here it is part of everyday well-being and community life—quiet, grounding, and naturally social.

• 

  What else ...

  Free time activity possibilities are: using our fast internet, watch TV, spend time in beautifull forest / lake nature, go nightcamping in the forest, go horseback riding (riders), go walking with our dog, play tennis (we have ball cannon), play volleyball (2 times/week in the village), do handcraft work (we have free wood, metal and leather material for that), go shopping, row with a rowboat, paddle with our canoes, bicycle in the surroundings, go to gym (2 km), go to nearby new spa, heat some of our saunas and bathe with others or alone, sit and dream by the fireplace in the living room, cook and bake, use our massage room with some friend, pick garden berries, herbs and mushroms, fish, hunt, do birdwatching, join cultural activities in the village, go to movies, sit with a beer in a pub in the village.

• 

  A little more information

  • 

    Internet access

  • 

    Limited internet access

  • 

    We have pets

  • 

    We are smokers

  • 

    Can host families

• 

  Can host digital nomads

  Digital nomads can stay online in our community house (100 MB internet) when its important to them and do their work on the times when agreed together. We have a work station in the living room of the house plus wifi in the bed rooms.

• 

  Space for parking camper vans

  Outside the Kattis community house there are electric posts available for caravan use.

• 

  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

• 

  My animals / pets

  Mimmi

  Very friendly, energetic and playful Alaskan Malamute!

  Sky and Star

  We have 2 young Irish sport horses for riding. Riding people are wellcome to to ride with them. Non - riders can brush and play with these super friendly and social horses.

Website Safety