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10 Jul 2024
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Hi, we are Pawan and Marloes and own a farm in the Indian Himalayas. We want our farm to be an inspiration farm and research and learning center for local farmers, young farming entrepreneurs and farming enthusiasts from all around the world. We are an organic intergated farm and want to showcase that tourism combined with innovative organic farming based on traditional and permaculture principles can be a viable entrepreneurship alternative for local farmers around here, who otherwise are rapidly migrating to cities. Our dream is to be able to grow most of our food at our own farm and make a living from products that we grow and sell. We experiment with different "new" crops in this region, like herbs and fruits to assess the viability of growing these crops in this region. To be able to host people we are slowly building sustainable earthen building and cottages and would like to do this with the help of volunteers. We have built an animals shed, almost finished renovating the old farm barn, built a large part of the community kitchen and house, built an earthen water tank and almost finished building two wooden A-frame cottages and a innovative compost toilet building.
From March onwards, we are hosting volunteers again after quite a long time and we are super excited! We took a break since we needed time to work with labors and speed up the process of setting up the basic infrastructre needed to start hosting volunteers and guest in a better and more comforable way than before. We have a full fletched rainwaterharvesting system now! Water is flowing from taps and we even have a shower. We have a small (but comfortable) compost toilet which we will soon convert to a more innovative version and a part of the community kitchen finished to be able to cook for everyone. We have space for 4 people. We will be working on finishing the current building projects (outside kitchen area, compost toilet, A-frame cottages) and will at the same time do quite a bit of gardening work so we can feed ourselves with homegrown vegetables as much as possible. We also need help taking care of the trees, herbs and all the farm animals. To finish the building we will need to do wattle & daub earth work, earthen plastering work, lime painting, wood work, plumbing and electricity work etc. We prefer people with skills in construction and it would be good to mention this in your message, but unskilled but hard-working and enthusiastic people are also welcome. You will share the room with 3 others and we hope you will help us in the cooking of our shared meals. It is important to note that we do live a primitive life, but things have improved already enormously over the last years and we did manage very well for the last 5-6 years of staying here ourselves. We would like you to stay a minimum of two weeks, but preferably longer!
Pawan has an engineering and environmental management background and whatever he has learnt about farming is through volunteering in various farms across Europe and Asia. Pawan: "Since my childhood I dream to be a farmer and to start something like this and I feel really lucky to find this beautiful place to start. We practice permaculture and indigenous Indian natural farming practices and going towards being self sustainable."
Marloes is originally from the Netherlands but fell in love with the Indian Himalayas. She has a background in civil engineering and loves building with mud and working with the animals. Marloes: "Living a self (of community)-sufficient life and sharing this life and the knowledge we gained is my absolute dream. Living remote, peaceful and with nature."
As a volunteer you get to explore the untouched Himalayan villages and get involved with the community.
If you are interested in doing some trekking nad exploring around, there is a mountain called Nag Tibba (approx 3000 metres ASL.) close by and lots of beautiful villages around.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Hospitality/Tourism
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Farm is located in rural part of Himalayan Uttarakhand. Place is totally untouched and away from road connectivity so you will find rural authenticity and a lovely community around. Experience joy of giving and serving the community around and be part of various festivals in regions around. There are lots of local Himalayan village festivals, gatherings, marriages which we are invited so you can join us for those events.
Help
Help related to taking care of trees, sowing, weeding and transplanting. Building of earthen eco houses and general maintenance of farm.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Hindi: Fluent
Nepali: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
German: BeginnerThis 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
Accommodation is in traditional stone and mud house. We have 1 room (divided in two slightly more private sections) for volunteers with 4 single beds (for couples we can add the beds together) with each a wooden trunk to store your personal items. and lots of camping area. We mostly collect firewood from the jungle around and use it for cooking. The place is organic by default so all the local food will be organic. However, at the moment we do still rely on produce from the market. We do have a few 2 person tent and some spare sleeping bag if you need.
What else ...
Plenty of opportunities to hike and trek around with beautiful forests and with view of snow capped Himalayas. We are at an altitude of 2100 meters so the weather is lovely here.
To reach farm you need to catch a bus from Dehradun railway station which will drop you at Damta. The village is further 16km from Damta and to reach farm you need to hike for 4kms (approx 1.5 hrs). If you feel comfortable to reach the village on your own, that would of course be very nice! And if you are an experienced trekker, we can send you the trekking route and you can hike up on your own (the path is easy but steep). This saves us a day worth of time. If you are not comfortable, no worries, we will pick you up or arrange a pickup from Damta.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can possibly accept pets
This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (16)
India's local life- delicious meals（Thanks to Kiran）and people（including Pawan）who are always talking and laughing.
Blessings from fruit trees such as plums, apricots, berries, peaches and apples.
Living with cows- butter, buttermilk, yogurt, ghee and cow dung compost.
Transition from… read more
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Feedback
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India's local life- delicious meals（Thanks to Kiran）and people（including Pawan）who are always talking and laughing.
Blessings from fruit trees such as plums, apricots, berries, peaches and apples.
Living with cows- butter, buttermilk, yogurt, ghee and cow dung compost.
Transition from… read more
If you want to really strip life back to basics and rejoice in the beauty of nature then this is the place for… read more
Thank you guys to received me and made me part of this beautiful dream that is becoming true. I will come back at some point, I'm sure, hopefully with Emma too :)
I learnt many things and I get really inspired during my stay.
I wish you the best and see you the next.
Giuli
Sunny introduced me the farm and about permaculture. When Pawan came he started share all the knowledge about his… read more
But as soon as we reached the mountain top and you can completely enjoy the breathtaking view, it is all so worth it
My time at the farm was amazing, there was always something to do, which I personally really appropriate, but also time for rest and cuddles with coco the… read more
The views in the place, landscape, stars,...are incredible. The place is far from the village, 1'30 hours walking, up in the hill. Due to this, the air was pure and very quiet.
Our days were like starting to work at 7 and flexibility during the day… read more
Pawan is incredibly motivated with a hugely ambitious vision to help the agricultural scene in India. He has both the deep permacultural… read more
I stayed 2 weeks in this farm and was more than amazing. It's a nice place on the top of the mountains where you can breath and realise about the important of what we eat, you enter inside nature and you adapt to her, you enter in a local and real family.... really amazing expirience.… read more
