1 / 3
updated  

Help with eco project and learn about rainforest regenerative farming in Barton Creek Valley, Belize

Availability

  2025 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Details

  • Description

    Description

    We are inviting you to come and stay and help with the building, development and running of this project, consisting of a 3 acre smallholding, a 1.5 acre orchard, and 212 acres of pristine rainforest in a remote area of Belize which we have been dedicating ourselves to since 2021. You can find below the bullet points for the overall vision of the project.
    For now, we need people to help with the smallholding and the orchard, and the daily running of the place, including gardening, some farming, some building, care of the animals (many chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, some sheep, some goats, two milking cows). Over the next few months, we are planning to do some more building (two more wooden cabins on stilts, a clay oven from local clay, and the further development of our 40-ft container and porch, where our solar system, electrics and fibre-optic Internet connection are located). If you have any kind of skills with sustainable, simple building, that is a preferred bonus. Gernerally, you need to be comfortable living primitively.

    Our location is very remote - when you come here by vehicle , you have to cross the creek four times, and in the rainy season (mainly October to December) there can be a few days when the creek is high and you cannot cross. We are about 70 minutes drive from the nearest big town.

    Another consequence of the location is that it doesn't make much sense to come just for a few days. It takes the best part of a day to get here, it takes a few days to get acclimatised and to become familiar with our routines and all the practicalities, and then you haven't even started learning what you came for. To understand regenerative principles to the point that you can apply them for yourself will take a while, because the underlying thinking and paradigm is so different from what we have been taught. So if you are serious about wanting to learn, you should be prepared to come for about two weeks at least. Another aspect of our set-up and the remote location is that we are not suited for people who want frequent access to civilisation, social life, or affordable tourism. It is remote, and there aren't many people around, other than the few locals who come to work with us,

    Over the next few months we will start working on the remote rainforest parcel which will be the location for the future retreat, therapy and therapy teaching centre. We have cleared some land and nearly finished building a cabin there, which will need furnishing and making homely - it would make a brilliant project for a carpenter who wants to build homemade furniture from scratch with amazing lumber. It's the genuine rainforest experience - there is nobody there, and it's incredible beautiful and peaceful. The creek is just a few steps down the slope, with cool pure precious water.

    As it is the tropics, daylight hours are precious and the day starts early, around 6.00. We have a local helpers visiting most days who take care of food preparation, but you would obviously be welcome to join in with that (harvesting and preparation, including sourdough bread, yoghurt, kombucha, etc). Some of the time, you would be doing tasks together with some of the local helpers.

    The main aims, objectives and principles for this holistic, sustainable project are:
    • Organic farming, Permaculture, Regenerative agriculture (SoilFoodWeb) including fish ponds, apiaries
    • Eco-Retreat Centre and Refuge, with workshops and training courses, on sustainable living, farming and psychotherapy (including couple therapy, group facilitation and therapy training)
    • Sustainability & Organic Agroforestry, carbon credits (planting 10 trees for every tree felled)
    • Protecting rainforest flora and fauna, land and water (under threat of logging for cattle ranching)
    • Protecting endangered species (nurseries for rare tropical trees, breeding butterflies, protecting birds, etc)
    • Setting up a community lab of citizen scientists, using regenerative agriculture microscopy to take soil and compost samples for studying microbiology to inform our farming and gardening
    • Sustainable architecture with natural, local materials (adobe clay, slate, lime stone, local wood & bamboo)
    • Maintaining, reclaiming and re-discovering indigenous Mayan traditions and rainforest remedies & healing
    • EMF white zone: one of the largest zones on the planet without man-made electromagnetic radiation
    • Land and water management in line with anthroposophical understanding of living water (water & flowforms); regenerative water management (waterstories.com)
    • Designing according to Biogeometry principles
    • Local community projects (oriented towards future independent governance) generating security and wealth for empoverished by working sustainably with rainforest (cacao, coffee, xate, medicinal plants, spices, and many more products)

    We are serious about turning this part of the planet (the whole upper reaches of a secluded, remote valley), into a fertile, self-sustaining, non-toxic, abundant little paradise, that can serve as an inspiration for others, and for our future, using the principles of organic, regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. I have been an organic gardener for 35 years, but I have now been studying the soil food web for a couple of years, and I have learnt so much. I am inspired by partnering with nature and the soil biology. I am setting up a citizens' lab with a microscope (for sampling and investigating soil microbiology), and have had Permaculture consultants help me make a plan for the next few years, for which I am inviting your participation and help to manifest. We are aiming to make this an inspiring beacon project for the rest of the country (which is pretty lost in chemical farming, with some notable, inspiring and helpful exceptions). We have made considerable progress improving our soil and establishing fertile raised beds which are now producing , mainly for our own consumption and bartering with the neighbours.

    You will have the possibility to learn the whole spectrum of organic regenerative agriculture and agroforestry (Elaine Ingham Soil Food Web, Matt Powers, Richard Perkins, Chris Trump (Korean Natural Farming), and how we are learning from people like Christine Jones, Gabe Brown, Joel Salatin, John Kempf and Tom Dykstra to grow healthy, living soil capable of producing healthy plants to feed healthy animals and humans). We are aiming to make this a holistic fairly self-sufficient ecosystem, which will produce abundant food to eventually set up and run an eco-retreat and therapy centre.

    There are many activities and small projects which you can dedicate yourself to, according to your own preferences depending on what you want to learn, e.g. looking after the animals and helping them multiply, market gardening, composting, biochar, bokashi, breeding indigenous microbes, fruit trees, soil sampling and microscopy, and a variety of projects ranging from tilapia farming to vanilla production.

    We have one cabin with a double bed and a hammock. We have another cabin (with one single and one double bedroom), a large tent and we are planning further buildings, including a compost toilet (you are welcome to help and learn about that, too). We have high standards for our diet, way above the rest of the population around us, with imported organic staples from the US and our own fresh organic produce, high quality grass-fed dairy (milk, yoghurt, cheese) and meat, partly from our own animals, partly from neighbours around us.

    As our property is off-grid, supply of electricity is limited and so is use of technology. However, we do have Internet via fibre-optic cable - probably the best connection in the region. We live quite simply and primitively, and you need to be comfortable with proximity to animals. The place is hot and humid, but you do have the creek to cool off, just 25 steps down a slope. Some volunteers have found it difficult to live without constant engagement with their phones or other addictive tendencies of civilisation - we are mindful and compassionate when these difficulties arise (just coming here and being here is quite a holistic detox challenge), but you may want to consider such issues in advance.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Farmstay help
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    You will have the possibility to learn the whole spectrum of organic regenerative agriculture (Elaine Ingham soil food web, Matt Powers, Chris Trump (Korean Natural Farming)), agroforestry, as applied to both animals and plants. We are aiming to make this a holistic fairly self-sufficient ecosystem, which will produce abundant food to eventually set up and run an eco-retreat and therapy centre.

  • Help

    Help

    There are many activities and small projects which you can dedicate yourself to, according to your own preferences depending on what you want to learn, e.g. looking after the animals and helping them multiply , market gardening, composting, fruit trees, soil sampling and microscopy, and a variety of projects ranging from tilapia farming to vanilla production.

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Intermediate

    This 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

    We have a cabin with a double bed and a hammock. We are in the process of building more accommodation and further buildings, including a compost toilet (you are welcome to help and learned about that, too). We have high standards for our diet, way above the rest of the population around us, with imported organic staples from the US and our own fresh organic produce, high quality grass-fed dairy and meat. There will be three meals a day.

  • 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

    This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    This host can provide space for campervans.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

Host ref number: 339891589345

Website Safety

Feedback (5)



Photos

Feedback

These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.

Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)

Cultural exchange:
(4.3)

Communication:
(5.0)







Join us and experience peaceful living, yoga, and nature immersion in San Ignacio, Belize
Join a young, friendly, creative team and meet the locals in the heart of San Ignacio, Belize