Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
4 Jun 2025
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84.6 %
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Details
Description
This season we need specific help with our natural building projects.
We are planning to build two shelters, inspired by the work of Tony Wrench and his Roundhouse, the work of Miguel Cobalot and his palletable cobins and others. You can check their work and techniques on youtube if you like. These techniques together with many other (anchient) ways of building natural structures with clay, wood, straw, wool, glass, etc we are going to apply to make confortable and cozy shelters together with you!
With the focus on building in mind, we would like to keep the vegetable garden flourish, so when needed, we put our hands in the soil:)
Furhermore, here you can read our original profile:
Would you like to experience many different aspects of self-sufficiency and enjoy nature at the same time? We'd love your help with gardening, building with natural or recycled materials and woodwork. We are a small farm living on a beautiful piece of land with a large garden, chickens, forest and tiny sheep. Currently, we do not gain commercial profit from the estate, while we do try to live off it for the most we can.
We are Jeroen & Idris (10), three sweet cats, five tiny sheep, a dog and some chickens. We love music, nature (of course) and food!
Life at our place revolves mostly around the edible landscape. One of our priorities in taking care of our domain, is to affect the biological diversity positively. That's why we grow many different kinds of plants, some of which are very extraordinary. We are always searching for plants that make an interesting addition to the garden, or varieties that fit better in this biotope.
As important as all the plants are of course the other bare necessities of life in temperate climates: buildings and heating! We love to build and we always have things to do. We build with natural and/or recycled materials, most of them harvested locally.
All of us value our private time. So you will usually spend the evenings alone or, if there are other volunteers around, with them. Or of course your own friend/partner, if you come together!
We give preference to people who love to stay for a long period, preferable a whole season, but with a good motivation you are welcome as well :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Here you will be able to experience and participate in many aspects of a self sustainable ecological living: the building, the gardening, the living in general; baking bread, making yogurt, conserving the harvest...
We have so many possibilities that for a large part of the time you will be able to find something to suit your interests, while of course we always need to do the day-to-day activities.
Furthermore you will see a side of the Netherlands that is not often seen; a small town, hills, no tulips, and one of the few places where wooden shoes are not a tourist prop: we wear them and we love them.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Examples of things to do in the garden:
- sowing and nursing annual vegetables and herbs
- sowing, growing and nursing perennial (forest) garden plants
- harvesting the abundance of crops and conserve them
- seedsaving and accompanying techniques
- making huge compostpiles
Examples of things involving the 'building and heating' -projects:
- making an earthen floor
- making a rocket-mass-heater
- wattle and daub
- cob building techniques
- harvesting, adapt and store buildingwood from our own forest
- chopping wood
- working in the forest
We'd like for you to bring valuable skills or at least a large amount of interest and enthousiasm! It is important to us that you are independent enough to work on your own and to enjoy yourself on the days off. There are bicycles available.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Accommodation
You would stay in a caravan or a tent. There is a livingroom + kitchen where you can hang out after work (called the 'finca'). In the kitchen you are equipped to make your own breakfast and dinner, we will provide you with the ingredients (vegetarian). The finca is used by the volunteers, guests who stay for a few nights and every now and than we host groups and they use it too.
Both river the Maas and river the Niers are nearby and exelent to have a refreshing swim, they are lovely.
There is a dry toilet, a rainwater shower and a normal warm shower available. We have no wifi available, but there is an internet cable available and a laptop. Instead of a continuous internet connection, we invite you to enjoy the connection with nature while you're here :)
Lunch is mostly shared with us, in the house, and you are expected to work 5 hours a day, 5 days a week.
Food will be provided for during the two non-working days as well. Food is organic, but not always vegetarian, since on rare occasions we eat one of our roosters or acquire cow’s meat from biologically dynamic farmers nearby. Of course we can still easily accommodate a vegetarian diet.
What else ...
We have been hosting volunteers for more than 10 years now (via other volunteer websites, this is third Workaway-year) so we are big fans of the whole volunteering-thing. We've had so many great experiences and view these exchanges as a way to travel the world while still being able to sleep in our own beds at night :D
We love hosting families and are open to changing arrangements to make it work for everyone.
There is a bicycle available for use, and there’s much exploring possible in the many forests in the neighbourhood. The nearest city is Nijmegen, at 20km with good bus connection, and the nearest town is at 3km.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We do not have wi-fi but there is an ethernet-cable available.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (6)
I really enjoyed my time here, and I had a hard time leaving. Jeroen and Filiz are both very friendly, open en welcoming, and they know a lot about nature and sustainable living. I learn so much during this two months. To be honest, it changed my live. I always loved… read more
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Cultural exchange:
(4.7)
Communication:
(4.5)
I really enjoyed my time here, and I had a hard time leaving. Jeroen and Filiz are both very friendly, open en welcoming, and they know a lot about nature and sustainable living. I learn so much during this two months. To be honest, it changed my live. I always loved… read more
We would recommend hosting Tjaša and we hope she will visit us again to… read more
It was soo nice living in a caravan at their place! Making fire was my passion. Jareon always explained me what to do, I learned a lot actually! They are very knowledgable, especially concerning nature and gardening. They make their own bread, they are a happy family to be with. They gave me enough information already… read more
