Live the country life at my strawbale homestead in South Ryegate, Vermont, USA

Details

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  Description

  Hello! This is my second year on the homestead in rural Vermont. Food-wise, last year I grew mushrooms (wine cap, shitake), some annuals (beans, greens, radishes, squash, herbs, etc etc), and started planting fruit and nut trees: chestnuts, bur oaks, seaberries, pawpaws, mulberries and more. Everything very experimental and on a small scale. There were already loads of apple trees, some plums, pears, and berries. I also got really excited about foraging and started to learn some of the local plants and mushrooms. This year I want to do way more of that!
  
  On the property there’s a strawbale house, a big pole barn and a cottage that I have started to renovate. I’d like to build a sauna in the near future and there are usually opportunities for practicing some carpentry. This isn’t a business and the main reason I want to host workawayers is to share this lovely place with others and enjoy learning and working together.
  
  Some of the guideposts for how I am living and working the land here: Learn to use hand tools, like scythes and chisels. Prioritize wildlife habitat. Have a place that people want to be a part of. Share really good food. Spend a lot of time outdoors. Make inside spaces beautiful and handmade feeling. Treat the land and its creatures as the teacher. Try lots of things and see what works and what’s a good way to pass the time.

  
  We have some resident porcupines that make their presence known in Summer and in the Fall they are basically attached to the apple trees. There are a couple small ponds that come alive with frogs and salamanders in the Spring. Deer pass through regularly. Recently there's a bear that wanders through the blackberries. Owls perch next to the barn in winter and hoot throughout the forest the rest of the year. Grouse raise their chicks in the back orchard. Coyotes visit in the Fall.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  I think what I can best offer is a taste of the lifestyle in case you are thinking this might be a way you would like to live and hopefully good camaraderie as we complete projects and play on the land. I want to accomodate the projects to your own interests so you are learning the things that you want to! I lived in South America for some years and speak Spanish and a little Portuguese and would be happy to share some of that. We can cook meals together. Most of my groceries come from local farms and the co-op. Also, I have a good friend in the area who has a farm with horses, goats, chickens, snakes, etc that is a lovely gathering spot.

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  Help

  This spring we will be planting fruit and nut trees around the property and in the process better defining the shape of the orchards or “forest gardens”. We will also build some air prune boxes to grow trees and shrubs from seed to then transplant in the Fall. We’ll take cuttings from trees and shrubs already on the property (elderberries, currants, willows, etc) and propagate them. We’ll forage fiddleheads, ramps and a whole lot more.
  
  There’s also some work to do on the landscape. Moving soil, mulch, rocks and clearing old fences from the property.
  
  There is an annual garden which we can toss some seed into. Personally I’m more interested in the perennials and trees but that means we can be whimsical with the annuals and not overthink it.
  
  We will also come up with new places to site the compost piles and firewood. The rainwater harvesting system, which is very basic, will also call for a little upgrade.
  
  So you can see there’s a lot of different things to touch on!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  Portuguese: 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.
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  Accommodation

  The upstairs of the strawbale house is unfinished but cozy nonetheless. That is where past workawayers, friends, and family have stayed. Otherwise you could camp on the land.

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  What else ...

  Within a half hour by car you can get to New Hampshire's White Mountains, Groton State Forest and its lovely lakes, and St. Johnsbury for a nice cafe, bakery and farmer's market. Montpelier is about an hour away. I usually head into one town or another a few times per week. The night sky here is dark! The pond is cold! Expect campfires, swimming, good food and drink.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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