Join us on the eastern slope of the Cascade mountain range, Washington State, USA

Details

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  Description

  Hello,
  
  We live in a beautiful 50-acre organic pear orchard on the eastern slope of the Cascade mountain range just 90-miles east of Seattle. If you haven't peeked at our photos yet, do it now!
  
  While we grow mostly pears, there are also several varieties of apples, peaches, plums, apricots, cherries here on the property that Scott's great-grandparents began farming over 100-years ago.
  
  NOTE: As the orchard is our livelihood, you are most welcome to explore and enjoy it. But because we have full-time employees already, work in the orchard is not an option.
  
  Scott runs the orchard and is actively engaged in sustainable agricultural methods. He likes bugs and plants. Maggie works as an educator and a naturalist and is actively involved in local sustainability efforts. She loves tromping around outside with kids and adults so as to ignite their connection with the land. She also likes bugs, but is not as fanatical about them as Scott is ;)
  
  Our son is a university student and a nationally-ranked competitive distance runner. He made the 2024 Olympic trials! Our daughter has recently returned from four years working as a raptor biologist in the wild to a position with our local conservation district. Both of our (now adult) kids have worked on the property since they were young and our son plans to return to take over the orchard after graduating from college. We are a close-knit family which also includes neighboring cousins, aunts and uncles in the community.
  
  As well as thousands of fruit trees, we have extended undeveloped land with forests, creeks, rolling hills and wildflowers nearby. Everyone in our family enjoys exploring outside: mountains, valleys, lakes, and rivers. We care for the land and share a deep respect and passion for the environment. For people who like to adventure outdoors, this is a great corner of the USA.
  
  Our home is full of games, books, puzzles and maps. We don't have television but do have access to the Internet for watching movies and the news. Paying attention to what is going on in the world and to the planet is important to us.
  
  We have traveled extensively in Latin America (both of us speak Spanish) and Maggie spent many years overseas when she was younger. Making new friends of all ages and inviting them to our home has been a joy we have shared over our many years together. These friends take delight in the wildlife near our farm as well as in our two cats and happy hens (at least, we think they're happy).
  
  Ours is a home of conversation, consideration and laughter. We love hearing people's personal stories and also telling some of our own. There are two guitars and a recently tuned piano here and many comfortable places to relax both inside and out. We look forward to hosting enthusiastic, curious travelers who want to catch a glimpse of our way of life as well as share about their culture and experiences.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  This opportunity to have you join our family, engage in our daily lives, and experience simple cross-cultural exchanges is a most marvelous way to experience the world. We know, we have traveled a lot and are geographers at heart. And our daughter has enjoyed fabulous experiences as a Workawayer in both Europe and South America.
  
  We look forward to finding out what YOU want to learn and to do our best to help make that happen for you. Most importantly, we want you to feel safe, welcome and comfortable. By staying with us, we hope to offer you the support and encouragement to ask questions, try new things, and increase your awareness through hands-on experiences. We've been looking forward to hosting Workawayers for a long time!

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  Help

  There are always things to do around here - both inside and out. We are looking for people who want to get a feel for our home life, have fun, and who have a good attitude about whatever work they are helping with.
  
  Sometimes we will do tasks alongside you, must most of the time we would show you what needs to be done and then return to focus on our own projects. It is important that you are comfortable working independently. But don't worry, we are close by if you have any questions.
  
  We would welcome help with around our home and property and ask 4-5-hours of help per day in exchange for accommodation and food. That said, you do not need to feel "locked" into a schedule -- if you want to have an entire day off to go explore, then you could just put in 8-hours of help the day before.
  
  OUTSIDE - We are looking for help with vegetable gardening and yard work, including working in our large pumpkin patch and cutting the grass (we have a new electric lawnmower!). We grow vegetables for our own use and always need help gathering and processing these. We are hoping to scratch out a trail or two in the hills above our house; hiking straight up and down to the ridge has become less attractive to us as our knees have gotten older ;)
  
  As mentioned in the "Description" above, we cannot offer our Workaway guests jobs actually in the orchard. We have full-time employees. If we are picking apricots/cherries/plums from our trees for ourselves, you are welcome to help. If we are harvesting fruit to market, we will not be able to involve you - though you are always welcome to observe!
  
  Depending on the season when you are here, we may need help tearing down a shed, or removing an old fence, or building a new path into the woods, or help with chopping kindling and stacking firewood. Our large treehouse or the chicken coop may need some upkeep which could involve basic carpentry skills (we are happy to teach you).
  
  Important: We really like to get dirty and to work with our hands. We'll provide you with work gloves, and the proper tools for different tasks, but you will need to have your own, sturdy footwear.
  
  INSIDE - There is always a need for light housekeeping and help would be appreciated: window cleaning, vacuuming and occasional floor mopping. We often preserve things we grow, drying or canning foods and storing them for winter. In our home, we always come together for dinner. We would love to host someone who enjoys cooking simple, healthy meals. And guess what, whoever cooks doesn't have to clean-up afterwards!
  
  Important: We are fully vaccinated for COVID. Please respect both our and your health concerns and be able to show proof of your Covid vaccination in order to stay with.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  Maggie has taught ESL over the past 30-years and enjoys helping people understand how English works. She is very aware of how challenging learning the English language can be and has lots of creative ideas to make it both fun and interesting.
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  Accommodation

  You will have your own private space in an old, renovated barn across from our house. There will be a comfortable double bed, bedding, a desk, and an armchair for you. There is no plumbing in the barn and bathroom facilities are in the house a 1-minute walk away.
  
  As we are welcoming you into our family and into our house, we would expect your contribution to family "chores" - participation in the same things we would ask our grown kids to do: help preparing dinner, setting/clearing the dinner table, and doing some dishes. Also weekly help taking the trash and recycling bins out.
  
  We ask that while you stay with us, you not: smoke, vape, use drugs or marijuana. If these things are important to you, please find a different Workaway opportunity.
  
  You will have Wifi here, in your barn room accommodation, in the house and on the porches.
  
  You may help yourself to three healthy meals a day and there will always be fruit snacks nearby. Our water is fresh from our own well and is not treated with any chemicals. You will prepare your own breakfast and lunches from what we have available while most dinners will be together with us and sometimes with visiting guests, also.

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  What else ...

  There are three ways for getting to Cashmere from Seattle: Wenatchee Valley Shuttle (from the Seattle airport to Peshastin Park & Ride), Amtrak train (get off Leavenworth Icicle Station), and the Greyhound bus line (get off at Icicle Quick Stop in Leavenworth). We are happy to pick you up from any of these.
  
  Our home is up a canyon, an easy two-mile bicycle ride from a small town (pop 2500) with a community swimming pool, tennis courts, a bowling alley, a library, parks, shops and even a 100-year-old candy company. We have a bike and a helmet you are welcome to use.
  
  If you want to visit neighboring communities, the local bus system is clean, efficient and free. There is a larger town 25-minutes away with restaurants, shops, bakeries, movie theaters, bike trails, a rock climbing gym and a large ice skating rink. Only 45-minutes away is the third-deepest freshwater lake in the United States, Lake Chelan. 55-miles long, this fiord-like lake is fed by mountain glaciers and full of clear, sparkling water. It is one of our favorite places to go and swim on a hot summer day.
  
  If you want to go on a long hike, but don't want to hike alone, we'd be happy to connect you with some hiking friends/groups in the area. You will find that the people in this valley love living here and that they will want to make sure you have the best experience possible.
  
  Safe travels and we hope to see you soon ~ Maggie & Scott,

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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