Join us and help on our huge piece of land near Berlin, Germany

Details

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  Description

  Please note that we only host over the warm months from may till september/(october for the tough ones), since our accommodation for guests does not have any heating.
  
  We are a couple living in a small town in East Germany, 1 hour southwest of Berlin.
  
  We are living in a small old house, together with a HUGE and beautiful piece of land, with lots of space and silence. The house and all the barns need quite some fixing, and at different seasons, we have lots of fruit: blackberries, peaches, apples, walnuts etc. We try to take it easy and want to enjoy the place as much as possible - next to all the building sites and work.
  
  In the garden, Birgit, a friend of ours has moved with her lovely tiny house on wheels. She is a great gardener and we are happily harvesting her fantastic vegetables every day. So our little community is growing.
  
  I think I can say we are all open-minded, friendly people, we are happy to have guests from different countries and cultures. At the same time, we are both introvert persons who need their privacy and enjoy quiet times. Also, there are times when we both work a lot. We are freelancers and regularly working in Berlin (one at the TV and the other doing improvisation theatre), so there will be days when you will be on your own.
  
  We created an infrastructure where you will be independent of our house: there is a guest kitchen where you will be able to prepare your meals, a composting toilet and an outside bathroom with hot shower from a solar panel. So you are completely self- sufficient, and it would be helpful if spending time on your own as well as preparing your own meals is no problem to you.
  Having said that, there will sure be some possibilities to eat together, and exchange of course.
  
  Ah, before I forget: also living here is Walter, an tenant, upstairs in the house. He has lived here for 25 years, and he is a typical old man from Brandenburg - pretty grumpy but with a good heart. He doesn't like foreigners (he didn´s like us, originally being from West Germany;-)), he likes to curse a lot (we secretly call him grumpy) - but we like him anyway, somehow. So if you find him not smiling at you, don´t take it personal... luckily, he spends most of his time watching telly and feeding his cat.

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  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
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Hard to say. Having bought this house and piece of land, I have fulfilled a very big dream and I am really happy that I have not let go of that dream. So I can offer motivating you to not let go of your deapest dreams :-)
  You can learn what life in the east-german countryside can look like. Older people who have lived in different political systems can surely tell lots of interesting stories. Or be grumpy and don't like foreigners;-)
  
  There is a huge alternative scene here, many people who have moved to the countryside to live a simpler way of life - I think that is special here. Lots of small and big sustainable communities, organic farms etc.have grown here within the last 30 years.
  
  If you are a spiritually intersted person: sometimes, on the sundays, we have a meditative meeting in the garden with friends and neighbours. We (not all of us, the guys living here are not into spiritual stuff;-)) sing spiritual songs from different traditions, read texts or sit in silence. It is a beautiful start into the day.

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  Help

  We are planning a big building project, rebuilding a big barnhouse. There are some things that can be done by us before the professional builders show up. For example, removing the rust from the steel beams in the ceilings, and painting them with rust protection.
  
  Apart from that, we have lots of jobs in the garden, depending on time of the year and priorities. We will take care that you find some tasks that fits to you, so don't feel shocked by the long list:
  
  - weeding the vegetable garden
  
  - planting new fruit trees
  
  - cutting ivy plants growing on our fruit trees
  
  - Clearing blackberry plants including roots - a never ending story in our piece of land - we really have lots of them and this will definitely be part of your job. Actually, it can be quite satisfying to clear a patch now and again.
  
  - mowing the lawn (we have a machine to sit on and drive around - big fun but tricky in high grass)
  
  - cutting wood
  
  - For those who know how to help with wood and metal, we have lots little jobs to be done, for example doors and gates that are a bit stuck and could be fixed
  
  - clearing and cleaning: step by step, we want to empty and clean some spaces such as the big barn, which are filled with lots of things we don´t need (and a lot of it cannot really be reused). So we can always do some trips to the local waste management authorities to drop old wood, metal, old tires, rubbish etc. Other things we take pictures of and offer them on ebay, so they are not wasted.
  
  - cleaning the commonly used spaces such as kitchen/bathroom should not be a problem to you.
  
  - cleaning windows in our house is a task I really don't like - we have some old windows with lots of casements

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  French: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  We have a very comfortable caravan to sleep in, which is quite nice inside. There is WiFi.
  
  You can use the outside toilet/bathroom and kitchen. There is a really beautiful composting toilet, as well as an outside shower with hot water from a solar panel. Here you must be aware that the shower will only be hot when the sun was shining for some time...
  
  We have an extra kitchen for guests, so you will be able to prepare your own meals and you can have your privacy any time.

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  What else ...

  Our place is quite big, 3 hectares of nature, and it offers a wonderful view into the landscape. You can go for nice hikes through the forests or just hang in a hammock and enjoy the silence. It is a place for you if you live nature and silence.
  
  Bad Belzig is a small town with about 10.000 inhabitants. There is an old castle to visit, and for those who like spa experience, there is a thermal bath with hot pools and sauna´s.
  
  Further, there are some interesting alternative projects around. Also, one of our friends is a regular workaway host, so we might meet with them sometimes, doing some bigger tasks altogether or having a camp fire.
  Our house is very close at the railway station - 5 minutes to walk. The hourly trains will take you to Berlin main station in exactly 60 minutes. Also Potsdam and Dessau are interesting towns reachable within less than an hour.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  We have a good Internet connection. If you work full time as digital nomad though, we think Workaway does not make much sense.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have lots of space for campers.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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