Join a modern family working to create a permaculture life near Paris, France

Details

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  Description

  Hello! We are a humble modest family who for five years have been building a more responsible lifestyle - balancing a modern life with ecology as the center. We have three children, 11, 8, and 1 years old, cats, free roaming chickens and a decent sized vegetable garden where we cultivate a natural habitat for insects, wild animals, and worms. We are renovating our home to be as respectful to nature as possible, using recycled and natural materials. We host people who too would like to make a transition in their lives to get closer to nature. We live a hour away from Paris but it feels like we are deep in the countryside where many of our guests find the place to be present, meditate, walk barefoot in the nature, rock climb, and swim in the river.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Help around the house
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Farming

  

  Carpentry

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Plant care

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Mountain

  

  Nature
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  For five years we have hosted many people from around the world, and this exchange is unique in the transition from a modern life to an ecological life. We are not a business structure, instead we have taken upon ourselves to attempt to make as much of our needs ourselves as possible - so the activities we do here are numerous and function based upon seasons. We are a busy multi cultural family, (French, American, Italian, and Chinese) juggling many things at the same time trying to do our best for the planet so you should be a mature adult able to come and see the value of this exchange. Besides realizing that we cannot do everything ourselves and we do need the help, we've seen how fulfilling it is for our children to play, interact, and learn from people all over the world as it develops their social skills and understanding of our natural world.
  
  Some previous help we've had!
  Michela from Australia
  We spent two amazing weeks with Martine, Jason, June and Cali, we left feeling extremely inspired and full of love for this little family.
  It was beautiful to connect with people who also love nature as much as we do, and experience a lifestyle in which you are conscious of how everything you do impacts the earth. Jason and Martine are super passionate about Permaculture and want to share as much as they can with you.
  The work tasks were varied and usually different every day, we appreciated that Jason put thought into which tasks were suitable to us. We worked in the veggie garden, eco construction and food preservation. We learnt and achieved so much in just two weeks.
  When you stay at the Tamarind tree, Martine and Jason really treat you like one of their family, we made many amazing memories together and we will definitely love to come back one day.
  
  Toby from UK
  My stay with Jason and Martine at the Tamarind Tree Farm was my first volunteer experience, and it could not have filled me with more fulfilment and gratitude. This is a farm which will fill you with hope for the future, with their clear devotion to permaculture and to caring for nature, and their willingness to pass on their knowledge to those who visit. Lunch and dinner were shared together, which was always nourishing and delicious, and allowed me to understand the potential of a vegetarian diet if the ingredients are understood and sourced from your own garden. Most of all, though, all who live at The Tamarind Tree (including Cali, June and Maui) are kind, pure souls. I learnt a lot from insightful conversations here, either over a good meal, or a garden bed. You will leave here with a new found clarity of the importance of showing love and respect to nature, and managing your waste responsibly. Although my stay was short (5 days) I would love to return to the Tamarind Tree Farm one day, and would certainly recommend working here to anybody.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are looking for an independent and hard working individual who would find the practical skills we do here useful in their life . We encourage all people from all walks of life to apply. You have your own private space in the garden where we will assist you in connecting deeply with nature and your own abilities. The "work" is often physical gardening and natural building using hand tools and getting dirty. Through experience, we are happy to host short term volunteers (~5 days to 2 weeks) as this helps us strike a balance between hosting and our personal family life. We exchange 5 hours of your valuable work for a quality accommodation, home grown organic vegetarian food, and the chance to learn about any sustainable practices we place here like breadmaking, kombucha, permaculture gardening with ancient graines and perennial vegetables, worm farming, habitats for wild animals, chickens, clay/lime/hemp building, solar energies, heating by wood stoves, composting, dry toilets, grey water recycling, wild plant and mushroom foraging, and social justice while we are at it =)

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Chinese (Mandarin): Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  If you are native Chinese speaker, we can consider a language exchange!
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  Accommodation

  We have a very cozy studio and a caravan that so many of our volunteers have loved. We provide everything and have made great work to make our accommodations of high quality, with linen sheets, ability to cook, hot showers, etc. We bake your bread and make the jams for breakfast. Lunch is shared together. Dinner you are on your own to either be free to explore the area or experiment with cooking simply on your own with the wild plants or vegetables from the garden. Our food is completely organic, local, and much of it is grown or foraged by ourselves. We are vegetarian with a leaning towards vegan, so you should be comfortable with this. The only animal products we consume are our own chicken eggs and goat cheese from our neighbors. We are used to almost all dietary needs as it's our believe to be open to all so don't be afraid to let us know.

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  What else ...

  The forest is the biggest draw, out area is a mecca of boulder rock climbing, our river is fantastic, and we provide you with a high quality electric bike to scoot around. We are completely accessible to Paris.
  
  We are glad that since we started our sustainable life we never wanted to do things like everyone else was doing. With us you get the real deal, the good and the bad. After all, that’s what life is about, and it's a pleasure to share it with new friends.
  
  We are a no smoking, no drugs, and no debating household.
  
  It is potentially possible to consider couples or friends - but keep in mind that both people will be expected to work equally and potentially on separate projects. If you are with a child, it is potentially possible, contact us to see what we can arrange as we know having a child is a pivotal transition point towards a better life.
  
  We find that people who wish to aloha 'aina, love and care for our nature and each other, tend to benefit the best from their stay here. Positive vibes are welcome!

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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

  Our garden has enough space to accommodate almost all except the extremely large campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  My animals / pets

  Our Chickens!

  Pono

  Pono is our huntress, she is super discrete, lives mostly in the garden.

  

  Maui

  Maui is our cat dog - super cuddly and gentle.

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