Profile information
Host rating
60 %
Feedback
-
Email verified
Details
Description
We are a family of four living in a beautiful deep valley in Central Portugal. Dave is a stone mason and works full time and I do various activities like teaching yoga, working online and baking for the monthly market. Our daughters are 2 and 6. The 6 year old attends a nature school 3 days a week and the 2 year old is at home with me every day. We own 1.5 hectares of land (all sloped) and live at the end of a 2 km dirt track. We are very close to a village, only a 15 minute (uphill) walk. We bought the land with the intention of growing a lot of our own food organically and find it difficult to keep up with it all while there are several small building projects going on so we are looking for help with the garden, various building projects and general land maintenance!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We can share our knowledge of the area and after having worked on various farms in different parts of the world as well before setting up our own we have a good amount of knowledge about organic farming. We are eager and willing to try out new things and constantly evolving how we see our land. Dave is a stone mason and works with slate (xisto) and has a wealth of experience in building with stone. We live off grid on solar and with a vermicomposting system so can also share knowledge of these things with anyone who is interested.
Help
We have several small building projects ongoing and general restorative tasks on the land (digging, beautifying, planting) is a constant. We also want to set up our garden and it's getting to that time of year again so we are looking for help in digging, creating compost, planting, building fences, weeding, clearing, pruning, etc etc: anything and everything that goes into growing a garden.
We are looking for people (a couple) who are hard workers and eager to grow vegetables organically. We are also interested in people to help us with small building projects, we have sheds being built out of bricks, are eager to build a chicken coop, and also need help rebuilding collapsed terrace walls (out of stone) and extending patios, building flower beds, stairs (also out of stone) as well as various other things on our property. Anyone with a small amount of experience to a great deal of experience is welcome.
Help with child care is not a requirement but is a plus - our children love people and love reading stories, playing and in general having attention on them! So although we are not looking for babysitters we are looking for people who are able to put up with children-craziness and are willing to engage with them. We have a small house and although most of the time will be spent outside, we will be in close quarters for meals and breaks etc and will need to take this into consideration.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Portuguese: Intermediate
Accommodation
You will stay in a small wood cabin owned by our neighbours, very close to our house. The cabin has a small cooker and a small double bed with its own dry-compost toilet. There is no electricity or wifi in the cabin but you can charge any devices in our house and use wifi in our house (unlimited) during the day.
The accommodation is basic but comfortable and you will be responsible for your own breakfast (we will provide basic ingredients) and two weekend meals. We are vegetarian and eat a basic diet but eat well! The accommodation is also suitable for an individual who is happy to be on their own for some of the time, who is happy to read a book in their cabin and give us space to tend to the bath & bedtime routine of the kids!
We will eat lunch and dinner together 5 days of the week in our house. We will provide basic breakfast ingredients for you (like oats, milk, coffee, tea) and you can prepare your own breakfast in your little house. The two days a week that we do not prepare lunch and dinner for you, we will provide a few basics (like oil, pasta, rice, tomato sauce etc) and you will be able to make yourselves a simple meal in your accommodation (kind of like camping on a cooker with basics) or you can walk to one of the villages and have a meal in a restaurant/cafe at your own cost. We will do a shop at a large supermarket once a week and you can buy your own extra ingredients that you like. The shop that is about a 10 minute walk away also has ingredients you can buy on a more regular basis if the weekly shop isn't sufficient. The food we provide will be vegetarian and simple - we live in a rural area and eat basic food.
What else ...
We are a short 15 minute walk from the village (uphill, so bring your walking shoes!) where there is a cafe/restaurant/bar and small store. The next village with another restaurant/cafe/bar/small store is a 30 minute walk away through a beautiful valley. Coja, the closest town, is a 25 minute drive away and has cafes, bakeries, general stores, a fruit and veg store, bank and a post office. About a 20 minute walk away is the beautiful and popular Fraga da Pena waterfall, while Piodao, a traditional Xisto village is just under an hour drive. For sightseeing it is possible to hitchhike or to attempt to pre-arrange transport through the various community messaging boards. For visiting Coimbra, the closest large city, there are buses and arranging a lift to these bus stations can be done in advance as there are often people going to these for pick-ups and drop-offs.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
