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Host rating
100 %
Last replied
12 Jan 2024
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85.7 %
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Details
Description
(***Housesitting: We are looking for 1 or 2 housesitters for the time/part of the time when we're away from Mid-January to Mid-April)
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Housesitting:
We are planning to go to China to visit Maggie's family for roughly 3 months from the end of January to the end of April. So we're looking for 1 or 2 housesitters to come and look after our house while we're away.
We don't need you to be there all the time, so you're welcome to take short trips if you wish.
Wi-Fi is fast at our house but the phone signal is poor. You might get some signals in the garden. Although it also depends on the network company.
Our house is very accessible by public transport, you can use our bikes as well. If you own a car/van, you can park in the yard, there's space in the village as well.
This is more suitable for those who are energy-conscious, enjoy peace in the countryside, and are into fairly minimalist living. If you love nature, the location is absolutely fantastic as well. We are also not far from cities if you fancy some city breaks.
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Hello! We are Max and Maggie, a young couple from Wales and China in our mid-20s. We bought an old house with a 2500 square meter garden in Südharz, Germany in mid-2022.
In the garden, we grow organically and loosely follow permaculture rules, but always open to any ideas and questions. In 2023 we have been almost self-sufficient with vegetables since June. We really enjoy growing our own vegetables, we have also been planting fruit trees and berry bushes so that we can become more self-sufficient with fruit. We have also been experimenting with preserving our garden harvest and wild foraged produce -- such as jam making, drying fruit, and making sauerkraut. There's so much to learn to live off the land!
As well as tending to the garden we have been slowly renovating the house. Due to previous “modernisations” with unbreathable plastics etc, some of the floor and the half-timbered walls are damp, so they need to be torn out and replaced. We do this mainly using natural materials such as clay and straw. In 2023 we have also fitted a fireplace so that it's more cosy during the winter months.
The village that we live in, Kleinleinungen, is in a gentle valley. On both sides of the valley, there are very nice walks into the forests or across the agricultural fields and wildflower meadows. There are also many other nice walks within cycling distance.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We love food. We can cook tasty food together if that’s something you’d enjoy. Maggie is from China and loves cooking, so there will definitely be authentic Chinese food and other tastiness on the table. We would definitely welcome other tasty recipes from around the world!
We can talk about life in the UK and China and our experiences of moving to the German countryside without much language skills.
Experience living without a car and decide if it's for you.
Take nice walks in nature and the countryside and maybe experience some foraging. We are both quite knowledgeable about wildlife.
Help
Main tasks for Housesitters:
- keeping the house not damp
- eating some pumpkins
- some gardening if you wish
- checking letterbox for us and taking out rubbish bins
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You’ll be helping us for a maximum of 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week. On the weekends or after work we can explore the nature in the area.
We have traveled a lot ourselves with Workaway, and also hosted volunteers before when we were living in Wales. To make your jobs more enjoyable, we try to work together and switch between jobs to get your hands on different tasks, etc. Of course, we would also consider your preferences.
All levels of experience are welcome, any knowledge and skills in carpentry, electrical, plumbing and other old house renovations things would be a bonus. :)
Help needed:
-house renovation
you’ll never know what could come up in an old house, hopefully, nothing structural ;P
-planting and caring for vegetables
-moving hay from the barn
-make the garden wildlife-friendly
-general household things
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Chinese (Mandarin): Fluent
German: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We can help you improve your English and/or Chinese. We are also interested in getting better at German. It'd also be great if you could share with us other languages that you know :)
Accommodation
You'll have your own room in the house or share it with another volunteer.
We are mainly vegan, we occasionally eat eggs and cheese. We can cook together if this is something that you'll enjoy. Hopefully when you're here some of the veggies will be coming fresh from the garden!
What else ...
We don’t own a car and get around mainly with bikes and public transport. We have bicycles for you to use. It's best to arrive/leave on a weekday so you can get the bus directly from in front of the house. If you travel with light luggage we can keep a bike with a combination lock at the nearest station
The nearest train station in Bennungen is 15 minutes cycling away or 50 minutes walk away, from where you could get to Halle, Kassel, Erfurt, Leipzig, Magdeburg, and even Berlin quite easily. There’s a regular weekday bus stop right in front of the house which gets to the nearest town Sangerhausen in 20-30 minutes. There’s also a train station there.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
wifi is quite fast but limited phone signal
Space for parking camper vans
You can park in the yard. It's a great location to explore the beautiful Harz mountains
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (2)
I spent 10 days with them and I experienced proper countryside life in East Germany: living in a small village, engaging in various gardening tasks, gathering fruits from wild trees and also I participated in the local fair, which was very cozy and had a folkloristic atmosphere.
Max and Maggie are super… read more
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I spent 10 days with them and I experienced proper countryside life in East Germany: living in a small village, engaging in various gardening tasks, gathering fruits from wild trees and also I participated in the local fair, which was very cozy and had a folkloristic atmosphere.
Max and Maggie are super… read more
