Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
18 Jan 2023
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Details
Description
Hey there. We and our animals live and work in a small olive-grove / vineyard based off-grid homestead. We are in between two small, traditional Portuguese Stone-House villages, that one reaches within 10-20 minutes walking distance. We are a young homestead which only started less than 2 years ago. In our approach to the land our base framework is permaculture, but we inform it with local indigenous practices, practices from Korean natural Farming and others. We also have a small house in the village which we use as a retreat for ourselves from the land, but where we also do some renovation works if time and skill are abundant. Our little village is very rural, but does have some cafes/ bars, grocers, post office, health care unit, etc. and the bus stops to get to the city. The animals on our homestead at the moment are 3 rabbits, 2 sheep, 7 chicken and 3 cats. We two humans are Jo (33y) and Neil (41y). We did workaway and woofing ourselves before arriving here. We are a multi ethnical couple with diff.languages, so you can communicate in most southern and central European languages with us.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
The gifts you can take from here depend a lot on your interests. If your goal is to learn Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, German, or Maltese you have the chance to a lot of practice with us. If you are curious about the local culture we have a wonderful, loving village community that would be more than happy to share their life wisdom with you. If you wish to learn about self-sufficiency and homesteading, so everything from soil to table, there is a lot to learn from the land and animals and our own journey here. If you wish to explore other small initiatives, eco-villages, homesteads, eco-projects, etc. the region holds a great wealth and we can link you up if you wish to. There are usually also activities like small festivals, concerts, markets, ecstatic dance events, sound-healings, shamanic journeys, etc. We also have some places to swim around (lakes, river beaches, Thermal baths, etc.). If you love history, the region is also filled with historical riches that can be explored. Public transport is unfortunately not too good here so for most activities you would need to organize transport. We will also take you to places if we can.
Help
Our horticultural work includes work in the vegetable garden, the vineyard, the olive grove and the fruit trees. That means there could be harvesting, watering, pruning, soil improvement related works, etc. And often the harvesting may also require some procrssing like juicing, canning, drying, or similar. We in fact create a lot of food for the winter months in this way, so your input would be appreciated actively for many months to come! :-) At the moment we also finish some building related works. We use a blend of natural and contemporary building practices. Works could include rendering, flooring, painting, wood-works, stone-works, etc. There are also always some creative / esthetical / artistic projects to be completed or envisioned. The daily work with the animals include daily care of their well-being, wood work to create new peddocs, repairing coops, etc. Depending on when you arrive there might also be bottle feeding of the baby lambs, since their mom Rosa, had mastitis and can not feed them. We also butcher the rabbits and process the meat and furr. We know this is an ethically sensitive topic. We have lived as vegetarians for together over 10 years ourselves and absolutely respect whichever ethical values you ground yourself in. In general, your help is greatly appreciates and we trust it will be aligned to your own ethics and beliefs.
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Maltese: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
Accommodation
You would have your own little private room with bed& cupboard, etc. within one of our small buildings on the homestead. The homestead is off grid, so everything is much more simple than in an on-grid place. This means there are compost toilets, the water for showering has to be heated manually/ solarly and lights to be used in the night have to be charged solarly during the day. We do have a small solar panel for USB-charging of mobiles, lamps, etc. There are also communal rooms like a living kitchen and a living room with a fire place, books, instruments, etc.
What else ...
Oops. I think we answered that question already earlier in the form. For any further questions you may just ask them directly. :-)
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 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
