Meet us & help with permaculture garden and eco building in Zedelgem, Belgium

Details

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  Description

  This is is a project of Anke (1985) en Rien (1985). We met in high school and 20 years later we have 2 children, Berre (2012) and Dina (2014). As a couple we have put our heart and soul into this place ever since we bought it in 2012.
  
  It is a food forest of about 15000m² near the city of Bruges (15km). It consists of a food forest (obviously), a forest to play for kids and a vegetable garden. It is a non-profit organisation working around edible wild plants, bushcraft and nature education.
  
  Trough the years we have built this place from the ground up. Since 2012, the food forest grew from a grass field into a true wilderness, becoming an increasingly resilient self-sustaining ecosystem full of biodiversity. At the moment we live in a renovated farm house with a swimming pond. In the beginning we started out with a tiny clay house that is now free for b&b or workaways, in addition we also have 2 shepherd's huts. We are looking for helping hands to continue our building plans and lighten the load of the upkeep of our food forest.
  
  Our 'place' strives to be an experimental nature experience site where modern knowledge intertwines with primitive insights and skills. The place runs bushcraft workshops, for example: cob building, fire making, campfire cooking, basketry, foraging... By growing the connection with our natural environment and ourselves, we want to accelerate a sustainable system change in our society.
  
  We speak Dutch at home, but we are also fluent in english, pretty good in french, we know a little german and a tiny bit spanish.
  
  See you soon,
  Rien and Anke

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Events & social

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Culture

  

  Self development

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Farming

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Gardening

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Water sports

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Dancing

  

  Mountain

  

  Hiking

  

  Adventure sports
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live nearby Bruges, a city with tonnes of cultural heritage and activity. We have knowledge about permaculture, food forest in a temperate climate, bushcraft, basketry with wild fibres, cob building (and eco building in general) meditation, healthy food and lifestyle... that we are most willing to share.
  
  We have 2 young children (2012 and 2014) and we would like them to get to know people from around the world with different languages and backgrounds.
  
  We would like some help with our activities, but we are also looking forward to meeting enthousiastic people with similar interests as ours.

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  Help

  We would like some help:
  - with the upkeep of the food forest
  > harvesting food and wood
  > helping in the permaculture garden
  > maintenace of the swimming pond and play pond
  > helping with creating and maintaining a natural playscape for kids
  
  - with our never ending building plans
  > repairing the pizza oven and cob stove
  > making a porch for the tiny cob house and one for the renovated farm house
  > constructing a cob sauna
  > mortaring the stones on the edge of a playing pool
  
  This work will be mostly done together with Anke and/or Rien and of course we are willing to share all our experiences and skills about permaculture, bushcraft and life in general ;)

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  French: Intermediate
  German: Beginner
  Spanish: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  We have a tiny cob house with a foldable single bed and a couch that also folds into a (double) bed. In the tiny house there's a kitchen and a bathroom (incl bath, shower and water flushed toilet). In addition to the tiny cob house we also have 2 Shepherds' huts with 2 double beds each. Outside we also have a composting toilet and shower that can be used if prefferred.
  
  If there's just 1 couple of (friends or lovers) present they can use the tiny cob house for sleeping, cooking... If there are 2 or more couples staying over, we suggest that the tiny house is used as a shared space for chilling, cooking, washing... and that each couple use a Shepherd's hut for sleeping and personal space.
  
  We can provide al the bedding, pillows and sheets. We can also provide basic food supply during your stay here or we can harvest fresh vegetables from the garden. If you work 5 days we provide you with food for the whole week, if you work less, we will provide you with food for the days that you work. There are 2 fridges at your disposal (one in the kitchen of the tiny house). Once a week we can also enjoy a meal together with the family and workaways.

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  What else ...

  In your time of you can enjoy our beautiful garden and if you want to go to Bruges, the sea, Brussels or Ghent, there is a bus and train station nearby.

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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

  There's reliable internet connection in our tiny clay house.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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