If you are NOT a US CITIZEN and are planning to visit to work, volunteer or study, YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT VISA. To find out more information you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling.
Learn about homesteading by the Appalachian Trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, USA
Last activity
: 28 Apr 2025
Profile information
Usually responds within 1 day
Min stay requested: No minimum
Workawayers needed
Possibility that workawayers are needed
No availability
Details
Host ref number: 734415557223
Website Safety
Feedback (6)
Left by Workawayer (Liv) for host
I had such a wonderful stay with Ruth and her whole family. They are such welcoming, warm, interesting people and I had a great time staying and working with them all. The work was very enjoyable , the food was amazing, and Ruth took me and my fellow volunteers on several outing to do fun things in the local area. I also ate my bodyweight in
… read more cookies! Lots of love to you all, please give Huggy Bear and Brick a hug from me ❤️ Liv xxxxLeft by host for Workawayer (Liv)
Liv stayed with us while she was visiting family in the USA. She was an excellent WorkAway helper during her 5 day stay. She had a positive “can do it” attitude and helped with many tasks such as gardening, cooking, organizational jobs, and she was a great help setting up the beginnings of our cubicle bedrooms in our hangar. We had fun viewing the
… read more Herman Melville play one night! If she come to the US again, we would love to have her help!
Left by host for Workawayer (Sydney)
Sydney and Chandler were excellent WorkAway helpers early this summer. They stayed with us for 2 weeks. They worked hard weeding, tearing apart old garden beds, mulching around berry plants, planting seeds, and doing hiker related tasks like cookie and hibiscus cooler making. They helped us locate and fetch the first cubicles we needed to create
… read more cubicles bedrooms in our hangar for the hikers. By the end of the summer, with the help of other WorkAway helpers the hangar turned into a nice and homey looking place for hikers to relax and sleep when the weather was too poor outside for tenting.
The sunflowers and other flowers Sydney, Chandler and Liv planted are taller than we are and they turn their gorgeous heads towards the sun each day. It is a wonder how they do this. The colors are stunning.
We had fun finding that bookstore over the border in NY state, catching a movie at the Beacon (heated lounge seats), and going to a Herman Melville play.
Thanks for all the wonderful help you gave us. Come visit us again. We would love to have you.
Mary Grace was a top-notch WorkAway helper this summer. In fact, her initial 2 week stay turned into almost a whole month! We just loved having her on the farm this summer. Maybe she will visit us this Thanksgiving??? She knows she is invited. Mary Grace became part of the family it seemed!
Mary Grace was more than willing to help with any task.
… read more She helped us make over 150 jars of blueberry jam, multitudes of chocolate chip cookies and hibiscus coolers, many food plates for berry pickers, and so many other tasks. One night Mary-Grace spent at Upper Goose Pond Cabin helping one of my daughters caretake. That is a place to remember with the beautiful red cabin and crystal clear lake water-not to mention the fresh pancakes in the morning.
Mary Grace was part of the original crew who began to help us find and set up cubicles in our hangar. We made cubicle bedrooms to be used by hikers as they pass through in the summer. This was no easy task! The cubicles were large and cumbersome, but in the end they made beautiful personal spaces as hiker bedrooms.
We wish Mary-Grace the best and she is so welcome to visit us again anytime of year!!!Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Left by Workawayer (Liv) for host
I had such a wonderful stay with Ruth and her whole family. They are such welcoming, warm, interesting people and I had a great time staying and working with them all. The work was very enjoyable , the food was amazing, and Ruth took me and my fellow volunteers on several outing to do fun things in the local area. I also ate my bodyweight in
… read more cookies! Lots of love to you all, please give Huggy Bear and Brick a hug from me ❤️ Liv xxxxLeft by host for Workawayer (Liv)
Liv stayed with us while she was visiting family in the USA. She was an excellent WorkAway helper during her 5 day stay. She had a positive “can do it” attitude and helped with many tasks such as gardening, cooking, organizational jobs, and she was a great help setting up the beginnings of our cubicle bedrooms in our hangar. We had fun viewing the
… read more Herman Melville play one night! If she come to the US again, we would love to have her help!
Left by host for Workawayer (Sydney)
Sydney and Chandler were excellent WorkAway helpers early this summer. They stayed with us for 2 weeks. They worked hard weeding, tearing apart old garden beds, mulching around berry plants, planting seeds, and doing hiker related tasks like cookie and hibiscus cooler making. They helped us locate and fetch the first cubicles we needed to create
… read more cubicles bedrooms in our hangar for the hikers. By the end of the summer, with the help of other WorkAway helpers the hangar turned into a nice and homey looking place for hikers to relax and sleep when the weather was too poor outside for tenting.
The sunflowers and other flowers Sydney, Chandler and Liv planted are taller than we are and they turn their gorgeous heads towards the sun each day. It is a wonder how they do this. The colors are stunning.
We had fun finding that bookstore over the border in NY state, catching a movie at the Beacon (heated lounge seats), and going to a Herman Melville play.
Thanks for all the wonderful help you gave us. Come visit us again. We would love to have you.
Mary Grace was a top-notch WorkAway helper this summer. In fact, her initial 2 week stay turned into almost a whole month! We just loved having her on the farm this summer. Maybe she will visit us this Thanksgiving??? She knows she is invited. Mary Grace became part of the family it seemed!
Mary Grace was more than willing to help with any task.
… read more She helped us make over 150 jars of blueberry jam, multitudes of chocolate chip cookies and hibiscus coolers, many food plates for berry pickers, and so many other tasks. One night Mary-Grace spent at Upper Goose Pond Cabin helping one of my daughters caretake. That is a place to remember with the beautiful red cabin and crystal clear lake water-not to mention the fresh pancakes in the morning.
Mary Grace was part of the original crew who began to help us find and set up cubicles in our hangar. We made cubicle bedrooms to be used by hikers as they pass through in the summer. This was no easy task! The cubicles were large and cumbersome, but in the end they made beautiful personal spaces as hiker bedrooms.
We wish Mary-Grace the best and she is so welcome to visit us again anytime of year!!!
Left by host for Workawayer (Becca)
Becca is a hard-working, kind and caring person who did an excellent job at our farm for WorkAway this summer. She did all kinds of tasks like gardening, greeting hikers, cookie and hibiscus cooler making, berry sorting and picking, creating hiker food plates for berry picking, and other kitchen activities like pickle making with one of my
… read more daughters.
Becca also was a key helper in setting up cubicles in our hangar to create cubicle bedrooms for the hikers. She worked so hard with another Workaway helper during our busiest time (and hottest summer time) and the hikers absolutely love the new space! Her advice about the Workaway program and all her many and varied experiences will certainly help us in the future to be better WorkAway hosts!
Becca spent an overnight at Upper Goose Pond Cabin helping one of my daughters with the responsibilities of running this cabin. She seemed to enjoy the time there with the beautiful lake and meeting hikers there, just 12 miles south of our berry farm.
Left by Workawayer (Becca) for host
I spent 1.5 weeks at the farm in the end of July and enjoyed getting to know Ruth, her family, their friends, and the Appalachian Trail hikers that pass through. Peak hiker and blueberry season are from mid June to the end of August and are a busy time on the farm. We typically started work around 9am and then often went till dinner time but with
… read more breaks. That was something Ruth was very good at- making sure we took a break every once in a while and encouraged us to swim at the very secluded and lovely lake 10min walk away. No one took days off because hikers are coming every day and so that might be something you want to discuss prior to coming so expectations are accurate. The work is very enjoyable though and I loved the teamwork energy. While there, other Workawayers and I helped assemble office cubicles into “rooms” in the old airplane hanger for hikers. I’m proud of how it turned out and slept very well there. Part of the work routine is baking chocolate chip cookies and making hibiscus sweet tea for the hikers. I also helped welcome and orientate hikers when they arrived. If they wanted to pick a bucket of berries in exchange for a meal, we would prepare their homemade meal and then sort through/quality check the berries they picked as they are often going to a Farmers Market. I’m so grateful that Ruth and her family are providing such hospitality to hikers! It’s a beautiful thing to see and be apart of. It’s also an exciting place to be, with people always coming and going and plenty of interesting conversations. I loved this aspect. I loved talking to the hikers and the welcoming energy of the farm. If you wish to learn more about what it’s like to thru hike the AT, this is the place to be! The house and property are very beautiful and well kept. Ruth has lovely gardens and I enjoyed harvesting green beans, lettuce, and cucumbers and spending an afternoon canning pickles with Ruth’s daughter, Liz. You will eat very well here because many in the family are great cooks and big foodies. In the summer, most of Ruth’s kids are home visiting for some time so it was nice to meet them and enjoy their cooking, particularly Ellie’s. Breakfast and lunch were usually causal, self serve while dinner was a family event and Bernard (who is doing construction on the house) would always join us which I thought was very nice. Ruth took me to a yoga class which I enjoyed and appreciated. Michael, Ruth’s husband is also so sweet and I enjoyed our conversation while sorting berries. I highly recommend this Workaway especially to people into backpacking and thru hiking. It’s a beautiful place with so many wonderful people to meet and talk to and wandering through bushes loaded with juicy, organic blueberries is just heavenly!
Left by host for Workawayer (Stephen)
Stephen helped us tremendously on the farm this summer. He was very knowledgeable with his engineering background was crucial for solving the puzzles and problems that might come up on even a small farm such as ours! He and several other WorkAwayers helped set up cubicle bedrooms in our hangar for hikers. Stephen even made a special Dressing Room
… read more area with the extra cubicles pieces we had on-hand, this was so creative! On some of the nights Stephen helped out at Upper Goose Pond Cabin when my family took on our caretaking there for the week.
Stephen was on the farm at our busiest time in late July and early August when the hikers were coming in regularly and the berries were abundant. He helped us with all these tasks of welcoming hikers, making food for hiker berry pickers, cookie and hibiscus cooler making, all kinds of weeding and gardening, and so many other things. We appreciate the help he gave us and learned more about the Workaway program from his experiences and how we can make our Workaway helpers’ time here better for them.
Left by Workawayer (Stephen) for host
My 2.5 week stay at the farm was excellent. Ruth and all the various family and friends she attracted to the house were lovely and welcoming. I enjoyed the various tasks (hiker greeting, cooking, weeding, opening the shack, hangar organizing, harvesting, etc.). July is a busy time with blueberries and hikers in full swing but I found the bustle to
… read more be fun to engage with. Ruth was also happy to take suggestions which provided me with ample opportunities to be creative, without losing focus on the core tasks.
The hangar was comfortable to sleep in and Ruth was very attentive to the workawayers. She's also good at accommodating vegans! Just ask for the blueberry peach cobbler or the Enchanted Broccoli Forest.
Outside of normal day-to-day tasks, I was encouraged to help to caretake at a cabin on the AT with her daughter, see a movie at a film festival in town, and swim in the nearby lake - all great experiences. Her husband Michael was also great to be around, and I was happy to be able to help him with some tractor troubles. Will definitely come back if I end up hiking the AT!
Left by host for Workawayer (Sophia & Miah)
Sophie and Maia worked at our Berry Farm in July 2023. They were both very helpful with picking currants (a tedious task!) and helping to make the blueberry patch more “weeded” for when the PYO customers would come to pick berries. These weeds were in the center of each bush extending upward to waist height during the hottest part of the summer
… read more and both women worked steady to get this job done. So, we thank them for all the help they gave us! Ruth 🫐 🫐
Left by Workawayer (Marika) for host
My experience on the farm with Ruth and Michael (and occasionally their family) was absolutely amazing. They are welcoming, kind, warmhearted ànd they also value your space and independence.
The farm itself and the surroundings are so beautiful and peaceful. There are so many learning opportunities here as Ruth knows so much about plants and
… read more cooking and preserving but there are also a lot of creative projects she is invested in! Michael makes for the best conversational partner and his riddles alone make it worth coming to the farm! The food was always delicious, the dogs were super nice, the berries were abundant and the hikers make for really good company too.
I organised some stuff in their house and the hangar, weeded the blueberry bushes and vegetable gardens, picked fruit, helped with cooking and making cookies and lemonade, helped in the process of canning and preserving, ...
Can't wait to come back! A really good way to spend your summer with this nice family.
I couldn’t talk more highly about our stay by the AT. We absolutely fell in love with the host family, sharing meals with them every night, they truly made us feel like one of their own. They also helped us out of a tricky situation, as we were living in our converted van and working in the area, with no where to park. We stayed the entire summer
… read more and wished we stayed longer. If you’re thinking about staying in the area, is the place to be. The family is amazing and the thru hikers are so much fun to interact with. We learned so much about gardening, cooking, and canning, it was an invaluable experience. The work never actually felt like work because its just so fun being there and feeling a part of the family. Also they have the most sweet dogs we got to spend the summer with. I can’t wait to go back!
Left by Workawayer (Ariella ) for host
Staying at the farm was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I felt welcomed and included from the moment that I arrived, and immediately fell into the daily rhythms of the farm. The love, compassion and hard work that has been put into the property is nearly palpable, and I loved watching hikers look around in wonder as they were greeted with
… read more homemade cookies, lemonade and a beautiful rest area to take a break from the Appalachian Trail. The family who runs the farm is so kind, hard-working, thoughtful and knowledgeable, and I learned so much from them in a span of just a few days. Throughout my stay, I mostly helped with hiker hospitality, weeding and sign-making, all rewarding in their own ways. This is truly a unique place, a haven for hikers from all over the world to come and go and share their stories, and it is all possible thanks to the family's dedication and hard work.
If you are considering coming to the farm, which you absolutely should, just keep in mind that this is a very difficult place to say good-bye to. I feel so lucky to have had this experience, and will look back on it fondly.You can only contact Workawayers who have an active membership.
Homestead stay and help creating an eco-friendly Earthship Hempcrete hybrid home in Colorado, USA
Language exchange while helping me with daily life Charlotte, USA
We've noticed that there's less than 3 photos uploaded to your profile. With the new host profile layout this we would highly recommend having more than 3 photos so your profile stands out visually.
Please take a few moments to choose some images that show off your place or area:
Please log in to your Workawayer account to contact this host, or
sign up here!
Information for those planning to visit the US
If you are NOT a US CITIZEN and are planning to visit to work, volunteer or study, YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT VISA. To find out more information you need to contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling. Do NOT attempt to enter the USA without the correct visa!
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House sitting
Events & social
Sustainability
Pets
Culture
Van life
Movies & TV
Farming
Photography
Music
Books
DIY & crafts
History
Plant care
Art & design
Gardening
Cooking & food
Drawing & painting
Animals
Hiking
Outdoor activities
Mountain
Camping
Nature
Yoga / Wellness
