Help our family with homesteading by the Appalachian Trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

Details

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  Description

  Hello! We are a small organic blueberry farm and hiker rest stop in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts.
  
  For the past several decades, this small farm has been popular with locals (who pick our blueberries) & Appalachian Trail thru-hikers looking for a place to relax and replenish. We provide free cookies & cold homemade drinks to the hikers who stop by and allow some to camp on our lawn if we have space. We also sell blueberries at local farmers' markets and make preserves, both with blueberries and with produce from our Hugelkultur garden beds.
  
  There's always a lot to do, and we welcome people who want to pitch in, especially those who are enthusiastic about gardening or have skills (like landscaping) that could enhance our property's beauty. We do not expect help with the blueberry side of our operation, which earns our family a small income.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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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

  Each day during the summer, you'll meet many new people as they make the small detour from their Appalachian Trail hiking to visit our property. They come from all over the country and world & appreciate our hospitality. We are known as Cookie Lady 2.0 to the hikers. It's easy to strike up a conversation and make a new friend who you would otherwise never have met. During blueberry season (mid to late summer), there's also plenty of locals and travelers who come to pick our berries. With our five-person family and three dogs on top of all of this, it's really never lonely here.
  
  You'll also learn about our small-scale, homesteading-style operation. We grow our berries and vegetables organically and love sharing the practices that we have found effective. We could teach you about the wild edible plants in the state forest surrounding our property & show you our favorite spots in the nearby mountain towns, whether you're looking to hike, swim, dine, or enjoy arts & culture.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Regular tasks include watering/weeding the gardens, splitting/stacking firewood, greeting hikers and preparing/providing cold drinks/cookies, mowing, and doing the dishes generated by the hikers. There are also plenty of larger projects around our farm - for instance, building a shed for our wood stove's firewood or re-roofing our barn. We also hope to complete small landscaping or artsy projects (like sign making) to make our property more beautiful & welcoming.
  
  We do earn income from our blueberry operation, so we do not expect help with picking berries or maintaining the patches.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We have a school bus that we removed the seats from, built two beds in, and decorated (see photos). It's not anything fancy, but it's relatively private and the beds have memory foam mattresses. We have a few beds set up in our airplane hangar that could also be used. You could also camp on our property. We'd provide meals, which we often share with hikers who complete chores for us, and give you access to our house's bathroom/shower/kitchen/laundry.
  
  There is no WiFi, but there is strong LTE reception with Verizon (we use our smartphone's hotspot to stream Netflix on our laptops regularly, for instance).

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  What else ...

  We're located in Berkshire County, which is a popular tourist destination with an abundance of arts, culture, and outdoor recreation attractions a short drive away. While our farm is surrounded by state forests and at an elevation of 2,000 feet, we're a 15-30 minute drive from attractions like Mass MoCA, Tanglewood, Waconah Falls, Kripalu, The Clark, Mount Greylock, Edith Wharton's home, the Norman Rockwell Museum, to name a few.
  
  We're also located right on the Appalachian Trail for those who want to hike, and there are pristine lakes and streams surrounding our secluded property.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Dogs are okay if they are low-key and don't mind some slightly territorial but ultimately friendly golden retrievers.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  4-5 hours per day for each day spent with us. If staying more than a week, you'd have weekends off.

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