Help with natural pool, give back to nature and help our local wildlife in Tondela, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  Hello everyone, we are Helen and Antony, two Mancunians who embarked on a different way of living five years ago. We now live in our off grid ruin in central / north Portugal *depending on who you speak to* nestled in a stunning valley surrounded by nature. We have two children, aged 4 and 2, a cat called Mostar and a recent addition Paddy our pup, who is set to be a giant dog built for farm life.
  
  We enjoy spending time in nature at home but also in the surrounding area, we frequently try to discover new places in the region to explore, this could be a river beach, walking route or a new market, cafe restaurant. We enjoy the local culture, immersing ourselves in joining local festivals and supporting our region. We also spend time with other people that made the leap and making new friends is something we love about living outside our "norm".
  
  We love our land for many reasons, the beautiful views, the wildlife, the river at the bottom but most of all it is experiencing the resilience of nature, the tenacity of it. Living off grid, close to nature humbles you completely.
  
  Our ambitions are to live a more sustainable life whilst giving back to the land in which we now live. Since moving here in 2021, we have built our home, established a thriving garden, planted trees, created zones for children to play and adults relax whilst also working and building our pizza business.
  
  Our aims are to continue restoring the land to the glory prior to it burning in 2017 and abandonment prior to this. The main projects for the next six months are our natural swim pond build - we are beyond excited for this - using the David Pagan Butler method. We break ground in August.
  
  We continue to maintain the land which is a mix of forest and terraced land, we are fortunate to have a river at the bottom which is perfect for dipping after a hard day through the summer.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Culture

  

  Events & social

  

  Plant care

  

  Art & design

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Gardening

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Hiking

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature

  

  Beach
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We love to learn through people's experiences, sharing stories and knowledge whilst also showing what Portugal has to offer. We are immersed in the local community through our work and support of local businesses. We would love to share our experiences through visiting local festivals, cafes and even pottery shops where we have built connections within the local community.
  
  In terms of our skills, we now live off grid in rural Portugal and can share our experience of building a modern off grid house and living through the change of seasons and how every year presents new challenges. We are also both from backgrounds in computers and can share knowledge on coding - sql, excel etc if this is something a volunteer was interested in.
  
  Our Natural Swim Pool build will be a unique experience of hands on learning. The day to day around the farm from the woods to the vegetable patch brings a new opportunity to learn from each other and from nature.
  
  We also have a pizza business and will happily do pizza nights and teach the tricks of the trade!

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  Help

  next step natural pool build using David Pagan Butler method
  
  At our farm we have multiple projects happening depending on the season.
  
  Our main project right now is the Natural Swim Pool, following the David Pagan Butler method, any volunteers would be learning about the methods used to build an eco system from scratch. It will be an inspiring and hard working project to give back to nature and help our local wildlife. We break ground in August.
  
  The every day activities range from vegetable garden maintenance - no planting through the summer - weeding, picking, trimming, observing and of course eating! To forest management - building pathways, steps and felling trees *we do not expect volunteers to use any machinery*
  
  We are also undertaking water management this year, we have our own water source in the form of a water mine, this runs all year round and is channelled throughout the land, we will be creating a more permanent solution so the water is being used for fire prevention, automatic watering to areas further away from the house.
  
  We also continue to fence different areas of the land, for safety and future farm animals.
  
  Both Antony and I will be working closely with any volunteers during their time but we also require some independent work in moments where multiple tasks are required. We will be sharing knowledge related to off grid living, building an off grid house with modern systems, natural swim pool build and we hope to learn from any volunteers also.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  Interested in progressing with Portuguese language.
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  Accommodation

  We have a second house that is available to volunteers, it is a five minute drive from the land. Volunteers would have access to the entire house - kitchen, bathroom, livingroom, two double bedrooms, garden and balcony. The house has wifi, access to a washing machine and dryer that are also available throughout the stay.
  
  If a volunteer would prefer to stay on the land this is also an option with your own camper or we can provide a tent *blow up mattress and all bedding would be provided*. We have outdoor showers and access to an indoor vermi compost toilet if the agreement is to stay on the land. A washing machine is also available at the land.
  
  In terms of food, breakfast and lunch will be provided on all work days and some dinners. Dinners are a time we regroup as a family with our children and it is important for us that we honour this time and space for them and us. Due to this we do not expect 4-5 hours work 5 days a week, we are flexible to reduce number of days to reduce the hours or do fewer hours across five days.
  
  We are able to cater for vegan and vegetarian volunteers.

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  What else ...

  We live in a beautiful area of Portugal, there are many walks, river beaches and lakes in the area. A car or transport would be required to make the most of the area as public transport is limited. We can collect from bus station and of course volunteers are welcome to jump in with us on trips etc. We also have bikes available to volunteers.
  We are near a lovely town with restaurants, cafes, a theatre and many local festivals are hosted here through spring and summer.
  We're close to the city of Viseu with churches, parks, bars and restaurants, it is a beautiful city.
  We're about an hour drive from Serra de Estrella and 40 mins from Caramulo - mountains for stunning views and hikes.
  Caramulo also has a great car museum and experience, the hosts of a motor car festival in Sept.
  If nature is what you're after then you won't be short of options.

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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

  We can host in two locations, a village house or on our land, both have fast wi-fi. Having worked remotely for a number of years we also rely on stable, fast internet.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  Paddy

  Mostar

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