Share, learn, and grow with us while being surrounded by nature in North Karelia, Finland

Details

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  Description

  Iain and Janka here -We live in a beautiful old farm at the end of the road on top of a hill with amazing views.
  
  Both of us have plenty of experience travelling as workaways, but now we want to invite you to our place and share a bit of our life with us.
  
  There is a big yard full of flowers and fruits and a meadow valley surrounding us before endless forests. There is also a train going close by. Otherwise we are deep in nature. It is a very peaceful spot. Lakes are walking distance.
  
  We are very used to sharing our space with others. We've both lived a lot on communities and eco villages.
  
  Just recently we moved to this farm. We are making a forest garden and eventually plan to have some animals. We are passionate about regenerative farming and aim to produce as much of our own food as we can. We have lots of experience in helping others build that dream, now we hope you feel inspired to come to help us while creating some memorable experiences and lasting friendships.
  
  We both work a lot in the summer. At least one of us will be out everyday, sometimes both of us. So best suited to come here are people who can be quite independent, or those travelling as a couple or friends who don't mind being alone and can manage some tasks by yourself. There are many things to do from quite simple but important tasks that we can show you. And some bigger creative projects that we do together with you in our free time.
  
  We are happy to find tasks for you that you enjoy to do or want to learn more about. There are endless things to do so we are sure there is something that takes your interests and would be a big help to us.
  
  There are a lot of friends and family stopping by, so even though we are quite busy, there can often be interesting people around to meet and share experiences with. Even though we work a lot we will make time to get to know you and have some adventures with you. There is lots to explore here.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Dancing

  

  Beach

  

  Cycling

  

  Hiking

  

  Water sports

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Winter sports

  

  Animals

  

  Architecture

  

  Performing arts

  

  Carpentry

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Gardening

  

  Books

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  History

  

  Music

  

  Plant care

  

  Languages

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Farming

  

  Events & social

  

  Culture
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Learning to start a garden from the beginning. Wild herb foraging and making tinctures, fermenting, sourdough baking, composting.
  
  We listen to a lot of music and love to dance, do movement arts and exercises, massage and herbal treatments.
  
  To be surrounded by nature and enjoy to be in the forest or exploring the lakes. Koli mountain is nearby. There is a village with deep history and nice people with a busy summer theater. Also many tourists in the area.
  
  Our backgrounds are quite international and world views are eclectic, open minded and welcoming to different perspectives. We enjoy cultural sharing, deep conversations and good humor.
  
  We manage a cafe at a local heritage site. It is a very interesting place and we would be happy to take you there to visit as part of your exchange. To be clear though we ask for help at home and not at our workplace.
  There is a chance to meet many people there and we also host events that you are welcome to enjoy.

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  Help

  Things we would like you to be involved in
  
  Gardening;
  Preparing vegetable garden
  Composting
  Picking wild herbs, berries, mushrooms
  
  
  Construction;
  Outdoor kitchen
  Compost toilet
  Outdoor shower
  Fences
  
  Firewood
  Grass cutting
  Decorating and furnishing the home
  Cooking
  Housework
  Fermenting
  Making medicinal tinctures and oils
  
  
  It is important that you can be comfortable with mostly managing your own day and be adaptable to our work flow when we can do some projects with you. In summer when the days are so long then a regular schedule doesn't really exist here.
  
  
  If you know anything about caring for old cars, we have a classic that you could help us with.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Finnish: Fluent
  Hungarian: Fluent
  French: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Lots of space in and around the house and plenty of beds. Probably even your own room but we also have a lot of family and friends visiting so some flexibility around accommodating them is to be expected. But generally we have lots of spare rooms and beds. Even a nice room in the barn if you want to be there. Also we have tents and camping hammocks.
  
  There is beautiful wood heated sauna in the yard. It is our main way to wash, and we heat it at least every 2 to 3 days. Or we go for swim by the lake. We can not provide long hot showers here, but in an urgent situation it is possible.
  
  We eat a bit of everything but not factory meat from the store. There is good local and wild meat around. If you have some specific dietary needs it's fine here. Just as long as you can prepare some things for yourself we will make sure you have what you need. Just let us know before coming. We enjoy very different types of foods.
  
  We generally have an abundance of food overflowing and we aim to sit down together and eat one shared meal every day.
  
  You have to take care of some meals yourself though. We will always make sure there is plenty ingredients to cook with, and usually there is lots of leftovers too.
  
  We bake sourdough bread and can teach you if you like.

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  What else ...

  We live in a very beautiful part of the country. You are welcome to explore it with us, find the best lakes for swimming , fresh water springs for drinking, and generally just enjoy being in the nature.
  
  It's rural and small town life here, so expect peace, wildlife, nature and good food. And music...

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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 don't have a constant Internet connection. We can share hotspot to help a workaway keep connected, we know how important this is! However, it's not possible to provide it for someone to work online with consistently. If you have your own internet connection then you are welcome to work from here.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Your camper van can fit here and can be plugged in and connected to water.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  If you are walking with a donkey please come.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

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