Stay on an established low impact, non-profit smallholding in West Wales, UK

Details

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  Description

  We are a family of 4 living and working on a smallholding in West Wales.
  
  Our smallholding is owned by a Permaculture trust. It is 24 acres in total, including 6 acres of wildflower meadow, permanent pasture, allotments, woods and gardens, all farmed by hand using traditional tools such as the scythe.
  
  We live in a wooden caravan that we built ourselves, with help from the Trust. We are off grid - electricity comes from solar panels and a self-built Hugh Piggott 3f wind turbine, water comes from a spring on the land.
  
  We aim at self-reliance. We grow almost all the vegetables we eat, a good proportion of the fruit, all of the meat and a proportion of the dairy products. We have a small flock of Shetland sheep for wool and meat, a micro herd of Shetland Cattle for milk and meat and about a dozen Warre beehives for honey. The majority of the produce from our livestock is for our own use.
  
  Our main cash income comes from scythes - running courses and selling them direct to local people and through our website. Volunteers will not be asked to carry out any tasks towards income generating parts of our lives. Some paid work in the scythe business may be available in the spring / summer. We're happy to teach volunteers to scythe if they come at a scything time of year!
  
  Our two children are home schooled. They really enjoy visitors and I hope you will enjoy interacting with them.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We like to share skills and hope that as well as helping us with the work that needs doing, volunteers are able to take away new skills and experiences from the time they spend with us. Both Phil and I benefited immensely from the skills we learnt whilst volunteering before settling at the Trust.
  
  Skills we can share include - scything, gardening, permaculture, some aspects of Biodynamic gardening, hand haymaking, animal care, low impact living, off grid electricity production, knitting, using natural dyes, sour dough bread making.

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  Registered charity

  This host is a registered charity in the UK and is looking for help with their charity project. Guidance on charity worker sponsorship by a UK registered charity, can be found here.

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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

  In general, all tasks are carried out using hand tools. Tasks on the farm are seasonal. In winter it is more likely to be activities such as hedge laying, clearing and small building projects. There are tasks in the vegetable garden and edible perennial plantings all year, but it is especially busy in the spring / early summer. From June until late August / September we make hay by hand.
  
  I have a daily routine of animal tasks and there is always the chance of an unexpected event such as a bee swarm to join in with!
  
  We ask volunteers to help the equivalent of 4 days out of every 7 days that you are staying, we'll make mutually agreeable arrangements with you by email before you come. If you are staying for a short time we can alter the number of days so you can get the most from your time with us.
  
  We try to spend time helping alongside volunteers, but volunteers also need to be happy to do tasks on their own. There may be additional volunteering and social opportunities available during your stay, eg on our monthly volunteer workdays that are open to the local community, or with other Trust members working on the land.
  
  We provide meals on the days that you are volunteering. We ask people to self-cater on non-volunteering days. We provide basic provisions for self catered meals eg rice, pulses. There are two local shops for volunteers to get any additions they might want to this. There is a fully equipped kitchen in the Trust barn that you will have access to. This is a beautiful corner of Wales and there is plenty to explore during your free time. We can lend maps and provide information on local sites of interest.
  
  Phil and I tend to work all days equally, making no exceptions for weekends. Especially during the hay making season work can go on until late into the evening, but we will always try to ensure that there is adequate time to rest, explore the area etc.
  
  We are open to other volunteering arrangements, especially overwinter if people are looking for somewhere to stay for a bit longer. Get in touch if you would like to do something different to the above.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Welsh: Intermediate

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  Accommodation

  Single volunteers or couples usually stay in a small touring caravan. This has a solar electric light, USB charge point and a small wood burner. Please note we do not have accommodation (other then camping) for larger groups / families.
  
  We have space for live in vehicles if that is how you are travelling. Let us know if you are willing to camp, this might mean you can still come and stay when our usual accommodation is occupied
  
  All volunteers have access to the Red Barn, which has a fully equipped kitchen and a Rayburn for heating. It also has compost toilets and a solar shower.
  
  We have an off-grid electricity system (solar and wind). Electricity can be limited during the winter. Mobile phones etc can be charged using a usb charger. We have a phone line and can provide wifi access.
  
  We have a spring for water. Some water awareness is necessary year round, but especially during extended dry periods (though the spring has never run dry yet!).
  
  Generally, shared meals are eaten with us in our house or in the Trust's Roundhouse. We aim to eat mostly organic, locally produced, seasonal food. Most of the vegetables and fruit, all of the meat and most of the dairy we eat is home grown.
  
  For us, our home grown produce is an integral part of our sustainable living practice and that includes produce from our animals (for example, using animal fats for cooking means we buy in very little oil). Whilst we can cater vegetarian (or vegan), we really appreciate it when volunteers are willing to embrace more or all of our food offering. We eat less meat in the summer, therefore we are happy to cater vegetarian / vegan March - Oct if required. Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements eg vegan, gluten free before you arrive.

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  What else ...

  We are situated on the edge of a beautiful valley that was once the heart of the Welsh Woolen industry. The National Woollen Museum is located in the nearby village of Drefach Felindre.
  
  There is a good network of footpaths in the local area to explore and we are about 15 miles away from the stunning Cardigan Bay coast.
  
  There is a bus link roughly every hour from Drefach Felindre (1.5 miles from the farm) to Cardigan or Carmarthen.

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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 have a broadband connection though speeds are quite slow. Wifi is accessible a short way outside of our home via an extender. There isn't room inside our house for people to work. There is reasonable O2 reception if you use phone hotspot to work.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Note our track is narrow with over hanging trees so access for very wide or high vehicles is limited. Long wheelbase transit or equivalent size can access the site.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  4 days per week

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