Join our family and help on our off-grid eco homestead in La Torre de l'Espanyol, Spain

Details

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  Description

  We're a small family of three on a finca in rural Catalunya, Spain, in a very remote and rural location in the province of Tarragona, trying to set up a homestead with self-sufficient garden and farm. We speak German, English, Spanish and Catalan fluently and can communicate in Italian and French as well. Our daughter will be 3 years old this Summer.
  
  Our land has mainly olive trees with highly eroded, heavy soil and very little rainfall, so we face many challenges in setting up self-sufficiency. These challenges must be met with creativity and intelligence as well as humor and accepting failure.
  Our idea is to create both food sources and habitat for us and wildlife (or at least without negatively affecting wildlife), as well as recovering the olive production on this previously abandoned land. Our means are fairly simple, no large machines, no large monetary investments and no chemical treatments for plants. We agree with the principles of permaculture.
  For building and other projects we use mainly recycled materials. In day to day life we try to cycle as much as possible (composting, water, upcycling) and create as few wastes as possible.
  
  If this resonates with you we'd be happy to get to know you. We're always in need for extra hands, especially if you can manage simple projects on your own and enjoy being away from it all. This may be a good opportunity for you to find out if this kind of life is for you, if you're considering buying something in this or a similar region. We live very simply without luxuries but can enjoy a traffic free, natural environment with fresh air, lovely night skies and the chance to have a meaningful existence. We invite you to have a look.
  
  We are omnivores but are happy to accommodate vegetarians and vegans who can tolerate our dietary choices. We do raise some of our animals for meat and this is part of our lives here, so please be aware of this in any case.
  
  Our family is completed by several animals that live with us: several chickens and ducks, two dogs, several cats and in the future rabbits and quail, possibly pigeons...

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  One of us is native to Catalunya and can give insight into the mentality and culture of local people as well as helping with the language.
  
  Both of us have traveled to and lived in various countries around the world, so we are open and accustomed to a variety of cultures, foods and ways of life.
  
  One of us has worked extensively in building movie sets, so has worked with many materials and tools and is an all round handyman, and also a passionate painter, happy to share his knowledge.
  The other one is a trained physicist, yoga teacher, qigong teacher, meditator and highly interested in developmental models/integral theory and the power of the mind, happy to have philosophical, scientific or fun discussions - also about permaculture, plants, worms and all that good stuff of course ;)

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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

  Help needed will always depend on the season, immediate needs and your abilities and affinities. In general the main categories of help needed are: Animals, Building, Childcare and Gardening.
  
  Due to the ongoing drought and other priorities and problems with wild bores we're currently not particularly invested in gardening, but we are planning for the future so things like processing compost, creating garden beds or readying the area where that could take place, taking care of the young trees we've planted and taking care of the limited space in our raised bed are possible tasks for the garden... Also in spring we'll need to do some olive pruning.
  
  Concerning animals there are many day-to-day tasks, including harvesting eggs, helping with the incubation of eggs, feeding the cats and doing maintenance on the shelters or helping build new ones.
  We also cull our own animals and eat the meat and if this is something that interest you and the timing is right you can also help with that. If you're against it we will avoid culling during your stay.
  
  Building projects are what we will be focused on mainly this year. This may include helping build an outdoor kitchen, outdoor chill-out area, building cages/enclosures for animals like quail or rabbits, replacing roofing material, preparing and/or putting up fencing for the future garden, putting in a tile floor for our porch - in all cases usually making use of upcycled or natural materials as much as possible...
  
  ...All of it depends on the current list of priorities - to know what's up next, please contact us.
  
  Other things you can help with are cooking and helping with the little one, if this is something you enjoy doing. We're open to have workaways who prefer to spend time with our daughter to free up time for ourselves to work, but it must be something you like doing. She speaks English, German, Catalan and understands Spanish.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  Catalan: Fluent
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent
  French: Intermediate
  Italian: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  I would like to learn Mandarin My partner could use some practice with English and we both could use practice with French and Italian
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  Accommodation

  Accomodation is a small (5m diameter) yurt with a double bed inside - ideal for singles or couples. The yurt has an outdoor composting toilet. An outdoor cooking area might be built with your help perhaps but you can use the cooking area we have on our terrace.
  
  It will be up to you to eat with us or make your own food. We generally only cook once a day, in the evening. For breakfast and lunch we have cereals or bread and snacks/fruits/leftovers respectively. You are welcome to our fresh eggs, produce from the garden (not always abundant) and market bought veggies of which there is usually more than enough. If you eat meat we can all share the same meals or if you prefer you can tell us what you need and within reason we can try to provide it. Bare in mind that in this rural area selection is not very large.
  If you are vegetarian/vegan we won't be able to share all our meals, though certainly some.
  We can cook for you or we can alternate cooking or you can cook for yourself separately. We can eat together or you can choose to eat on your own if you prefer. We're flexible.
  
  During the months of April and November nights can be a bit cooler. The Yurt does not have a wood burner but we can provide a gas heater that can bridge the cold hours of the morning and evening before the sun warms things up.
  
  Please note this is not a luxury accommodation and you will be living in a very rustic environment

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  What else ...

  In your spare time you can hang out at our little water hole, provided the water keeps flowing despite the regional drought, hike through the campo or explore nearby villages. The Ebro river is about 10km away where there is kayaking and a natural reserve to explore as well. In the natural park of Mont Sant not far away there are climbing areas. In the nearby villages there are outdoor swimming pools open during the summer months. The beach is a bit over an hour drive from our place.
  
  For most of these activities you will need your own vehicle. If you come by train you will be more limited with free time activities, since we are quite remote and don't often leave the land if it can be helped.
  There's a train from Barcelona that stops close by where we can pick you up if you don't have a car.
  
  If you do come with your own vehicle please note that our roads aren't kept very well by the municipalities and you might encounter ruts, rocks on the road and plants that can come in contact with your car while driving up to our place. While a 4x4 is not necessary, it's a 20 minutes country road to our place so for some cars this may not be favorable. Please inquire further if you are thinking about coming with your own car so we can give you more details over a phone call.

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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 possibly accept pets

  We have two dogs and many cats and often young chicken so whatever pet you bring has to be able to get along with those. Our dogs can be territorial especially with alpha male dogs, but usually get along with others fairly well.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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