Young family in the foothills of Serra da Estrela, Coimbra, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  *SEEKING A QUINTA SITTER FOR 4 NIGHTS END OF MARCH, BEGINNING APRIL*
  Responsible for feeding animals, letting them out of their houses each morning and closing in the evening. The rest of the time is yours.
  
  
  
  
  *Also seeking long term people to share the land with*
  
  *Good road access*
  
  We are in the process of setting up our quinta (small farm) for self-sufficiency, we would also like to produce enough food to exchange locally. We are creating growing spaces based on the ideas of synergistic gardening among other designs using Permaculture principles in setting up all systems. We are lucky enough to already have existing fruit trees and olives as well as nuts, always planting more.
  
  I am in the process of setting up and expanding a mini food forest using the established trees on one of the terraces, this is an interesting project if you want to learn about food forest. The woodlands around us burned in the fires of October 2017 but already lots of good size native trees growing up so we like to help maintain this and would like to be part of reforesting more of this area with natives species.
  
  We have some happy chickens for delicious eggs and meat, we are about to work on getting sheep and/or goats. We also have some less helpful but very enjoyable animals; 2 dogs and 2 cats; Chica, Indie, Pulga and Rolla.
  
  We have been busy rebuilding the barn into a house which we now live in (still not finished) other building projects we need help with are completing our bathroom and terrace and setting up animal fencing, we would also eventually like to build a natural swimming pool and some small wildlife ponds and rock beds.
  
  A bit about us - Leah is passionate about food and soil, loves animals and working with nature. Andre is a skilled tree surgeon and we are both keen to be part of reforesting our local area with native species. Andre is Portuguese and grew up in this area but lived in the UK for 11 years, me (Leah) I am English, after some visits to Portugal we decided to start a new life here. A year later our son Oscar was born, he is now 3 years old and shares our love for being outdoors. We have friends around, a good mix of people from all over the world. We are in our 30's but welcome people of all ages and backgrounds.
  
  Check out the photos at the bottom of this page to get a feel of what its like here and we have some photos of trips out that we regularly do such as Tabua market and mountains, lakes and river beaches.
  
  We are a friendly and sociable family, enjoying the company of others but also enjoy having a peaceful space to relax in. Our quinta is on the edge of a well populated and community orientated village so you will experience being part of a traditional Portuguese community and get to practice Portuguese. You will also meet other like minded friends and see other similar projects, visiting beautiful local sites and going on adventures.
  
  We eat all types of food and love to taste foods from around the world, we generally have quite a traditional but varied diet so if you stay then you need to be ok with the fact that we eat meat (which we try to source as ethically and locally as possible as well as produce ourselves) We also eat plenty of vegetarian and vegan meals so we can cater for vegetarians but not every day so sometimes you may have to cook a separate meal or just not eat the meat part of the meal, we always have plenty of veggies in our meals.
  
  We are off grid so you must be happy with this very basic lifestyle, we have an outdoor compost toilet and you can have a hot shower in our luxury unfinished bathroom.
  
  Campervans, couples, families and children also welcome.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve

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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We can offer you experience in sustainable ways of growing food, knowledge of soil and plant health, cooking tasty meals with fresh seasonal produce, preserving and fermenting, how to safely use tools including a chainsaw (optional), visiting beautiful places and being part of the local community, tasting Portuguese life authentically and meeting people from all over the world.

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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

  We need help with setting up more growing spaces, animal housing, etc. We will eventually have animals to help care for and we have Oscar to play with, plus the dogs.
  On top of the quinta tasks we also expect guests to take on their fair share of tasks such as cooking and domestic duties. We expect guests to be clean, tidy and mindful of others space.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Fluent

  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

  Camping tent
  Use of house kitchen/living room outdoor terrace and bathroom.

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  What else ...

  Visit local markets, see the mountains, rivers beaches, go walking and explore a beautiful area. Near by towns are Seia, Oliveira do hospital and Tabua. There is a bus from the village but we can offer lifts when we are going into town.

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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

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  25

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