Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Last replied
28 Jan 2024
Reply rate
100.0 %
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Details
Description
We are a young family, Sheran and Claire both in our mid 30s who recently moved to an offgrid property in rural Portugal, where we live with our 2 cats, a small herd of goats and livestock guardian puppy. We were joined by our daughter Sophia in 2022, who was born at home.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
There are lots of opportunities to learn about animal care and gardening and to get a sense of living this kind of lifestyle. You can also learn more about the day to day tasks, such as milking the goats, walking them in the surrounding areas, soap making, fermenting and preserving and other handy skills.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
For 2 weeks in August beginning on the 21st we are focusing on cutting and stacking firewood ready for the winter. We rotate our goats around the land using electric fencing and cut down pine trees for them to eat. Once the goats have been moved, we remove the stripped trees for firewood and strim any remaining undergrowth to make the property fire safe and to encourage a more diverse range of plants to regrow for the goats to browse on next year. There are also other tasks, such as fencing in the garden, building a chicken tractor, mucking out the goat barn and working in the garden.
Ideally we are looking for help from another young family or couple who understand the demands of caring for a young child and who are interested in moving to Portugal or starting their own off grid homestead. We are also open to individuals coming to stay, but realize the property is quite secluded and my partner and I are both usually busy in the afternoons.
The forest clearing work would mainly be from 7am in the morning and then we will all share lunch together before I go to work online in the afternoons. This could be flexible though depending on your morning routine or how you like to structure your work, if people want to finish earlier in the mornings and work on other projects in the afternoon, we're also very open to that. It would be great if one person could help in the forest and another help to take care of the lighter tasks such as work in the garden or in the house and being open to childcare. Afternoons and evenings would be free and we are happy to cook dinners too.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
We have a large 3x3.5m canvas tent for camping (and a smaller 3 man tent if needed too), with a double bed and mattress for workawayers and have plenty of space for campervans on the property too.
The property is completely off grid, no phone signal or internet and hot water for baths is from a wood burning stove. Wifi is available in the town of Oleiros which is about a 10 minute drive away. We do have solar power and so charging things during the day is not a problem.
We love cooking delicious food, with produce from the garden whenever possible. We eat meat and it would be easiest for meal preparation if volunteers did too, but working as Yoga retreat chefs, we also know how to prepare lots of good vegetarian dishes too.
What else ...
On weekends there is the possibility to go to the local markets, visit nature spots or other towns/ cities nearby. We like to spend our free time reading, playing with our daughter, watching movies, chatting, playing chess or with crafts. We spend lots of time at the local river beach during the summer which is about a 10 minute drive away and perfect for escaping the heat!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
