Homesteading and enjoying life deep in the forest in Agunnaryd, southern Småland, Sweden

Details

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  Description

  Hi!
  We, Emelie and Napoleon, live on a small private farm. It's the classic Swedish little red cottage on the edge of the forest, in the land of many lakes. We just moved here in August last year, so we're looking for help to build a self sufficient little homestead in the middle of deep Småland forest. We really love our life at Enebacken, we are living our dream! We have (so far..); a dog, a cat, chickens and rabbits. We love the feeling of community with other people near by, and in our big friendship circle. Agunnaryd is a very active and living village. The founder of IKEA grew up here and his spirit and legacy lives on.
  
  Emelie is at home mostly, without a car, and travels usually by bike and moped. Main interests besides the farm life, is SUP - paddleboarding. Sometimes does longer paddles over a few days, with camping. Gardener, baker and home maker, loves to eat and cook delicious food.
  
  Napoleon is the breadwinner of the family, and works with educating people how to safely work a chainsaw and other machinery, among other stuff. A mechanic, woodsman, fisherman and barbeque master.
  
  We are both involved in the recovery community, so we do not want you to use any drugs (including alcohol) during your stay here. We welcome anyone in recovery, and anyone open minded really.
  
  We are a private homestead and are only producing for our own consumption.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Self development

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Farming

  

  Photography

  

  Music

  

  Writing

  

  Plant care

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Carpentry

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Animals

  

  Water sports

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling

  

  Camping
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We love the outdoors! And we'd love to introduce you, if you are new to it. We appreciate the natural world and have much respect for anything living. The local community is friendly and welcoming, but we live outside of the village with no neighbours. We often have friends over, and welcome you to sit around the fire with us.
  
  We have a broad range of knowledge to share with you - for example gardening in general and growing veggies in particular, baking sourdough bread, preserving stuff for winter, picking wild stuff, caring for the animals, handling fire wood, and other tasks depending on interest and skill.
  
  We love to have exchange with people with different backgrounds and experiences, and have a lot of previous experience from hosting volunteers and being a volunteer. To us, it's a gift to get to travel through other people without having to leave the farm!

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  Help

  Some of the tasks that we may need your help with is just every day chores around the homestead, f.ex. baking, cooking, cleaning, cutting grass, light painting, lawn mowing, animal care (feeding, watering, cleaning, cuddling), help with creating the vegetable garden and greenhouse. We welcome initiative and creativity!
  
  You will help both independently and in team with one or both of us. We will as much as possible try to fit the tasks to the person, depending on interest, talent and skill set. We welcome you to teach us stuff in return, let's get knowledge rich together!
  
  We need you to know that we do keep animals for meat, and sometimes it's time to slaughter. You do not have to participate, just be aware that it occurs. We will struggle to accommodate a vegan diet, but we eat a lot of plant based stuff too.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Swedish: Fluent
  Arabic: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  We are very open to speakers of any language really. We enjoy the exchange and learning through interaction.
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  Accommodation

  You will stay in your own room on the workshop loft, or in a cosy caravan on the property. It's simple, rustic and comfy. We usually do big breakfast, get to work, and then have the next meal in the late afternoon together and take turns at cooking. You prepare breakfast and snacks by yourself. We will provide staples and fresh foods. The forest is also our pantry, rich with berries and mushrooms, depending on the season.
  
  Bathroom is available in the house, limited access to hot water. In the summertime we usually go regularly to the lake to bathe. You are going to get dirty and sweaty, there's bugs, critters, dust and spider webs. We are living in nature! You will have to be a bit hardened, or at least be willing to get there in the process. :)

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  What else ...

  In your time off you can take a bike ride to the lake a few km away, there´s a little beach. There's also a smaller lake within walking distance. Fishing is allowed in the lakes for a small fee. There's a couple of canoe rental places near and plenty of connecting waters to go for adventures on. We have some camping equipment you can borrow, if you want to do an over nighter camping thing. We live in the forest, with miles and miles of wonderful forest trails just around the corner, and plenty of beautiful nature within walking and biking distance. Picking berries and mushrooms is a possibility most of the summer/early fall. You can visit the local little shop 4,6 km away, it has most necessities. It comes with a café (free coffee!) and an ice cream bar in the summer. You can take the bus to either Ljungby or Älmhult - which are the closest small towns. We live 3,6 km from the nearest bus stop, and it doesn't traffic on weekends. Växjö (big city) is also possible to reach, but a bit more complicated.
  
  We live a quite simple and fulfilling life, a lot of creative tasks, self sufficiency goals, and sourcing materials in order to achieve that. We like company and socialising and exchanging experiences and we also cherish our privacy, and respect yours. We will expect you to be independent in your free time. Be aware that we have very limited internet access, we can offer hotspot from our phones when possible. Reception fluctuates from acceptable to poor. Perfect place to do a digital detox!

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  Electricity available

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  

  Bun buns

  

  Say Geese!

  Baby geese, 3 of them. Growing so fast, and are 1 month old now. Still our babies. We love to bring them to the lake to swim in the BIG water. They love it too!

  

  Sven

  

  Helena

  Sweet rottweiler girl, 6 years old.

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