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Help develop a self sustainable permaculture farm in Hrvatska Kostajnica, Croatia

Croatia
Last activity : 6 Jul 2026

Profile information

Host rating

100 %
Last replied

27 Dec 2024
Feedback

4
Email verified

Country info

If you are not an EU Citizen and planning to visit Croatia to work, volunteer or study, YOU WILL NEED THE CORRECT VISA. To find out more information please contact the embassy in your home country BEFORE travelling.

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Availability

2026

Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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What's this?

Details

Description

UPDATE 2021: My house got damaged in a recent earthquake and it's not safe to live, so I temporarly moved out and won't be hosting for the forseable future.

I'm developing a farm with focus on permaculture, usage of natural materials, cultivation of eco friendly food, energy efficiency and self sustainability.

I bought the house and surrounding land a year ago and moved in. The house and the land haven't been used for years so currently most of the help consists of clearing the land, putting up a garden, cleaning and renovating the house. The house is in a very poor state, I'm renovating it and making it better each day with the help of workawayers.

Since one of the longterm goals of this project is self sustainability, we are developing habits of living minimalistically - conserving water, electricity and other resources. You will have a great opportunity to learn how to live with less.

In longterm I want to form a small community of people who live here permanently, or regularly come to be part of the collective. Applicants are welcome. I'm also looking for a life partner who will join me in this adventure, applicants are welcome too.

The farm is located near the city of Hrvatska Kostajnica, half an hour on foot (5 minutes with a car) from the beautiful river Una and the border crossing to Bosnia. It's surrounded by wild nature, with lots of birds and other animals... occasionally you can see deers crossing the land.

When ariving to the place you will be welcomed by my friends - a dog named Pipi and her offsprings: Paso, Tipsi and Pablo. They live near the house in dog heaven.
Types of help and learning opportunities

Help with Eco Projects

Light gardening

Creative DIY projects

Animal Care

Farmstay help

Help around the house

Light maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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What's this?
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

I'm still learning myself, we can learn together, I'm happy to share any knowledge I have aquired so far. Also, I can help you learn Croatian, or anything computer related.

You will have plenty of opportunities to visit the local area, get to know the rural customs, walk in the woods, go for a swim in the beautiful river Una or visit Bosnia which is just accross the river.

You will meet my neighbours who are always happy to hang around, share their experiences, offer you wine, rakija or a home made meal.
Help

Help with gardening, clearing the terrain, landscaping, fencing, house maintainance and renovation, taking care of the dogs.

Help me complete the greenhouse, help me build a chicken coop, composting toilet, outside shower.

You'll need working clothes, the chores around the house can get dirty. I can provide some working clothes but I don't have them of every size.
Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Croatian: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

This host offers a language exchange
Aprendo español, hablo bastante para comunicación basica, pero necesito más practica. Puedo ayudarte con croato y inglés. Sin duda vas a aprender la palabra "rakija" :)
Accommodation

Two bedrooms, both with two beds. One of the beds is for two people (a couple, relatives or close friends can share it), but depending on the circumstances, you might be sharing this room with a third workawayer. You can put up a tent or park a campervan on the land.

I offer three meals per day using fresh vegetables from the garden and food bought from the locals. You are free to cook it yourself, or we can cook together. I mostly eat vegetarian, but cooking meat dishes is not a problem. We eat zucchini, beans, eggplants, paprika, cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, and apples from the trees. I provide the rest of the ingredients from the locals or the grocery store but we try to keep it minimalistic. All dietary preferences can be met, including vegetarian, vegan, diabetics and gluten free.

The farm is under heavy development, so some parts of the house still look more like working areas than houserooms. The essentials (electricity, water, toilet, shower, kitchen) are working and I keep the rooms as clean as possible. The state of the house plus the natural setting around, make it a perfect oportunity to experience a semi-robinsonian lifestyle.
What else ...

As a part of the development process I'm experimenting and learning how to use natural and eco friendly resources as much as possible, so you will have the opportunity to learn different applications of natual materials - e.g. how to make eco friendly cleaning liquid and detergent, how to use sheep wool for mulching, cleaning and other purposes, how to make constructions from unprocessed forest wood, extract and work with natural clay...

P.S. I go by the name Pepe
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
Can host digital nomads

I'm a digital nomad myself, working online for more than 10 years. In the house I have ADSL internet connections which is good enough for working, I use it daily for my work. The area in front of the house has Wi-Fi coverage, so you'll have the freedom of working both inside the house and ouside in the nature.
Space for parking camper vans

I have a huge area where many campervans can be parked
Can possibly accept pets

Pets are welcome. I'm taking care of four dogs myself, so I have no trouble having additional pets running arround. Your pet will live outside and love the beautiful nature here.
How many Workawayers can stay?

More than two
My animals / pets

Host ref number: 896786367359

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Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host

Feedback (3)

7 Oct 2020

Left by Workawayer (Peter) for host

My stay was excellent, you really get to experience real Croatian culture and learn how to live more eco friendly and healthier, the neighbours make this workaway extra special with their kindness and generosity. Marko is a fantastic host, very respectable and does not demand too much from you, the work is laid back and enjoyable, you will get to … read more

(Excellent )

31 Aug 2020

Left by Workawayer (Shakeel) for host

I spent almost 2 months at Marko's (Pepe) farm. It was an interesting experience and a nice discovery in many ways. The property was abandoned for many years but a lot of work had already gone into the land and the house which will be largely rebuilt in the future. However, it was a very livable place, especially if you want to experience a … read more minimalistic lifestyle.

Pepe is very organised with an updated list of daily tasks to be carried out individually or in group. Everything is planned transparently and each volunteer can quickly check his/her assigned tasks on their smartphone via Google Docs. Every morning, i would assist Pepe with planning the daily work and prioritising the tasks. This made the work progress more efficient and managing several volunteers easier.

The working hours are fair with weekends off. We would start at 8am sharp and usually stop around noon, as the temperatures would get very hot. Then, we would resume work when the sun went lower in the late afternoon. Pepe is very active and it's not unusual to find him working tirelessly the whole day, so you are welcome to join if you think you can contribute or to further your own learning on some project.

For the food preparations, it was usually done together since it was more efficient. One of the goals of the farm was to eventually be completely self-sustainable. So, every meal was mostly, if not entirely, made from ingredients in the garden, such as zucchini, tomatoes, cucumber, etc.

The farm was a work in progress with various projects under development. Pepe was always open-minded and receptive to new ideas, so any suggestions for possible improvements around the farm or inside the house were taken into consideration. This helped to create a deeper sense of involvement and personal contribution to the place.

During my stay, there were several chickens and ducks which provided eggs regularly. There were also four dogs (Pippi, Paso, Pablo and my favourite, Tipsi) and a new kitten who reminded me of a little jaguar, so we named her, Jaga. They were all part of the family. It takes some time to get to know them and learn about their individual personalities but their unconditional love is the greatest reward.

The neighbours added a special flair to the farm. It was a common sight to have the nearby farmers stroll onto the land, always with a big smile. They would sometimes bring crops harvested from their own land, or even mushrooms collected in the nearby forest. And almost every week, we were invited for rakia at the neighbours. It was customary to greet each other with a shot of rakia, which was a homemade fruit brandy popular in the Balkans.

I have fond memories of our various experiments. Since the farm lifestyle was geared towards living off the land, for example, we tried making our own soap, using ash and then mixing in different natural ingredients, such as clay, which was abundant on the land. We had mixed results but it fit in with our learning-by-doing approach. We also made vinegar from the apples collected on the farm. The rest of the apples were ground for making rakia. From elderberries collected on the property, we made jam. At first, we were not sure about the result but it turned to be surprisingly tasty and became a regular dessert.

Even cooking regular meals was interesting and fun. We had a lot of zucchinis in the garden and we incorporated it in almost every meal, mixed with different ingredients, including herbs from the land, such as nettle and mayflower leaves. The end result was quite tasty. The neighbouring farmers have sheep and often gave away the leftovers; the wool was used to make a natural scourer for washing dishes and the sheep skin was treated with ash and stretched out to dry for making a natural rug.

During the daily break and in the weekends, i would often go to the Una river. I really enjoyed swimming in the clear waters of the river which was shallow in many places so it was easy to walk to the middle of the river where there were some small islands. The locals were quite curious about visitors from other countries. It was a small village with a lot of history due to the war from several decades ago. But the region was peaceful and people were very friendly. The close proximity to Bosnia would make a nice day trip. The Una river acts as the border between Croatia and Bosnia. Sometimes, Pepe would go to Bosnia. On such an occasion, he brought back a Chevapi and Burek - both very delicious regional food to discover!

My advice to anyone who wants to volunteer at this farm is quite straight-forward: if you are just looking for a place to sleep and free food, you will not fit in this community. But if you have (preferably) prior experience working on a farm, otherwise at least personal interests and self-motivation, then you will most likely enjoy the experience of contributing and sharing knowledge whilst living a simple yet fulfilling lifestyle surrounded by nature.

The farm, even though in its beginning stages of development, was quickly improving in terms of its infrastructure but also in building an integral community. In the future, glamping would be added with a focus on touristic activities. This was an ambitious project and truly driven by passion and hard work. I am eager to discover how the farm would evolve on my next visit. Thank you for your friendship and all the great memories. All the best and see you again at the Casa de Pepe!

(Excellent )

25 Jun 2020

Left by host for Workawayer (Marko)

Marko is a friendly, calm and modest person, who loves nature and practices a minimalistic way of living. During his stay he was eager to help and learn new skills, and tought me how to recognise some edible wild plants. His help was just the thing I needed at the moment, and his company enriched my currently solitary life. He has interesting life … read more

(Excellent )

23 May 2020

Left by Workawayer (Marko) for host

Marko is very friendly, active and hard-working person. He practices „learn by doing“ philosophy, which is the way things should be done. Start working and you will learn and gain experience. He has a very nice and excellently positioned piece of land, and a big house with potential for village tourism once it is renovated, or to host a small … read more