Help us with permaculture and other outdoor projects in the village of Azenhas Do Mar, Sintra, Portugal

Details

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  Description

  ** Currently we are only hosting people travelling and living in their own vehicles. If you have your own van, get in touch! **
  
  Located in the beautiful village of Azenhas Do Mar, within the stunning region of Sintra, our quinta is an exhausted vineyard overlooking the beach. This is our land regeneration & building restoration project using permaculture principles & sustainable methods. If you like to surf and work hard… this is the place for you.
  
  We moved from the UK (London) to Azenhas Do Mar in 2016 to restore and develop an historic building and it’s land in this beautiful village. We have 2 acres of steep exhausted vineyard and a lot of ideas on how to regenerate the land with different zones and areas built using the principles of permaculture, including medicinal gardens; food forests; perennial vegetable gardens; olive grove and prairie. For now however the land is mostly covered in the infamous ‘invasive’ cane of the area – Aurundo Donax – which our chickens happily nest in.
  
  There are 2 of us working on the land every day, with fixed daily tasks and specific ongoing projects. In the past years we’ve designed and refined our land plans; built and planted our vegetable beds; planted our food forest; set-up our compost sites; built organic architectural fences; and organised rain water collection/storage sites.
  
  We surf, so when the waves are good we put down our tools and go get some waves.
  
  Our larger ongoing projects include restoring our dry stone boundary walls; constantly developing our irrigation network; removing & harvesting areas of cane and building with it; landscaping; helping our grape vines to thrive; planting and taking clippings and soil improvement; etc.
  
  Ongoing day to day jobs include seed saving; cane chipping; collecting mulch; keeping the land tidy; watering; moving materials; path clearing; tending to our chickens; rhyzhome digging, and biocharring (when possible), etc
  
  We require volunteers who are fit and strong, most of the work you will be doing will be labour intensive but it can be done at your own speed. We also require people who have specific skills in trades such as carpentry; plumbing/hydro; building & construction; engineering; metal working; electrics (both off & on grid); etc.
  
  We have a 5 hour working day schedule, 5 days per week. The hours can be split given each days needs and potential (weather conditions, etc). Your own cooking and house management are outside of the work day schedule.
  
  We have a compost toilet and an outdoor shower area. Currently we are only hosting people travelling and living in their own vehicles.
  
  There is a bus stop directly next to us, which will transport you to/from Sintra (and onto Lisbon) or any of the other local surf spots (Praia Das Macas, Praia Grande, etc).
  
  We require volunteers for a minimum 2-3 week stay, but will give preference to those that can stay longer (following a 1 week trial period – good for you/ good for us). We do not provide insurance, so we suggest you take this responsibility yourself. As a minimum, if you are a European citizen you should travel with your free EHIC card which will honor you emergency medical care should you need it.
  
  We speak English, and are trying hard to learn Portuguese. If you're able to help us with that we'll be forever grateful!
  
  If you like to work hard and care about the work you do, have a good sense of humour, a wise head, and love the sea and beach, then our project is the one for you.
  
  Cheers! Dean & Alex

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  General Maintenance
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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

  Besides benefiting from this amazing coastal location, you will learn skills in permaculture, gardening, bio-diversity, organic food production, syntropy, and building techniques, as well as basic farm management. In addition, branding marketing and event organisation.

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  Help

  We have a 5 hour working day schedule, 5 days per week. The hours can be split given each days needs and potential (weather conditions, etc). Your own cooking and house management are outside of the work day schedule.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Portuguese: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  We're keen to learn Portuguese fluently! Any help with that would be greatly appreciated!!!
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  Accommodation

  During summertime we have tents, and a communal camping area and provide all camping equipment. Currently during the colder months we are only hosting people travelling and living in their own vehicles. We offer free electricity and water hook-up, as well as a weekly food budget p/person.

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  What else ...

  If you're not already aware of Sintra, google it - there is so much to see and do in this amazing area. We are also only a 40 minute drive to the centre of Lisboa.

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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

  We have free electricity and water for you, as well as a great view to park in front of.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Let us know about your pet. We have cats, chickens and ducks, so we all have to get along....

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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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