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MID-LONG TERM STAYS PREFERRED!
Hello everyone, we are a family of five, myself Gea, my husband Lauro and three young kids (almost 7, almost 5 years and 1 year old). We live on our small farm up the Pratomagno mountain, in a less known and wild part of Tuscany, in the central Appennines . Our farm's main activity is beekeeping, but we also have a flock of egg laying chickens and are increasing our currently tiny berry plantation. For our own family needs, we grow a vegetable garden.
Lauro works on the farm/homestead project 100%, he has been an organic beekeeper for 10 years, and is a talented handyman, with special skills in carpentry. He is always busy with some building, fixing or renovation work inside and outside the house. In addition to taking care of the children and helping out in our farm project, I work from home for national and international research and development organization in the field of organic agriculture and agrobiodiversity. I am bilingual Italian/English (my mother is South African), and the kids are too but we’d love them to get more English practice beyond what they get with me.
We have two cats and a lovely dog, Timo, who lives outdoors and can’t wait for someone to go on walks with him.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Interests
Sustainability
Farming
Music
Plant care
Carpentry
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Hiking
Outdoor activities
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Mountain
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
By spending some time with us you could be immersed in a very different experience from that of post-card Tuscany, but possibly very rewarding in terms of contact with nature and small-scale farming as well as with a small but vibrant community of other young families (some of which are fellow farmers or artisans).
Au Pair Help
Further details can be found here
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
Ideally we would like someone to stay with us from Setpember/October 2025 to the end of the year, but possibly, if we all get on well with one another, even longer
We are looking for one person to help with babysitting and creative play for our youngest child, who we prefer keeping at home until she is at least 18 months old (which will be spring 2026).
. Working hours would be 9AM to 2PM from Monday to Friday, while Gea (mother) works remotely from her computer either from home or from the local library. Afternoons would be free, or if you'd like, you could participate in any family, farm or social activities.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Accommodation
You will stay in a private room with a double bed, bedside tables and storage space at the top floor of the house. On the ground floor, there is a fully equipped second bathroom which can be for your private use and is only a few steps down from your room.
We like cooking but we are also very happy to taste new recipes if you also enjoy sharing your cooking skills! We have no dietary restrictions and prefer to host volunteers who are willing/able to eat a varied diet (ours is not rich in meat and mostly based on local/seasonal products) with not too many limitations. While we fully respect personal choices and needs, we wish to be able to share meals as easily as possible! We don't routinely drink alcohol but enjoy a beer or glass of wine every now and again or when we have friends visiting. We would prefer not to host smokers, even if they would be smoking out of the house.
What else ...
In your free time there are plenty of walks you could take to explore the mountain, the small towns which are scattered all around and the communities living here. A big plus in spring/summer (some brave visitors from the North of Europe have tried it in the winter too!) is the local Ciuffenna river, with lots of good bathing spots one of which you can reach on foot walking through the woods in 15 minutes. It has lovely cool water and pools to swim in.
Our house is connected to Loro Ciuffenna with a daily bus service (albeit with few runs). We can drive you down to Loro Ciuffenna from where you can catch public transport to other towns of the Valdarno valley as well as to the larger cities of Florence, Arezzo and Siena. However, you should be aware that getting to places by public transport requires some time and forward planning, because we are located up a mountain, after all!
While this is not common among workawayers, having your own car would certainly be a plus for you to be able to spend independent time out of the house without depending on lifts from us. You could visit the sites that are in the vicinity but not walking distance, make new friends beyond those of our family circle as well as get to the train station at the time that suits you best, for spending a full day exploring bigger cities which are best reached by train than by car.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We are happy to find a good spot for your van around the house. This will more likely be a spring/summer option since winters are cold and often windy (snow too).
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
My animals / pets
Timo
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