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100 %
Last replied
18 Nov 2025
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Description
Hi, I am Bart. I moved to my farm in Portugal in 2022, at the time the land was mostly completely overgrown because of decades of no maintenance. The land is around 31 hectares of which roughly ¾ is forest with many cork oak, oak, and strawberry trees.
Even though a lot of work has been done to clean up and develop the land in the almost 4 years I have been here there are always things on the to-do list. A lot of the tasks that has been done already have been related to water management as water is a precious resource here. Still there are more tasks to do to keep improving more areas of the land to retain more water. I have studied permaculture and am a licensed permaculture teacher.
There is a modest veg garden established which is slowly increasing in size almost every year, and there are already quite a few established fruit trees in the garden giving different fruits all year around. I have been adding different fruit trees to increase the variety of fruit that can be harvested in the future, some are already giving fruits.
My long term vision for the land is something along the lines of an organic (permaculture) farm & artist retreat where people can come and stay short & long term to practice their art discipline without many distractions which you would usually have living your normal life and with beautiful nature around. I enjoy circus arts and like to mostly juggle, contact juggle and slackline, but also have some basic skills in other disciplines.
Volunteering outside will be physically heavy at times, you will likely be tired at the end of the day. You might help out with a lot of different tools and you might get a few blisters along the way, a bit of muscle pain at times isn't uncommon if you aren't used to physical tasks. You need to be OK with these things.
If you plan to do a part-time job on an almost daily basis next to volunteering it probably wont work out so please dont write us if that is your intention. The few volunteers I had doing this couldnt handle the combined work pressure, and where beat every day.
The minimum stay for a volunteer is 4 weeks (no exceptions sorry), longer stays are definitely possible and encouraged.
If you take any type of medication please let me know beforehand, this is because of safety reasons.
I have 4 cats.
If you think you might want to volunteer at my farm please read the rest of our profile before sending a request!
Looking forward to meet you!
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Interests
Fitness
Farming
Animals
DIY & crafts
Outdoor activities
Yoga / Wellness
Art & design
Plant care
Performing arts
Self development
Sustainability
Vegetarian or vegan
Pets
Gardening
Cooking & food
Nature
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You can learn about gardening, permaculture, juggling, slacklining, rural Portugal, and life on a farm. If you want ill give you a little juggling or slacklining workshop to get you started.
Everyone has breakfast on their own but lunch and dinner are always done together. We can sometimes play a game after dinner or just socialize, and usually have a movie night at least 1x a week.
Help
Some of the projects you can expect to do on the farm:
- water management (digging swales, drains)
- weeding
- mulching
- compost related tasks (worm compost)
- making charcoal / biochar
- checking for ripe fruits & vegetables & collecting them
- (help) preparing dinner
- planting seeds/plants/trees
- making terraces & paths
- pruning trees
- making woodchips
If you like cooking and are a good vegetarian cook I might have a position available for you were you would cook dinner 5 times a week and maybe make a salad for lunch sometimes. You would need to come up with the weekly menu yourself (I might have some suggestions sometimes) and provide a shopping list at the start of the week for at least the first 2 or 3 meals. For volunteering it would mean you would spend +-3 hours in the morning outside working on farm related projects and the other +-2 hours would generally be reserved for cooking and planning. If you want to apply for this position be clear about it in your message. This position is available right now.
I am looking for volunteers who are responsible and don't mind physical tasks. I expect 5 hrs of help a day, 5 days a week (mon-fri),
Volunteering is generally from 10h to 13h and from 15h to 17h, when it is really warm the afternoon session could start an hour later.
Some days its possible to start earlier if you would like to and ask beforehand.
A few seasonal tasks I could really use some help with (of course this wont be the only thing you would do in those months):
- January/February/March/April: pruning many small cork trees and strawberry trees.
- October/November: planting 500-1000 cork tree acorns in the forest (and maybe picking strawberry tree berries)
Volunteering outside will be physically heavy at times, you will likely be tired at the end of the day. You might help out with a lot of different tools and you might get a few blisters along the way, a bit of muscle pain at times isn't uncommon if you aren't used to physical tasks. You need to be OK with these things.
If you plan to do a part-time job on an almost daily basis next to volunteering it probably wont work out so please dont write us if that is your intention. The few volunteers I had doing this couldnt handle the combined work pressure, and where beat every day.
You need to have a decent level of spoken English.
The minimum stay for a volunteer is 4 weeks (no exceptions sorry), longer stays are definitely possible and encouraged. Please state in your message how long you would like to stay.
If you are going to write us a message please say the word cheesecake in it, its a little test to see who reads our entire profile an who doesnt. Without it I cant consider your request.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Portuguese: Intermediate
Accommodation
There is a small studio apartment available which is shared by 2 volunteers. There are 2 single beds. The apartment has its own toilet, shower and a small kitchen corner. Camping is possible if you like too.
Things to bring yourself: towel, toothpaste, (bio)soap, few pair of work clothes, good shoes and sun protection (a hat is recommended most of the year!). Rain gear if your visit is between September and April.
Food will be provided 3x a day; breakfast, lunch & dinner. Lunch and dinner are done together.
All food provided will be vegetarian.
What else ...
The farm is situated about 15-20 minutes from the closest beaches by car.
There is a supermarket at walking distance about 20 min one way where there is a bus stop too, although there are very few local busses around here. Odemira center is about a 50 min walk one way.
If you like hiking/walking the surrounding area is great for that, even just in my forest you can go on a nice walk.
In the weekends there are often little markets in the surrounding villages, I visit them sometimes, If I go you can usually catch a ride to join if you want too.
Be prepared to entertain yourself in your free time because besides this there arent to many things around you can do, if you have a car though there are more options available.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
There is a parking for cars or campervans, there is no shade in the parking area.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Mieuw
Kuro
Zelda
Dotty
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (8)
Bart was very fair the work was always intresting and varied,you knew exactly where you stood from day to day ,the process was very organized,Bart is very hard worker that leads by example which made the journey incredible...
Claudia was amazing… read more
The tasks I did consisted mainly of: weeding, mulching, planting trees, pruning, stacking wood, composting, crushing charcoal, digging trenches for the drip system, etc. Whenever possible, Bart… read more
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Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(4.7)
Communication:
(4.9)
Bart was very fair the work was always intresting and varied,you knew exactly where you stood from day to day ,the process was very organized,Bart is very hard worker that leads by example which made the journey incredible...
Claudia was amazing… read more
The tasks I did consisted mainly of: weeding, mulching, planting trees, pruning, stacking wood, composting, crushing charcoal, digging trenches for the drip system, etc. Whenever possible, Bart… read more
I stayed here for 5 weeks and had an amazing time. It was everything I could have hoped.
Working with Bart was nice and varied. He always took the time to explain and teach me things I… read more
They did different jobs outside and basically ran the kitchen for 2 weeks because that was needed, they did a great job at it.… read more
