Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 2 days
Feedback
4
Email verified
Badges (1)
Details
Description
Cottage Build 2022 / 2023
- GARDEN, GREENHOUSE, & FOOD FOREST: We have a partially-underground 8x14 greenhouse that needs to be completed (insulation, thermal mass, shelving, planting). Our food forest is transitioning into a perennial garden and combining with our hugelkulture garden. A new food forest is in the works.
- RUNNING WATER: We have running water, but we want to streamline our setup including adding an underground cistern.
- ROCKET MASS HEATER BUILD: Somehow we survived the past 3 winters with an incomplete heat source. We will rectify this by completing our rocket mass heater. We are 95% complete as of mid-November 2020 (enough to heat the house). We will now finish the remaining 5%.
- CONSTRUCTION: We will be finishing siding the barn, carpentry projects in the house and elsewhere, including lots of built-in shelving--pantry, library, bathroom, etc.
- COB / EARTHEN PLASTER: We still have interior & exterior cobbing/earthen plaster to do
- OTHER PROJECTS: We still have numerous other projects around the homestead, including (but not limited to): extending our food forest (clearing forest, planting more trees and berry/nut bushes, general gardening), firewood acquisition, etc.
- OFF-GRID LIVING: Lots of daily chores including feeding goats, rabbits, & chickens, firewood, "normal" household chores like cooking & cleaning, etc.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our family is constructing our home using natural building methods--timber framing, round wood framing, straw bale in-fill, cob, etc. Our off-grid homestead features sustainable living--solar power, passive solar home, greenhouse, food forest, hugelkulture, composting. Our lifestyle is sustainable by using locally-sourced building materials--trees, rocks, and clay from the build site, locally milled lumber, used windows and doors, used local slate for roofing. We encourage our volunteers to work with us in design and construction methods. We don't know everything, so we listen to the wealth of knowledge others have and implement solutions immediately.
Help
General homestead tasks--daily chores, firewood acquisition, etc.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
We have a guest room that sleeps 2. We also have a loft for an adventurous person. Bedding provided.
We will provide meals. We have a privy as well as some composting toilets.
We HAVE RUNNING WATER NOW!!!
Internet and Wi-Fi!!
We have electric lights with switches! We have charging stations for devices, and a functioning inverter (so household power is available) too!
We are still in THE PROCESS of building our home, so along with the ruggedness of our home it is also a construction zone.
If this isn't your cup of tea, that's totally understandable. Check back in a few months to see where we're at.
What else ...
We are in the heart of the Green Mountains with the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail only a few minutes away sporting Vermont's second highest Peak--Killington Peak. Our property is 31 acres of heavily forested hills with streams, boulders, and plenty of wildlife. Hiking and exploring are strongly recommended. Skiing, snowboarding & snowshoeing available. There is an abundance of streams, lakes, mountains, and hills nearby. Historic sites. Covered bridges. Farmers markets. Museums.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have both wired and wi-fi internet connections available. The guestroom is practically above the router so the connection is solid. The dining room table is rather large, near major light sources including huge windows, and also close to the router, so there's a really nice work space when it's not meal time.
Space for parking camper vans
We have a couple different parking locations both quiet and near potable water. Some solar access. More solar access can be had with some tree trimming (we want to turn that area into a meadow anyway).
Can possibly accept pets
We have a lab mix and a Great Pyrenees mix who are both very friendly. They get along well with most dogs. We now have a cat too, and he stays upstairs all the time.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 5 hours a day, 5 days a week (usually around 20 hrs)
Feedback (2)
I stayed 10 days with Lara, Mark, their 2 kids, 3 other workawayers and all the animals forming the rest of this lovely group.
The main tasks were to build by hand an extension to… read more
**Building a house by hand. Setting up a solar grid. Foster parents. Bio parents. Cooking yummy freshness from the locals. Church goers. Hikers. Carpenters. Engineers. Teachers. Heroes.
**This all means they need as much help finishing the house ASAP before winter.
I had a great… read more
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Accuracy of profile:
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Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(4.0)
I stayed 10 days with Lara, Mark, their 2 kids, 3 other workawayers and all the animals forming the rest of this lovely group.
The main tasks were to build by hand an extension to… read more
**Building a house by hand. Setting up a solar grid. Foster parents. Bio parents. Cooking yummy freshness from the locals. Church goers. Hikers. Carpenters. Engineers. Teachers. Heroes.
**This all means they need as much help finishing the house ASAP before winter.
I had a great… read more
