Jess

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Interested in - Community/ off grid/ eco village/ permaculture/ organic/ vegetable garden/ wild food/ foraging/ herbal medicine/ Ayurveda..

Looking for a long term stay over winter October - March :)

Description

My name is Jess
I have been on Workaway for many years now. I started volunteering with charities, animal sanctuarys and farms while also furthering my interest in gardening and permaculture.

I really enjoy living in off-grid communities and helping with eco projects. I would love to find a conscious community where I could settle for a long time :)
I have volunteered at over 6 different communities focused on permaculture, growing organic vegetables, food preservation and regenerative farming.
This type of volunteering feels very important to me as I was a landscape gardener for over 5 years, which felt like I was working against nature to keep everything perfectly cut and tidy. Now I prefer to let nature be wild and for us to work in harmony with it.

My ultimate goal is quite simple, to have a plot of land to grow organically and work with nature to create a small slice of paradise, for animals and a little community.
Hopefully one day I can escape this materialistic, money fuelled world and live a simple life on the land.

One of my longest Workaways was with a Hare Krishna food charity. Each day we made food for people in London who needed a warm meal. As well as helping with catering for festivals, where we would also give out meals for free.
It was very fulfilling and added to my interest in working with food, baking and sharing meals with others.
I have since volunteered at another Hare Krishna permaculture farm. But also at a Buddhist temple cafe and in their main kitchen. I am very open and interested in different views of life and spirituality.

I really enjoy doing Workaways to learn from others, Immerse myself in communities and to make friends from all over the world.
:)

Interests

Writing

Photography

Mountain

Hiking

Camping

Yoga / Wellness

Plant care

Pets

Nature

Farming

Charity work

Art & design

Animals

Sustainability

Gardening

Music

Cooking & food

Books

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent

More details about my language interests
I would love to learn German!

Find a language partner

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Eco Projects

Charity Work

Languages

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Some knowledge of:  

Life at a Farmstay

Art Projects

Light maintenance

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Able to teach about:  

Light gardening

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Animal Care

Helping around the house

Being an elderly companion

House & pet sitting

More details about your skills

Most of my time has been spent gardening!
I worked in Landscape gardening and garden maintenance for over 5 years.
Then I worked in hydroponic greenhouses for a season, growing peppers and tomatoes.
I spent many months WWOOFing and doing Workaways helping with permaculture projects and growing vegetables.
It is my favourite thing to be surrounded by vegetable plants and herbs!

I also have a diverse experience working with animals.
I started volunteering at an animal sanctuary helping with chickens, rabbits, ferrets, sheep, goats, pigs and horses! During this time I learnt how to give some of the smaller animals their medications, and making sure the bigger animals got the right nutrients and vitamins.
I then went on to volunteer at a Horse and donkey sanctuary. This involved lots of clearing out stables and providing the animals with activities to keep them active and happy!
More recently I helped at a dairy farm over winter. We milked the cows every morning for a few hours, then cleaned the parlour. I also helped with drying off the cows and bolusing each one.
I grew up on farms and I would feed the cows and clean the barns after school. I'm very confident working with cows.
I have had lots of experience with dog walking and dog sitting. I also had a job in Doggy day care.

I have worked in hospitality too. My main job being as Head kitchen porter in a fine dining restaurant. I really enjoyed working in a kitchen, and I enjoyed helping with food prep. I often got a chance to help in the pastry section which is definitely my favourite!
I also helped in the main kitchen in a Buddhist Temple, as well as in their café making hot drinks and preparing food.
During my time volunteering at the food charity in London I often worked in the baking section and made cakes, biscuits and desserts from the food donations.

I have also been helping out my family in renovating a house in France. I have been planning the garden and fixing outbuildings, as well as doing jobs inside like sanding wooden flooring, painting, removing old wooden ceilings and walls.
I also spent lockdown there creating a vegetable garden from scratch, with raised beds from recycled materials.

I can also offer to help with cleaning and any housework and cooking. I have lots of experience with all of these. As well as house sitting and dog sitting.

Age

26

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements