From: Ireland
Couple account
Ireland, Spain
31/12/2017 - 01/06/2020
247
We are an Irish couple and have been doing workaways in Galicia, Spain for over 3 years now.
Our first Workayway was in Kilruddery House in Ireland in July 2017 where we enjoyed feeding pigs, geese and chickens aswell as mucking out their coops and collecting eggs for the farmers market.
We also harvested edible flowers, fruits, vegetables and lettuces for the kitchen.
Mike herded sheep frequently. There was a lot of weeding and planting seeds in the public (walled) garden every day. Mike helped set up the greenhouse to grow tomatoes.
Our first Workaway in Spain was in O Grove in October 2017 in a music venue called Nautico.
We enjoyed helping out in the bar, maintaining the grounds and preparing a local restaurant for its grand opening.
We decided to move to Cotobade near Pontevedra to work on a typical Galician stone house that needed a lot of work. Mike power washed the entire exterior as it was black and dark green from years of Galician rain. Victoria weeded a massive garden and brought it back to life. The lawn was 4 foot high in places so Mike spent days strimming it, then two days of lawnmower to get it down to a normal level. We continued to maintain the gardens for months after.
We also painted the interior of the house white using rollers with extensions, as there was some smoke damage. The ceilings were very high but it was worth the effort in the end.
We then went to A Lama to do similar work but mainly landscaping. The property had 3 houses that were renovated using recycled items found around the place. We maintained the grounds there for 4 months and looked after the chickens and cats.
We did a lot of tyding up there and stayed in a bus that was converted into a strawbale house. Mike turned a massive pile of stones and old wood into a nice walled seating area. It was an experience.
Victoria has incorporated Spanish ingredients and styles to the recipes she already has and always looking to improve her cooking skills. Making fresh pizza, bread and cakes are a few of her new specialities.
The local meat, fish and vegetables in Galicia are of great quality as well as affordable and although Irish food can be more expensive, there is more of a variety of imported goods to choose from. She is looking forward to bringing what she has learned from Spain back to Ireland and hoping to start a culinary career, as so far she is self taught and is now more than ever hungry to learn more from others :-)
Victoria would like to learn more about planting from seed and seasonal growing.
We are very hands on and open to learn anything new, especially if it is for everyone's benefit.
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Farmstay
Other
Help with Eco project
Help in the house
Animal care
Helping with Tourists
Language practice
Art project
Help with Computers / internet
Teaching
Wood Cutting
Painting
Cooking
Food preparation
Gardening
Music
Carpentry
Building
Sound Engineering
Basic Electronics (Mike likes to repair his own Electronics)
Mechanics
Photography
Video Editing
Graphic Design
Craft Design
English, very basic Spanish and Irish.
40 & 32
Irish
Victoria is enjoying using Galician ingredients in her cooking and is interested in learning new recipes, especially bread making and all kinds of baking.
Victoria is also interested in animal massage and general grooming.
We also have a power washer,
Mike has an interest in mecahnics and basic electronics. Mike also works online trading for a few hours everyday. He is studying to be a Technical Analysist of the Financial Markets.
We both enjoy photography.
Smoker
Driver's licence
Allergies
No
Special dietary requirements
No
