Spencer

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

permaculture, growing food, hiking, snorkeling, swimming, surfing, cycling, camping, beachin', dance music, drinks, local food, learning spanish

Description

Hi I'm Spencer, I'm brand new to workaway.
I'm a licensed Permaculture Design Consultant (PDC), farmer, dry-stone mason and overall lifetime enthusiast of sustainable land projects, restoration and other projects that help us live more symbiotically with the world around us.
I'm also part fish and am always seeking out water. Aquaculture and riparian restoration are some of my favorite projects to work on, and for free time I love floating, river trips, snorkeling, surfing, swimming.
I started and managed an extensive permaculture farm in Hawaii that focused on reclaiming invasive grassland and forest into productive orchard space and market gardens (vegetable & herb production) using non-mechanical methods, goat-dozing, chicken tractors, sheet mulching, etc. I also really enjoyed installing a closed-loop aquaculture pond system connecting our rainwater harvest system, through the fish ponds, all the way to the orchard/ food forest.
I've also established several permaculture style vegetable gardens in the southwest US where I have spent years doing trailwork, restoration, and conservation work.
I'm on workaway because I think this is a good opportunity to travel to new places while providing a work-trade relationship with locals to see a perspective not offered from a fully "tourist" view. I also just really like working with the land, when balanced, it often doesn't feel like "work". I can't think of a better way at grounding yourself than literally getting your hands in the dirt.
Another reason I'm on here, is I am looking to re-locate, so using this as a way to make connections and scout out locations I'm interested in longer term.

Interests

Animals

Outdoor activities

History

DIY & crafts

Culture

Nature

Languages

Water sports

Sustainability

Team sports

Plant care

Music

Mountain

Farming

Gardening

Hiking

Dancing

Cycling

Camping

Cooking & food

Beach

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate

More details about my language interests
I'm currently trying to learn spanish.

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Charity Work

Art Projects

Languages

Being an elderly companion

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Some knowledge of:  

DIY and building projects

Animal Care

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Hospitality/Tourism

General Maintenance

House sitting

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Able to teach about:  

Eco Projects

Teaching

Gardening

Life at a Farmstay

More details about your skills

-10 years Permaculture experience (PDC license)- mostly in Hawaii (Kona coffee belt, wet, sub-tropical), US southwest (low & high desert, montane).
I have mapped out, designed, and implemented permaculture designs on a few different properties in Hawaii, Arizona , and New Mexico, ranging from large vegetable gardens in very arid & windswept locations to a dynamic food forest encompassing a fruit orchard, market vegetable gardens, aquaculture ponds, goats, sheep, chickens, cats, fish, bees on an off-grid setup in Hawaii where I lived for 10 years.

-15+ years organic gardening and garden implementations (montane, desert, temperate, tropical locations), specializing in food production

-15+ years dry stone masonry - Much of this has been involved with trail construction and maintenance (retaining walls, steps, switchbacks, french drains), but a lot also with garden/farm implementations (terraced gardens, stairways, herb spirals, ponds, walls, etc.)

-15+ years saw experience- chainsaw and handsaw work with forest thinning operations, invasive species removal, trail corridor clearing, arborist/ pruning work in orchards & around living spaces

-5 years working in local food distribution (deliveries, in/outs of warehouse packing & sorting, compliance, growing for distribution systems)

-15 years management experience- Most jobs and positions I have held the last 15 years have been management positions requiring teaching and training of others, organization, attention to detail, responsibilities of land, equipment, safety, production. 

Overall, I'm really good at playing in the dirt, working with plants, and building things with rocks. I believe in working with the land instead of fighting it. Growing food and earth-workings of all kinds are projects that I have a lot to offer.

Age

39

What else ...

I have been doing archeology survey work in remote areas of Arizona the last couple of years in addition to some desert gardening and small permaculture installations. I love my job, but the government here is shutting down most work relating to sciences and conservation work. I'm not looking for any sympathy, it's just good timing for me to look at re-locating right now.

I'm looking to help out on sites/projects that are serious about permaculture or some sustainable land project. I've spent a lot of years growing food and rehabbing land, and would love to help other people really get a project/ piece of land in great shape and start pumping out some food.

It's a dream of mine to help communities that are serious about putting in the work and energy at helping the community and land around them.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  bees

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  Special dietary requirements