Help us with farm, garden, forest and other projects in Western North Carolina, USA

Detalles

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  Descripción

  WE ARE BOOKED FOR THE 2024 YEAR, AND ARE EXCITED TO HOST MORE PEOPLE IN 2025! HAPPY TRAVELS EVERYONE
  
  Hi everyone! We are Bri and Alex and we are very excited about all things local- local food, local materials, local energy, local economy, local community. Almost 4 years ago, Bri and her mother, Alison, bought 54 acres of lush Appalachian mountain land an hour outside of Asheville that had previously been farmed for 3 generations since the early 1900’s with cattle, tomatoes, corn, tobacco and hay. Most of the open cropland has now been newly reforested, yet some old barns, outbuildings and a farmhouse still remain tucked between the trees. There are multiple streams originating on the property and a larger river running across the bottom border. There are many old interconnecting logging roads around the property.
  
  We currently live in the old farmhouse with our border collie sheepdog, Beau, and mousing(ish) cat, Maisie. Bri’s mother lives in the nearest town and plans to build her own home on this land in the near future.
  
  Our homesteading goal is to provide the majority of our food and energy/fuel within the next 10 years. We are in the beginning stages of installing native orchards as well as a silvopasture system (livestock + trees) with more traditional fruits and nuts alongside our sheep, bees and chickens. We also grow corn, grain, squash and beans and potatoes in the pasture. We are operating a no-till system (so no tractors or plows) which equates to more manual (but diverse) labor and a finesse for cooperating with nature.
  
  Bri and her mom spent most of the first year here converting the old 1930’s farmhouse into a livable space, where we installed 3 different wood stoves (one to heat the house, one to heat water and one to cook on), plumbed our house with gravity-fed spring water, and created a composting toilet system. Next, we built a dignified chicken coop for our layer chickens, started our flock of wool, meat and dairy sheep, expanded our garden, and began to plant dozens of fruit and nut trees throughout the two pastures. We pasture raise meat chickens, have bees and upgraded a barn into a cozy 3 season apartment for guests and workawayers.
  
  Now, in 2024, we are beginning our large project of providing new and alternative housing for all three of us, using natural building techniques and passive energy systems (straw bale, superadobe, living roof, Microhydro and solar energy, masonry stove, passive solar hot water and earthen flooring and plaster to name a few)! This year, we are building a tiny house to practice on the two larger houses which will come next!
  
  The running to-do list includes building the tiny house, keeping up the garden (and processing our harvests), tending to our flock of sheep, clearing and managing our forestland, investing sweat now towards heat for the winter (in firewood processing), and improving on our larger crops of grains, corn, beans and squash. I should note that there are a million and one other tasks and fun projects in between all of that!
  
  Endless opportunity to learn and discover!

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  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Jardinería

  Construcción y bricolaje

  Cuidado de animales

  Ayuda en una granja

  Cocinar para toda la familia

  Ayuda doméstica

  Mantenimiento general
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  Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión

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  ¿Que es esto?
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  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  We can share our homesteading and farming knowledge as well as expose workawayers to the Appalachian folk culture that surrounds us. Bluegrass music is huge here, especially in our small town of Marshall (35 minutes away) where, under normal circumstances, there is live music 3 times a week. Our neighbor is also an old time farmer, born and raised on our road, and is always eager to have someone to listen to his stories of the old days- it’s one of our forms of free entertainment here. There is also the progressive culture of Asheville not too far away, and always unique and interesting things to explore in the city.

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  Ayuda

  We have construction, animal husbandry, gardening and food processing projects which are ongoing through the warm season. Trail clearing of overgrown flora and stray trash is helpful year round! Firewood processing also takes up a large part of the spring and fall. We will have more projects accumulate as the farm expands!

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas hablados
  Inglés: Fluido
  Español: Intermedio
  Francés: Intermedio

  Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
  Both Alex and I have a diverse background in language. He speaks Russian, Italian and Spanish (he is a middle school Spanish teacher). I speak French, Spanish and some Thai and Indonesian. We love languages and enjoy expanding our minds through using them!
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  Alojamiento

  Two years ago we renovated the top floor of one of our tobacco barns into a 3 season studio apartment (pictures of the space are in our photo gallery) with a potable spring water fed sink and kitchenette, a composting toilet, and a cozy living room, dining room and bedroom setup. A wood-heated shower (the shower is attached to our house with a separate entry way) is also available to use as well as a washing machine. There is no heating system in the barn.
  
  We both enjoy cooking and look forward to sharing dinners together after work days (usually rice and beans, pasta, or some grain, occasionally meat, always with a vegetable or two) and will stock the kitchenette with all the essentials for the rest of the meals.
  
  It’s rustic but cozy!

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  Algo más...

  Exploring the forests behind the house is a treasure we greatly appreciate and try to utilize as often as possible. The Pisgah National Forests surrounds us with trails, lookouts and scenic drives. The town of Hot Springs, which the Appalachian Trail passes through, is 30 minutes drive away. Our town of Marshall hosts music weekly, an outside farmers market and small tourist shops. The French Broad River is 15 minutes away with one of the most popular launches for whitewater rafting. The city of Asheville is an hour away and always has events and shows. Having transportation is required to get around, since we are at the end of a 7 mile road, in rural countryside. We also currently have limited WiFi, but fiber optic is on its way!

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  Un poco más de información

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    Acceso a Internet

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    Acceso a Internet limitado

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    Tenemos animales

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    Somos fumadores

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    Puede alojar familias

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  Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas

  We have limited flat ground on this property (as we live in the mountains) and cannot accommodate trailer-style housing. Vans and motorhomes are okay!

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  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Dos

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  Horas esperadas

  25 hours per week, 2 days off

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