Help on a beautiful farm and learn a lot about living off-grid in Castelo Branco, Portugal

Infos

• 

  Description

  Join us on our beautiful Quinta (3h) near Castelo Branco which is a piece of paradise! Simon, myself (C.A.) and Oliver moved here from Cape Town just over a year ago and have renovated the old ruin into a farmhouse, put in water, electricity, a plunge pool and so much more. The farm has two dams and two wells, loads of well established olive and almond trees, fruit trees, vines, chickens, ducks and geese. Oliver has a small business called ''Egg Man". We all work hard - making sure there is lots of down time to enjoy the peace and quiet after a busy day. We are passionate about cooking, food, growing things and just creating a fantastic and fun space to enjoy. There are a lot of vibrant groups of people/communities in the area, with events such as Movie Nights, Pot-Luck Meals, Markets, weekend concerts etc etc - so no shortage of things to do in addition to the lakes and river beaches where we often go in the afternoon. The farm is about a five minute walk to the local village which has a shop and a lovely little cafe and 15 minutes from Castelo Branco itself.

• 

  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Entretien général
• 

  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

  ×

  ...

  ...

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
• 

  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Simon is talented when it comes to building, v hands-on and and has built a house and a boat and renovated loads of others. He creates, fixes etc - so he will be very happy to teach and guide when it comes to technical tasks, woodwork, welding and metalwork plus general maintenance. We are both chefs/cooks and have had our own restaurant and catering business so if it is cooking you need to learn you are in the right place! I teach English and coach clients on cooking skills etc so can happily help you in either area. In addition to that we are doing a lot of growing and cultivating and would love to set up our hydroponics system, but just have not had time yet. Oliver is 30 and is on the autistic spectrum (v mild) and has more to teach all of us than anyone we know!! He loves the farm and works like a trouper!

• 

  Aide

  We would love and need hardworking people to join us and help us bring the farm back to its former glory. Projects will entail physical help, but we will all pull in. Some projects include - !. putting up an extension to the large shed we have built to create a distillery and a sleeping area, 2. working on our container so we can make it into a cottage, 3. finishing fencing to keep the chickens and ducks away from the fruit trees, 4. strimming before the fire season sets in, 5.patching up the schist boundary walls, 6. making a deck for each caravan to create covered outside spaces, 7.shade cover and sprinkler system for the vegetable patches, and just general farm work. Cleanliness and respect for our accommodation and surroundings is really important to all of us. We ask people to give their absolute ALL and to help really hard/thoroughly for four hours a day and then the time is yours to do whatever you want. Hopefully motivated folk who are willing to join in and make things happen will come and be part of our family.
  
  Just to reiterate - we will give our all to you, but we do expect the team to work hard so we can achieve our goals. There is heavy work that needs to be done and attention to detail is important. We ask for four hours a day five days a week and we will make sure you have a good time.

• 

  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Portugais: Intermédiaire

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  I am a teacher of English and teach online. I lived in Brazil for two years but speak intermediate Portuguese Have schoolgirl knowledge of French and basic basic Spanish!
• 

  Hébergement

  At the we offer space for you to bring your campervan or tent or we have two very clean and comfortable caravans with kitchen and solar power (we lived in them for a year and loved it). Each caravan will take two people comfortably. There is electricity at the Quinta so ice and cold water is here and that is important! We have a newly built bathroom with a lovely hot shower and flushing toilet specifically for guests and Ollie. We have created a plunge pool which is paradise to jump into to cool down! Evening meals will be at our Quinta or under the olive trees. Fresh water comes from our local spring and it is lovely. We have a large verandah which is nice and cool and perfect to share a beer or wine at the end of the day. Meals - breakfast we will provide you with the basics - bread, eggs, cereal, milk, tea and coffee, and you can make your own breakfast. Lunch -we will have sandwiches/leftovers/soup/salad. Sometimes we will take turns to cook generally for us all (obviously we will provide the ingredients). Washing up is shared! I am usually teaching in the morning so lunch is simple. We will have a good supper at our Quinta for you, unless you are feeling quiet and you prefer to have it in your accommodation - that is fine. If we are going out we will give you the ingredients to cook or a meal prepared. We can cater for most dietary needs but vegan is a challenge for me.

• 

  Autres infos...

  We do spend a lot of time on the farm because it is fun and beautiful and peaceful but we do go to the local cafes for a beer several times a week at the end of the day - closest cafe is five minutes walk. We really enjoy integrating with the local Portuguese and they are amazing. Generally we go into Castelo Branco or Alcains a couple of times a week to shop. There is a Saturday market. We go to the local Rivers and beaches a couple of times a week. There are quite a few local events on at the weekends and during the week so happy to drop you near to them and you can invariable stay the night at them. We are often early birds but have the odd 'blow out'! There is a big social life for the more energetic party animals so we can definitely connect you to that but at the farm it is quiet except for good food and wine and lots of laughs. If you do have wheels then there is tons to do nearby.

• 

  Informations complémentaires

  • 

    Accès Internet

  • 

    Accès Internet limité

  • 

    Nous avons des animaux

  • 

    Nous sommes fumeurs

  • 

    Familles bienvenues

• 

  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  You would have to be responsible for your own connectivity/internet. We have at the Quinta but I work from here so can't have someone when I am working. In the future we will put internet at the top of the farm

• 

  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have two beautiful spaces on our land for your vehicle.

• 

  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

• 

  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week