Help us creating an organic vegetable garden in Leitrim, Ireland

Infos

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  Description

  Hello there!
  
  Who we are:
  We are a Dutch family of four, Nicki (53) organic farmer, teacher, EMDR therapist; Nanouschka (31) artist, seamstress, nursery school teacher; Christian (23) furniture maker, gamer; Rose (14) secondary school student, dog whisperer.
  We love Harry Potter, hobbits and wizards, we believe in God, angels, fairies, good in all people, but not in perfection. We are easy going and have had very good experiences working as volunteers ourselves. We look forward to meeting new people, working and eating together and enrich each other with our knowledge.
  
  Our plan for 2025
  We want to focus on the vegetable garden and on planting fruit.
  We have a new cabin that needs to be erected, for which a new foundation has to be made and a floor.
  We have three solar panels that are standing idle at the moment.
  We want chickens, so a mobile chicken coop has to be made .
  We have to do something with the path leading to the first polytunnel. It now resembles a small stream.
  The small house needs to be finished.
  Rose her cabin needs to be insulated (or more precisely outsulated).
  
  What happened in 2024
  At the end of June I started on the concrete pillar foundations for our small house (4m x 6m). My friend Bas had advised me to use sleepers (train rail beams) on top of them. I did this, but looking back, this wasn’t a great idea. For one I couldn’t lift them myself. Secondly they are not flat enough. As such the floor became a bit uneven too.
  Charles (21), was the first volunteer coming, he stayed for six weeks. He helped with the floor. Soon hereafter Louis (18) en Csongor (18) came too. They stayed two weeks. We created the arches for the roof and erected the first walls. Then Louis and Csongor left and my daughters and son came. With the five of us we continued with the build. We made good progress. Then Charles and my son left, shortly therafter Rose her new school started Nanouschka and I continued with the build. In November Nanouschka moved into the house. There are still things that need to be finished, but it already is quite a nice place to be.
  
  We now have four ducks, two male Indian runners and two female Kaki Campbell. (I might spell this incorrectly). The females have started laying eggs. They all enjoy eating slugs. I enjoy having an as small as possible slug population.
  We also have a puppy. Her name is Tara, her mother is a springer spaniel and her father a black retriever. She seems to have ADHD and she has the dirtiest tail in Leitrim. She sits on the ground, wagging it through the mud. Then she stands up, still wagging it, making the mud fly… apart from this she is shy at first, but very gentle. She does jump, but if you stick out your arm, she stops.
  We have two kittens, a ginger one called Aslan and a tabby grey one called Lucy. Since they have arrived and are old enough to roam the fields, our mice problem has been dealt with. The cats are friendly and like some attention now and then.
  
  The water story:
  This land has been lived on by humans for over 120 years. The last people owning this land told me they had access to mains water. They left in 2011.
  Five years ago, in 2020, my Dutch neighbour had his forestry harvested. They use heavy machinery to do so. The path leading down to my property, looked like a war zone. They did clear up the mess, but when I came in May 2023 and wanted to switch on the tab, nothing happened…
  In the process of harvesting the forest, they have unintentionally ruined my water connection…
  After searching what, where, when, how, who, I finally got in touch with Irish water. They came over, spend a day searching and working and at the end of the day, the engineer came to fetch me from my land. He took me up the hill and there he showed me a blue pipe. “This is your new water connection”. He told me.
  The next day, the destructive Dutch neighbour came saying “Nicki, we really need that water connection”.
  The day thereafter his son came. He told me: “Nicki, if you so much as touch that water connection, you can expect a letter from our sollicitor.”
  I am new to the area. I don’t yet know how things work. I have limited funds, while my neighbour is filthy rich. I didn’t dare to start a (legal) battle with him.
  My Irish neighbour asked me “But why would he need water? He only has forestry. Nobody waters their forestry with mains water.”
  Up until now, nothing has changed. I get my drinking water from a well nearby. I catch rainwater to do the dishes and stuff. Because of this, we unfortunately still don’t have a shower. To have a shower we need to go to the marina in town (5km). A shower card can be bought at the Super valu.
  
  —————— What we are looking for ———————
  
  * You have some experience in DIY or gardening.
  * You can speak English at least at intermediate level. You simply have to be able to understand simple conversations, without the use of a translating app. If you don’t have this level yet, i suggest you practice with watching English movies with subtitles in your own language. Practicing with the duolingo app is also a good one. Maybe you could come next year.
  * You have some basic cooking skills, so you are able to cook some of the meals from scratch, with simple ingredients.
  * You are able to help doing the washing up by hand.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Aide informatique/internet
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  Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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  Qu'est-ce que c'est ?
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  Aide

  We offer you a silent place in the middle of endless green. Depending on the time of your arrival, we will be working on certain projects, which may include:
  * Sowing, planting, weeding, harvesting vegetables and fruit, making use of permaculture, agroforestry and biodynamic techniques.
  * Taking care of animals. We now have 2 cats, a dog and 4 ducks.
  * Carpentry; strawbale building; cob building; earthen floors; construction; roof construction; cob pizza oven building; building a phyto-purification greywater system; creating walking paths and small bridges,
  * Art projects, felting; sewing; painting,
  * Making jams; preserves,
  * Stargazing and campfires.
  
  Your stay will always include
  * Help cooking our shared meals.
  * Help doing the washing up by hand.
  
  We basically live off grid, so we can teach and show you what we have learned so far on our journey about: Alternative energy technologies, like solar panels; solar boiler system; rocket stove heating; Composting toilets; Living life with a very small footprint.
  
  On free days and afternoons you are welcome to stay, or to explore the area.
  We are situated at the foot of the Iron mountains The river Shannon and various lakes are nearby.
  The closest town is only 5 km away, even though it is quite hilly, it only takes you about twenty minutes by bike. We have two bikes which can be used.
  There are eight pubs to get in touch with local people; food and culture. There are two big supermarkets Tesco and Supervalu and two small ones, a Fresh today and Nearby. There are some restaurants and take aways as well. There is a local library with newspapers, a couple of computers one could use and a printer/ copier service.
  Everybody is welcome to attend the Sunday Roman Catholic church service.
  A bit further away are several small cities like Carrick on Shannon; Manorhamilton; Sligo and many beautiful villages to explore, as are the Marble arch caves, Florence court and the neolitic Carrowkeel, all definitely worth a visit. You can take a bus or use your own transport to visit these places.
  
  I can promise no Workawayer is going to be helping with any produce that will be sold.
  
  We are looking forward to hearing from you.

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Hollandais: Courant
  Allemand: Intermédiaire
  Français: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Cet hôte a indiqué qu’il souhaitait faire partager sa propre langue ou en apprendre une nouvelle.
  Contactez-le pour en savoir plus.
  
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  Hébergement

  Accommodation
  As we just get started on this farmstead, things are still relatively primitive.
  * There is a polytunnel of 10m x 5.5m, which we use as dining/living room and library. There is a big dining table where we can eat, or play games. There are some lazy chairs where we can relax after a long days work. It can also be used as an indoor work area.
  * There is a polytunnel of 12m x 5,5m, which is being used for planting.
  * There are three caravans. One is currently in use as cooking caravan. There Is one big caravan for volunteers. It has place for two. There is always the possibility to set up your own tent.
  * There is a composting toilet.
  * There is an old windy, leaky hay shed, build around 1960, which is used for storage and where we have our washing up kitchen.
  You will be expected to keep your caravan and the shared spaces clean.
  * There are two small cabins. One is Rose her house, the other is my tiny home.
  * There is the small house we build, which is Nanouschka her domain.
  
  About meals
  We provide breakfast (oatmeal or bread, with butter: jam and peanut butter).
  We prepare a vegetarian lunch, the workawayers are to do their share of cooking and washing up, we will make a schedule as to who will be cooking when and who will be washing up.
  The leftovers of this lunch can be eaten at dinner, with bread, maybe an additional soup or something.
  Special requests for chocolate; Nutella; cheese; gluten free; vegan; halal; kasher food, or beverages like coca cola; beer; juices and other stuff, can be bought by the workawayer in town.
  
  We basically drink water, we have lovely well water, which we get from a well 7 km from our land. More local people go there to get their drinking water.
  There will be harvested rainwater and on top of the hill (120m), there is a mains water connection we can use.
  
  Working hours
  Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
  09.00 - 10.30
  11.00 - 12.30
  13.00 - 15.30
  16.00 - 17.00
  Wednesday
  09.00 - 10.30
  11.00 - 12.30
  
  Clothing
  As Ireland has a wet climate, you have to be able to dress accordingly. even though hiking boots can be super cool, bring wellies. Also have rain pants and a raincoat, You won’t be needing them all the time, but you will be needing them.
  
  Laundry
  If you have a credit card, you can have your clothes washed in town. There are a couple of public washing machines and dryers. A small washing load costs €6,00. The price of drying depends on the length of the cycle.
  This is not a glamping site. You van walk around in the same jeans for weeks. Use your nice and clean clothes for a visit to the pub.

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  Autres infos...

  How to get here.
  We are situated 150 km from Dublin.
  Nearby bigger towns are Carrick on Shannon; Manorhamilton; Sligo.
  Most people get the train from Dublin to Sligo direction and get off at Dromod. At the Dromod trainstation they take bus 564 to Ballinamore. The bus takes about half an hour. We will fetch you from there. It is about 5 km to our land.
  
  The last train from Dublin towards Carrick on Shannon leaves at about 19:00.
  There are busses that go from Dublin airport to Carrick with an interval of three hours.
  I am willing to pick up people in Dromod or Carrick on Shannon until 22:00 hrs. If you arrive at a later time, even though it is not your fault, you will have to find a hostel for the night and continue your journey the next morning.
  
  * We are a non-smoking household. No smoking applies to the whole farm, both indoors and outdoors. there are no alternative areas for smoking, so we are not able to accept anyone who smokes.
  * We do not tolerate drugs.
  * We are unvaccinated and look for like-minded people.
  * We do not have a TV, we have a large collection of Dutch and English books.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  We have unlimited data on our phones, due to this we do have good internet. There is good 4G coverage, although not every provider is as good as the other. We use ‘Eir’ and pay €20,- per month. We live off grid. As such we have a limited supply of electricity, especially during times when it is grey and rainy. We can charge phones and Ipads (12 Volt), but laptops (220 Volt) can provide a challenge, The step from 12 volt to 220 Volt is an electricity intense conversion. If there are more people present, we have to share the power amongst more people. It s not fair to others if you have multiple devices that have to be charged all the time.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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