Help us turn a neglected citrus farm into a regenerative food flower forest and off-the-grid home in Mafra, Portugal

Infos

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  Description

  It turns out soap grows on trees. Nature truly does have the answer for everything. We’ve been craving to swap city life for spending our days in nature — and we finally did it 🌿 For years we’ve been learning about biomimicry (architecture and design that mimic nature), regeneration, permaculture and self-sufficiency (living with less resources). Now it’s time to turn our knowledge into action. And learn lots more while we’re doing it!
  
  As we embark on our journey of regenerating our part of a neglected valley, we’re kicking off exciting projects that offer opportunities for experimentation, learning, and growth.
  
  🌿 Phase 1 is all about giving some love to this land. From clearing overgrown areas to give native species space to thrive, and creating pathways that wind through the valley, allowing us to reconnect with the nature around us. This work requires a desire to ‘work out in nature’ and learn about plants, trees and setting up the space for regeneration.
  
  🔨🚽👩🏽‍🍳♻️ Phase 2 is about building (carpentry and natural/mud building) + water + waste management. Our building projects include: creating a shared kitchen and dining space that blends functionality and design, building a temporary dry toilet, then a permanent bathroom area (toilet and shower) using water, including designing nature-friendly approaches to waste management (black water recycling) + several deck-building projects that will provide spaces for relaxation and appreciation of the valley's greenery and silence. The construction work will require a mix of carpentry skills and a willingness to learn and engage with natural building techniques.
  
  🌸🌼🥬🥕Phase 3 is about planning and planting the food & flower forest. From designing and planting the veggie garden to various (wild) flower areas across some of the terraces in the valley to creating different layers of food forest. This work is for those who know about plants (or what to learn!) and love getting their hand dirty.
  
  What to expect of the surroundings? This is a valley of former citrus plantations. There’s still lots of eucalyptus farms around… Smell nice, but - these monoculture farms are not very nice for the soil. Our piece of the valley is (thankfully) filled with oaks and fig trees (fig-lovers will enjoy a feast!). There’s brambles (to be removed!). There are many treasures to be discovered too. An old ruin house, the ruins of a water mill, lots of terraces and two seasonal streams surrounding the land. There’s lots of shade and nearly always a good breeze (being near the ocean helps!).
  
  If you’re keen to join us, we’re asking you to help out for 4-5 hours a day. The remaining time you can enjoy the valley (lots of nice paths for walks or cycling), go surfing (we’re 10 minutes driving from the beaches of Ericeira), head out for day trips to the magical Sintra or to Lisbon. You can also spend time working remotely from nature while not working the land/building. There’s great signal in the valley.
  
  Who are we? We are a Chilean-Dutch family. Our little girl (now 1,5 year old) was born here in Portugal. Our old lady dog (13 years) has travelled with us from Chile to Portugal a few years ago. Between us, and when we’re not working on our personal project here in nature, we spend our time working in the creative media and advertising worlds, as well as the impact, innovation and conservation sectors. We are passionate about food, growing it, cooking it, sharing it. We enjoy working with our hands and can’t wait to create and learn together with you! Our ultimate goal is to enjoy living in nature, off the grid, and invite the local community to enjoy the flower and food forest with us.
  
  Disclaimer: You wont be helping with any commercial activities.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Projets artistiques

  Pratique d’une langue

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Enseignement

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  Aide dans une ferme

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Entretien général
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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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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  Anyone joining can learn about permaculture, food (syntropic) forests, regenerative flower gardening, and (natural) building. Besides that, between us, we speak 5 languages fluently and can share. We can also share about the conservation and creative work we're doing when we're not spending our time in nature. There's great surf nearby (Ericeira) and lots of paths to explore by bike or foot here in the valley. Lisbon and Sintra are 30 minutes away.

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  There's different projects to contribute to:
  ✏️ Planning and designing the sections of property (determine where to build what, where to grow which species etc)
  🌿 Help clear weeds, brambles and other species that are suffocating the (native) forest
  👣 Create pathways so we can explore the beauty of this piece of valley
  🔨 Various building projects; from creating decks (to enjoy nature/for tents), to building the shared kitchen and dining space, to fencing parts of the property, to rebuilding the main (ruin) house and designing a plan to revive the old water mill
  🐛🚽 Building vermi-compost toilet systems and wetlands
  🚗 Help maintain the access road(s)
  🌸🥬🌴 Plan & plant the veggie and flower gardens + the food forest

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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Courant
  Français: Courant
  Hollandais: Courant
  Portugais: Courant

  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

  Currently you can pitch your tent (or stay in one of ours!) in this lush green valley. Once we've build additional structures other forms of accommodation will become available.

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  Autres infos...

  Hiking, surfing, cycling, simply enjoying the silence and the nature around you... We love life in nature and we are looking forward to sharing some time with you and creating memories.

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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

  You can work remotely from the valley when not working on the land. There's great signal down here.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  Only small 4x4 campervans can make their way down (and back up again).

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  Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

  We've got an old lady dog and are happy to host other dogs here.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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  Nombre d'heures attendues

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 3-4 days a week

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