Help us at our off-grid homestead in the Tsitsikamma, South Africa

Infos

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  Description

  Hey there, we are a family of four Danna, Greg, Robin (8) and Sam (4). We have two dogs (Toby and Luna) and about 33 chickens. Simon (from Malawi) stays on the farm with us and he works Monday to Friday on the farm as the goundsman and general do-everything guy. We have a 6 hectare small holding in the Tsitsikamma region of the Garden Route. We rent out 4 hectares to the neighboring dairy farm and are busy setting up the rest as an off-grid homestead. We have done lots but there are so many other projects to do that we would love help with. We are working towards a permaculture/regenerative agriculture setup where we produce our own healthy food and share this with our community.

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Enseignement

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Aide dans une ferme

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  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

  We will offer the opportunity to learn hands-on about farm life, gardening, agro-forestry, building, caring for animals, and how to parent like a pro. We can share our knowledge of cooking and preserving, fermenting some foods and foraging for mushrooms or seafood depending on the season.

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  Aide

  We are at the beginning stage of our life on our smallholding. We need help with setting up various aspects of the farm as well as general help with our children and home. Here are some details about the specific areas in which we need help.
  
  1) Gardens: we have a traditional vegetable garden as well as an agro-forestry based food forest. We need general help with garden maintenance watering, weeding, harvest, seed propagation etc.
  2) We have a small tree nursery that we are using to mainly plant out windbreaks. For this project we need help organising the nursery, planting more seeds/cuttings, bagging up seedlings. There is also work in the windbreaks planting and mulching the trees.
  3) Animals: We have a setup with laying hens that needs some daily work (feeding, collecting eggs etc.) and we move them into new areas frequently. Our dogs love attention and walks so if you are into dogs that is great.
  4) Caravans: We have two caravans that we are wanting to set-up to accommodate guests, workaways or friends. There a few projects related to this including finishing off an ablution with plumbing a sink, a gas geyser and installing a shower. There are gas stoves in each one that need some attention, and we would like one of them to have a decent kitchen upgrade, either inside or using the outside area as well. This would require some plumbing and building skills.
  5) Help with home: We have two boys aged 4 and 8 who love to get involved. We sometimes need help driving them to school or home as we live out of town. Driving, shopping and or cooking skills are welcome.
  6) Water systems: we are wanting to establish a small pond or two around the gardens
  
  We would love to host people, couples or families that have interests or skills that would contribute to any of the above projects. We are both working and spend only part-time at home on farm work. So ideally we are looking for self motivated and self-directed people who could work alongside us part of the time and with Simon or alone for the rest of the time. We have tools and materials for the building projects.

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Afrikaans: Intermédiaire

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  Hébergement

  Accommodation options are of your choice/needs: either a room in a house potentially shared, or the house may be empty and all yours. The house is an 80's A-frame and big with 3 bedrooms, outside laundry, and a massive garden surrounded by trees. The house is equipped with everything needed for a comfortable stay. The other option is to stay in one of the caravans tucked away in the trees, however, this would have a very simple kitchen and bathroom setup to begin with, but can be upgraded. This would suit those staying in a campervan or having their own camping self-sufficient setup. Meals would be mostly prepared at your own accommodation for yourselves, with some shared meals at our house. This will depend on your preference and the accommodation chosen. We have a good organic garden from which you can get lots of vegetables and fresh stuff. We will also supply eggs from the chickens as there is often an excess.

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  Autres infos...

  We live in a rural area that is predominantly dairy farms and pine plantations, so it is very green and lush. We are close to the coast so there are opportunities for great walks in the forest and down to the sea (the coastline is rugged and no long sandy beaches). We are within an hour of some good surfing spots like Jeffreys Bay and Plettenberg Bay. Own transport would be ideal, but we would supply a vehicle for any family or farm related transport needs.

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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

  Our internet connection is not fast, but is pretty reliable for online work such as meetings and streaming. Being in a rural area the connection sometimes can be slow and does go down every now and then.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have enough space for a campervan if that is your mode of transport.

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Plus de 2

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