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

Infos

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  Description

  Hi everyone! We are a mother daughter duo, Alison and Bri respectively, and we are very excited about all things local- local food, local materials, local energy, local economy, local community. 5 years ago, we bought 54 acres of lush Appalachian mountain land an hour outside of Asheville that had previously been farmed 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 working border collie, Beau, and part-time mousing cat, Maisie.
  
  Our homesteading goal is to provide the majority of our food and energy/fuel within the next 10 years. We are in the early stages of installing fruit and nut orchards woven into the pastures, known as silvopasture, while our sheep graze and our chickens peck around the trees. We grow corn, grain, squash, beans and potatoes as our pasture crops. We also grow a large vegetable garden which we preserve by canning, freezing, drying, pickeling and fermenting. 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.
  
  After moving to this land, we spent the first year 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, started our flock of sheep we raise for wool, meat and dairy, fenced our garden, and began to plant our fruit and nut trees. We pasture raise meat chickens every year and harvest all our heat from firewood from this land.
  
  Now, in 2025, we are immersed in our large project of providing new and alternative housing for us both, using natural building techniques and passive energy systems (straw bale, superadobe, living roof, microhydro energy, and masonry stove to name a few)! This year, we are completing the first edition, the tiny house, and beginning works on my mom's larger home.
  
  The running to-do list includes building the tiny house, keeping up the garden (and processing our crop harvests), tending to our flock of sheep, clearing and managing our forestland, and investing sweat now towards heat for the winter (in firewood processing). 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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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  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 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. Although our town is currently under reconstruction after hurricane Helene, there's still music and traditional dancing to be found! 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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  Aide

  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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  Langues

  Langues parlées
  Anglais: Courant
  Français: Intermédiaire
  Espagnol: Débutant

  Cet hôte propose un échange linguistique
  Bri speak's French, Spanish and some Thai and Indonesian. We love languages and enjoy expanding our minds and perspectives through using them!
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  Hébergement

  Three 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 with meat, always with a vegetable or two) and will stock the kitchenette with all the essentials for the rest of the meals. (We can be amenable to dietary restrictions, but meat and dairy does play a large role in our homestead!)
  
  It’s rustic and cozy!

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  Autres infos...

  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.

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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

  Reliable internet in the Workaway space, unlimited with fiber optic.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  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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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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