mis à jour  

Learn about homesteading by the Appalachian Trail in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, USA

Disponibilité

  2025 

 Séjour min. souhaité : Pas de minimum

Jan
Fév
Mar
Avr
Mai
Jui
Jui
A
Sep
Oct
Nov
Déc

Infos

  • Description

    Description

    Hello! We are a small organic berry farm & hiker rest stop in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. We love to grow berries and vegetables while also helping backpackers who visit us off the Appalachian Trail.

    For the past several decades, this small farm has been popular with locals (who pick our berries - blueberries, raspberries, currants, elderberries, gooseberries, cranberries, etc.) and Appalachian Trail thru-hikers looking for a place to relax and replenish. We provide freshly baked cookies and cold homemade drinks for free to the hikers who stop by. With permission, we allow backpackers to tent on our spacious lawn or sleep on our beds (especially when the weather is bad) in the airplane hangar if we have space. AT hikers know us as “Cookie Lady 2.0” or “the Northern Cookie Lady” and seem eager to stop at our farm since we have been long time “trail angels” in our area going all the way back to the first Cookie Lady (Marilyn and Roy Wiley) in 1985. We also sell blueberries and other berries at local farmers' markets and make preserves, both with blueberries and other berries we grow. Our vegetables are grown in our Hugelkultur garden beds in a sustainable no-till style.

    There's always a lot to do, and we welcome people who want to pitch in, especially those who are enthusiastic about gardening.

  • Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

    Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

    Projets artistiques
    Aide avec des éco-projets
    Jardinage
    Bricolage et construction
    Aide dans une ferme
    Cuisine/repas pour la famille
    Aide à la maison
    Entretien général
    Home sitting
  • Centres d’intérêt

    Centres d’intérêt

    Événements/vie sociale
    Dev. durable
    Animaux de compagnie
    Culture
    Vie en van
    Films et télé
    Ferme
    Photographie
    Musique
    Livres
    Bricolage / artisanat
    Histoire
    Soin des plantes
    Art et design
    Jardinage
    Cuisine et alimentation
    Dessin et peinture
    Animaux
    Randonnée
    Activités en plein air
    Montagne
    Camping
    Nature
    Yoga / bien-être
  • Objectifs de développement durable de l’ONU que cet hôte essaie d'atteindre

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

    Objectifs de l’ONU
    Pas de pauvreté
    Faim «zéro»
    Bonne santé et bien-être
    Éducation de qualité
    Égalité entre les sexes
    Eau propre et assainissement
    Énergie propre et d'un coût abordable
    Travail décent et croissance économique
    Industrie, innovation et infrastructure
    Inégalités réduites
    Villes et communautés durables
    Consommation et production responsables
    Mesures relatives à la lutte contre les changements climatiques
    Vie aquatique
    Vie terrestre
    Paix, justice et institutions efficaces
    Partenariats pour la réalisation des objectifs
  • Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

    Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

    Each day during the summer, you'll meet many new people as they make the small detour from their Appalachian Trail hiking to visit our property. They come from all over the country and world & appreciate our hospitality. We are known as “Cookie Lady 2.0” to these backpackers. It's easy to strike up a conversation and make a new friend who you would otherwise never have met. During blueberry season (mid-July to early September), there are also plenty of locals and travelers who come to pick our berries. With our expanding five-person family and two dogs on top of all of this, it's really never lonely here. The Berkshires are also full of artistic and cultural events.

    You'll also learn about our small-scale, homesteading-style operation. We grow our berries and vegetables organically and love sharing the practices that we have found effective. We could teach you about the wild edible plants in the October Mountain State Forest surrounding our property and show you our favorite spots in the nearby mountain towns, whether you're looking to hike, swim, dine, or enjoy arts & culture.

  • Projets impliquant des enfants

    Projets impliquant des enfants

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

  • Aide

    Aide

    Regular tasks include watering/weeding the gardens, greeting hikers, preparing and providing cold drinks/cookies, mowing, weed-whacking, splitting/stacking firewood, and doing the dishes generated by the hikers. There are also plenty of larger projects around our farm, like stonewalls that we are building and putting together a new cabin/shop that was recently constructed. And we're always thinking of landscaping & art projects (like sign making) to make our property more beautiful & welcoming.

    We do earn an humble income from our berry operation, so we do not expect help with picking berries or maintaining the patches.

  • Langues parlées

    Anglais: Courant

  • Hébergement

    Hébergement

    We have a mini-bus with two built-in beds. The bus has been decorated with colorful fabric and lots of decoupaged birds on the ceiling and walls (see photos). It's not anything fancy, but it's relatively private and the beds have memory foam mattresses and also loads of blankets, pillows, and curtains. We have a few cubicle bedrooms set up in our airplane hangar that could also be used. You could also camp on our property. We'd provide meals, which we often share with hikers who complete chores for us, and give you access to our house's shower/kitchen/laundry, but we primarily expect our helpers to use the Porta-Potty which is cleaned once per week.

    There is no WiFi, but there is strong LTE reception with T-Mobile & Verizon (we use our smartphone's hotspot to stream Netflix on our laptops regularly, for instance).

  • Autres infos...

    Autres infos...

    We're located in Berkshire County, which is a popular tourist destination with an abundance of arts, culture, and outdoor recreation attractions a short drive away. While our farm is surrounded by state forest (October Mountain’s 16K acres) and at an elevation of 2,000 feet, we're a 15-30 minute drive from attractions like Mass MoCA, Tanglewood, Waconah Falls, Kripalu, The Clark, Mount Greylock, Herman Melville’s and Edith Wharton's home, and the Norman Rockwell Museum.

    We're also located right on the Appalachian Trail for those who want to hike, and there are pristine lakes and streams surrounding our secluded property.

  • Informations complémentaires

    Informations complémentaires

    • Accès Internet

    • Accès Internet limité

      Accès Internet limité

    • Nous avons des animaux

    • Nous sommes fumeurs

    • Familles bienvenues

  • Espace pour garer des vans

    Espace pour garer des vans

    Cet hôte a de la place pour les vans.

  • Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

    Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux

    Dogs are okay if they are low-key and don't mind some slightly territorial but ultimately friendly golden retrievers.

  • Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

    Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

    Deux

N° de référence hôte : 734415557223

Sécurité du site

Feedback (6)



Feedback

Ce sont des évaluations supplémentaires en option lorsque les membres laissent un feedback. La note moyenne pour chaque option est affichée.

Exactitude du profil:
(4.8)

Échange culturel:
(5.0)

Communication:
(5.0)











Homestead stay and help creating an eco-friendly Earthship Hempcrete hybrid home in Colorado, USA
Language exchange while helping me with daily life Charlotte, USA