Help our family with a forest garden project in Central Portugal

Detalhes

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  Descrição

  Family looking for help with a Forest Garden project near the market town of Arganil :
  
  UPDATE :
  Summer has flown past and tree planting time is here again. Despite the fact that we still haven't built ourselves a bathroom (or a kitchen, or bedrooms...) our current priority is therefore to clear some more ground in order to extend our baby forest.
  
  The initial stage of the job would suit someone fit and reasonably strong who is happy to operate battery-powered tools (hedge-cutter and strimmer) on a steep hillside.
  If we manage to get the brambles and broom cleared away, then the more glamorous pastime of dropping the little CO2 guzzlers into the ground will follow.
  If anyone wants to do their little bit in the fight against global warming, here is an opportunity!
  
  Unlike many other organisations, who rally dozens of volunteers to drop thousands of freebie trees into slots in the ground, we are working on a modest scale. Each tree planted on our land gets its own pocket-terrace, to safeguard any rainfall; and if it doesn't rain then we get out there and water them, by hand. Hence we are better able to keep our trees alive. Whereas some tree planting organisations are happy with a 1% success rate, we're happy to be able to say that of the 600 trees that we planted in 2021, only seven have died.
  
  Besides operating as Nature's own carbon capture technology, our seedling and sapling trees are the first step in the restoration of the local, fire-damaged environment. Eventually, we hope, the forest of oaks, cork oaks, and other native trees will repair the local water cycle, encouraging rain to fall and improving its retention. They will also provide a habitat for wildlife - and, indeed, this part of the dream is already beginning to come true. Already the roe deer, the badgers, and the martens have returned to the valley, and last week we saw the first red squirrel since the 2017 fires.
  
  Alongside the work of creating a new forest we're also continuing work on the establishment of our Forest Garden.
  This is the time of year for weeding and mulching around the fruit trees. We also have to drain the pond, which is full of silt. And if time allows we'd like to create some new ponds (some for irrigation; some for wildlife).
  So far as the Forest Garden is concerned, we prefer to have the help of people who are interested in permaculture and in the concept of creating a multi-layered garden (formed of trees, fruit-bearing shrubs, and edible ground-cover) which will eventually be our principal food source.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: The terrain here is very steep, meaning that this is not a suitable venue for anyone who is unfit.
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  Our story :
  After 30 years of travelling under sail, we've decided that it's time to put down some roots. Tree roots! The world needs more trees - and we, meanwhile, need a place where we can grow our own food. So we've moored the family on a mountainside in Portugal, and we're planting an area of native forest on one hillside, and on the adjacent abandoned terraces we're planting a mixed orchard (fruit trees, nut trees, berry-bearing shrubs, etc). We've also started growing our own veg, and we have some chickens. Oh, and two stray cats which have adopted us. In the future we hope to have sheep and a donkey.
  I guess we could call it a permaculture, eco project... but that sounds a bit hypey, so we just call it a Forest Garden.
  Our long-term hope is to run the place as a very low-key meditation centre, perhaps with a resident Buddhist monk or nun - but first we will have to restore the huts so that people have somewhere to stay!
  
  Setting up a place like this is a lot of work for just the three of us, so we're looking for help.
  We're looking for people who would like to put trees in the ground; help with the irrigation; do some weeding; help to put roofs on the old stone ruins; operate the electric strimmer, to keep the brambles at bay... and so forth.
  
  We're also hoping for some companionship and conversation! After a lifetime of travelling we're very accustomed to being part of a mobile, flowing community - an infinite fellowship of people of all races and cultures and ages and backgrounds, who consider the whole planet to be their home and for whom No Fixed Abode is an address to be proud of. In short, we love our new lifestyle - we love the fact that we're finally doing something meaningful and worthwhile, for the health of the planet - but we miss the company of like-minded souls who drift through our ambit.
  We would also be very happy to share the project on a long-term basis, if we are so lucky as to meet a couple or a family or an individual who seems to belong here.
  
  We are all vegetarian and all non-smokers.
  Our first language is English, but we can also get by in Portuguese, Spanish, and French.
  - Mum is an artist and a Buddhist, but currently without the time to practice either. She is the driving force behind the plan to build meditation cells in the woods some day (along with a studio, an outdoor lounge with a fire-pit, and all sorts of other good things - WHEN we have the time...)
  - Dad is a mechanic. He likes digging ponds and watering the trees.
  - Son (aged 30) is proficient with electronics and computing but nowadays spends most of his time building stone walls, pruning trees, or installing irrigation pipes. He is the MD of the project.
  We all enjoy hiking, when we have the time.
  And we like sailing...
  
  The adventure on offer is only suitable for people who are reasonably fit. This hillside is very steep!
  A lover of wildlife would be very happy here. The entire valley below the cottage has been abandoned for decades. Absolutely nobody ever goes there apart from us, and even we have only had time to explore a tenth part. As a result, it is home to many species of woodland bird and also to all sorts of mammals and reptiles and amphibians. In effect, it's a hundred-hectare wildlife reserve.
  Buzzards, eagles, and ravens sail over us as we work. Lizards scamper along the walls; snakes slip away through the grass. Newts, frogs and toads have set up home in our pond. Salamanders emerge from the gutters at night when it rains. Foxes, mongooses, deer, and javali (wild boar) visit our land far more often than we would wish; and there are also genets and pine martens on the lower terraces, and we once saw a badger. There used to be wolves here, seventy years ago when the land was in use. Maybe there still are...
  
  Eventually we would like to find someone who can be trusted to look after this place while we take a break and go sailing. This would entail feeding the chickens, cuddling the cat, and - most important of all - watering the baby trees if the rain fails to fall while we are away. In return, you get to live in our rustic cottage with its amazing view and its opportunities for rambling, painting, and just chilling.
  
  There is also the possibility of some adventures under sail, for the right person - because now that the youngest member of the family has left home to do her own thing, we have a spare cabin.
  The boat is currently in the Pacific and is ready to carry us to wherever we whim. Polynesia? Canada? Antarctica...? Perhaps we'll discover another 'paradise', somewhere, and put down some more tree roots!
  
  If any of this appeals - if you'd like to plant trees, or look after the place for a few weeks, or come sailing - please drop us a line and tell us all about yourself.

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  Tipos de ajuda e oportunidades de aprendizado

  Ajuda em projetos ambientais

  Jardinagem

  Construção/faça você mesmo

  Cuidar de animais

  Manutenção geral
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  Oportunidades de intercâmbio cultural e aprendizado

  Since our home is in a small, friendly village, visitors have the chance to get to know the traditional Portuguese way of life, and they also have the opportunity to learn Portuguese at the daily get-togethers.
  Volunteering here also presents a useful learning opportunity for those who are considering similar projects (ie. growing our own food; the restoration of abandoned land for the creation of a 'Food Forest'; the planting of a forest of native trees on a steep hillside; the restoration of old schist buildings).

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  Ajuda

  We're looking for people who would like to put trees in the ground; help with the irrigation; do some weeding; operate the electric strimmer or a scythe, from time to time, to keep the brambles at bay - and so forth. Extra points if you like to cook and can share in that chore!

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas
  Inglês: Fluente
  Espanhol: Fluente
  Francês: Intermediário
  Português: Intermediário

  Este anfitrião oferece intercâmbio de idiomas
  Este anfitrião indicou que tem interesse em compartilhar seu idioma ou em aprender um novo.
  Entre em contato com ele para obter mais informações.
  
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  Acomodação

  Our own home is a tiny hovel - but we can offer accommodation in another stone building, immediately opposite, or (for couples or groups) in a house in a nearby village. Facilities are very basic, with only cold water and composting toilets. The house has a shower with a gas water-heater. (In the cottage, we still have to use a tub in front of the wood-burning stove.)
  Camping in the woods is also an option for those who are not afraid of the wild boar, the deer, the foxes, and the badgers. We have a suitable tent.
  There is space for a smallish camper-van on the edge of the village.

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  Mais alguns detalhes

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    Acesso à internet

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    Acesso à internet limitado

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    Temos mascotes

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    Somos fumantes

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    Pode hospedar famílias

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  Pode hospedar nômades digitais

  Este anfitrião indicou que adora hospedar nômades digitais.

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  Espaço para estacionar campervans

  We don't have any flat land, ourselves, but smallish campervans can park on the edge of the village, adjacent to the village swimming pool. And for bigger vans there is always the 'baldios' (common land), with a splendid view of the surrounding countryside.

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  Pode aceitar animais

  Dogs are welcome ONLY if they can be guaranteed not to chase free range cats and chickens or to fight with the resident dogs.

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  Quantos Workawayers pode acomodar?

  Mais de 2

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  Horas previstas

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

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