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Description
Hello!
We currently have slots with the following fixed arrival and leaving days:
AVAILABILITY:-
OLIVES:
Tuesday 12th Nov 2024 - Saturday 30th Nov 2024
IMPORTANT: Please state your SLOT or arrival and leaving dates:
You can request a longer period. In theory, longer stays of over a month are possible but only after a successful short stay.
You can apply for dates not in a slot but you might be the only volunteer and you would have to be really interested in what we are doing.
NOTE:
Every word of our profile is a true and an accurate description of reality. We also require that your profile is truthful.
The volunteers that we might be interested in would have these characteristics: interested in growing food, self-sufficiency and alternative technologies; don't mind about being isolated and in the middle of nowhere; and sociable and fun to be with.
We will be planting, growing and harvesting vegetables and preparing to be as self-sufficient as possible.
ABOUT US:
We are an English couple who have lived in Spain for over 30 years. We spend our time between Granada, the coast and our off-grid cortijo in the mountains. We are mainly interested in help up at the mountain house.
We have 36,000 m2 with about 160 olive trees, 800 grape vines, 100 almonds, almost all the fruit trees you can think of, a vegetable plot, about 5 springs, solar-powered electricity, solar water heating, and 10m x 5m swimming pool.
We are 1300 metres above sea level. The nearest village is 6 km up a non-asphalt road. We don't have any children but have a dog named "Shep" and a cat called "Meg".
We have hosted more than 380 workawayers over the last 14 years. We welcome hard-working people who like being in a beautiful, remote mountain setting. It is especially important that you are a pleasant sociable person with a good sense of humour who likes good conversation and can appreciate eating good healthy food. Although we are off-grid we have a good hot water system and life is fairly comfortable.
Note: If you are a French, German, Spanish or Italian native speaker we might ask you to do translations into English.Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco ProjectsGardeningDIY and building projectsFarmstay helpGeneral MaintenanceCultural exchange and learning opportunities
If you have any question about the Spanish language, we can give you a good answer because we are fluent in Spanish and also have spent many years as language teachers. If your level of Spanish is good enough, you could speak to us in Spanish however the main language at our farm is English. We have our own hiking group and we often organise hikes at the weekends when it is not too hot for hiking and there are usually around 15 Spanish people for you to practise your Spanish with. You will probably learn a lot about growing your own food and self sufficiency.
Help
The most important thing is that you like gardening and helping outside.
Here are some examples of the help. Skim the dead insects off the swimming pool, sweep up the terraces, weed the flowerbed, weed the vegetable plot, plant out lettuces, go with me to collect mulch on the tractor, plant trees and bushes, repair the irrigation system, pick peaches and other fruit, staple paper bags around the apples to stop the birds eating them, paint a wall, varnish a door, clean out the barbecue, cut the grass on the lawn, pick walnuts, crack almonds and walnuts for the muesli. Pick broad beans. Plant seeds. Help with fencing. Let the chickens out. Shut the chickens up. Collect horse manure. Teach us something we don't know.Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: BeginnerAccommodation
There are 2 self-contained independent apartments for the volunteers and we shuffle the people around to get the best combination.
We also have a couple of tents which sometimes people prefer but tents are always optional, you can always sleep in a bed.
For breakfast, we normally eat our delicious healthy muesli which has our own nuts and dried fruit in. For the midday meal, we try to eat stuff that we have grown ourselves with either fish or meat. In the evenings in the summer, we have gazpacho or other ways of eating the abundance of really nice tomatoes, pepper, aubergines, etc. that we grow. We often cook outside on the barbecue. We have a wood oven for pizzas, bread and roasting etc. We eat mostly vegetarian food but we are not strict vegetarians. If you have special dietary requirements, you must tell us when you contact us. We don't take vegans or people who don't eat eggs.What else ...
The cortijo is 6km from the nearest sleepy village which has a population of about 1000. We have a good internet connection. Free Wifi is available in the main lounge and in outside areas but not everywhere. There is 4G coverage almost everywhere and if you have your own data there are nice places to sit to speak with your family etc.
As the electricity system is solar you have to be careful to switch off lights and not waste electricity. We have 2 mountain bicycles. There are lots of interesting walks all around the mountains. It would be very unsuitable for a city person who hates the countryside.
Andalucia is very hot in August but as we are at 1300 metres, it is much more pleasant than lower down.
IMPORTANT: There is plenty of time to connect to social media and keep in contact with your friends via Internet when you are here. However, if you are so addicted to using your phone that it prevents you from interacting with new people, then please don't come here. Using your phone at the dining table is not OK.
Very shy, introverted people who almost never say anything don't tend to enjoy it much here. If you are in that category, you should choose a less sociable workaway place. We have volunteers to do some work and make life more fun. There is nothing wrong with being a very quiet person but we are looking for sociable people.
What you can do on your days off: As most of the workawayers don't have their own transport, we often take everyone out on excursions. In the past, we have taken people down to the beach and a few times we have let everyone stay in a house we have in Granada. There is a lake about 6 km way which is good for swimming and we often take everyone down there on Sundays in the summer. Most weekends, we go on hikes with a walking group.
It is necessary that you like eating vegetables. We don't take people who don't like tomatoes, who can't eat perfectly good things just because of the texture or are fussy eaters in general.
We don't take volunteers with pets or children.
Almost everyone who comes here leaves more healthy, more relaxed, fitter and happier than when they arrived.A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This option would only be a good idea for long term stays.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
5 hours per day, 5 days a week
Feedback (123)
I had a really good time in El cortijo de la plata. John and Sarah are some very organized people : the planning is very clear, you will know precisely when you’re expected to work, when you have free time etc… read more
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(4.9)
I had a really good time in El cortijo de la plata. John and Sarah are some very organized people : the planning is very clear, you will know precisely when you’re expected to work, when you have free time etc… read more
We are very grateful for their hospitality and generous help to fix our van. The trunk did not open anymore, so Sarah immediately called her mechanic and we could come by there anytime (very shortterm - the… read more
The work was really satisfying and varied, even when the bulk of the day was given over to the olive harvest. There was structure to the work days, which was helpful to plan around and to be sure of when it was time to chill out. John is an excellent… read more
John and Sara were very… read more
As well as harvesting the olives I got to visit the processing site & see how the oil is extracted. It was fascinating and such a treat which I really appreciated.
Sarah and John are… read more
cheerful, punctual,… read more
it was nice of Sarah to give me a heads up that I'll be the only volunteer and it turned out amazing for me! I got a big spacious 1 bedroom and had some good quality time for myself :) it was my first farming workaway and learnt a lot… read more
The first 2 weeks of 3 weeks I stayed there with no other workawayers. But I always had lovely company from their dog and cat and occasionally from John during my working tasks, such as picking walnuts/ almonds, pruning olive trees, cutting fire wood, planting… read more
They are welcoming people, and the amount of work was exactly as described.
I also loved the good atmosphere, always with good music in the background.
And the view of the cortijo was amazing, so all of… read more
Communication was perfectly clear, and the work was exactly what expected reading the profile.
Not to mention that the cortijo is surrounded by nature and the accomodation was more than comfortable.
We always ate excellent fresh food in both lunch and dinner ( y… read more
The work was extremely well organised with a good variety for everyone. They also provide old clothes if you don't want to ruin your own too! We enjoyed the hard work and LOVED the amazing lunch spread Sarah would cook, super nutritious and basically everything from the… read more
Good sense of humor and relaxed atmosphere , wonderful huge garden with delicious and plentiful variety of fruits and… read more
Staying with John and Sarah was a very good deal to me; they have a lot of space for volunteers to stay (in seperate apartments with… read more
He was hard-working, big and strong, capable and always undertook any task with enthusiasm and energy. He has a good level of… read more
Also the other workers were really nice and everyone got along with each other well. I appreciated the familiar atmosphere!
I enjoyed preparing the extremely delicious… read more
which included weeding, cleaning, sweeping, chopping up tomatoes,
gardening, fruit picking, swimming pool maintenance, wielding a
Spanish azada in the burning hot sun, etc. etc. His level of English
is very good. He is chatty, amusing, pleasant to be with, funny,
enthusiastic,… read more
They have a really… read more
The work is varied, the schedule is fair and you get an amazing view while working! I did loads including planting vegetables, bottling olive oil, painting… read more
I spent 3 awesome months with Sarah and John recently. 2 month at their mountain farm that is so freaking beautiful and peaceful, and one month at their house in the south coast, 5 minutes walk to the beach.
I enjoyed every minute of my stay and had no problems about the jobs I did which started from helping with… read more
We spent most the time harvesting the fruit/veg and trimming the olive trees during the mornings and then we would… read more
I spent a month with John and Sarah and had a wonderful time! The place is absolutely gorgeous, we also had the chance to visit Granada a few times and John and Sarah were always friendly and helpful in suggesting nice things to do and visit. I fell in love… read more
The farm is beautiful, the food is amazing, the conversation is interesting and the work is satisfying.
We were lucky enough to stay for 6 weeks, and in that time we did so much that we could right a book about the all the interesting and fun… read more
Solar power, wood fires for cooking and heating, water… read more
John is an excellent bloke with a great sense of humor and willing to share his knowledge on gardening if you show your interest. On top of that Sarah is an absolutely… read more
The work can be hard but fair with the amount and quality of food you receive in exchange. Sarah is an amazing cook! We had wonderful nights around the dinner table… read more
The help schedule is very structured which is great so you know exactly when you're working and the instructions are… read more
The cortigo is nestled in beautiful mountains which we were free to explore when we had free time. The work was physical but rewarding, I felt in good shape when I left, and so I should as we made a record olive harvest!!
The property is beautiful and has an extensive veg patch… read more
I loved working with John and Sarah and the… read more
Sarah's food was second to none every lunch and dinner, delicious. Definitely using some of your… read more
They are sensible and hard-working and totally… read more
Sarah's food was always delicious, during our stay they were experimenting with vegetarian recipes… read more
The most difficult thing with Nadezda is pronouncing her name. I must have said it in 60 different ways. When she was here she did painting, flower planting, meal preparation, weeding, car cleaning and lots of gardening. She is a good worker and can work unattended with no problem. She is always pleasant and cheerful and she gets on well with… read more
Sarah and John are both very welcoming and great fun at both work and… read more
I learned a lot from the hard funny work. The funniest part was the killing operation in the morning ;)… read more
I think back to the wonderful experience I had this Summer every day.. all of the things I learnt, the beautful things I saw. You were both such interesting people to learn from, and so generous with your time knowledge and wonderful… read more
Good people, good place, fantastic food!
Sarah & Jon are good teachers and have a lot of interesting stories to tell. We had some splendid evenings sitting exchanging life notes against a beautiful backdrop.
The only… read more
The work was well scheduled, nearly all outdoors and there was so much going on we… read more
John was a good laugh and Sarah is an inspiring cook and makes wonderful meals which we all helped to prepare. Sarah taught me how to milk the goats! I loved… read more
Though their experience with so many volunteers it definitely seems like they have perfected the way workaway should be used.
You get the chance to meet a lot of cool people and go on some beautiful walks around the… read more
She performed many tasks such as shovelling horse manure, planting vegetables, weeding, cleaning, preparing food etc and she did everything very well. She has a pleasant personaity and she got on well with all the other… read more
John & Sarah were friendly, caring and great company, and Sarah is a great cook so we were fed marvellously. The… read more
John and Sarah are both excellent company and treat their guests very well, supplying great accommodation and delicious food. They've fully embraced the ethos of workaway and integrate all the volunteers into their lives so that you really feel like part… read more
I have been very happy to share the whole time with these new friends
John had always great ideas about the work and it was funny and never too hard
Sarah is an excellent cook,
I loved all her recepies!
Both of them were very patient with my difficultwith the english!
I really want to go back some day… read more
The work was very varied which was great and was everything from DIY to gardening, fencing, and looking after animals.
John and Sarah were great hosts, and can give a lot of good advice about Granada and the area for when you leave or have a day… read more
The house was very… read more
Thanks so much guys!!
We picked 1450 kilos of olives between 5 of us. She is pleasant, cheerful, friendly, sociable, enthusiastic, easygoing and got on well with us and the other workawayers. She is better at the more methodical, delicate tasks rather than heavy brute force work. She was a good… read more
Alice spent most of December with us doing the olive harvest and also some garden clearance.
We picked 1450 kilos of olives between 5 of us.
She is a very good worker and had no problem with fitness and stamina in the more demanding tasks.
She worked very well even when unsupervised. She likes working outside.
She is not a "yes" woman and she is… read more
After two weeks of workawaying, I left Sarah and John feeling happy, healthy and fulfilled. They are both… read more