Help with animal care, gardening and land maintenance on a farm with goats and poultry in Seia, central Portugal

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: 1 month or more

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    We are David & Eli, a Belgium couple and since 2014 we live and work on our 12 hectare beautiful land with view on the Serra da Estrellla mountains.
    We have cats, dogs, chickens, ducks and goats and we have a big organic fruit and vegetable garden. We try to live a sustainable life and provide our essentials as much as possible from our own land, fruits, vegetables, eggs, milk, meat, wood, timber, water, ...

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Our land is privately located and a dirt track of 1km separates us from the outside world. You can experience being in full nature enjoying the peace and silence. We have no direct neigbours but we are located between 4 small typical portugees villages on walking distance, each with a tiny grocery store and a local bar where the locals meet for coffe and social company. They are always very pleased and exited to see strangers coming by!
    We are located about a one hour drive to the top of the Serra da Estrella mountains and the way to it leads you through beautiful and exiting places.
    You will experience daily life in rural, central Portugal, and learn what it takes to maintain and run a farm on a 12 hectare land.

  • Help

    Help

    We are generally looking for volunteers to help us with the maintenance of the land, the animals, the garden, the household, and all round DIY projects...

    The land is partly open, terraced and partly forest. The main part of our forest has burnt in a forest fire in 2017. The main part of the burnt forest has been cut, but there's still quite some wood to be processed. We are giving the native trees and vegetation a chance to regenerate. We often need some strong and energetic people with a good physical condition to help us out on the land, cutting wood, processing and stacking firewood, clearing heavy vegetation, making fires, cutting grass, pruning, etc.
    If you have any experience in using a brush cutter, or other machines that could be very useful.

    The animals, the garden, the kitchen and household also ask a lot of our daily effort. In this area we are looking for help in feeding the animals, milking the goats, making cheese, cleaning stables, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting, cooking and washing up and some general household tasks. Experiences are not required but doing the tasks with a smile and a good attitude are a must!

    Are you a DIY enthusiast, and you have some experience with woodwork/ carpentry / stone or masonry for example... we will certainly have some nice creative tasks for you! On a farm like ours there are always some small handyman's tasks waiting for the right hands... Small repairs, fencing, fixing, creating, etc.

    The help needed is usually very divers and often depends on the season, different things to do in different times of the year... and of course we try to take in account the interests and qualities of each individual volunteer.

    ======

    If this sounds like where you would like to be part of then send us a message with a clear description of why and what area you are attracted to, your skills or experiences and what period you are available for.

    If you are interested in animal care we do require a MINIMUM stay of one month! No need to apply for less ... It takes a while to get comfortable with all the routines, milking, making cheese, herding, to get to know their behaviours and personalities... So the effort to teach you all this is only worth it for us in exchange for a long term stay.

    For other divers task we can consider shorter stays depending on the season and on the offers that we receive...

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent
    French: Fluent
    Dutch: Fluent
    Portuguese: Intermediate

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We have caravans for our volunteers to sleep and a sheltered kitchen where our volunteers can cook and eat.
    Sheets and blankets are provided and we have a comfortable hot shower and toilet.
    Daily tasks like cooking, washing up and keeping the common area clean and tidy are shared responsibilities and we expect everyone to cooperate in these things.
    We try to find a good balance between cooking and eating together but expect our volunteers to be able to take care for themselves from time to time (but then of course we provide the essential ingredients).

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    We offer our volunteers food and accommodation in exchange for help on our farm. We are not very strict in counting the hours per day you help out but appreciate our volunteers to be flexible too. Some helping days will be longer and harder than others so now and then we will build in extra days of rest depending on everyone's needs and how hard the work has been!
    In general we rest days will be during the weekends but sometimes depending on the weather we will decide differently. Also the routines of the animals need caring during the weekends as well, so we will sometimes ask some flexibility in that.
    We are open minded and try to divide the tasks depending on our helpers experiences and capacities. So it's important to us to get a little information about who you are, why you would like to join us and what you expect of your experience on our farm!
    In general we like one or two volunteers preferably staying over a longer period of time to help with all the daily routines with the animals and household. But in certain periods we will need more than one or two volunteers at the same time when we are planning on a bigger task.

    We are looking forward to meet motivated people who are open for adventure!

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    The mobile reception is very good on the land so people who bring their own hotspot can work online... Our wi-fi only works around our house and doesn't reach our accommodations.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    People traveling with their own home on wheels are always more than welcome! The access to our land is by a long sand track but even medium to large vehicles can easily get here. We have a camper spot with water and electrics and have hot shower and toilets.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Only well behaved pets can run free on the land. We have dogs, cats, goats and chickens and we don't accept other animals chasing them! Also realize that it's often not possible to have your dog at your side during certain tasks. Your dog might have to stay at your caravan during the working hours.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    Flexibility is appreciated! With a average of 5hours a day, 5 days a week.

Host ref number: 273471242932

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