Off-Grid Mountain Village General Volunteer: Garden Team
Das Erlebnis
We are looking for 3-4 people to form the garden team and support the Head Gardener in managing the entire process of our vegetable garden - from seed to harvest! Together, you will take care of the garden, the greenhouse, foraging, and potentially other outdoor tasks. In Bognago we try to grow as much of our own food as possible; our kitchen is vegan/vegetarian, and we always try to incorporate home grown/foraged plants into our meals.
Was Sie anbieten
25 Stunden Hilfe pro Woche
Bauen & Reparieren:
Hilf bei verschiedenen Reparatur- oder Bauarbeiten.
Landwirtschaft:
Pflanze Feldfrüchte, säe Samen und hilf bei Außenarbeiten.
Gartenarbeit:
Hilf beim Pflanzenanbau und der Gartenpflege
Was Sie bekommen
2 freie Tage pro Woche
Privatzimmer:
Du bekommst ein Bett in einem privaten Zimmer. Mit anderen Worten, ein Zimmer nur für dich.
Gemeinschaftszimmer:
Du bekommst ein Bett in einem Gemeinschaftszimmer, was bedeutet, dass du dir den Raum mit anderen Reisenden teilst.
Team dorm:
Du bekommst ein Bett in einem Gemeinschaftszimmer, was bedeutet, dass du dir den Raum mit anderen Personen teilst.
Camping:
Du wirst in einem Zelt auf einem Campingplatz schlafen.
Frühstück:
Du hast Anspruch auf ein kostenloses Frühstück an jedem Tag deines Aufenthalts.
Mittagessen:
Du hast Anspruch auf ein kostenloses Mittagessen an jedem Tag deines Aufenthalts.
Abendessen:
Du hast Anspruch auf ein kostenloses Abendessen an jedem Tag deines Aufenthalts.
Kostenlose Wäsche:
Du kannst unseren Waschraum frei nutzen.
Anforderungen
Fließend Englisch
Über 18 Jahre alt
Empfängt Einzelreisende, Paare und Partner von Freiwilligen
Was nicht inbegriffen ist
Flüge, Reiseversicherung, interne Transportmittel und Visum
Programmdetails
This position means you are applying for the garden and foraging team in Alpe Bognago, an off grid mountain village. This means that for the entire length of your stay (which is a minimum of 1 month) you will be working with 3-4 other individuals as part of the garden team.
The entire garden team will work collaboratively and share tasks and responsibilities. Your manager will have a long term plan and overview in mind; their responsibility is to to guide you and the work, not to think for you. Your input and own past experiences and knowledge are always sought after! The emphasis here is really on team work and collaboration - you will therefore have to be proactive, have excellent communication skills, be ready to support your team members and the project wherever necessary, and possess a team player attitude.
Great levels of physical fitness are a must for this role as working in the garden entails a lot of real, heavy labour. Confidence in handling tools and basic DIY and carpentry skills are also required for building all the garden infrastructure (fences, trellises, tipis, terraces). Previous experience/knowledge of growing your own food, and wild plants is not required but definitely a huge bonus. What we really want to see from you more than anything is a readiness and willingness to learn to be a positive and active participant in the life and work around you.
Aktivitäten & Schichten
Everyday working hours for all volunteers are from 8am-13pm. Apart from the evening watering, all tasks should be completed within these 5 hours. Your daily routine in the garden will vary a lot according to season.
Your general responsibilities as a team include; heavy manual labour such as hand tilling/digging soil, extensive fencing, building stone terraces/ other structures for plants. Building a watering system, composting, weeding, tending to plants as they grow, pruning trees/fruit bushes, foraging for wild plants - drying them for storage or using them directly in the kitchen. You will also need to possess a great willingness to learn, to research, and get to know this specific area, its soil, and its climate. You need to have the ability to be creative with what you are doing as well as innovative. Especially in the face of unforeseen challenges such as unidentified pests or climate change - the reality of which has a great effect on gardening.
The entire garden consists of three large terraces. We want to expand and incorporate 3 smaller terraces into the area. Last year the new area was 80% fenced off. This year the fence needs to be finished, and the soil needs to be worked and nurtured, ready for planting.
You should also be able to work well independently as well as in a group, and be flexible enough for daily changes. It is likely that during work hours your team leader might delegate tasks to you for the entire day while they take care of other tasks. You will be also be in close collaboration with the kitchen team as they will often be receiving your produce/wild plants, and you will assist them with preparations of said plants when necessary.
Regeln
Working in Bognago also means understanding and adapting to the challenges of its remote off-grid location. Being a 45 min. hike away from civilisation, and another 45 min. drive to the closest supermarket, means a lot of consideration and planning when it comes to your work. You will have to be incredibly sensitive to the lack of convenience of the lifestyle here, as well as our financial situation and very strict budget. Alpe Bognago is a very young volunteer project; our funds are therefore extremely limited - this means instead of buying materials or tools brand new, we first try to reuse and get creative with what we have on the property. The garden is incredibly important to Bognago and our journey towards sustainability and self sufficiency.
Working in Bognago has certain limitations that you need to be able to adapt to. The limited resources, and lack of big farming machines/tools are challenging. This means, more than anything, that you have to be creative, solution oriented, and proactive when things aren't easy or straightforward.
We will constantly wish for your initiative and input to make this place and your experience here the best it can be. We need you to have the attitude that you are coming here to work together with us, not wait until you are given instructions. Bognago is built on the values of community, honesty, and respect; respect for each other, your work, your environment. We ask you to take your role here both seriously and joyously, and are ready to share a wonderful summer if we are on the same page.