Monte da Pêra Brava

Welcome to Monte da Pêra Brava!

We are an experimental farm practicing regenerative farming with rotational grazing of our sweet sheep, mischievous goats and our ferociously sweet guard puppy, Moxy!

What makes us experimental? We are learning as we go with our ambitious plan to restore soil health on our land. We believe that we can heal our dry and depleted soils in the semi-arid region of southern Alentejo just by mimicking nature. In our case that's moving the animals to a new paddock with fresh food every day, keeping the soils covered whenever we can, planting a diversity of local plants and trees and doing our best to attract wild animals, insects and encourage the communities of fungi and microbes.

We would love to have like-minded good people come experience our farm through volunteering. We provide room, board, meals and great company.

Want to hear more? Contact us

What's it like on our farm? We're a close-knit team of passionate farmers that love what we do even when the going gets tough. We know some days are more challenging than others, but being surrounded by the animals, nature and good people make it all worth it.

Top Host
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All experiences

Help us at our regenerative grazing farm in Alentejo

Animal Care Farming

Almodôvar, Portugal

Reviews

5.0
(19 reviews)19

Staff & Host

5.0

Hours & Tasks

5.0

Hostel

5.0

Learning & Fun

4.5

Spain

5


I had a wonderful time volunteering at Monte de Pera Brava. The work can be a bit challenging at first if you’re new to this type of experience, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. The facilities are amazing, and everyone made me feel very welcome. It was especially wonderful to work alongside Sara! I’m very grateful for the experience and would definitely recommend it to others :)

6 days ago

France

5

It was my first volunteering experience, I loved these two weeks in this village and on the farm, Sara and Begona are adorable and wonderful people. The animals and Moxy the dog are sweethearts and I was able to learn a lot of things during the working hours. I didn't find the work really tiring. The moments in community are unforgettable and life in the village is sweet and pleasant, I also had the opportunity to make two or three excursions to the nearby towns and villages with Begona and Sara! Thank you for everything it was amazing ❤️

4 months ago

Poland

5

I felt warmly welcomed at Monte da Pera Brava, contributing to this eco project and living in a small Portuguese community. Cristiana is very knowledgeable about the farm, she makes sure you feel comfortable and at home and also you can always communicate with her about your needs or concerns. The job itself is quite physical, which you could expect, might get overwhelming at the beginning but as soon as you get the hang of everything, you will feel that your work makes sense. I would highly recommend this experience, however be aware of the cons of living in a quiet rural area hahah

9 months ago

Sara replied

Aleksandra was a very good addition, her quickly understanding of how everything worked, made her an extra add to the team. She showed to be very responsable, hardworking and she contributed to keep a good enviroment between the remanin members of the team.
I higly recomend Aleksandra to volunteer at your place. :)

Good luck conquering the world!
Team MdPB

Germany

4

I had a good time at Monte da Pera Brava & felt like I could really reconnect with nature. The people in the village, Cristiana & the other volunteers I met during my stay were very welcoming & you felt like part of a small community. Accommodation & provided food were on point, I always felt comfortable. During my stay I noticed that there is too much responsibility on the volunteer since you mostly work with only the farm-manager (or another volunteer), which didn’t meet my expectations of volunteering & could be improved. I learned a lot, had good chats & made valuable memories! Obrigada:)

10 months ago

Germany

3

All in all it was fine but I did not feel respected or valued as a volunteer. It was just me and the Farmmanager working most of the time and it was too much responsibility. It was more of a hard work experience not a learning volunteering experience. I was asked to work even when I was feeling ill, I even had more work that day…And the very last day I left at 10 a.m. for the bus. Then I was very harshly asked to start working at 8 a.m. like usual which would leave me no time to shower or get all the hay out of my clothes clean etc. There is simply too much work for one farm manager.

10 months ago

Perfect for you if you're looking for

Contact with nature

Rural

Contact with animals