Apply Now

Explore the world of organic olive farming & enjoy pure nature

5.0
(3 reviews)3

The experience

We'd like to open our doors to our small homestead for interesting people with a desire and passion to learn about organic olive farming and put their heart to homesteading and sustainable ways of maintaining rural and/or rustic terrains. The magic about it is that it all happens in the wonderful landscapes and environments of the Parque Natural de Sao Mamede in Alto Alentejo.

What you offer

30 hours of help per week

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

Farming: Plant crops, sow seeds and help in outside tasks.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Fast Internet Access: High-speed internet for you to work remotely

Dedicated Workspace: Specific space for you to work remotely

Requirements

Intermediate English or Intermediate Portuguese

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our activities here in Alto Alentejo really turn around three different projects:
1) Organic olive production on a 6 ha orchard to produce extra virgin olive oil (year by year)
2) Renovation of our traditional old mill storage house (ongoing renovation works with no time limit 😁)
3) Maintenance and development of 2 ha of rustic land into an innovative type of food forest
Volunteers are welcome to learn, share and engage in all three projects. Scale and scope of activities within the three projects depend highly on seasons, internal planning and priorities.

We are mainly looking for volunteers with proven experience in any (or all :-)) of the above-mentioned areas.

Activities & Shift

Organic olive farming - land maintenance and clearing, irrigation management, pruning, mulching, organic phytosanitary
House renovation - all kinds of interior and exterior renovation works - mainly with timber and natural stones
Rustic land maintenance - strimming, cutting, pruning, land clearing, water management, building of paths, fences, stone work

Rules

We live a simple life on our Quinta in PT and like to host people who share the same idea of a simple lifestyle. It is a pleasure for us to spend time with people from all over the world, but we also like to have time for ourselves. As our days are quite busy, it is important for us to find a good balance here. As said, days can get quite exhausting as the majority of our day to day work is manual labour, so we like our hosted people to know that - as much as that we stick to our 5\5-"agreement". We are not vegetarians or vegans but we like to think that our nutrition is quite balanced and healthy - as we consume a lot of the seasonal vegetables and fruits from our lands. Our "Golden Rule" here is: Please stay away from the smartphone during the agreed working hours - for our all safety and sanity 😏.