JaTo Tanya

Hello! Who are we?
We are a Dutch couple who moved to the beautiful rural south of Hungary six months ago. We live in a 200-year-old, traditional Hungarian clay farmhouse (Tanya), surrounded by nature, forests, and the vast Puszta landscape. With no direct neighbors, we enjoy absolute peace and quiet. You’ll often see deer, rabbits, and pheasants roaming around, and with no light pollution, this is a fantastic spot for stargazing. You can hike, horseback ride, or mountain bike for hours without encountering many people.

Janine is a former Managing Director of a sustainability company. Tom
works as a Real Estate and Sustainability Consultant. We speak Dutch, English, German, and a little Hungarian.

What keeps us busy?
Our goal is to become as self-sufficient as possible. We’ve already taken a big step with our solar panel system and battery storage, which allows us to use only a small amount of electricity from the grid. Our water comes from a private well, and we filter our own drinking water. For heating, we are working towards further sustainability. Currently, we use a combination of air conditioning (mostly powered by our solar energy) and a wood-fired central heating system, which is very common in rural Hungary. Our firewood comes partly from our land and partly from certified logging sources.

Since we’ve only been living here for a short time, there’s still a lot to do. We could use both extra hands and valuable knowledge.

Projects and activities
Most of our land is still undeveloped. We are working on creating a large vegetable garden of about 800 m² (with the potential to expand, as long as it remains manageable). We also have various fruit and nut trees, which we would love to use for food processing.

Ongoing tasks:

- Garden and landscape maintenance
- Firewood processing (tree felling, sawing, splitting, stacking)
- Processing fruit, vegetables, and herbs
- Further development of the garden
- Maintenance of the house and guesthouse (repairing clay walls, painting, general upkeep)

Special projects:
- Woodworking and carpentry (building benches, cabinets, etc.)
- Creating a relaxation and meditation area
-Building a fire pit with cooking facilities and seating
- Constructing an outdoor kitchen
- Plastering indoor walls
- Creating insect hotels using branch piles

Besides these projects, we also love to learn from others. We’re interested in your knowledge about growing vegetables and fruit, soil composition and development, fertilization, and irrigation – especially considering the dry Mediterranean climate of this part of Hungary.

It’s difficult to describe an average day because tasks vary greatly depending on the season. But one thing is certain: there is always plenty to do, and we can barely keep up!

Where will you stay? We have a charming, fully furnished, and equipped guesthouse, which was originally used as a bakery. It now serves as accommodation for family, friends, and guests. The guesthouse includes: - A private kitchen with all essentials (coffee maker, kettle, two-burner stove, fridge with freezer compartment and Airfryer) -A sleeping area with two brand-new single beds and new mattresses - A cozy sitting area upon the old pizza/bread oven - A private bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet - A TV (with Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) - Excellent WiFi via Starlink The surrounding area Just a 10-minute drive away, you’ll find two charming Hungarian villages where you can do your grocery shopping, visit the doctor, and access other basic services. Nearby, there’s also a famous 5-star spa resort with thermal baths, saunas, and indoor and outdoor pools, where you can enjoy massages and other wellness treatments. The beautiful city of Szeged (3rd largest in Hungary) is only a 30-minutes away and is also easily accessible by public transport. Szeged offers a wide range of restaurants, bars, shops, historic sites, museums, theaters, a large swimming complex with indoor and outdoor pools, a city beach, and much more. Within an hour’s drive, you can find several peaceful, family-friendly beaches along the Tisza River. Additionally, we are only 15 minutes from the Serbian border and 45 minutes from Subotica, a city known for its excellent wine-tasting opportunities and local cuisine. Would you like to help us? Are you looking for a peaceful place in nature where you can relax while also engaging in activities and helping with some projects? Then we’d love to welcome you! Note: We can accommodate a maximum of two people. Note 2: We can host vegatarians (not vegans) P.S. If you’d like to know more about us, feel free to ask! 😊