We invite you to join us in this Volunteer week.
We have space for two people with caravan accommodation for the whole week - see below.
We also welcome volunteers for the weekend, for single days or more.
Below you can read the HelpX entry.
Let us know if you’d like to come and join us.
’Beautiful old cottage and 'gardens' in the Tamar Valley, Cornwall, an area of outstanding natural beauty - between Dartmoor and Bodmin Moor, one mile (on foot) to the River Tamar, about an hour to both coasts - north and south (by car).
Sue (Mum) and Grace (daughter) live here, Marcus lives up the hill, as does Joanna, and various friends and family visit and join in. Sue has been here for 38 years, raised a family, grown food, flowers and herbs, worked as a healing therapist and run courses, ceremonies and gatherings.
Much of the land is sloping, with limited sunlight hours but recently we got a south-facing flat piece of land! We've started to expand food growing, have 7 lovely chickens and planted a new mini orchard. We have various courses and an online crystal shop with helpers and volunteers popping in to assist us and enjoy the peace of this lovely place.
What’s needed is enthusiasm and flexibility for a wide variety of tasks – and extra strength and youthful physical energy! Hours will vary from day to day, and depending on the weather. We have had single helpers, but would also like to have two non-smoking friends, or a couple, robust physically robust and emotionally self-reliant, for one week at a time, plus some long weekends, and maybe a bit extra at certain times of the year.
Currently looking for help in 2021:
Friday 24th September to Friday 1st October
We have a caravan for you to stay in, so there is privacy for both you and us. You would arrive on Friday evening, and start work with us on Saturday, for one week with 2 days off midweek. We work from 10ish to 5ish, with lunch and tea breaks. You would make your own breakfast in the caravan, and share other meals with us. Food preparation, cooking and clearing up is shared by whoever is here.
There is a train to Calstock via Plymouth, which is about 3 miles away by road (less walking through the woods) and we can collect and drop off on Fridays. If you are driving, you will need directions as satnav does not get you here (we like it that way!) The mobile signal here is unreliable and we like it that way.
The land is very beautiful, and the bird life is wonderful. We have buzzards, owls, heron, blackbirds, thrushes, robins, wagtails, tits, swallows, swifts, wrens all nesting right outside the door or very close by. There are challenges because we have a lot of slopes and a lot of water. For many years the valley was filled with old cherry trees, and part of my plan is to replant more trees and re-establish a more respectful, sustainable, harmonious relationship between humans and the land.
Tasks in the year include:
Continued work on permaculture plan
Potting seedlings, planting, composting, mulching, weeding, harvesting, seed collecting
Tree felling, hedging, cutting hazel
Collecting, sawing, stacking wood
Building, erecting, fixing structures
Painting buildings and signs
Strimming and grass cutting
De-brambling
Caring for chickens
Playing with/ walking dogs (deerhound lurcher and whippet)
Sharing food preparation, cooking and clearing
General cleaning, sorting, organising and mucking in
Although we do our best to match people with tasks that utilise their skills and that they enjoy, as this works best all round, sometimes we all just have to get stuck in. We need people who are confident and self-reliant, and who can be left to get on with a task alone, as well as working with others as the situation demands.
About us:
Sue, 65, needs peace and quiet (no radios), water and trees. Mother of 4 grown children. Ex home educator. Healer, mentor, teacher, celebrant. Crystal sales business. Currently adapting to brain still being able to visualise the day’s work that I could do at 30, but body not able to keep up.
Grace, 28, loves to learn and studies everything.
Marcus, 68, lives up the hill 8 minutes away. He is an acupuncturist and astrologer, works with earth energies and leads sacred journeys. He is the only one who can use the big strimmer, and he’d like to share it out a bit.
Joanna lives up the hill 5 minutes away. She helps generally and does loads with the crystal barn and crystal sales.
Seren is a large, hairy, loving deerhound lurcher who loves people and thinks she's a lapdog.
Isabel is a sweet, energetic, young whippet.
Hetty, Flirt, Blossom, Koala, Bluebell, Cluck Norris and Lottie Lohman are our lovely hens.’