We are open for volunteers from 1st April until 31t
August 2019.
We take volunteers from 5 days up to two months. Please contact us
at
ecosmallholding@gmail.com if you are interested or want more details.
Accommodation
There is a caravan to stay in as well as a tipi if it is not being
used for courses. There is a communal room in the house and a conventional
toilet and bath/shower.
If you have a mobile home or camper van you are welcome to stay in
that. We have lots of off road parking.
Food
Breakfast food is provided for you to help yourself. Lunch and
dinner will be provided on the days that you are working and will be shared
around the table. You are very welcome to join in with preparing food or to
cook for us occasionally. There is always plenty of fresh produce available to
use.
We are not vegetarian and the kitchen is not meat-free as we are a
smallholding and we raise our own animals for meat. We can cook meat-free for
vegetarians who come for a week or less. For longer term volunteers we are
happy to prepare about half your meals if you are vegetarian. There is a gas
cooker in the caravan for the days when you will be catering for yourself and
you are welcome to pick the produce that we grow. Main harvest season is from
July onwards. You may of course choose to head off into one of the nearby
villages or small towns.
Transport
We are very rural. There are no buses within walking distance and
it can be difficult to get a taxi. There is a small shop four miles away and
the nearest small town is 6 miles. We can occasionally drop you off and pick up
from a local town but we would strongly advise that you have your own
transport.
We are willing to pick volunteers up from Peterborough
or Spalding stations but basically if you are without your own transport, once
you are on the smallholding you are on the smallholding!
Your work
here
Jobs will be widely varied and reflect the full range of
smallholding and self-sufficiency. We have an extensive food plot where we grow
a wide range of vegetables, soft fruit and nuts. Much of my time is spent here
and you will have plenty of opportunity to join in with cultivation and general
maintenance in the food garden. When the weather turns inclement there is a
warm and dry polytunnel where the work can move into.
We have a mixed orchard which includes hedgerow crops and leads
into our young woodland. Most of our woodland work is performed in the winter,
but this is a lovely place to relax with nature and contemplate. We also have a
large willow holt where we grow our own willow for basketry and living willow
projects.
Our livestock include Shetland sheep and an array of poultry as
well as five bee hives. There may be pigs here too. Caring for all these
includes a range of daily tasks such as feeding and watering and cleaning out.
It also involves spending plenty of time just enjoying watching the animals!
There is always some project or other that we are developing and
you will be most welcome to get involved with whatever we are up to. Full
instruction will be offered where needed, though we hope you may be able to teach
us a thing or two as well.
How long you
will be expected to volunteer for
If you stay less than a full week, you will be helping out every
day. For those staying a week or more, you will help out for 5 hours per day
five days per week (not necessarily Monday to Friday) though you may well find
that you want to spend more time joining in with our activities on the
smallholding.
Other
opportunities while you are here
In the evenings we spend our time on our varied interests, most of
which are based on using the products of the smallholding. We don’t claim to be
experts in any one thing, but we can show you the basics of wool crafts
(spinning, peg-looming, felting), willow weaving from our home-grown willows,
baking, making preserves and much more.
Add this to everything we can teach you about growing your own
food and keeping livestock and you should eventually leave here buzzing with
ideas and new knowledge.
For any keen birdwatchers, I am something of an expert and can
teach you all about our bird life. I would be happy to take you out further
afield to nature reserves.
Out and about
We are about 6 miles from the small town of Holbeach which has a
range of shops.The larger Fenland towns of Wisbech, King’s Lynn, Boston and Spalding are all about 20 miles away, as is the city of Peterborough.
Peterborough train station is under an hour from London.
We are 10 miles inland of The Wash and within easy reach by car of
the Norfolk coast with its wonderful beaches and network of nature reserves.
The excellent RSPB reserve at Frampton is only half an hour away,
or heading inland there are some fantastic nature reserves at Nene Washes and Ouse
Washes. 
No comments:
Post a Comment