We have immediate availability for one or two wwoofers to help us get the quinta (buildings and gardens) We're taking a break before October, when we'll be getting ready to start olive harvest and looking for a good harvest/prep team of four to six wwoofers. Early in the month, we may be working on various other projects around the quinta...it's impossible to know each year when the trees and the mill will be ready. It's a great time of year here—the weather is usually beautiful in October, and harvest is satisfying and social work, but requires moderate fitness and the ability to work proactively in a team.
Please write to us individually. Short and straightforward is fine, though it helps to mention any specific skills you have, equipment and tools you're familiar with, or interests. We don't do video/phone interviews.
ABOUT THE QUINTA
Quinta do Veloso's main focus is olive oil, and there's always something to do in our olive grove, which feels like a world in itself. We're serious about making olive oil, but we also care about the olival as a natural habitat, where islands of scrub, holm-oak copses, old rock walls, brush piles, and thickets allow native plants and wildlife to thrive. It's a great place to walk, run, or just wander in your spare time.
Closer to the house, in various garden and orchard spaces, we garden for atmosphere and beauty as well as for food (we're very food-oriented). We grow avocados, citrus, and a variety of fruit trees in sheltered spots, aromatic herbs and shrubs like capers in our rocky dry garden, and all kinds of plants we love for their colors, scents, textures, history, and culinary or ecological value.
The quinta was probably used first as a monastic farm; it belonged to the Dominican nuns of the Convento de Sao Domingo in Elvas until 1834, when the convent was abolished, and was home in the 1800s to Elvas's postmaster general and to a doctor who wrote a treatise on cholera, and later to a large extended family who lived in various sections of the quinta complex (a string of apartments/other spaces in varying states of renovation, our "house" being the biggest of these). It's much too big for us, and very much a work in progress, with a lot of construction and restoration work to do, using traditional materials like lime mortar whenever possible..
We're 4 km from Elvas, a sleepy but pretty town and a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its impressive fortifications. This is a beautiful area, with a lot of good day trips, though the quinta itself is a great place to spend your spare time.
ABOUT US
We’re Miranda, Krister (part of the year), and Tor, who is 21 and studying marine sciences at the university of Galway but here for the summer. We have all WWOOFed ourselves, and Tor grew up with wwoof and is part of the team when he's at home.
PRACTICALITIES
Work: We usually require a minimum of two full weeks, but sometimes make an exception for the right person, especially someone with specific skills (building, pruning, cooking, using a string trimmer, and anything else that could be useful here). Typically wwoofers work five hours, five days a week, in addition to community help. There are many different things to do, so nothing is ever busy work. Some things just have to be done, but enthusiastic, self-motivated workers will get interesting, varied work. In addition, we ask for community/household help such as making meals and keeping shared spaces neat and clean.
Olive harvest, in October and November, can be a little different. We have a fairly short window to harvest in (the start of harvesting depends on the mill, the weather, and the state of the trees, and we stop harvesting when the olives get too ripe to make flavorful oil), and we don’t harvest if it’s raining hard, so we may take a rain day off for reading, playing cards, and generally being cozy, then harvest on a weekend day to catch up. Hours can be a little longer also, not only to make up for lost days but also because we need to harvest enough each day to take to the mill. On the other hand, if the team works well and the trees are good, we might finish early. Harvest is serious, focused work, which depends on a good team spirit and a willingness to do whatever needs to be done; almost never does anyone just stand around (it can happen if we hit an exceptionally productive tree). It's also fun, satisfying work, and it's a blast to taste the season's first oil. We try to make sure everyone gets rest when they need it, but everyone needs to pull their weight.
Housing and shared spaces:
There are a few rooms for wwoofers in the main house, as well as a separate two-room building (with electricity but no plumbing, but just across the courtyard from the main house) that can accommodate three and a few other possible spaces. The quinta is a work in progress; spaces are basic, but we try to make them comfortable. If there are more than a couple volunteers, you'll likely need to share. Couples are welcome, and we try to accommodate them with a separate room and double bed. All wwoofers share a bathroom with shower in the house (we hope soon to complete a second bathroom with outside access) and are mutually responsible for keeping it clean. Campers (van or tent) are welcome; there are pretty, private places for this.
The kitchen is a social space (and at times a place to read, write, draw, play games, or build a house of cards) for everyone, and thus a phone-free, scroll-free zone: no smartphones or tablets. Ordinary e-readers are fine, and books, notebooks, and drawing pads are great. Please be prepared to respect this rule; those who don’t may be asked to leave.
Smoking:
No smoking in *any* indoor space or in social gatherings anywhere on the quinta , and absolutely no smoking in the olival, due to the risk of fire.
Internet:
Internet is satellite, which is fine for email and other everyday use, but please don’t watch videos or play games requiring high bandwidth. We welcome wwoofers who work remotely, as we do, as long as your bandwidth need is moderate.
Food:
We love good food and cooking, but cooking for a number of people, who often have different requirements, day in and day out can be a lot of work, so we need help. Breakfast is self-serve, since everyone has different habits; wwoofers take turns making the other weekday meals, though some may be informal, depending on the situation. (You can take time off work to make lunch.) Weekends are free—sandwiches, leftovers, a pot of soup, or you may wish to go out. We expect everyone to help with meals, even if you can only make something very simple. It often works well to pair up with one of us or another wwoofer—maybe you'll learn to love cooking, or at least acquire some basic skills! The cook (or the cook's partner) is responsible for cleanup of cooking utensils/pots etc.; everyone else helps clean up after the meal. (At harvest time we are also open to someone with serious cooking experience who is interested in making lunch and dinner five days a week for a hungry team.)
We are omnivorous but lean heavily toward plant-based, seasonal, and local. We accommodate food restrictions (vegan, gluten-intolerant, don't like fish...) on a case-by-case basis, but you will have to put some effort into making this work—making your own food sometimes, giving us extra help in the kitchen, or buying your own special ingredients. Please keep in mind that in a shared household, we all have to follow everyone else’s restrictions; be thoughtful and tolerant.
Finally, in your initial query if possible, let us know:
1. If you have any food restrictions or strong dislikes. I will not cater to restrictions I haven't been told about.
2. Whether you're OK with sharing a room. (During harvest, you will probably need to; the rest of the year, you may not, depending on how many wwoofers we have.) Also let us know if you're OK with sharing with the opposite sex, though whenever possible we keep rooms single-gender, other than for couples of course.) If there are two of you, let us know if you want one or two beds; we don't want to presume.
2. Whether you drive stick shift.
3. Whether you smoke. (See "Smoking" above.)
4. Whether you're vaccinated (in general, we're not fans of conspiracy theories, and we like science).
5. How important it is to you that there be other wwoofers around. We will do our best to let you know who will be here, but we can't always know in advance.
6. Whether you have allergies or any other health issues that may affect your stay and ability to work.
Thanks for reading!
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Horse or donkey farming
Wild foraging
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Green Building
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Holistic management
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
Certified organic
Former WWOOFer
18
Hectares
|
44.5
Acres
