Eco Retreat, Vineyard, Family farm
Coimbra
Welcome to Our Traditional Farmland and Rural Retreat! Our property is a combination of restored vineyard, olive groves, and orchards, now complemented by a flourishing food forest. This forest follows permaculture and biodynamic principles, helping the land heal. Over time, we’ve created a retreat centre offering educational and therapeutic activities in a natural, homesteading environment.
We offer educational and therapeutic activities rooted in organic farming, homesteading, and connecting with nature for clients during summer. All other months we receive Volunteers/Woofers who can join us for rural education and sustainable practices in exchange for help on the land (25–27 hours per week). We provide board, meals, and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
Our land supports much of our food needs and includes: A wineyard, two olive groves, an orchard, and agricultural and pasture land; A greenhouse and a food forest; Over 50 animals (including horse, goat, geese, ducks, chickens, dwarf pigs, cats, and dogs) and bees. Our main focus is winemaking and oil making, with additional projects across the seasons.
Your hosts are Jean Louis and Pascale, lifelong expatriates with a multicultural outlook. Pascale, an experienced permaculturist, is continually expanding her expertise in biodynamic farming, which she first studied in Australia.
What we’re looking for in a Woofer:
- Practical experience or knowledge of small-scale farming, homesteading, gardening, or land care.
- Skills such as repairing and maintaining tools, tree pruning, planting, or caring for animals.
- Comfort working with animals, including horse, goat, geese, ducks, chickens, pigs, cats, and dogs. Animal care is part of your daily routine. If you are interested in beekeeping, and whilst not a requisite because some are allergic to bees, by all means, come and help!
- A genuine interest in sustainable living, agriculture, and sharing knowledge.
Please ensure you have a clear understanding of your skills and interest in rural life before applying. This environment is best suited to those connected to nature, agriculture, rural lifestyle or environmental studies.
Important Information for Volunteers/Woofers:
To ensure clarity, here are some points based on past experiences:
Living Arrangements:
Pets: Our dogs and the cat are part of the family, and the dogs spend time indoors. If you’re allergic or dislike pets, this may be an issue.
Accommodations: Individual bedrooms (not shared) are provided. You’re welcome to pitch a tent or bring a campervan.
Internet: We offer 5G fibre cable and speedy internet access.
Meals: All food is provided, but we do not accommodate vegan or highly specific dietary needs. Meals are omnivore or lacto-vegetarian. Alcohol is not provided but can be purchased at the village shop.
Location & Transportation: The property is in a quiet, small village. The nearest town, Penela, is a 40-minute walk. We provide transport to the local bus station when you wish to travel. Buses to Coimbra don’t run on weekends, so plan arrivals/departures for weekdays.
For Families: We can host babies or older children but cannot accommodate kids aged 1.5–9 due to safety concerns on the property.
House Rules: Smoking indoors, drunkenness, stealing, or property damage are not tolerated. If you cancel, please inform us promptly to manage accommodations, as some quarters are reserved for refugees.
Health & Safety: Please test for Covid before arrival. If positive, please reschedule your trip.
Work & Daily Schedule:
Weekly Hours: 25–27 hours; Sundays off (flexible with weather).
Summer Schedule: Work begins early (7 - 8 AM) with long afternoon breaks. Expect 3–4 hours in the morning and possibly 1 hour in the evening.
Winter Schedule: Work is more weather-dependent, with 3–4 hours during daylight and shorter afternoon breaks.
We work lightly on Saturdays and take Sundays off, except when weather disruptions during the week require makeup work. Even on Sundays, basic animal care (around 15 minutes) is needed.
We also try to enrich your experience by dropping you off at interesting places when we go shopping or travel nearby.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Horse or donkey farming
Sheep or goat farming
Raising of other farm animals
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
1.3
Hectares
|
3.2
Acres
Pascale
Member since 2019
Languages spoken:
English, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 98%
Response time: typically within 2 days
Coimbra
Access is via the N110, just go to the village's church, a 5-minute walk to our place. Alternatively, please google map "Casa do Moinho, Podentes" This gives you the exact location of the property. if in need of pick up in Miranda do Corvo, let us know.
Reviews
jennifer
United States
•
December 2025
A very nice experience at Casa de Moinho. The hosts were immediately welcoming, sharing their space and home (including home cooked food that was plentiful, delicious and made with care).
The work expectations were reasonable and clearly defined. The animals were calm and friendly ( a tribute to the caretakers). Many opportunities for learning including farming techniques, and vineyard care, all in a really beautiful part of the county!
Thank you Pascale and Jean Louis, for a great wwoof experience and all your hospitality!
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Katie
United States
•
November 2025
This was my first time WWOOFing, and I had the absolute best experience! Pascale and Jean-Louis immediately made me feel at home. The work on the farm was fun and fulfilling (we mainly did olive harvesting), and it was amazing to enjoy the fresh produce grown right there. Their animals are the sweetest, too! They even drove us to nearby towns to explore in the afternoons, which was so thoughtful and made my stay even more special. And the food we ate every night was absolutely amazing! I would definitely recommend this farm :)
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Oliver Luca
Norway
•
May 2025
Unfortunatly, due to personal stuff, my stay at Pascale and Jean-Louis’ farm was shorter than i expected, but i still had a very good time there. The work is fairly easy and fun, short days and a lot of different work. You will learn a lot of different things both about farming and animal care. And after work you have a lot of time to lay by the pool or explore the area around. Pascale and Jean-Louis are great people, nice, understanding and they bring you to meet and see interesting people and places. I would definetly liked staying longer and i would highly recommend going here.
All the best
Oliver
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Matthew
Singapore
•
April 2025
Pascale and Jean were amazing hosts! My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed our time working with them :) They were warm, friendly and great cooks. We worked about 4 hours a day doing a variety of activities such as pruning olive trees, clearing branches, cleaning drains, painting, feeding animals and other maintenance works. They also gave us great local recommendations for us to visit during our off times. Would highly recommend this experience!
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Jian Yan
United Kingdom
•
April 2025
An Unforgettable Farm Stay Experience
Our farm stay was nothing short of incredible. The hosts (Pascale and Jean) were truly amazing—kind, passionate, and incredibly understanding. Their cooking was out of this world, and every meal felt like a warm hug.
The living conditions were top-notch, comfortable and thoughtfully maintained, making it feel like a home away from home.
What made this experience stand out was how intentional it was. Instead of simply assigning tasks, we had open conversations about the skills we wanted to develop and the experiences we hoped for. As a result, we got to learn so much—both practical skills and personal growth—while feeling supported every step of the way.
Couldn’t have asked for a better place or better people. Highly recommend!
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YANGGEUN
South Korea
•
February 2025
I was able to escape from the Korean city and experience a fun European farm here. They provided volunteers with food from various countries and a clean environment (a really nice room and a big bed like a soccer field), cute and diverse animals (2 dogs, cats, pigs, horses, various birds, rabbits, goats), and I saw how to prune grapevines and farm in an eco-friendly way. I am not good at foreign languages and I do not know much about the culture here, but the farm work was not that hard, and I enjoyed making baguettes, orange jam, and chocolate. The couple also took us to the market or downtown Coimbra on weekends for various experiences. I am glad that I was able to spend meaningful time here by living with them for a month and experiencing the local culture.
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