Farming our food whilst creating a beautiful forest.
Viseu
1. Beschrijf je project, je plek en de bewoners (inclusief dieren):
We, Peter and Suzan, have 10 hectares of land in the centre of beautiful Portugal right next to rio Mondego. We bought the land in 2019 and haven't regretted one second of moving here. We live a so called off the grid life with the comfort of internet, solar power, hot shower and toilet. Our veggie garden is producing, not as much as we would like, but we are getting there. We have 2 dogs who are guarding our 9 chickens and 4 geese during the day, and live in our house during the night. Our 5 cats keep the critters away and our chickens give us plenty of eggs.
2. Geef een lijst van de activiteiten waaraan WWOOFers zullen deelnemen en wat je hen wilt leren:
We are creating a mixed vegeteble garden, where everything grows, flowers, veggies and herbs.
On our land there are about two and a half million wildly growing mimosa trees which we want to turn into a forest. In order to do so we need you to help us cut and plant trees. (Diameter not more than 15 centimeter.) We have already done a lot, but there is still a lot to do. We find the work very rewarding as you can immediately see the results and it really makes a difference to the landscape.
Primarily we like help with a handsaw and different sizes of loppers. We also use brush cutters and different sizes of chainsaws and even a tractor with shredder to turn the cut down trees into mulch for the garden en to create pathways.
*To prevent the possible risk of insuries these powertools will only be handled by us. If your (travel)insurance covers it, we are happy to teach you how to savely handle powertools, but you can only handle them on your own risk and when we are around.
3. Hoe zou de dag van een WWOOFer er op jouw locatie uit kunnen zien (tijdspanne voor deelname aan activiteiten, verwachtingen...)?
In the summer we like to start at about 6 or 7 o'clock to get ahead of the heat, which means breakfast is even earlier, or we have a quick little bite and eat later. After lunch when it is really hot we go to our very own river beach rio Mondego to cool down or we go exploring for other river beaches in rio Dão, rio Alfa, or a lake. After dinner we like to do some more work as it is nice and cool again.
In the winter we start later, the days are shorter, no river beaches, but camp fires with jacked potatoes and movie nights.
4. Jij bent de gids! Vertel over je eigen hobby's (muziek, koken, etc.) en de mogelijkheden in de buurt (wandelen, zwemmen, etc.):
We like to build things, for me that means building with reclaimed pallet wood and Peter, as an electronics engeneer, likes to work with electronics. Feel free to join in, we are happy to share our projects with you and pick each others brains for solutions.
We live an hours drive away from Serra da Estrel, Mainlands highest mountain where there are several signposted hikes and beautiful lakes for swimming. In the winter one can even go skiing on the mountain! Right where we live there are also several hiking or mountainbiking paths.
There is life folklore music, marchas populares and lots of festas in our village and the surrounding villages, and there are also pizza nights with mucis and cinema near us.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Forestry
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Renewable energy production
Methods or systems
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
10
Hectares
|
24.7
Acres
Accommodation
Suzan
Member since 2023
Languages spoken:
Dutch, English, German, Portuguese
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 89%
Response time: typically within 7 days
Viseu
You get of the train in Nelas when coming from the airport from Porto or Lisboa. We can pick you up from there. At the moment the trains aren't going to Nelas, in Coimbra you have to pick the bus to Nelas.
Reviews
Chris
United Kingdom
•
November 2025
I had an amazing time WWOOFing with Suzan, Peter, and the crew. From the moment I arrived, they were incredibly welcoming, kind, and full of knowledge about the land and local life. Every day brought something different — from clearing paths through the forest to picking olives under the sunshine. It was a great mix of satisfying work, good company, and lots of laughs.
The campsite itself is beautiful, surrounded by nature, and the sleeping quarters are cozy and snug — perfect after a day’s work. The local area is stunning too, full of peaceful trails and postcard views.
And of course, no review would be complete without mentioning my spectacular slow-motion fall off a ladder — entirely my own fault, but executed with unintentional grace and a rather unfortunate landing. Sadly, I decided to cut my trip short, though everyone was kind and understanding (and I think secretly a little entertained as I hobbled around the campsite on my crutches).
All in all, an unforgettable experience with wonderful people in a beautiful place. I left feeling grateful, inspired and mostly intact, and already looking forward to returning someday — this time with both feet firmly on the ground!
To all I met on this beautiful adventure, thank you and see you soon for part two.
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Shirin
Austria
•
September 2025
My friend and I had a wonderful stay at Suzan and Peter’s place. Since their property is soon to become a campsite, it is already beautifully arranged, with a small, brand-new sanitary facility and a little pool with fairy lights.
We stayed in a van, which offered us privacy and a cozy bed.
On one of her days off, Suzan kindly let us join her on a trip to a beautiful river. She also showed us a nearby region affected by wildfires, so that we got to see how important our work is (it consisted of cutting back invasive mimosas — as part of ecological fire prevention).
We wish them all the best with their many projects on the site and are grateful to have learned more about sustainable wildfire protection.
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Lenn
Germany
•
October 2024
The stay at the campside of Suzan and Peter is one, you just have to experience. All the people there Are so Open good hearted human beings, that its truly infecting you. Youre learning to enjoy the Little things, Like the size of the caravan. The work with the Mimosa trees is totally Fine and a Wildlife experience. They Are Even picking you up for nice events and its just a beautiful Community. The Food is worldclass!
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Evgenia
Switzerland
•
March 2024
Suzan and Peter are wonderful hosts. They smile, listen, support, sing songs and answer all our questions. We stayed in a small caravan which was just big enough for our little family of three. It was really fun to do the work we were supposed to do. Even though we did not stay as long as we had planned (because of the rain), we gained a lot of experience of what can be done in the garden and on the land. We also got to know some really good people who live on the campsite. We can recommend visiting Suzan and Peter's place and hope to meet again.
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Tessie
Netherlands
•
March 2024
We helped out for one week on Suzan and Peter’s soon to be fully functioning camping site. Doing tasks like making the land fire hazard free (cutting down smaller trees and bushes in the forest) or building fences. Suzan’s positive attitude was infectious and her work ethic inspirational. She was willing to answer any questions we had about her lifestyle -which was important and of great value to us-, not only that, thanks to her we met quite a few interesting people. We are grateful to have been allowed a peek into the beautiful corner of the world that is theirs and proud to help it develop according to their vision. We hope to come back one day to see how the trees have grown, even the mimosas :)
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Timon
Germany
•
November 2023
Suzan and Peter are a really kind couple. I worked on their off grid farm for three weeks and cut mimosa trees (an invasive species). I enjoyed being outside a lot and the friendly atmosphere was always present. We took most meals together and I went into my own place to sleep at night. The bed and the room I had, it was an old van, was okay. There was enough space for me and all my belongings and during my stay we even improved some of the features of the van which made it very comfortable to stay in. One of the highlights was the olive harvest and making olive oil at the press. It is a valuable experience to see how such a product we eat regularly is being made. On some occasions we met people from the area and had a pleasant time. There is a lot to explore around in nature and the diverse land of the farm itself offers nice niches and places to discover. The dogs and cats were lovely and it wouldn't have been the same without them.
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