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Host rating
100 %
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4 Jul 2025
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Details
Description
Come stay at a biodiversity-centred permaculture home, and join a professional ecologist rehabilitating native woodland and growing a sustanable food forest! Learn about ecology, the challenges of modern nature conservation, and the basics of permaculture.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Sustainability
Politics / Social justice
Charity work
Outdoor activities
Gardening
Cooking & food
Nature
Hiking
Dancing
Cycling
Camping
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
I am an ecologist with a professional background in nature conservation. My priority in life is to leave the land I steward in a better state for nature than I found it. I will gladly share everything I know about ecological restoration and conservation with you, in the hopes that you can go forth and do good things for the natural world! Besides learning about approaches to nature conservation, sustainable land management, here you can immerse yourself in the natural world, watch wildlife, explore ancient and unique landscapes, enjoy the great outdoors (wild swimming in rivers, gorges and lakes, hiking in the mountains, wandering the coastline), and generally get to experience quiet, rural, Italian life.
Help
There's much to do, plenty to learn, and heaps to share in this lifestyle. Depending on the time of year, we could be developing and maintaining the no-dig vegetable plots, sowing seeds, weeding, harvesting, foraging, taking a hay cut on the terraces and making hay bales by hand, tackling invasive acacia trees, controlling bramble, pruning fruit trees, decorating...all sorts of things! Come with enthusiasm and some practical skills, and leave with even more!
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Italian: Intermediate
Spanish: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
I'm a native English speaker, learning Italian, learning Spanish, and happy to share all these languages!
Accommodation
Welcome! My home is rustic but comfy, with stunning mountain views. You'll have your own sleeping and chilling space in the camping barn, and will share the bathroom in the house with me. Meals take place, wherever possible, on the patio, because every opportunity to eat outdoors should be seized. The small, functional kitchen is available to prepare breakfast/hot drinks in, but you will not have access to it for cooking meals.
This place rewards the hardy, offering no comforts like central heating nor air conditioning, although wifi is a recent addition. Sometimes there is hot water, sometimes there is not, so you need to be prepared to embrace cold showers. Responsible, careful use of water and energy resources is a must - if you like luxuriating under steaming showers for 10 minutes a day rather than a practical 2 minute dousing, this isn't the place for you. I like to keep the house tidy and as clean as a house in the mountains can possibly be, and you will be expected to play your part in maintaining your own space and the shared spaces (indoor and outdoor) every day after we've finished our tasks on the land.
I am an enthusastic cook, and the preparation (and eating!) of the evening meal is a highly anticipated part of each day. If you're adventurous with your food, and eat with gusto, you won't be disappointed. You'll be able to enjoy simple, healthy and tasty homemade meals every working day. I can accommodate vegetarian diets, but not vegan, nor those with food allergies/intolerances/sensitivities. You are expected to chip in with some kind of help around the place while I prepare dinner - tidying, sweeping the yard, cleaning the bathroom, etc - without being constantly reminded; present, proactive, considerate souls are the best.
Please note that you will not have access to the kitchen for cooking your own meals, and will be expected to explore the marvellous local Garfagnana cuisine. Eating out is a cherished and important aspect of life here. Not only do you get to try delicious local specialities that you won't find in other parts of Italy, but you support local community, help to keep the rural areas alive, and live your Garfagnana experience more fully.
At 600m elevation, halfway up the hills that bring you to trailheads for the less-explored end of the Appenine mountains, my house is a good 15 minute drive from the nearest small town down in the valley. Public transport to or from the house does not exist. The nearest train station and bus stop are in the village at the bottom of the hill (about 4 miles away). Therefore, I strongly prefer to host workawayers who have their own transport, or those who don't mind walking an hour to the nearest bus stop in the adjacent village. In the summer months I will only take Workawayers with a car (exceptions considered for students studying ecology-related degrees).
What else ...
All in a drive of an hour or less: trailheads into the Apuane alps or Apennines; sublime seaside; canoeing on the lake; wild swimming in the Lima; paddleboarding in the gorge; historical cities (Lucca and Pisa, with Florence, Bologna and Modena a little further away); charming local bars and cafes for aperitivi and caffe; family-run restaurants offering authentic Tuscan cooking.
The house and the land are strictly no-smoking spaces, no exceptions.
You must have a decent level of fitness to stay on a cultural exchange here, as the land is terraced and steep in places, and the work is physical. Your own work boots/walking boots are absolutely non-negotiable essentials. If you are applying to stay in July or August you must explain in your application message your motivation for coming, your experience of working outdoors in the heat, and your level of fitness.
Long term stays are possible and can be discussed.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
There's a parking space for a small van.
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
My animals / pets
W
Feedback (7)
I stayed for 3 weeks in June. The conditions weren't easy with the heat but I really enjoyed working here. Josephine was very careful to make sure I didn't get… read more
Josephine is also an amazing cook! I had some of the best meals of my entire WorkAway experience with… read more
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I stayed for 3 weeks in June. The conditions weren't easy with the heat but I really enjoyed working here. Josephine was very careful to make sure I didn't get… read more
Josephine is also an amazing cook! I had some of the best meals of my entire WorkAway experience with… read more
It was during the beginning of spring and there were many things to do outside, taking care of the garden, cleaning, giving a hand on everything. But my main work was to create a wooden greenhouse with old… read more
Josephine is very kind host that makes you feel appreciated and comfortable, and is in general very fun to be around! She's a phenominal cook and the meals were absolutely delicious.
She really went above and… read more
This is a magical, quiet place on the top of the mountain with the best view! The tasks were easy (weeding is now my second name😃) the bedroom is too comfortable and here lives also the sweetest dog on earth!
Josephine is ready to make this workaway experience memorable, we shared so many… read more
While working in the garden and on her terrain she shared so much: knowledge, ideas, plans, food, energy and friendship. I felt at home instantly.
The work evolves with the circumstances, sometimes there’s a little more, sometimes a little less. Meadow digging is definitely more physical… read more
