Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
8 Jun 2025
Reply rate
80.0 %
Usually responds within 13 days
Feedback
5
Email verified
Badges (2)
Details
Description
We are a group of Permaculture teachers, gardeners, natural builders and holistic health practitioners and live on a non profit base and as much self sustainable as possible. Three years ago we followed through on our big dream, which was to settle in Portugal and renovate an abandoned village. The village is located in the area around Viseu. (1,2 hr east from Porto, 1 hr from Aveiro) We are currently in the planning phase and setting up our temporary infrastructure as well as (already!) growing 70-80 percent of our own food. We have 1000 m2 of greenhouse in which we grow tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, potatoes, bananas, beans, pumpkins, etc... We manage around 14 hectares and have a great flock of sheep that help us year round. (and also provide us with meat) In addition we press olive oil and make chestnut puree. Since the project encompasses quite a lot and we are a pretty ambitious group of people, we decided to open towards volunteers to help us with our goals related to self sufficiency and village restoration. Most of us were running a permaculture school (the panya project) in Thailand before moving to Portugal. This means we have some experience hosting volunteers and working with you, rather than you working for us.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a dynamic group of passionate people who used to run a Permaculture school in Thailand and can offer you a unique experience where your learning could be pretty diverse! We always have building projects in the pipeline, as well as lots of land management and gardening. We also have a passionate Bush doctor, homebirth midwife, contact improv dancer on the land !!
Help
UPDATE JUNE 2025: We are open to receive requests for volunteers starting July 2025 ! The summer is bringing some fruitful activities such as preparing for the festival Tradidanças happening the end of July (so much fun !!). We are also looking for people to help us maintain the old village. This means support with ruin stabilization, land maintenance, pressure washing, cleaning, dry stacking,..
We are also looking for people passionate about cooking and helping us transform our produce into meals and preserves!
Other general tasks include helping out with the sheep and pigs help out with communal cooking and play with our children (age 7 weeks, 15 months, 2 y old, ,8, 12 and 13 y old). If you have very specific skills, let us know! :)
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Portuguese: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
Accommodation
We are currently setting up our pioneer infrastructure. we have one comfortable community house (with hot shower and toilet, kitchen and living room), a van that is used by guests and a caravan. Inside the communal house there are two cats and two dogs, beware if you have any allergies. If you could come with your own van or tent, you will have a huge advantage!
What else ...
We all care deeply for the village we are renovating, so expect us to ramble on and on about our dream for the abandoned village. :) We also have great neighbors, so be prepared to spend some time socializing over red wine and talk about cabbages and beans. We tend to work hard but also enjoy ourselves by cooking spectacular home grown meals. Please come with a tolerant mindset, as this type of early-on pioneering work comes with some challenges, specially when the weather is very hot or very wet. The amount of people living here is 11 adults and 6 children, but during spring and summer we receive often guests and family.We do appreciate our private times in the evenings só people that volunteer here also need to be comfortable spending time independently. As a group, we are a mix of Portuguese, American and Belgian. We speak English, Dutch, French, German and Portuguese.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We can give you an electrical hookup, definitely great if you can come with your own van or tent.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Feedback (4)
I had the BEST time in Forniço for two months and even came back before leaving Portugal! This place and its people are so special, making you feel truly welcomed and part of their families. ✨
They taught me so much about life in harmony with nature, permaculture design, sowing and harvesting, food processing,… read more
Thank you for your stay and help at our farm and community. Your cooking skills are out of this world ! You helped us so much with food processing (lemonade, lemon curds , elderberry flower and what not :) and we were impressed and grateful to have your culinary professionalism here. Thank you for being so kind with our children,… read more
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(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
I had the BEST time in Forniço for two months and even came back before leaving Portugal! This place and its people are so special, making you feel truly welcomed and part of their families. ✨
They taught me so much about life in harmony with nature, permaculture design, sowing and harvesting, food processing,… read more
Thank you for your stay and help at our farm and community. Your cooking skills are out of this world ! You helped us so much with food processing (lemonade, lemon curds , elderberry flower and what not :) and we were impressed and grateful to have your culinary professionalism here. Thank you for being so kind with our children,… read more
Lena is also… read more
Looking forward and working on giving life back to an abandoned village, i have been there 1 month working on building a tiny house and planting a vineyard with permaculture criteria. I've learnt so much abput building and permaculture from them!
They are very organized as well, with all the necessary tools to do the works, and… read more
