We are a family of 5. My wife is from Transylvania and grew up in an off grid community, until she was 10 years old, using a bartering system, exchanging goods, produce and physical work. I was born and raised on the California coast and moved to Virginia as an adult. Our two boys were born in Virginia. When they reached the ages of 3 and 5, we thought we would expose them to a different culture and smaller community life, so we moved to Hungary. Our children now are 11, 9 and 4years old.
Our family is multi-lingual. The children are fluent in English and Hungarian, and my wife is also fluent in Romanian as well. We are big in crafting with leather and wood and play music together most days (drums, violin, banjo, recorder, harmonica, guitar, accordion, etc) .
We have begun to develop a small community among the families attending the local Waldorf schools. We often get together to share methods and approaches to becoming more self-sufficient; raise goats, make cheese, do arts and crafts, help farm, garden and construct buildings, among other things.
The kids love being in nature, wrestling and playing music: drums, violin, banjo, recorder (flute), harmonica, guitar...
We are living in a natural way, so please know that our farm is a place where you may experience a "digital detox", and you'd be enjoying our (odor free) compost toilets.
We live a simple life, much like people did before modernization. Our days are shaped by nature, not by machines or screens. We grow our own food, eat what the land gives us, and prepare our meals in the simplest way, seasonal, and nourishing.
We do not use perfumed or chemical products on our bodies. We believe in keeping things natural and pure, respecting the balance of life. Our home is quiet, our needs are few, and our hearts are content with what we have.
This life may seem plain to some, but to us, it is rich with meaning
1. Describe your project, your place, and its inhabitants (including animals):
We have 3 properties in Hungary that we are developing for sustainable living, to teach our children the values and lessons from living a simple life in harmony with nature. We are obsessed with alternative living . One property, our main residence, is in a small village North West of Budapest. Here we have an off-grid solar system, ducks and chickens, a green house, young fruit trees and a permaculture/bio-dynamic garden and forest garden. The other 2 properties are 8km away on a hill with a scenic view. There we have a fruit tree orchard, with various cherry, plum and other fruit trees, goats and off-grid living tiny houses.
The main priorities where we'd be happy to receive help are:
+ Gardening and Soil work
+ Teaching the kids skills, such as: Acrobatics / Music / Juggling etc
+ Wood work (craftsmanship)
+ Taking our dog for daily long walks and the goats to pasture
We are in the process of turning all 3 properties into self-sustainable farms using natural, permaculture/bio-dynamic practices and techniques that we have learned over the years. Currently we have projects that range from planting bushes, trees gardens, making a fishpond, swales for water retention to working with animals, milking goats and turning to cheese to construction with traditional building materials and techniques. All properties have off-grid solar panel systems.
2. List the activities that WWOOFers will participate in and what you want to teach them:
Planting vegetable gardens, digging swales, planting herbs
Garden maintenance, harvesting veggies, developing swales for water retention
Converting soil for organic agriculture, Clear brush
Building and outside shower, build fences for gardens and animals
Work with animals such as goats and maybe cows
Restore stone built buildings with hand made bricks and mortar
Learn ethical practices for living simply and resiliently
Learn about harvesting wild foods
Learn how to work with traditional building materials
Learn how to use recycled, scavenged and natural material
Learn how to set up an off-grid solar system
Learn how to work with animals, from goats, to poultry
Learn to milk goats (seasonal)
Learn to bake fresh bread from ancient grains
Learn to make cheese and much more. Cheese making is seasonal!
3. What could a WWOOFer's day look like at your site (time slot for participation in activities, expectations...)?
Wake up to the sounds of nature, absent of cars or city noises. Center yourself among trees and songs of the birds. Walk the homestead and great the chickens and ducks as you make your way to the back garden. Put in some honest work either digging and mixing soil, tending to the vegetable garden or nursery, feeding/milking the goats, planting a couple fruit trees or building a fence from locally collected trees. Milking goats are SEASONAL.
Walking the dog daily, watering the vegetable in the morning, feeding animals in the morning, harvesting vegetable, making pestos from wild plants etc. HARVESTING vegetable is seasonal.
Enjoy a well earned lunch from locally produced cheeses, breads, meats and vegetables. Did I mention free range eggs are on the table? Spend the rest of the afternoon with similar work as you learn about traditional, sustainable, ethical methods for all sorts of things, from making soap and plant medicines to raising animals and planting agriculture.
Spend you evenings staring at the stars, without any light pollution, in the hills in a private tiny house or camping in your own tent.
We prefer people who would stay at least two week or longer.
4. Play the guide! Talk about your own hobbies (music, cooking, etc.) and those possible around (hiking, swimming, etc.):
We enjoy growing, harvesting and cooking our own food and sourcing our own materials for making crafts, structures and instruments. Hiking in local vineyards or walking along ancient Roman roads is as close as walking up the street. Bluegrass banjo often generates a improvisational sing-a-long and frequent quests keep each day eventful and unpredictable. Budapest is easily accessible by bus from Szél Kálmán tér (50min)
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Bakery
Green Building
Methods or systems
Biodynamic agriculture
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
Accommodation
