If you’ve been wanting to spend some time where the days are shaped more by the weather than the clock, you might enjoy a visit to Harmony Farm.
Harmony Farm is a semi off-grid regenerative farm in the mountains of southern Ecuador, just 3 kilometers from the town of Zamora and bordering Podocarpus National Park. It’s my home and an ongoing effort to live with greater independence, simplicity, and connection to the land.
Volunteers usually help around 4–6 hours a day, five days a week. If you’d rather provide your own food, I’m happy to be flexible with the hours, as some volunteers prefer that arrangement.
The work follows the seasons and the needs of the farm. Some days we’ll plant food and fruit trees. Other days we’ll maintain forest trails, restore degraded land, build with natural materials, harvest, dig, carry, or simply do whatever the land is asking of us.
Most days begin with cool mountain air and birds already busy in the trees. The work is physical, but it has a steady rhythm to it. By evening, you’ll have the kind of tiredness that comes from spending a day outdoors doing honest work.
No previous experience is needed. Curiosity, reliability, and a willingness to help matter far more than having the right skills.
Your accommodation is a private off-grid cabin about 100 meters above the main house, with mountain views, spring water, a gas stove, an outdoor shower, and a quiet place to sit and watch the valley.
There is no electricity in the cabin. After a day or two, most people find themselves waking with the first light and falling asleep not long after the last.
Wi-Fi is available at the main house, a short walk away, although many volunteers discover they don’t need it as much as they thought they would.
Basic vegan food is provided, including rice, beans, lentils, oats, pasta, fresh fruit, and vegetables. If you eat meat, you’re welcome to buy your own and store it in my refrigerator. You’ll prepare your own meals in a fully equipped volunteer kitchen, and we’ll shop together when you arrive. Sharing a meal now and then is always welcome.
When you’re not working, the river is there if you feel like swimming. You can soak in the jacuzzi, take a cold plunge, hike into Podocarpus National Park, explore waterfalls, read in a hammock, or simply sit quietly and watch the clouds move across the mountains.
Life here is simple: muddy boots, mountain rain, birdsong at dawn, physical work, quiet evenings, and time to think.
This place seems to suit people who enjoy learning, appreciate nature, value self-reliance, and don’t mind getting their hands dirty. If that sounds like you, you’ll probably feel at home here.
Harmony Farm continues to grow toward greater self-sufficiency through food production, fruit trees, reforestation, natural building, chickens, and a natural fish pond. Each season leaves the farm a little richer than the one before, and every helping hand becomes part of that story.
The trees you plant will keep growing after you’ve gone. The trails will still be walked. I like knowing that each season leaves this little corner of the world a little better than it was before.
If this sounds like somewhere you’d enjoy spending time, I’d love to hear a little about yourself, where you’re coming from, and what brings you here.
— Nicholas & Toki
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Forestry
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Green Building
Food justice / sovereignty
Methods or systems
Fukuoka farming
Holistic management
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
11.9
Hectares
|
29.3
Acres
