Join our regenerative project in Samothraki, Greece

Details

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  Description

  Our project grows on a beautiful piece of land in the magical island of samothraki .
  Our vision is to create here a self sustainable paradise, rich with beauty, food, fertility and biodiversity, and also a place where people can come to learn different practices related to sustainable life and well being .
  Samothraki is an amazing island , 1600 meters high mountain on the mediterranenan sea, rich with forests, springs, waterfalls, thousand years old trees, crystals, hot springs and natural beauty all around.
  We are a couple, Baba and Iason.
  Baba s interests, are all the tools, practices and activities that are related to growth, well being, and authenticity.
  from the practical side of working with the hands in regenerating soil health and ecosystems, building and recycling and reusing, planting and growing food and cooking healty and tasty, to the as well practical side of exploring and reconnecting with the nature both inside us and around us, recovering wellbeing , meaning and joy in life.
  She s working with people teaching eco-somatic movement and practices, facilitating family costellations and being a grinberg method practitioner.
  Iason is a diver, and with a friend he fixed and started running the abandoned diving center of the island.
  He s also been working as a carpenter, and loves welding and building. He likes to make things in a precise, useful and efficient way. he loves climbing, trekking, kite surfing, snowboarding and being in nature.
  We both love exploring nature and its beauty, swimming to remote beaches, eating fruits from the trees, observing and learning, and growing through life experiences.
  The land is four and half hectars, starting 150 meters from the beach and reaching the base of the mountain.
  it has big plane trees, some bits of woods, lots of wild pear trees, and beautiful views of the sea and mountains .
  When we arrived 5 years ago, the soil was completely exausted from the past (mis-)use of it .
  Once we fenced it and had the overgrazing goats out of it, not even the wild grasses and weeds were managing to grow taller than half a centimeter!
  So the first years our main focus was to restore the soil health and fertilty.
  We implemented with some professionals a water retention landscape, building a system of terraces that collect rainwater and let it sink and move slowly through the land insdead of running down the seasonal stream and to the sea.
  We brought lots and lots of organic matter, manure, seaweeds, branches, woodchips and whatever we found .
  We planted hundreds and hundreds of trees, both for fruits and nuts, and for shade, and for nitrogen fixing, for wood, for life :)
  We experimented with different vegetable gardens until we find the one that we are currenlty very happy with .
  The state of the land is now much better from the beginning - some areas are already small forests, with shade and trees giving fruits and grasses as high as us ! we have an aboundance of food from our gardens and from the wild grasses, and even in the areas were we didn t do much (besides keeping the goats ouside ) the land starts to improve and regenerate.
  We want to continue planting everywhere, as the aim is that besides the areas we ll use for sunny food production all the rest will become forest again, some areas more focused of fruits and food, some more on local native species, some for wood production, all for biodiversity and beauty and temperature regulation and life !
  We are also planting every year more and more herbs , officinal plants, flowers and bushes, grafting different varieties of fruits of the trees that grow wild or that we planted from seeds (one of our shared dreams is to have a thousand different fruits varieties!!)
  We had our first succesfull rice harvest last year, and a rice failure this year, and we plan to continue the experiments until we find the best way for us to grow both rice and spelt .
  We are planting some grapes and want to start to make our own wine.
  We have another piece of land in the south where we have our olives, that also we want to help recover from the goats and plant more densely -it will be a very different challenge there cause we have no water !
  Now that some of the fertility and aboudance of nature is restored here, and we do have food happily growing, we are starting to build some infrastructure, and this will be alongside the agricoltural part, the focus for the next few years chapters.
  For now we have two small huts - one almost finished and one just started, and we plan to build a big wooden floor for dancing and group activities, and according to what permissions and paper work will allow us, we ll start to plan and build the spaces to host people, seminars and workshops about different techinques, skills and practices that sustain the wellbeing of ourselves, our relationships with fellow humans and with the planet we live in .
  We want to provide a place where peope who want to have a positive impact on the world and the nature in this challenging times will find information, inspiration and knowledge, tools and undestandings on how to do so.
  A place where people who are motivated to get rid of their limitations and sufferings and to grow to be as happy and free as the conditions around allow it, can come and find tools for their own self developement.
  A place to recover the felt sense of our interconnectedness with everything there is.
  A place to grow .

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Animals

  

  Adventure sports

  

  Cycling

  

  Hiking

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Water sports

  

  Winter sports

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Mountain

  

  Dancing

  

  Beach

  

  Camping

  

  Nature

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Books

  

  Carpentry

  

  Languages

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  Art & design

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Writing

  

  Hitchhiking

  

  Gardening

  

  Pets

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Farming
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

  

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  with us you can learn a lot about the island , its herbs and plants, and remote corners of paradise.
  we are not professional farmers, but you can learn with us about regenerative agricolture, vegetables gardens, trees, pruning and grafting, water management, ecosystems and soil health!
  we experiment both with natural agricolture and with syntropic farming.
  some basics about tinctures, oxymels, essential oils, beewax creams, with the herbs of the island and how to use them .
  baba is a great cook, so you can learn a lot of recipies, and ways to trasform the garden products in healty and tasty meals.
  around the small building projects, you can learn (or teach us more about :)!) some basics about natural building, stone masonry, simple woodwork etc.
  we both like to share what we already know and happy to learn from you !
  for us, after been travelling for many years, hosting travellers through this platform provide us with a similar richness of new stories, prospectives, interesting conversations, inspiration and fun!

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  Help

  we need help with many different things .
  
  some works - specially around the veggies and trees- are going with the seasons :
  in spring we are pruning the olives and making woodchips with the branches, we plant all the seeds for the summer gardens and take care of them, we prepare the garden beds for the new crops, and we graft fruit trees.
  in may we plant all the summer garden, mulch the paths, collect and clean branches or canes to build support for the summer veggies, check and fix all the watering system, collect flowers and herbs to make tinctures and teas and oils, cut grasses and keep the freshly planted beds clean from weeds.
  in summer we continue keeping the garden clean, watering , collecting and preserving some of the veggies (we do lots fo dry fruits and veggies, some jams, tomato sauces)
  in autumn we have some harvests -depending on the year we can have sesami, rice, olives, beans , and we are planning to pant some grapes for wine -, we prepare the garden beds for the winter , start to collect wood for the stoves.
  once rains arrive we start planting more trees, seeds, herbs and shrubs in areas we do not usually water , and building fences in the areas that still need it.
  
  some other works are always there :
  collecting , sorting and moving stones around the land - we clean areas that are meant to become gardens and bring the stones to areas we we are building something, or make piles were they are easy accessible for when we ll need them .
  we are building with stones some small terraces arund the trees, a little hut , and plan to build much more .
  collecting goat and sheep manure from shepards shelters and bring it to the land.
  collecting branches from fallen trees or pruning and making it into woodschips.
  collecting seaweeds on the beach when the sea brings them.
  cleaning the land from bramble bushes and spiky creatures.
  reuse and repair old woods/furniture we found in some garbage place .
  collecting and cleaning clay to use for seedballs or for cobb.
  
  we are looking for people that are curious about or enjoying living in nature, that wants to have a positive impact, are enjoying physical work and willing to do things with love and care !
  
  if you decide to come help us, you ll get more precise informations about what we ll be doing in the month you plan to come.

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  Languages spoken

  Greek: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Italian: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  French: Intermediate
  Portuguese: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  the accomodation is very simple.
  we have a few canvas tents that can host up to 4 people each, and we can provide materasses, sheets, pillows and blankets .
  you are welcome to bring your own tent if you prefer, or to park your van if this is how you re travelling .
  we do not have toilet yet, we dig holes and cover them after.
  water runs from the river, is fresh and aboundant. we drink it also, only sometimes we bring water from a spring .
  we use natural soap a friend makes here to wash ourselves, dishes and clothes.
  all the soap/products we use run to the land, so you are asked not to use anything that is not natural !!
  we take shower with the water from the stream in summer, and in colder days we warm water in a pot to wash ourselves. we also have an outside bathtube that we heat with fire.
  as regards food, we provide the groceries for breakfast , and we have a big meal all together once a day.
  we make our own organic olive oil, buy spelt flour and pasta from local farmers in the mainland close to the island, bake our own bread, eat mostly from our garden .
  meat cheese and eggs we use are local , vegetarian and vegan option are easy to satisfy.
  the days we do not work together you are responsible for your food (groceries and cooking).
  you ll have the use of an outside kitchen from breakfast and for the days off.

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  What else ...

  samothraki is one of the most beautiful places on earth!
  the island has a really strong energy, very intense and sometimes challenging . it used to be the second most important place for mysteric religion in ancient greece, hosting the cabirian mysteries .
  it s a big rocky mountain in the sea, having loots of wild areas and really little modern human touch .
  at walking distance you can reach the beach (five minutes), the hot springs (about half hour walk ) and natural pools and waterfalls (also around half hour walk). the mountains is just up , with very few paths but lots of incontaminated beauty, springs and waterfalls, huge ancient trees, crystals , and peace.
  the closest village in the summer is very lively, with markets, people gathering and playing music, and the hot springs .
  there is possibility to organize diving, canyioning, mountain hickes, swim trecks , as well as enjoying the sounds of the goat bells and the birds singing from an hammock looking at the sea .
  there is a bus going to the port and back, it is easy to hicthike, and we can always gie you a ride when we are going somewhere

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  we do not have wifi at the land. There is good reception for the phone, and i do work online with my phone connection, so you should be able to do it as well!

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  Space for parking camper vans

  we do not have road inside the land yet, so people with van usually park at our entrance (where there is big plane trees for shade and some flat area) or down at the beach .

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

  we have a few cats !

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