Biodynamic farm and intentional community in the Andes, Ecuador 🌿🏔️

We are a Biodynamic farm in the Andes with the idea of living in an 'earth first' manner. We are an intentional community, albeit a highly transient one. We host people from all over the world with the intent of teaching the "manera antigua", the old ways of farming in Ecuador, and offer a community living experience in a mostly sustainable and healthy environment. We are about living young, not too many rules, and play for work is the norm. Work is shared by all and is usually fun, although we do work hard, often in the sun, so bring a hat and gloves.

The farm is fairly remote, a 45-minute walk from the nearest little town, Tumianuma. Vilcabamba is the closest town of any size, about an hour by bus from Tumianuma. The farm now has internet, but we do not include internet usage in our weekly participation budget. If you need more than quick email checks, you can pitch in on the monthly bill.

Several Ecuadorian men and women and families work with us, so the dominant language is Spanish. No worries, you will pick it up quickly. Some volunteers also like trading English, French, or German for Spanish lessons. The local high school also needs volunteers for computers and English pronunciation.

We have one cow, a stallion, mare, filly, burro and pregnant burra, two pigs, 15-20 chickens, milking goats, and way too many cats and dogs. We have 30 acres under irrigation, mostly pasture land, 60-70 varieties of fruit trees, and a 2-acre established garden with another acre just going into production.

All members, temporary and permanent, have to participate in daily chores and cooking, perhaps 6 hours a day. You must be fairly self-motivated. The farm is truly in the forests, secondary lowland, so you may see wild animals, great for birdwatching. We recently had 8 nationalities represented here at lunch.We have a fairly constant stream of volunteers and students coming and going. We prefer longer stays, as people who come for 2-3 days simply do not get the quality experience we want for every volunteer. At least a couple of weeks is preferred. We work Monday to Friday, with lunch at 12:30-1:30, and work until 3:30 or so, which works out to about 25 hours a week, though in reality it is closer to 18-20 hours due to weather and unexpected circumstances. The work includes gardening, weeding, animal care, harvesting coffee, and various farm projects.

We have between 2-15 volunteers at any given time. Volunteers stay from a few days to a few months. We ask for a minimum contribution of $50 per week, which helps cover clean linens, gas for cooking, food, and the general operating expenses of the community. The farm supports several local families, helps teenagers continue high school education, does community service work, offers free internet and WiFi to the nearest town, and supports a local midwife practice.

Our farm has 30 acres under irrigation, 60-70 varieties of fruit trees, and a 2-acre established garden. We plow with oxen and are heavily dependent on pack animals. We have solar power for music and light, but no TV.We have bunkhouse type accommodation with 2-6 in a room, but also have rooms for couples and larger spaces for families. We eat very well, with large lunches and meat and veggies daily, and we drink a lot of our own hand-picked coffee. Vegetarians and carnivores are accommodated. We ask for a minimum $50 per week contribution, which helps cover clean linens, candles, gas for cooking, food not grown on the farm, food grown at the farm.🔒[Verify to view link]
Please refer to our website for detailed lists of what you need to bring and directions to the farm. Peace and happy travels.