What we are doing at the Freedom Farm is not the same as workaway where the volunteer is required to provide a fixed amount of labour per day in exchange for a limited amount of food or restricted access to amenities. Instead our focus is on communal living and self reliance, working together as a team to live in this wild and remote area.
We are not looking for agricultural slaves. We are looking for people to join the Freedom Family, either short term or as permanent residents, to help out on the farm as much as they feel able and to find ways to live sustainably and harmoniously in this place.
Read about previous volunteers Olivia and Sergio.
Find out about the Gibson family who lived at the Freedom farm for three months.
So far we have had great success with short and long term visitors in campervans, van conversions, tiny houses, and tents and whilst many meals and resources are shared freely on the farm it is vital for your own independence and self-sufficiency to be able to house yourself adequately and to be able to cook your own meals.
If you would like to rent our pop-up camp instead of bringing your own accommodation click here.
Please note:
It is important to know that the Freedom Farm is in an extremely remote location and you will need to be practiced and prepared to survive all that nature has to throw at you. You will be bringing your own transport and accommodation, as well as enough water and cooking supplies to last up to two weeks without restocking. Done properly this is a wonderful opportunity to test yourself and experience what off-grid life is all about, so don’t let yourself down, be prepared!
Contact us to find out more.
The work
Most of the work at the Freedom Farm is seasonal, meaning we do a variety of agricultural projects throughout the year. Some projects are more difficult than others and some seasons will require more preparation. Other projects are on-going and can be worked on at any time of the year.
We pride ourselves on providing you with the best possible volunteering experience.
- We feed you homemade, home grown food from our own table. We teach you what we can about living off-grid and allow you to learn in an open and supportive environment.
- We organise fun trips and activities for you.
- We maintain this exquisite and unspoiled wilderness for you to connect with nature.
- Most importantly, we give you a safe and fair work environment where you can feel valued and really make a difference.
Summer
A successful summer volunteering season at the Freedom Farm hinges most importantly on your ability to take a good long siesta, because it gets really hot in the late afternoons. You will adopt a traditional Spanish rhythm, working in the garden or in the orchards in the morning and then spending the long hot afternoons eating salty olives in the hammock and reading those books you always meant to read but never got the chance.
Summer work involves:
- General gardening work esp. watering by hand.
- Grounds keeping: mowing, trimming, pruning, picking up leaves, and operating some light machinery such as a small chainsaw, leaf blower or wood chipper, all training provided.
- Animal work: learn how to manage and care for a small goat herd and micro dairy. Everything you ever wanted to learn about goats including how to make goats cheese and how to trim their toenails!
- In addition to our goats we also keep birds and a quite a few large breed guinea pigs for you to practice your animal keeping skills on.
- There are of course our six rambunctious dogs that will require your attention and fuss on a minute by minute basis.
- Light construction work: every summer we try to get together with all our friends and neighbours to work on a communal construction project. In 2020 we built the beautiful workshop pictured below.
- Media work: we ask all our volunteers to consider if they can document their stay with some form of media, for example a series of blog posts, a photography project or short film.
Autumn
Autumn volunteers are all about two things: bringing in the harvest and waiting for the first rain. Here at the Freedom Farm we prefer, where possible, to do things the old fashioned way, so all of our almonds are harvested, de-husked, dried and bagged by hand. It’s a slow and pleasant way to enjoy the still hot and sunny days, and it delivers a quiet satisfaction as you learn a more traditional rhythm.
Almonds aren’t everything however, there’s plenty of other stuff to learn and practice:
- General gardening work: watering by hand and harvesting vegetables.
- Canning and preserving: learning traditional methods of preserving plus regular canning techniques. You can expect to make and eat a vast quantity of sundried tomatoes!
- Grounds keeping: mowing, trimming, pruning.
- Medicinal herbs: autumn is when we harvest and prepare a wide variety of herbal medicines which will be of particular interest to people wanting to learn more about growing their own natural and organic medicine.
- Media work: we ask all our volunteers to consider if they can document their stay with some form of media, for example a series of blog posts, a photography project or short film.
Winter
The workload during the winter season is no more or less than the rest of the year. What makes it that much more difficult is the temperature conditions, and that is why we do not accept volunteers who are camping. The default weather is still mostly bright and sunny but the temperature does drop below zero, the ground does frost, and the windchill factor at this altitude can be quite nippy. In addition, it is not advised to travel up and down the mountain during periods of heavy weather so you will need to be thoroughly prepared. This winter we were snowed in for 13 days having an absolutely lovely time because ourselves and our volunteers were fully stocked with enough food and warm socks!
So when you’re not roasting marshmallows and drying your feet by the fire, you can expect to spend many bright and sunny days working away at the following:
- Lots and Lots of gardening. We do a full growing season with lots of leafy greens and brassicas, plus we lay all the groundwork for the rest of the year. If you’re interested in growing your own food, the winter season is for you.
- Tree work. Our commitment to reviving the 8 acres of abandoned but very old orchards on the Freedom Farm is really put into action during winter, because the trees are in a dormant state and can be safely cut and pruned. You will learn everything about the olive tree, including how to harvest the olives and prune the trees. The almond groves will also get attention and you will learn the different techniques of pruning fruit trees.
- Animal work: learn how to manage and care for a small goat herd and micro dairy. Everything you ever wanted to learn about goats, including how to make goats cheese and how to trim their toenails!
- In addition to our goats we also keep birds and a quite a few large-breed guinea pigs for you to practice your animal keeping skills on.
- There are of course our six rambunctious dogs that will require your attention and fuss on a minute by minute basis.
- Media work: we ask all our volunteers to consider if they can document their stay with some form of media, for example a series of blog posts, a photography project or short film.
