The main task for volunteers will be to weed and harvest (by hand) vegetables and lettuce and picking berries. Additionally to harvesting task, volunteers will clean the vegetables and make them ready for consumers in different organic shops around the country. Volunteers will also pick berries from the surrounding area. Around the farm there is a young forest that can be maintained and cleaned when the harvesting jobs are done. Volunteers have to be motivated to work outdoors doing sometimes quite physical work under changing weather conditions. Note that volunteers will work all working days and on Saturday mornings as the camp takes place on the peak of the harvesting season.
Accomodation & food:
In the farmhouse in 2-4 bedded rooms sleeping on beds or mattresses. WC, shower, hot water, sauna are available. Please bring your sleeping bag. Volunteers will share the duties of cooking meals and cleaning. Please keep in mind that during this work camp volunteers will be eating mainly local, organic food from the farm. Do not forget some traditional/ typical food from your home country for the international evening.
Location & leisure:
LocationThe charm of Haanja Uplands in South Estonia lies in its lovely hilly landscape, winding roads and numerous lakes. Most of its ancient villages, special dialect, handicraft, and customs have been preserved until today. The whole area, called Vorumaa, is an area of outstanding beauty. It is famous for its diverse and very well preserved nature. Untouched forests with wildlife, deep valleys, hills, 170 small lakes with extremely clean water, rivers with caves in the steep banks - you can find everything there. Farm is situated 16 km south of Voru, capital of the County, which has a population of 14 000 people and lies about 250 km south-east of Tallinn, very close to the Latvian and Russian borders. More information about Estonia www.visitestonia.com; South-Estonia www.werro.ee, www.southestonia.infoLeisure timeThere are many possibilities for leisure time, especially for those who love nature: acquaintance with nature of the area, hiking, swimming, etc. Excursions to the historical places of the County of Voru are planned as well. Some free time activities will be organized for participants as a day trip and excursions in the area. Some of them will be free of charge while others might require a little financial contribution.
Requirements:
The camp is open for young people who is interested in organic farming and is ready to get real experience of it. Volunteers have to be motivated to work outdoors doing sometimes quite physical work under changing weather conditions. English is the camp language.
Age:
18-99
Location:
Rouge
Language(s):
English
Airport:
TLL: Tallinn (Tallinn-ulemiste International, Estonia)
For dozen of years EstYES has been cooperating with farms all over Estonia for solidarity, respect and practical support to local people who work in agricultural sector keeping traditional life style and developing new eco-farming despite of all difficulties. Altmoisa Farm is one of such projects. This is an organic farm in west coast of Estonia specializing on vegetables growing (lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell and hot peppers, beans, pumpkins, peaches, grapes, etc) focusing on the quality not on the mass production. There is a 120m2 greenhouse and extensive amounts of farming lands. Farm experiments a lot in different forms of permaculture trying to evolve from traditional agriculture projects to temperate/ cold climate food forests, raised beds and aquaponics. In the household there is a dog, 3 cats and a flock of chicken. In near future there will be a horse, ducks and possibly 2 pigs and 5-6 sheep. Farm manages an orchard of 4,2 hectares, 0,3 hectares of blackberries and 0,2 hectares of raspberries plus bits of strawberries. Besides growing vegetables, the Farm also takes care of the Matsalu National Park coastal meadows.
The goal of this year camps is to finish the cob studio/forge to the condition that it can be used during winter months and to start restoration of the old farm house doing the foundation works. You will work side-by-side with everybody in the Farm. Your tasks include mainly hands-on action in construction/ restoration, working with natural materials such as cob and wood. Side projects include planting, maintaining and harvesting different cultures and helping out with animal husbandry. The work is 6-7 hours a day, mainly outdoors.
Accommodation:
You will live in a 200 years old farmhouse. For sleeping you will have common room on the attic – plenty of space but little privacy, which will be only a problem when you are not nice to people around you. You will cook together using as much of self-grown products as possible. Everybody cleans after themselves as much as they make a mess, does their own dishes and cleans just a bit more when needed. The cook and the kitchen team make the rules for the day and are to be helped in every possible way. For washing, a brand new washing room was just finished. All the essentials are there – towels, bedclothes, hot water etc.
Location:
Farm is located at the west coast of Estonia, 18km from the nearest city Haapsalu in Tuuru village, which is a tiny village directly on the edge of the Matsalu National Park - one of the biggest bird sanctuaries in Europe. More on http://www.keskkonnaamet.ee/matsa-eng
Terminal:
Airport, harbour, coach station in Tallinn. From Tallinn you need to take a bus to the city of Haapsalu, which is about an hour and a half drive. From Haapsalu hosts will pickup you up and bring to the Farm.
Special Requirements:
You have to be ready to adapt to the simple conditions of the common life in the country side of Estonia and be willing to do work which can be hard. The positive attitude and respect forwards life and other people are expected from volunteers. You should have the courage to try new things, to learn and to teach new skills. Couples are generally not accepted for the lack of privacy at the accommodation. Allergies and phobias should be reported ahead. Hosts speak Estonian, Russian, English, Finnish, German and Danish languages.
Leisure Time:
You can go to swim to the sea - which is 2km away, explore the surrounding nature by foot or bicycles, picking berries and mushrooms. We will make music and sing together, play volleyball, catch and smoke fish from the sea, have good times with Farm neighbours, practice archery and make big bonfire nights. On days off you may visit Haapsalu (www.haapsalu.ee) which offers a lot of attractions for visitors in summer.
Lepaniidi Farm has currently 30 goats for milk and goat cheese production. Volunteers will be helping grazing, feeding, milking the goats, processing the milk, but also picking berries and vegetables. Thus in the mornings and evenings there will be milking the goats. At day - picking the fruits (raspberries and blackberries) and making a jam. Some days there will be work in vegetable garden, removing weeds, picking beetroots, etc. Participants will have a great chance to get familiar with various farm jobs, even to learn how to make goat cheese The working day will be 5-7 hours, 5 days a week. Work will be done under supervision of local hosts.
Accomodation & food:
The accommodation conditions at the farm will be simple - in old granary, however on beds. Please bring your sleeping bag. Toilets and showers are available; there is also traditional Estonian sauna in the farm. There is a kitchen with necessary equipment for cooking, which volunteers may use freely i just like at home. Usually volunteers will have breakfasts and lunch together with farmers cooked and served by the hosts, while dinners will be prepared on their own.
Location & leisure:
LocationHiiumaa Island, Kaina parish, Ristivalja village, Lepaniidi farm. Hiiumaa Island is in the west of Estonia, 140 km from Tallinn. More information on www.hiiumaa.ee or www.visitestonia.com Leisure timeThere are lot of nice natural picturesque sights in the area. Sea cost is 7 km away from the working place and there are good possibility take the bicycles and go to swim. It is possible to visit other parts of Hiiumaa Island on weekend. Hiiumaa offers a lot of events on weekends in summer. Hosts plan to arrange some tours around the island.This camp is absolutely suitable for people who enjoy nature and are interested in traditional ways of rural living.
Requirements:
Special requirementsMotivation letter is required. You have to be ready to adapt to the simple conditions of the common life in the country side of Estonia and be willing to do farm work, which can be hard sometimes. Not suitable for lactose allergic participants since hosts offer a lot of milk products. NB Smoking and drinking alcohol is not allowed in this camp
Age:
18-99
Location:
Kaina
Language(s):
English
Airport:
TLL: Tallinn (Tallinn-ulemiste International, Estonia)
This is a small farm dealing mainly with with beeskeeping. So the volonteers will be collecting honey, cleaning bee houses, possibly helping to built new ones, etc. There can be some light odd jobs in the house. Also at that time there may be agricultural local fairs where farmers go with their products, and volunteers will be invited to help out. The working day will be 5-8 hours depending on weather conditions.
Accomodation & food:
The accommodation conditions on the farm will be smiple, however beds are provided. Please bring your sleeping bag. Toilets and showers are available. There is kitchen with all necessary equipment for cooking. Volunteers will be served food cooked by the hosts.
Location & leisure:
LocationThe farm is located in Anija Community of Harjumaa County. Distance from Tallinn is about 40 km. More information on www.visitestonia.com Leisure timeThere are a lot of leisure time possibilities in the area for people who enjoy nature and is interested of sustainable way of living. There are many interesting locally important natural sites in the area. There is Jagala River 4 km away, picturesque lakes about 20 km away and the sea 40 km away. It is easy and therefore quite possible to go to Tallinn in the free time. Besides there will be some local festivities in the villages nearby. The one to be specially mentioned is famous Viru Folk Festival 09.-11.08 www.virufolk.ee/eng where volunteers will be taken by the camp hosts.
Requirements:
You have to be open-minded and be ready to adapt to the simple conditions of the rural life and be ready to do farm work, which can be hard sometimes. NB Obviously, the volunteers should not be affraid of or be allergic to bees. Please note, there are 4 children in the family of Kriusilla Farm, so participants should be ready to spend some time with them sharing their culture and languages.
Age:
18-99
Location:
Anija
Language(s):
English
Airport:
TLL: Tallinn (Tallinn-ulemiste International, Estonia)
For dozen of years EstYES has been cooperating with farms all over Estonia for solidarity, respect and practical support to local people who work in agricultural sector keeping traditional life style and developing new eco-farming despite of all difficulties. Altmoisa Farm is one of such projects. This is an organic farm in west coast of Estonia specializing on vegetables growing (lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, bell and hot peppers, beans, pumpkins, peaches, grapes, etc) focusing on the quality not on the mass production. There is a 120m2 greenhouse and extensive amounts of farming lands. Farm experiments a lot in different forms of permaculture trying to evolve from traditional agriculture projects to temperate/ cold climate food forests, raised beds and aquaponics. In the household there is a dog, 3 cats and a flock of chicken. In near future there will be a horse, ducks and possibly 2 pigs and 5-6 sheep. Farm manages an orchard of 4,2 hectares, 0,3 hectares of blackberries and 0,2 hectares of raspberries plus bits of strawberries. Besides growing vegetables, the Farm also takes care of the Matsalu National Park coastal meadows.
The goal of this year camps is to finish the cob studio/forge to the condition that it can be used during winter months and to start restoration of the old farm house doing the foundation works. You will work side-by-side with everybody in the Farm. Your tasks include mainly hands-on action in construction/ restoration, working with natural materials such as cob and wood. Side projects include planting, maintaining and harvesting different cultures and helping out with animal husbandry. The work is 6-7 hours a day, mainly outdoors.
Accommodation:
You will live in a 200 years old farmhouse. For sleeping you will have common room on the attic – plenty of space but little privacy, which will be only a problem when you are not nice to people around you. You will cook together using as much of self-grown products as possible. Everybody cleans after themselves as much as they make a mess, does their own dishes and cleans just a bit more when needed. The cook and the kitchen team make the rules for the day and are to be helped in every possible way. For washing, a brand new washing room was just finished. All the essentials are there – towels, bedclothes, hot water etc.
Location:
Farm is located at the west coast of Estonia, 18km from the nearest city Haapsalu in Tuuru village, which is a tiny village directly on the edge of the Matsalu National Park - one of the biggest bird sanctuaries in Europe. More on http://www.keskkonnaamet.ee/matsa-eng
Terminal:
Airport, harbour, coach station in Tallinn. From Tallinn you need to take a bus to the city of Haapsalu, which is about an hour and a half drive. From Haapsalu hosts will pickup you up and bring to the Farm.
Special Requirements:
You have to be ready to adapt to the simple conditions of the common life in the country side of Estonia and be willing to do work which can be hard. The positive attitude and respect forwards life and other people are expected from volunteers. You should have the courage to try new things, to learn and to teach new skills. Couples are generally not accepted for the lack of privacy at the accommodation. Allergies and phobias should be reported ahead. Hosts speak Estonian, Russian, English, Finnish, German and Danish languages.
Leisure Time:
You can go to swim to the sea - which is 2km away, explore the surrounding nature by foot or bicycles, picking berries and mushrooms. We will make music and sing together, play volleyball, catch and smoke fish from the sea, have good times with Farm neighbours, practice archery and make big bonfire nights. On days off you may visit Haapsalu (www.haapsalu.ee) which offers a lot of attractions for visitors in summer.
The main task for volunteers will be to weed and harvest (by hand) vegetables and lettuce and picking berries. Additionally to harvesting task, volunteers will clean the vegetables and make them ready for consumers in different organic shops around the country. Volunteers will also pick berries from the surrounding area. Around the farm there is a young forest that can be maintained and cleaned when the harvesting jobs are done. Volunteers have to be motivated to work outdoors doing sometimes quite physical work under changing weather conditions. Note that volunteers will work all working days and on Saturday mornings as the camp takes place on the peak of the harvesting season.
Accomodation & food:
In the farmhouse in 2-4 bedded rooms sleeping on beds or mattresses. WC, shower, hot water, sauna are available. Please bring your sleeping bag. Volunteers will share the duties of cooking meals and cleaning. Please keep in mind that during this work camp volunteers will be eating mainly local, organic food from the farm. Do not forget some traditional/ typical food from your home country for the international evening.
Location & leisure:
LocationThe charm of Haanja Uplands in South Estonia lies in its lovely hilly landscape, winding roads and numerous lakes. Most of its ancient villages, special dialect, handicraft, and customs have been preserved until today. The whole area, called Vorumaa, is an area of outstanding beauty. It is famous for its diverse and very well preserved nature. Untouched forests with wildlife, deep valleys, hills, 170 small lakes with extremely clean water, rivers with caves in the steep banks - you can find everything there. Farm is situated 16 km south of Voru, capital of the County, which has a population of 14 000 people and lies about 250 km south-east of Tallinn, very close to the Latvian and Russian borders. More information about Estonia www.visitestonia.com; South-Estonia www.werro.ee, www.southestonia.infoLeisure timeThere are many possibilities for leisure time, especially for those who love nature: acquaintance with nature of the area, hiking, swimming, etc. Excursions to the historical places of the County of Voru are planned as well. Some free time activities will be organized for participants as a day trip and excursions in the area. Some of them will be free of charge while others might require a little financial contribution.
Requirements:
The camp is open for young people who is interested in organic farming and is ready to get real experience of it. Volunteers have to be motivated to work outdoors doing sometimes quite physical work under changing weather conditions. English is the camp language.
Age:
18-99
Location:
Rouge
Language(s):
English
Airport:
TLL: Tallinn (Tallinn-ulemiste International, Estonia)
For dozen of years EstYES has been cooperating with farms all over Estonia for solidarity, respect and practical support to local people who work in agricultural sector keeping traditional life style and developing new eco-farming despite of all difficulties. Sõmerpalu Manor is one of such projects. This is an organic farm in Southern Estonia specializing in cultivating curative berry known as Sea Buckthorn. It is one of the largest Sea Buckthorn growers in the whole Europe, especially due to its focus on ecological innovation related to the cultivation of Sea Buckthorn. The main value of Sea Buckthorn is in its vitamin content very unique and untypical thanks to its symbiosis with nitrogen fixation. The main tasks that the farm carries out are as following: cleaning the berries and selling it further to different food industries over the world. At the moment the plant is cultivated in 400 hectares and the grain is collected in 110 hectares. For more information on Sõmerpalu Manor and its Sea Buckthorn cultivation visit www.astelpaju.ee/sisu.php?id=11. This camp is for volunteers, who want to experience somewhat unconventional lifestyle (living in a the old manor house and working in its surroundings) in rural Estonia and help a hard working farmer in harvesting the crops.
Work:
Because of the huge work that needs to be done in cultivating Sea Buckthorn, most of the work will focus on harvesting the berries by cutting the branches of the plants. As the fields of Sea Buckthorn are surrounding the historical Sõmerpalu Manor, then there will be also some renovation works connected with the manor itself. The work will be supervised by local host. The work will be 6-7 hours a day, 5 days a week, mainly outdoors.
Accommodation:
The accommodation will be in the manor house in the beds with proper clothes and linen. A toilet, a shower and a sauna are available. There is a kitchen with necessary cooking equipment. However, volunteers are advised that the indoor surroundings of the manor are authentic and simple, as the manor is in the state of renovation. Meals will be usually cooked the volunteers themselves by shifts under the supervision and help of the hosts and the group leader.
Location:
The manor is located in historical borders of Old-Livonia in Võru County, Sõmerpalu Parish, Sõmerpalu village. It is 65 km from the city of Tartu and 13km from the town of Võru, both of which are situated in South Estonia. Distance from Tallinn is about 250 km. The nearest large city - Tartu is situated to the north of Sõmerpalu and is the second largest city of Estonia. It is the city of the oldest Estonian university, Tartu University and has a picturesque old town and nice cafés and pubs where to hang around in the city center. Tartu, lying 185 kilometres south of Tallinn, is also the centre of Southern Estonia. The Emajõgi River, which connects the two largest lakes of Estonia, flows for the length of 10 km within the city limits and adds colour to the city. For more information read www.tartu.ee/?lang_id=2 The town of Võru is located to the south of Sõmerpalu and has good bus connection. The hilly landscape of South Estonia has shaped the little town of Võru known for its settle wooden architecture, beautiful lake beach promenade, unique dialect and sports centres and is a beloved destination for nature and sports lovers. More information on www.voru.ee/index.php?Lang=eng
Terminal:
Timetables for buses from Tallinn to Tartu and from Tartu to Võru can be found www.tpilet.ee/en. The hosts will pick the volunteers from Võru bus station to take to the manor.
Special Requirements:
You have to be ready to adapt to the simple conditions of the common life in the country side of Estonia and be willing to do farm work, which can be hard sometimes. Please provide a letter of motivation. Volunteers with special dietary needs are also welcome, yet they have to be ready to cook sometimes for themselves. The food provided for the volunteers will be of local origin, e.g free from conservants.
Leisure Time:
Besides the manor itself the volunteers can take a round trip in surrounding areas of Haanja, Rõuge and Setumaa, which are culturally rich and diverse areas that introduce different cultures of Estonia. In Haanja region there are several hiking tracks that can be of interest. It is easy to visit Tartu and Võru where you can find several events going on during the weekends.
« If anyone is interested in doing some real volunteering and not paying stupid amounts of money to do it just visit VAP's website or drop them an e-mail. »
