Couple + toddler in southern WI Driftless region are looking for a person or person's to help out and learn for the 2023 season. Below is a summary about what we want and what we have to offer. Please email
courtneyjarman@gmail.com for more info.
What we can offer you:
There is a tiny house on the land which is comfortable from May-Sept/October. We will provide your food. We have knowledge of things you may want to learn. We have many local connections for those interested in being in the area. You will get some basic experience with contours and planning a design as we are in beginning stages and your input would be welcome.
We have a list of projects and priorities for the 2023 season that we hope to get through. Besides these larger projects which we will designate time toward, there are many smaller projects involving engines, building, planting, preserving, earthscaping, garden fencing, etc. Ben has knowledge about woodworking/instrument building and repair and both of us have experience with and are enthusiastic about building and mushroom farming. Courtney is knowledgeable about setting up solar energy and with annual (and some perennial) gardening and beekeeping. We both like playing music.
Although there is no guarantee that we will get to all projects this season, here is a list of what we want to accomplish in the 2023 season.
-more mushroom logs in Spring (April)
-New large annual garden implementation from scratch including contouring, earthscaping, hauling of compost, sheet mulching, fencing. Growing all veggies/potatoes/corn on site.
-Planting of the old no-till annual garden area with perennials
-Installing an earthen floor in our house, which includes washing a lot of sand early in the season
-rainwater collection (including system design)
-winter root vegetable storage without electricity
-Contour the area surrounding garden, lay foundation for basic design of surrounding buildings and pathways
-Raising 50-60 meat birds- building a structure for them and rotating them daily.
-possibly a solar dehydrator (lower priority)
-Enclosing our back porch area so we can have some outdoor storage and a place to work on engines in winter
-Using an Alaskan mill on a couple large oak trees that fell
The ideal person(s):
We understand not everyone will have all of these qualities. However, the ideal person or persons will:
-Be able to do physical labor
-Be interested in what we are doing
-Have some basic experiences with or be interested in off-grid or rustic living. Specifically, how to live with minimal electricity, how to live on a piece of land without a lot of infrastructure.
-Have interest in learning about growing in zone 4
-Have some experience with farm work or physical labor
-Be interested in and have done some reading on design, perennials, water flow, etc
-Understand and have some experience with how to live and interact with others
-Be open to: new ideas, change, friendly discussion, awareness of their own biases, the idea that they may be wrong
-Be open to helping with occasional child care for our son
What else to expect:
Although it would be nice to always be learning, please be aware that day-to-day tasks are not always focused on what you may want. The learning process takes a while and by sticking around you will eventually learn valuable information for living off-grid, establishing your own piece of land, building skills, gardening skills, etc. One helper (now a friend) who stayed here long term and is a real go-getter has gone on to build his own tiny house and is starting his own homestead after leaving here- with no prior experience. There are daily and weekly chores such as taking care of chickens, mowing, taking out the humanure, moving compost, taking out parsnip and thistle, childcare, etc, which we will ask for your help with. Both of us work part time.
Both of us have lived and worked on farms and homesteads through both WWOOF and Workaway and Courtney has also been an employee at a local veggie farm. We understand what it means to put work toward someone else's property and we will try our best to help you on your journey while working toward our goals.
The tiny house is most comfortable in warmer months. It has a small kitchen but no running water inside. It has a 2 burner cooktop. It has enough electricity for phones/laptops/lights. There is internet on the property. We will probably have one or 2 meals a day in the main house and can rotate cooking. The tiny house is approximately 8x19 + a small porch and a sleeping loft. . The main house does have a shower and conventional toilet inside, but we like to shower outside and use the outhouse when possible in the warmer months.
We would like someone to help out 20 hours a week in exchange for room and board. This does not include cooking, unless we are doing a larger preservation project. We would ideally like someone to stay long-term, but we do not expect you or ourselves to make a long-term commitment without getting a feel for if it's a good fit. We can start out with a video chat and possibly a site visit before the Spring.
We have had 2 multi-season WWOOF/Workawayers here and can provide references for them. We would also appreciate references from you.
