Residence in Exchange for Part-Time Help

I have a 19.5 acre homestead (in progress) south of Dothan, AL, and need some help. I will be having spinal fusion surgery on May 16th, and will be unable to do much work for 6 weeks to 2 months or so. With my current back issues, all of the work I have done has been a struggle, but still very enjoyable.

I have been working on this property for the past 3.5 years, which had nothing other than the main house and some buildings on it when I started.
I also work full-time remotely as a software engineer. Much of my time has been spent renovating a 1920s pond house that was falling apart. This house will be fully off-grid.
It has well water, greywater, a dry toilet, and an outdoor shower, and has 1 bedroom and is 600 square feet with 300 square feet of decks.
My plan was to move into this house, but I should probably wait until after I recover more. I think this house is very cool!

The other house is an 1840 square foot, 2 bed/2bath 1990s brick house, that has no sustinable systems on it. It is on a well, but has a septic tank and is on the grid.
Both homes are clean and well maintained.

There are 2 cats and chickens living on the property.

In addition to the homes, the property has a barn, 7 acre field, 7 acres of woods, 1/4 acre pond, a decent home gym, a classic 1961 Chevy Corvair Rampside truck (you are welcome to work on it - I am knowledgable of mechanics), several garden areas, fruit trees, a chicken coop, and more.

I will need help with gardening, caring for the chickens, and all property maintenance items. This will not be a ton of work, but I will not be able to do it for at least 6 weeks.
I am imaging 10 hours per week of work for basic items, which is all I'm asking for help with.
But, with optional items that you choose to work on, this could be considerably more.

About me:
- My interests include gardening, permaculture, woodworking, sustinability, re-prefixed words , and music. I have several musical instruments to share with others, and a nice vinyl collection. My education background is in electrical engineering, chemical engineering, and computer science. I work remotely as a software engineer, since my property is mortgaged.

There are tons of opportunities to pursue other projects as you want.
Here are some items on my TODO list as an example:
- prepare for and start a food forest
- expand the perrenial and annual garden
- prepare an area near the pond for turtles to lay eggs
- build and install bathouses
- various woodworking tasks such as restoring a deck peir.
- installing and building the supports for the pond house's solar
- more greywater projects
- garden expansion
- planting trees
- etc

The property is peaceful! Dothan, AL is a small city, but has many amenities such as non-chain restaurants, local theater, coffee shops, thrift/antique stores, movie theaters, art museum, art galleries, and more. It is also only 1.5 hours from Panama City Beach.

I'd like to find someone who is interested in permaculture (should be easy on Permies, lol), and seeks health in mind, body, and spirit.
You will get free room and board. I will have family to help out too, but they won't be able to do the permaculture/gardening/maintenance work.

For anyone who doesn't have the space to practice currently, this is a great opportunity I think.
I am also looking for people that would want to live here on a permanent basis in a communal sense, but that is not the focus of this ad.

Given that there are 2 houses, and only 1 of me, where you live is flexible. You are welcome to live in either house.

Thanks for reading my post!

Seems like a cool opportunity, i'm too late in life now (wife, kid, house) but would have jumped on that 10 years ago.

Best of luck with your recovery, hopefully you can get back outside without too much issue in the next couple of months.

Klaus Wolfgang wrote:Seems like a cool opportunity, i'm too late in life now (wife, kid, house) but would have jumped on that 10 years ago.

Best of luck with your recovery, hopefully you can get back outside without too much issue in the next couple of months.

Thank you for the encouragement!