We offer a volunteer program for young people aged 18 to 30 who want to learn or develop their skills in permaculture, regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. Volunteering lasts 9 months (from the beginning of February to the end of October) and consists of growing vegetables, caring for fruit trees, harvesting and preserving food, building agroforestry systems, caring for animals (sheep, chickens and bees), caring for erosion and improving fertility. of the soils, design in permacultural keys and carry out specific projects on the farm (bioconstruction, water systems, eco-technologies, etc.).

Volunteering is carried out in a multicultural team of 6 volunteers who come from Spain, Europe and outside Europe.

Finca Luna is our playground where we learn by doing and share our knowledge and skills.

Activities in the farm

Typically we organize the week around the following activities:

– Farm maintenance and farm projects. Gardening, animal care, infrastructure repair, seedlings, land restoration, etc.;

– Individual and group projects, where we apply permaculture design methodology;

– Permaculture design and skills development workshops, also time to study deeper on your own;

– Cleaning and organizing indoor and outdoor spaces;

Planning and evaluating work, participating in community meetings;

– Documenting work and learning process;

– Community work in the neighborhood and with local non-profit partner projects.

Our volunteer program offers permaculture education, hands-on work in organic farming, and a multicultural community experience. We work 7 hours a day ranging from routine work on the farm (garden, forest, animals, infrastructure maintenance), development of individual and group projects, workshops and community work on other farms. All participants collaborate in cleaning, cooking and maintenance tasks on the farm.

Example of projects

– Veggies and trees Nursery (ongoing)

– Gardening, vegetable production (ongoing)

– Edible forest (ongoing)

– Fruit harvest and transformation (ongoing)

– Solar dehydrator project

– Water mgmt infrastructure project (designed)

– Energy production project

– Soil building project (ongoing)

– Forest planting project

– Eco-construction projects (ongoing)

– Beekeeping (ongoing)

– Sheep raising (ongoing)

– Infrastructure repair and maintenance (carpentry, masonry, painting, stone walls, water tanks, etc.) (ongoing)

Volunteer profile

Requirements are:

– To be passionate about the environment, farming, and permaculture;

– To be willing to learn rural and manual skills and to enjoy doing physical work;

– To be ready to spend 9 months living and working on a farm with basic comfort;

– To be deeply interested in permaculture design theory;

– To have an open-minded attitude and predisposition to learning;

– To be ready to participate in maintenance activities such as cooking and cleaning;

– To be willing to learn spanish. Basic spanish preferred.

– Preference will be given to candidates with fewer opportunities (facing cultural, economic or social marginalization).

Framework of the programme and costs

Finca Luna belongs to the Association Gaia Tasiri, a non-profit organisation registered in Spain. The program is fully funded by the EU and we give priority to people with fewer opportunities (people at risk of social, cultural or economic exclusion). If you are between 18 and 30 years old, there are bursaries available if you qualify under the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) requirements. ESC scolarships cover your costs of travelling, food, accomodation and pocket money. We currently receive groups of 5 to 6 volunteers and we have open scholarships for nationals or residents from Spain, Morocco, Armenia, Palestine, Georgia, Syria, Poland, Czech Republic, and Greece. To apply, please fill out this application form.

Accommodation

Volunteers are hosted in our volunteer house inside the farm, in shared bedrooms. Most of the year, external facilities are used (solar shower, compost toilet). Internet connection is available around the library/common space.

In winter, we frequently work under the rain and temperature can go down to 3 degrees Celsius by night (it can be cold inside too). In summer, we normally work with 32C degrees and it can go up to 40 degrees.

Food

At Finca Luna we are still far from being food self-sufficient. With your help we’ll try to remedy that. Food is covered partially by our farm produces, but you would need to complement your diet by shopping in the nearby town and farmers’ market. ESC volunteers get money allocation for this. Food is prepared and shared among the group of volunteers.

Please note we are not a vegetarian / vegan project, but we welcome people following all kinds of diet. We believe there is no ethical, ecological or biological right and wrong answers regarding diets. What is important is mutual respect and openness to hear each other.

apply now