Restoration of a small holding and woodland
Down
Hello wwoofers, my name is Sophie and I live with my 5 year old daughter on a beautiful rural smallholding in Northern Ireland. We have only been here a few months and my plan for the place is still evolving. There are 4 acres of native woodland which needs management and some replanting. I am renovating two beautiful old stone farm buildings as potential guest accommodation. The only only livestock we have so far are a few chickens. Currently also restoring a large vegetable and fruit garden with polytunnel along with an apiary for beekeeping which should be up and running very shortly. There's a lot going on but its very exciting!
Typical daily activities could be anything from harvesting firewood, planting and weeding veggies, clearing briars, path building, strimming weeds and grass, minding chickens, bee keeping, carpentry, stone wall building, child care, foraging or cooking. Wwoofers can get involved with whatever best suits their interests and its also an opportunity to share their experience and make a real impact on the regeneration of this beautiful little spot. My own experience is in education and I have been a lecturer in regenerative tourism and outdoor education for over 20 years. This is certainly something I can teach wwoofers about. I am new to farming so just learning myself but I'm happy to share anything I can.
We have a comfortable 6 berth motor home on site. It is hooked up for electricity and has a tap nearby to keep the water tank filled. It has heating, hot water, a shower and toilet and full kitchen including fridge, gas cooker and oven. Wwoofers will be supplied with food to make their own breakfast and lunch and we can then dine together for an evening meal in my house around 6pm. Evening meals generally include meat and produce from the garden when possible. I don't drink alcohol. Alcohol consumption is tolerated in moderation though drugs of any type are strictly not.
Outside school hours my daughter generally dictates most of my spare time. We enjoy pottering about on the farm, having her friends around for playdates and trips to the playground and beach. We're about 40 minutes drive to the nearest coastline but there are many beautiful parks and national trust properties nearby such as Hillsborough Forest Park. Our location is quiet and very rural and it is a long walk to the nearest town but there are some bikes here that wwoofers are welcome to use. I'm generally unavailable to transport wwoofers around during their leisure time. More mature and/or experienced wwoofers with their own transport would be ideal. We have plenty of space for a camper van and can provide EHU and water. I will only be taking on one or two wwoofers at a time this year so this opportunity will be best suited to those looking for less social interaction and those happy to work independently at times.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Forestry
Beekeeping
Seed saving or production
Traditional crafts
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
3.6
Hectares
|
9
Acres
Sophie
Member since 2025
Languages spoken:
English
Response rate: 30%
Response time: typically within 1 day
November 2025
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Open
Planned visit
Closed
Down
Dromore or Hillsborough, Co.Down/ Belfast international airport
Reviews
Evi
Netherlands
•
August 2025
Sophie was a lovely host! We stayed for 5 days in the species motorhome. We had a great time at [Host] farm! She was very welcoming, kind, funy, open and relaxed! She was flexible with working times and helped thinking of work that we also liked to do! We mainly helped weeding, trimming etc. the outside space of a lovely building that she wanted to put on airbnb. Meave was also very sweet and we went marshmallow roasting on a cozy campfire one night! Would definitely recommend helping at [Host] farm!
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