Large family community house and land with organic kitchen garden and forestry
Devon
We live in a beautiful wild place in the exe valley in devon near exmoor. We have fields, woodlands, organic vegetable garden with a greenhouse and polytunnel. We grow and sell organic salad in spring and summer. The kitchen garden is organic and parts are run on the no dig system and much is very wild . We have 4 hens and a cockerel. We want to start a 'wildish' camping site. We have created a natural pool that needs weeding! We will be planting a forest next autumn but are still in process of clearing existing laurel. We have many other plans but need some extra help
The house is owned communally by 4 brothers and sisters and their families who all come and go. Permanently living here are one of the sisters, her nephew, his wife and their child, so 3 generations. There are many friends and family who come here regularly and stay for extended periods. People get involved in different projects about the place. Space for volunteers is dependent on who is around.
Current projects are to repoint and fix the kitchen garden wall using the existing stones and lime mortar and to build a compost toilet in the camping area, to grow from seed 3600 trees for our planned forestry project next autumn and to get some pigs in the spring.
Children and animals are welcome. Duration of stay and amount and type of help are all negotiable. We expect everyone to pull their weight and also to share in cooking and cleaning but do not have fixed hours and activity is of course weather dependent.
We love to meet new people who help keep us inspired to carry on growing organically and living as greenly as we can
There are lots of things to do from cooking and gardening to building and forestry and 5 miles away we have the great metropolis of Tiverton to which there is a bus service . There is also a pub within walking distance.
Growing food in the kitchen garden is the daily task, compost making, manure collection and spreading, weeding, clearing, harvesting and processing. We make our own cider, cider vinegar and apple molasses. I am always happy showing people what I have learnt over the years of gardening and processing all the amazing harvests and explaining how to make my super duper microbe rich compost (I have trained as a soilfoodweb consultant). We have collected and sown huge numbers of tree seeds, making up our own special tree seed compost mix, and hope to be planting those next autumn. One of us is learning to become a forester
We love food and drink and usually come together to eat a good meal, sometimes veg and sometimes non veg, most evenings. We tend to look after ourselves for breakfast and lunch during school days but often come together also for lunch at weekends. We have 2 working kitchens.
The house is big and sometimes cold and the bedrooms are great. There is wifi in some rooms.
There is also a lovely caravan with a wood burner for those that prefer their own space
We enjoy the outdoor life, walking, swimming in the pond and sauna, reading, discussing all matters to do with nature and wildlife as well as politics and history and literature. We love to walk or drive to the pub on a Friday evening and get involved in local community projects, particularly tree related ones
We do not have volunteer insurance so woofers will need to have their own liability insurance
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Forestry
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Beer, cider, wine, or juice making
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
No-till farming
Permaculture
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
16.2
Hectares
|
40
Acres
Emily
Member since 2025
Languages spoken:
English, Turkish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 90%
Response time: typically within 5 days
Devon
Tiverton parkway railway station or Tiverton Bus station
Reviews
Miranda
United Kingdom
•
February 2026
I had a wonderful week despite the rainy weather. The house is great to explore, if a little chilly, and the gardens and woodland on the doorstep are something special. I really enjoyed my time with Emily and the family. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, and I felt very much at ease. There was a lot going on and tasks were varied; I weeded and mulched beds, woodchipped paths, planted trees, removed brambles, pruned apple trees, and helped store and stack firewood. Overall, a great experience!
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