We are 5 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the most biologically diverse forests in the country, this experience combines volunteer opportunities on two separate farms in the same area. The first farm, located on old hindu ashram, is nestled into a beautiful mountain holler with delicious spring water. Run by 39 year old activist, community organizer, river guide, yogi, and lover of life, the farm grows a variety of veggies, a young orchard, and we work to upkeep several houses and cabins. We strive towards self sustenance, not marketing, with our gardens. Work here involves gardening, food preservation, construction projects, and house maintenance.
Current goals involve outdoor shower construction, herb production, orchard maintenance, farmhouse renovation, developing a better compost system, firewood gathering and chopping, soil building, invasive species removal, and landscaping projects. Volunteers here stay in a peaceful a meditation cabin by the creek or the farmhouse and take hot showers in the farmhouse/shared laundy room. Sometimes you will volunteer and apprentice to a master mechanic and junk collector. This place is a sort of unique recyclery with the concept of buy less, reuse more. Work here will involve auto and machinery mechanics, house repair, and helping our eccentric mechanic move this delightful 'junk' to his new farm down the road. You'll have oil lamps, candles, a comfy bed, a beautiful space to inhabit, outhouse, and access to all the things you need. Our mechanic does live in a junk yard which is really quite a dirty mess and probably different from anything you've ever experienced before. Patience is a key ingredient to working with this awesome mechanic. He works very slowly.
The veggie farm is different from the junkyard, its cleaner and more comfortable We need folks to come out who are creative, motivated, and positive. The place is really secluded from town, etc. Having a car is necessary You must be able to deal with spending some of the time (but not all of it), alone in a beautiful setting. Sometimes there are several woofers, sometimes not. We work, play, and hang in a nearby whitewater rafting community. We also make regular trips for city life to nearby Asheville, North Carolina and Knoxville, TN
Our guests are asked for 20 hours a week of participation in projects and activities.
We provide all the staples to make 3 meals per day along with farm lodging. Spring, summer, and fall are the busiest times for work in the year. A car is required to visit the farm, unfortunately we are too rural to host someone without transportation. Please know that an in person phone call with you before I can approve your request. We speak english but its okay if yours is not very good. We are omnivores but can host vegetarians and try to keep meals quite healthy. We don’t host cats as our dogs are not cat friendly. I am open to hosting dogs. The area is steeped in Appalachian outlaw and moonshine culture. We are pagan leftists that vote democratic. We hate fascism. Free Palestine and Abolish ICE. We are LQBT friendly and open minded to diversity. We have an awesome network of friends (rainbow family, activists, artists and outdoors folk) . I've heard it said that if you come here to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee you're bound to leave a piece of your heart behind when you leave
. Come check out my Tennessee Mountain Home!
Certifications: non certified organic
Internet access available, Verizon coverage but not most other networks, I do not accept families with kids under 10 years old due to safety issues .
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Permaculture
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
Former WWOOFer
4.5
Hectares
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11
Acres
