News from our farmstead #47

Volunteers?!

Firstly: volunteers! We are currently open to hosting volunteers this June/July. More information towards the end of this newsletter 😊

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At the start of the month I spent a couple of weeks in the UK with Santi. I caught some lovely weather over there and came back to a few final days of rain before Spring truly unleashed its full force. Everything is so beautiful at the moment - it’s actually quite distracting. When I go outside to get something done I just find myself wandering around the garden looking at all the flowers and taking pictures of unusual coloured poppies and forget what I was originally trying to achieve.

Whilst I’d been away, Mauro had been working on the Pergola Project - some would call it a vitally important project to simultaneously provide us with a bearable summer sleeping area and a safe Santi play-area whilst others would call it (yet another) distraction from the bathroom project which neither of us are terribly excited about doing (me, having already built one bathroom and not too keen to repeat the experience; Mauro having watched me do it and knowing what’s coming). Mounting a pergola, how hard could it be? Well, said pergola was supposed to lean against a wall - a wall which didn’t exist, so step one for Mauro was building said wall. How hard can building a wall be? Well, not that hard, but you are only supposed to do 2 rows of bricks per day otherwise the weight squashes the cement too much, so there was a physical limit to how quickly he could progress. And the rain wasn’t done yet either, which wiped out another 5 days.

Mauro and his wall

Anyway, he did manage to finish the wall, render and paint it. The pergola is up, the roof is on, the kiwis are planted and we even have a couple of chairs and a little tent for Santi set up. There are a few things left to do - guttering, for example, and we’re considering boxing in the area with trellis type panels and mosquito netting if we find the mozzies are a problem up there. But… it’s basically done. And it makes SUCH a difference. It’s one of those rare times when the final result actually turned out looking exactly as I imagined, or perhaps even better. We’re really happy with the space and as we hoped, it’s proving a really pleasant, shady area to hang out with Santi. It’s got all his favourite things - some toys, plants, a dustpan and brush, and most importantly, a tap! And for us - a bit of a breeze, and a lovely view over our garden, the donkey fields, and (soon to be restored) water deposit. And in a couple of years’ time, it will hopefully be a space self sufficient in fruity hanging snacks, too.

Almost finished!

What’s next, then? Well, tomorrow Mauro officially starts back on the bathroom project, as we have our neighbour helping us in the evenings. Meanwhile in the garden I’ve been busy doing lots of planting, including a few more trees such as magnolia and a cypress border. Normally I wouldn’t plant trees so late in the year, as they won’t have much of a chance to get their roots established before the really hot weather, but we have so much water this year that I think it’ll be okay. We have a really long hose which is constantly flowing and I move it around to different spots at least once a day, so all our new trees (and older ones) get a really good soak and the ground stays nice and damp. I am working on getting the perimeter of the chicken food forest all planted up to hide the metal fencing and provide more shade for the chickens, and since it’s an area we visit all the time we can easily keep an eye on new stuff and make sure it doesn’t get forgotten. Meanwhile, the fruit cage is filling out nicely and I’ve been making some shady roof panels for it. The shade already seems to be helping loads so I do intend to finish these panels soon but it’s not the most enjoyable job, squatting on the ground and threading canes onto a stiff piece of wire!

Cane panel making…

I’ve also been strimming the fields and getting lots of hay for the donkeys. I have been moving them around too but after a couple of days in one spot they had barely made a dent so it was just taking too long, and it was too much effort to properly fence in the area. It’s really nice to let them munch on fresh stuff and to see them swishing their tails happily amongst the long grass, but I think the way I need to do it is to have permanent fencing throughout the finca, avoiding important trees and growing areas, with gates that can be opened and closed to section off different areas, and have them kind of moving through each section day by day. It’s not a crazy amount of work to get to that point, but having done SO much fencing lately it’s not something I’m very excited about right now. Maybe this winter I can work on it, when the garden is a bit quieter.

Enjoying the long grass

In other news, I know I’ve made this promise before, but I actually have been stepping away a bit lately from YouTube and trying not to put pressure on myself to produce regular videos. This time my hand has been forced, but probably for the better. After two years, this month I had to sign off as self employed which means I am not earning anything from my videos at the moment (although hopefully I can sign back on as self employed in the future and collect deferred payments). In Spain it’s very difficult to be a small business or self employed person, making “just enough” to cover your needs, as you are hit by large fees independent of the amount you earn. For two years I was in a kind of grace period where the fees were lower, in theory to allow your business to get established, but unfortunately many business models find it hard to grow enough to warrant the fees once the grace period ends. Some things, like cottage industry, crafts or casual work, are not scalable beyond a certain point without losing the essence of what they are. There is no ability to legally run a small handicraft business in Spain. And what about people who maybe only want to work a few hours a week for themselves, whilst they have other responsibilities, or maybe even another job? It’s impossible, it’s a source of major frustration for many self employed people, and it genuinely does feel very unfair. Spain’s all or nothing approach pushes many people to work cash in hand, which of course puts more pressure on those who do pay into the system. After two years, I was happily getting by - paying my taxes and paying my accountants and taking a bit home for ourselves too - but I can’t afford to pay another €300 every month on top of of that. I failed to “grow” my “business” so now the state loses a taxpayer and we lose part of our income, despite actually wanting to continue working and contributing. I can still make videos, although I can’t do any sponsored content any more as I can’t invoice for it, but to be honest the motivation has evaporated somewhat.

I think it’s a good moment for this to happen, though, because it finally gives me a strong reason to only make videos that I really want to make. Now Mauro and I can focus on getting the stuff done which we need to do, without the constant hassle of who’s filming what and how’s it going to fit into a video. I still film stuff, but more with the mindset I had right at the beginning - when I feel like it, when it’s convenient, and without the filming dictating any of our plans. Maybe the same amount of videos will get produced in the end anyway, who knows, but the journey to getting them produced feels a lot more enjoyable. I would love to get back to the feeling I had in the first, say, 6 months of making videos where it felt really fun and creative. I was making money I never expected to make, it still felt very much like a creative project and the income was an incidental happy surprise, and I certainly didn’t feel accountable to the “algorithm” or anything else. We have considered, over the past few months as this deadline approached, really going for it and trying to make something of YouTube - or at least enough of something for it to be financially worth it. That was kind of the experiment we hoped to run with Mauro leaving his job at the end of last year. However, the experiment has run its course, and the additional work (or changes) we’d need to make, to potentially make YouTube viable, don’t feel right for us, at the end of the day. This is something I could definitely write more about, as we’ve been back and forwards on this topic a lot lately, as we tried to reach a conclusion, but I’m not sure it’s interesting to you all, so for now I’ll leave it at that!

Broad bean harvest

Anyway, out with the old and in with the new - our main news, as we alluded to at the start of this newsletter, is that we finally feel we are ready to welcome volunteers again! If you’re interested, read on! And if not - thanks for reading this month’s newsletter and I’ll see you in May :)

Harriet 🌳

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Call for Volunteers - June/July 2025

If you’re reading this newsletter hopefully you have a pretty good picture of the sort of stuff we get up to and the projects we have in mind. And also what our place is like. But here’s a quick summary of what we can offer and what we’re looking for.

What we can offer:

• Camping accommodation in a secluded terrace - we have the basics which 2 adults would need

• Free use of kitchen/bathroom facilities and communal spaces, shady areas, hammocks, chairs etc.

• High speed unlimited (Starlink) internet available in communal areas/proximity to the house

• Personal power bank & solar charging so you can have power in your tent

• Gentle work rhythm - around 4-5 hours of mixed work per day (not all strenuous!), weekends off. You are free to travel, do as you wish on your days off, or we might suggest a day out together to a local attraction if you don’t have your own transport

• Opportunity to share your skills or learn around areas you are most interested in (see below)

• Wholesome, hearty breakfast and lunches provided, made with majority homegrown organic ingredients, supplemented with local produce. Home baked bread, duck and chicken eggs, a range of drinks available

• Pick up and drop off in Castellón de la Plana (if not coming with your own transport)

• Use of an electric or pedal bike & helmets during your stay (bikes available for 2 people)

• Local pool open daily at cheap rates - hopefully on-site plunge pool available too!

• Lots of adorable animals who would love ear rubs and extra attention!

• Languages spoken: English and Spanish (no English required)

Where we are:

• Useras, a small town of 900 population, is 20 minute walk/5 minute drive away - where you can find a small supermarket, bars, restaurants, a post office, pharmacy, swimming pool, and several bakeries.

• Near the coast - Benicássim, Oropesa and other sandy beaches are 40 minutes drive away

• Near natural parks of Sierra D’Espadán, Penyagolosa, Desert de les Palmes and other sites of natural beauty

• Close to several award winning bodegas - we are in the heartlands of a famous wine region!

• Lots of stunning, well signposted cycling, running and walking trails (off and on-road) right outside our front door

• 40 minutes drive from Castellón, a reasonable sized city with big stores, transport connections and pretty much all things you might need

• We are 1.5 hours drive from Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, and about 1.5 hours drive from the border to Catalunya. Barcelona is about 3 hours drive away.

We are looking for volunteers who are interested in getting involved in all and any aspects of our farm life, taking on any jobs that are particularly interesting to you, but also willing to pitch in with whatever main project is ongoing at that moment in time. You might help with:

• General gardening work - weeding, preparing beds, planting, pruning, watering

• Harvesting and food preservation

• Animal chores - looking after the chickens, ducks or donkeys

• Infrastructure work such as fencing

• Conventional building work such as building a block & mortar outdoor kitchen

• Natural building work such as building a permanent guest “pallet-cob cabin”

We are looking for one person or a couple who:

• Can join us for at least 5 nights during June or July 2025

• Is looking for an all-round experience of off-grid living, this might mean switching projects as priorities change, helping us fix random stuff, doing a few different things each day, helping out wherever is needed.

• Doesn’t mind getting dirty and sweaty - it is hot in June/July! Just walking around can make you sweat!

• Able to get to Castellón de la Plana for pick up/drop off

• Own transport/drivers licence: useful for your own freedom but not required

• Own accommodation: not required but if you have a camper van or similar we can make space for that

• Pets: probably fine but please mention any pets you might be travelling with

• Bonus: skills to share with us! If you have any particular skills or interests please do let us know, and we can try and arrange suitable work to fit with your visit if it makes sense to do so!

Please email me at harriethryder@gmail.com if you are interested in volunteering with us, telling us a bit about yourselves. We can then arrange a video call to have a quick chat so you can confirm we’re not lunatics, and vice versa - or that we’re at least the same kind :)

Also I’m very sorry if anyone has messaged be about volunteering in the past and I’ve been vague about future possibilities. I honestly didn’t know when we’d be ready to do it again and I’m sorry if I said “I’ll get back in touch” and never did! I guess this is me getting back in touch, please do reach out again if you’re still interested!

Thanks for reading all of this,

Harriet and Mauro x