Homestead Helper (7296)

*Are you ready for a change in your life?
*Are you looking for a place to have your own organic garden?
*Do you enjoy caring for chickens, dogs and cats?
*Do your yearn to live in a quiet place in the wilderness (yet close to a small town with most amenities)?
*Do you dream about living in an historic, comfortable log cabin overlooking mountains and meadows?
*Are you ready for sun and blue skies in the summer, snow in the winter, and crisp air and fall colors in the autumn?
*Do you like to work hard, enjoy being outdoors, have a positive attitude, and like an adventure?

If so, this opportunity might be for you.

We are a retired professional couple who strive to lead a more sustainable life: growing and preserving much of our own food; producing a lot of our own power and heat; raising chickens, dogs and cats; and trying to be good stewards of our beautiful piece of property.

We are looking for someone to help around the homestead in exchange for a place for your own garden and a  log cabin for you to call home.

Let us know if you’d like to discuss this further.

Active retired couple, living on about one third of an historic homestead in a picturesque valley in the mountains of Washington State, seek help around their homestead. We grow much of our own food, have a grid-inter-tied solar electric system, raise chickens, and generally enjoy living a lifestyle as self-sufficient as reasonable.

This is a busy place from early spring to late fall. We love doing all that this entails, but age necessitates getting some help. Here is a partial list of what we would like help with. We recognize that not many will be able to do ALL of these things, so someone that can do most of them would probably work out. Within reason, we are willing to offer on-the-job training, but we hope to find someone that needs a minimum of supervision.

• Trimming limbs from trees
• Bucking up trees
• Using a hydraulic log splitter to split the rounds into firewood
• Moving and stacking firewood
• Garden preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting (veggies, herbs, native plants, flowers, etc.)
• Fruit tree pruning and harvesting
• Weed-wacking
• Helping take care of our 13 chickens including cleaning the coop, giving feed and water, etc.
• Occasionally taking care of our two dogs
• Manage a large compost pile

If the right individual wanted to have a garden of their own, this likely would work out as well. There are other job opportunities in our community as well to complement the work here.

We might have housing options as well, and we can discuss this.

This is not an opportunity for someone looking to discover whether this is the life for them, or someone new to hard work and living with nature. We are not looking to spend too much time training or educating newbies.

In other words, we look for someone(s) that can do many or all of these tasks, hitting the ground running.

Integrity is the number one qualification. Trust is extremely important, not only to us but to the whole valley. There is a strong sense of community, we look out for each other and help meet each other's needs. It is a wonderful blend of live-and-let-live and mutual support.

The spring brings with it mosquitos. This can range from bad to horrid, for a period of a couple of weeks to a couple of months. Spring and fall can be cool (and beautiful), and summer can find temperatures into the 90's, or maybe into the low 100's for a few days.

For the right person(s), this would be a delightful opportunity. We look forward to discussing it with you!

Experience required is non-specific, but these traits would be a real assets:

Used to spending time outdoors -- and loving it

Ability to work hard and independently

Appreciate the joy that comes to the unique characteristics of four distinct seasons

Positive attitude

Desire to live a simple, sustainable life in a wilderness setting

Passion for the natural world

Interest in gardening and a sustainable lifestyle

Ability to lift 50 pounds

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