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Farm need help with feeding animals, gardening and making soap

World, Oceania, Australia, Summerholm

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APPLY NOW

Travel dates

About the workproject

We need 1 volunteer

About Our Farm

Hamish purchased the original farm in December 2010. In the few years Hamish and Nicole lived there they worked towards self sufficiency on the smallholding of 2 acres.

In August 2014 Hamish and Nicole purchased and moved to a new farm of 2.5 acres at Summerholm Queensland. Being closer to Brisbane, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast the new farm offers better access to markets for the sale of products from the farm. The journey towards self sufficiency has continued.

With fruit and nut trees being planted wherever possible, the 2.5 acre property is starting to provide many tasty treats through the seasons. The property is run using permaculture principles without chemicals or artificial fertilizers. While it is certainly not intended to be a pretty ornamental garden – it is definitely becoming a productive one by using good design to minimise inputs and maximise outputs.

We utilise a rotational cell grazing system for the goats to maximise the available feed and to provide a healthy environment for the livestock. We also have poultry grazing in mobile pens called chicken tractors to supply eggs with the added benefit of fertilizer for the pasture and parasite control for the goats.

The goats at Naughty Goat Farm are a cross between Anglo Nubien and Saanan varieties. The breeding is designed to get the best from both varieties – high milk yield from the Saanan (a mountain breed) and the hardy heat tolerance of the Anglo Nubien (a desert breed). The milk is used to make Goat Milk Soap which is renowned for its ability to help people with skin conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. Many people purchase our soap in bulk as they are unable to use regular soap. Others use it just because they like it smile


Also on the property Hamish and Nicole have top bar beehives. Top bars are a style of beehive that is more natural for the bees and easier on the beekeeper. Production from Top Bar beehives is not as large as with traditional Langstroth hives – however the time and equipment inputs are lower, the bees are happier and healthier and the yield of wax is higher. We use the wax to produce our range of natural lip balms.

Sometimes we use solar cooking to demonstrate how to minimise dependence on electricity and fossil fuels.

On weekends Hamish and Nicole attend local markets to sell their products and also make and sell coffee. This provides a great opportunity to practice English for those who have English as a second language.

Future developments planned for Naughty Goat Farm include a 7,000L Aquaponics system to supply fresh produce (salad greens and herbs) to cafes and restaurants.

A new soap studio has been constructed at Naughty Goat Farm and in the future we would like to host tours to experience the goat milk soap making process from milking to soap production and packaging.

There are 2 furnished guest bedrooms at Naughty Goat Farm with their own bathroom and shared kitchen facilities.

For those that would prefer to be outside there is plenty of room to camp at Naughty Goat Farm with either tents, caravans or motor-homes with access to power, water, bathroom and kitchen facilities.

There is also free WiFi Internet available for helpers at Naughty Goat Farm. We are very flexible and happy to work in with you to make your stay comfortable.

We would love to have you come and stay with us. There is always plenty to do and we love sharing stories with our visitors around a camp fire.

Some of the jobs we have to do over the coming months are:

- Help make Goat Milk Soap and bees wax lip balm.
- Look after the goats, Harriet the cow, chickens and geese.
- Help with vegetable gardening.
- Lay a concrete pad for the shed.
- Keep the house clean.
- Help us make coffee and sell our products and produce at the markets and sporting events.
- Feed the fish in the aquaponics system.
- Help build helpers accommodation.
- Enjoy the beautiful stars at night.

If this interests you we would love to hear from you.

*****Sadly we have had some bad experiences so we have to add this. We have zero drug tolerance at Naughty Goat Farm so please do not bring illegal substances to our farm! We also have zero tolerance of theft so if you want to steal from us please do not apply. If we suspect either of these we will report to the police.*****

About the host

Hamish

Host since

2018

Languages

English

Last seen online

more than 6 month ago

Project dates

Open for offers, contact us


Work to be done

  • gardening
  • construction
  • farming
  • help in the house
  • maintenance tasks
  • eco projects
  • animal care
  • child care / au pair
  • pet sitting
  • house sitting

Expected workhours

  • 5 hours a day
  • 7 days a week

Work exchange deal

  • private room

The house is a 3 bedroom with 2 bathroom. You will have your own bedrooms and bathroom up stairs

  • shared meals

You have your own breakfast but we usually like to have lunch and dinner together.

  • no money is involved

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