📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
The Reifenmill, a running -power generating watermill, is located in a steep valley of the hilly Hunsrueck region in south-western Germany, between the “wine-rivers” Rhine and Mosel. Surrounded by forests the next rural village is 3km away. The Mill is off-grid, water is sourced from a small spring, electricity is produced with the waterwheel, food is coming mostly from the garden and there are chicken, rabbits, honey-bees, a fishpond, and other animals. The remote and historic place is looked after by two brothers, experimenting in ways and techniques of modern sustainable living.
The aim is to practice holistic living, establish a permaculture garden, maintain the ecological waterpower system, raise small stock animals preserve the woodland and meadow with scattered fruit trees.
💼 What the programme involves
- Management and maintenance of the green valley, the millers-creek, fish pond, meadows and woodland, esp. repair of the creeks embankments (work with rocks and boulders in the water!)
- General Garden/Farm work, building raised beds, fencing, planting
- Looking after the animals, fishing
- Wood Work, Handicrafts, constructing small shelters, repair paddocks
- Mapping out the local ecosystems, characterizing different plants and animals
🏠 Accommodation on site
In medium sized tents or bring your own, simple sanitary conditions with solar heated outdoor shower, compost toilet
Cooking is done in a covered open air kitchen and open fire cooking on rocket stove/smoker/bonfire; Organic veggies from the garden, some eggs from the chicken, carp from the pond, little to no other meat
Please bring outdoor clothes, good shoes/boots, a warm sleeping bag and be prepared for cold nights
⚠️ Requirements
Willingness to do physical work 6 hours daily, ability to adapt to very basic conditions (bucket toilet, outside showers); Enjoying farming work with all its many and varied challenges and possibilities; Curiosity to learn, try and develop new skills; Mindfulness, team-spirit and self-initiative desired
ℹ️ Additional information
Trips to both rivers Mosel and Rhine are possible within an hour from Kastellaun lot's of history, castles, the biggest wine growing region in Germany; The next larger city is Koblenz (1,5 hours by bus), that's where the two rivers meet; The longest rope-suspension bridge north of the alps is just a 3 hour hike from us, over in the next valley;
Bring working clothes and boots that can get wet, there is WiFi on the property, if the old telephone line is not cut off by fallen trees