One year growing organic vegetables in an ecovillage in Ireland
The farm produces organic vegetables for our community using regenerative and environmentally beneficial growing methods. Most of the volunteers’ working hours are spent in the fields or polytunnels – regular tasks include sowing seeds, watering, weeding, harvesting, and weighing veg. Other seasonal tasks may include the preservation of surplus crops (pickling, preserving etc) and assisting with building projects. While the primary commitment is hands-on farm work, some volunteers also take an active role in supporting the farm’s related projects, such as our food hub and digital farmers market. While some of the farming tasks are routine by nature, there is also an educational element to the programme and we try to make sure there’s always something new for the volunteers to learn.
We work as a team and check in with each other each day to see how everyone’s getting on – valuing each person’s input and making sure that everyone is feeling fulfilled by their experience. Volunteers also attend regular sessions in non-violent communication, group dynamics and personal development.
Volunteers also experience life in the Ecovillage and community living and are exposed to systems like collaborative governance and decision-making. There’s always lots going on and loads of opportunities – it’s really up to each volunteer how many people they get to know and how much involvement they choose to have in the community.
What are you looking for help with?
- Farming/Gardening 🌿🐄
What’s the mission of your community? 🎯
The Ecovillage itself is both an educational charity and a community – it’s home to 120 people who are committed to living as sustainably as possible and making decisions on a communal basis.
The community farm’s mission is to provide healthy local food to the community and to provide a guaranteed income for our farmers through our community-supported agriculture (CSA) model – members pay a monthly membership fee which allows them to help themselves to as much veg as they need, leaving our farmers free to focus on growing without the need to bring their produce to market. The farm is also committed to local resilience and providing viable alternatives to global supply chains, and has recently established a food hub and digital farmers market, which supports other local food producers to connect directly with local customers.
Ecovillage in Ireland ESC program 2023
Volunteers’ age restrictions 🔞
- Only 18 to 30 years old (This is an ESC/EVS/ERASMUS youth exchange)
Volunteers with disabilities ♿
- Volunteers with disabilities are welcome ♿ ✅
Note about the restrictions ✍
We can only take volunteers aged between 18 and 30 because of the limits of the ESC scheme. While we try to accommodate disabilities where possible, we cannot take volunteers whose disabilities prevent them from doing physical work on the farm.
When would you need volunteers? 📅
- For 11 months
How many hours of help per day? ⏱
- 6 hours of help per day
How many days of help per week? 🌒
- 5 days per week – 2 days off
Note about the volunteer work and other expectations 📝
Work on the farm involves being outdoors in all types of weather, all through the year (it can be cold and wet in winter).
Are accommodation and food included?
Yes, we offer food and accommodation 🏠🍜 + Pocket money
What type of accommodation can you provide? 🏕
- Private Room 🔑
Diet – nutrition information
Membership in our Community Farm allows you to take as many organic, local vegetables as you need. Local eggs & sourdough bread are delivered to your doorstep each week, and you also have credit for monthly bulk whole foods orders. Volunteers generally eat together and take turns cooking. 🥗🥤
Volunteers’ benefits
Our volunteers experience the full year’s cycle of organic vegetable production and distribution and acquire a full set of skills to grow food for a community or small business in an environmentally beneficial way. They also have the opportunity to learn about relevant topics like soil fertility, composting, seed saving, permaculture, cooperative food distribution models and community resilience, as well as interpersonal skills like non-violent communication and consensus decision-making (workshops on all these and other topics are included in the volunteer programme).
Volunteers also get to experience life in an Ecovillage and learn more about sustainable living and ways in which people are actively trying to address the climate and biodiversity crisis and create a society fit for future generations.
What to do in your free time
Get to know the people in the community. There are usually lots of events happening (although there have been fewer in Covid times), and lots of other things to get involved in – for example, the local soccer club, or classes in yoga, martial arts, Irish music, and various other activities. There are also plenty of opportunities to spend time in nature nearby and to explore other parts of Ireland during weekends off. 🚴🚣🦒
Language 🗣🇬🇧
English
How to get to your site ✈ 🗺
Cloughjordan is approximately one hour and a half from Dublin, and has its own train station, although both trains and buses run infrequently. Green travel is preferred, if possible (eg travelling by ferry rather than by plane)
Is there internet access? 🌐
Yes!
CONTACT DETAILS 🔍📧
Ecovillage in Ireland ESC program 2024
Link to 2024 applications: https://youth.europa.eu/solidarity/opportunity/37131_en
For anyone who wants to apply to volunteer with us, the contact email address is volunteercloughjordanfarm@gmail.com 📧 👈
https://www.instagram.com/cloughjordan_community_farm/
https://www.facebook.com/CloughjordanCommunityFarm
website: https://www.thevillage.ie/
Hostname 📛Cloughjordan Community Farm
See more European Solidarity Corps programs 🇪🇺
Go to the Eco-villages section 🦋🐛