Historical and permacultural garden at a yoga- and retreat center with Market Garden and Orchard
Viken
Welcome to Hurdal Gjestegård, surrounded by the magical nature of Hurdal.
We are Malin, Andrew, Elise (13) and Gabriel (10) and Koala, the cat. Our beautiful home was originally the old priest farm and is a heritage site with lots of history and soul. We have a lush food forest seed saving garden which is coupled to a regenerative farm that is a part of the wider Hurdal Ecovilage ecosystem.
Hurdal Gjestegård is first and formost a retreat center for yoga, breathwork and mindfulness. We host weekend retreats and overnight stays for guests from all over the world. The house has four large bedrooms and can host up to 15 guests. Wwoofers share falcilities and we always host a minimum of two woofers; prioritising those who can stay as long as possible and are on the frequency we want to maintain. Wwoofers will most likely be asked to stay at the neighbouring regenerative farm, with whom we work closely. Andrew manages their orchard with 500 apples and over 1000 berry bushes, as well as mentoring and co-managing the Market Garden/Seed Saving operation on the farm.
Woofers should expect to work in the field with vegetables, fruits and berries (depending on the season), but also on building, maintainance work, cooking and helping backstage during retreats.
Hurdal Gjestegård is a part of a wide national network for historical gardens in Norway. We are in the process of redesigning and enhancing the garden and the regenerative farm using permacultural principles. There is an overall plan for restoring the garden to something similar to its 1950's period, though many of the plants are far older than that. In addition, the vision for the garden is to form a therapy garden, used for inner work and retreats. You can read more about this work on Andrew's blog here: https://mcmillion.no/2024/12/13/co-creating-a-regenerative-farm-in-hurdal/ 2. Activities that WWOOFers will participate in and what you can learn: Summer activities (may-september): Market gardening, including planting, seed saving, harvesting, weeding, cutting trees, planting trees, bushes and flowers. Building up vegetable gardens and other small maintenance in the garden. Building outdoor facilities like showers, outhouses, tiny houses and chicken tractors. Winter activities (oktober-april): In the winter months there is no garden work, but we do process food, seeds and continue to hold retreats and social events. There is still carpentry work, small constructional work like painting, building, cutting firewood, cleaning, helping out with cooking for retreats and so on. 3. What could a WWOOFer's day look like at your site (time slot for participation in activities, expectations...)? 8-9 breakfast 9-12 Gardening 12-15 Lunch break 15-17 Gardening 17-18 Dinner Free time: hiking, swimming in lake/river, visiting ecovillage, make new friends with people from all over the world. Join yoga classes. (or host your own?).
In the wintertime there are great skiing tracks and a lovely downhill skiing area. The area: Hurdal is a beautiful place with lots of nature, forest, lake, mountains and hiking possibilities. Here you get around best by bike. Lake Hurdal is a gorgeous lake with lovely water just 400 meters from the house. We use to go to the river and swim and we also have a small boat for you to borrow. You can go fishing and in the forest there is plenty of blue berries and different edible mushrooms to pick. The yoga room is available for your use and if you feel like you can also put up a class to invite other people to join. In the community of the ecovillage there are many people interested in yoga and meditation. At night we like to gather around bon-fires and play music.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Beekeeping
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Bakery
Methods or systems
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
Certified organic
5
Hectares
|
12.4
Acres
Andrew
Member since 2023
Languages spoken:
English, German, Norwegian, Swedish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 2 days
Viken
Eidsvoll verk stasjon (train), Gardermoen (airport)
Reviews
Cosma
Germany
•
September 2024
I had a wonderful two-week stay at Hurdal Gjestegård! The house itself is really beautiful and Malin was incredibly friendly. I appreciated the flexibility in managing my own schedule. The tasks mainly involved weeding, mowing the lawn, cleaning jobs and assisting the roofer. There's a lovely lake just around the corner, perfect for a swim, and you can borrow a bike to explore the surrounding area. I spent a few days on my own, then with two other lovely girls. If you're the only WWOOFer, I recommend coming with a friend.
I want to say a big thank you for the stay—it was a great experience! I wish Malin all the best for the future! :)
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Nour
Czechia
•
July 2023
Hurdal Gjestegård is an enchanting retreat center surrounded by even more magical nature. As a woofer, my experience there was nothing short of enriching. Malin welcomed me warmly into her historic priest house that was filled with soul and history, along with two friendly cats. Working in the lush garden was a delight, taking on tasks like weeding, mulching, tree felling, and lawn mowing. It was easy to get on no matter the weather. Malin provided me the added benefit of being largely in charge of my own schedule and this flexibility allowed me to have time to explore the stunning surroundings—hiking, swimming in Lake Hurdal, and biking through the picturesque landscape; as well as an easy trip to Oslo city centre. Scheduling turned out I was the only woofer there, which was nice for thoughtful work, but I feel it would be nice to have come as a pair or with my partner. However, there was also a sense of community among woofers on neighbouring farms who came from all corners of the world. My main complaint is that I couldn’t stay for longer!
For prospect woofers Malin and I put together this nice website to help make communication easy and the stay more enjoyable:
https://stone-citrine-85e.notion.site/WWOOF-at-Hurdal-Gjesteg-rd-89604785fa7b4e868704e1c8ecbd9343?pvs=4
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