THESE ARE REVIEWS FROM PAST VOLUNTEERS

 

 

   Posted: EricProfile: From: United States, Date: April 9, 2014: I spent a month at this farm during the rainy season (February). It was definitely hard work, but I learned a lot about compost, organic farming, planting trees, how to make cheese and yogurt from fresh milk from Mike and the Peruvian farm workers. I would recommend it to anyone who isn´t afraid to get dirty and quite possibly spend a lot of time in wet clothing! Don´t forget the $8 boots, they are quite necessary!

 

 

Posted: Permalink, Reply by Kevin Bassett on December 31, 2013 at 6:04pm, My girlfriend and I just got off the farm after 3 weeks as well, and had a wonderful time. So beautiful and peaceful, no noises except for the birds, bugs, and the distant waterfall. We'll write a more thorough review later... and many scratches were given to Tito (and many were given back!)

 

   Reply Permalink, by Wes Markusfeld on December 21, 2013                   at 4:20pm At finca verde i was the only volunteer again. i stayed for         a little over 3 weeks. the farm was pretty difficult to find and i was           glad i decided to invest in a 30 dollar ecuadorian cell phone. some         farms are really hard to find and without great instructions and               some solid contact with the farm owner it can be difficult to find. i             found the farm to be in a beautiful place. learned a lot from mike             and his library. had a great time speaking spanish with the two                peruvians that work there Telmo and David. they were great! the            farm is cool and very peaceful, if you climb up the mountain there            is some serious forest and it is beautiful and teeming with life. No            need to pay at finca verde. · 

 

   Reply / Comment  Reply by Sophie B. on December 20, 2013 at              2:35pmHow did you like Finca Verde? I think we probably just                missed each other. I stayed for about a month in October and                  absolutely loved it... I will create a post about it on here soon. I'm            interested in cob building, too - hopefully with David Backlin in 

     a few months! Take care,Sophie· 

 

   Reply / Comment Helper: Kevin and CindyProfile: click here From:            United StatesDate: December 1, 2013Had a great time here,

     Mike is   happy to share what he knows and listen to what you  

     have to say, he let us and a few other volunteers build a cob oven          which was a blast. We would recomend this to our friends and

     family.

 

    Reply / Comment Helper: Anthony and EmmaProfile: click here From:       United KingdomDate: October 6, 2013: Mike is a hero. He is a 

      font of knowledge on permaculture and various other subjects.

      He welcomed us warmly onto his farm and we were quickly                      introduced to his monumental library. Seriously, it´s awesome,

       articularly the Permaculture section. We soaked up so much

      info from those books, but even more from Mike himself,

      who was patient in the extreme and answered our questions                   thoroughly (though I¨m sure he´s heard them a tonne of times                 before). The farm is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. And the bunk

      house you´ll stay at has possibly the best terrace ever.

      Expect to do a lot of weeding and mulching and learning about               panela, bananas, fermentation, chickens and a whole lot

      more.Mostly, thank you Mike for looking after us so well

      and for the gift you gave us when we left. It gave us a happy                   entrance into Peru.Worth note: Mike´s chickens lay the best 

      eggs in Ecuador. 

 

          

      Posted by Sophie B. on December 20, 2013 at 2:50pm in WWOOF   Ecuador· I spent three weeks living and volunteering at Finca Verde       and had a fantastic time, so I thought I'd put a little feedback and information up on here. The farm is beautiful and it's relatively new (Mike has been there for three years), so it's an opportunity to be part of a new farm and take part in important decisions. It's also encouraging to see how quickly things change there - new garden beds are put in, new crops transplanted into the food forest, new chicks hatch, new seeds sprout in the vivero, and new experiments to be done all the time to figure out what works and what doesn't. A normal day on the farm for me went something like this:6:30 am: Wake up, make breakfast, get ready for the day in the bunkhouse7:45 am: Start the 15 minute walk from the bunkhouse where volunteers sleep to the farm. We called this "the daily commute," and it's absolutely beautiful (albeit muddy)8:00 am: Check in with Mike, make a plan for the morning, and start working. You might be working with vermiculture, applying poultices to a wounded donkey, transplanting amaranth into the food forest, collecting and labelling seeds, harvesting comfrey and making comfrey tea, working with dirt, etc.11:00 am: One person stops farm work an hour early to cook lunch (often potatoes, rice, lentils, veggies, eggs, quinoa - great for vegetarians)12:00 pm: Lunch time1:00 pm: Meditation, farm discussions, maybe a quick class on medicinal plants2:00 pm: Back to work to finish up the day's projects for two hours4:00 pm: Finish work and start thinking about dinner. We usually used the time in between work and dinner to hang out on the farm, try about seven different ways to make bread without an oven, soak beans, dry out our feet after so much time in mud, read from Mike's extensive organic, medicinal, and permaculture library, catch fish and gut them for dinner, write notes in our journals, listen to podcasts, talk through seed planting techniques with Mike, etc.6:00 pm: Cook dinner7:00 pm: Eat dinner7:45 pm: Head up to the bunkhouse to read, practice yoga, filter water for the morning9:00 pm: Go to bedWeekends are free to do whatever you would like. I came to Vilcabamba once and went to Palanda once as well, but you can also stay on the farm and explore the area.It's absolutely best for people who are interested in agriculture and making a difference on a new farm. The work can be difficult, but Mike also hires two kind and fun Peruvian brothers named David and Telmo who work extremely hard and usually do the heavy lifting and most labor-intensive jobs (although you might be expected to double dig some garden beds, so you won't get off too easy!). Mike did everything possible to make my stay informative. I'm new to eating meat, and I wanted to learn how to butcher chickens and gut fish. Mike hired David and Telmo's little sister to teach me how to butcher chickens, and we cooked and ate seco de gallina that night for dinner with the neighbors. He also let me and my cofarmer Janet commandeer the failing vermiculture bin for a few days because we became interested in using worms for composting. Also, it's nearly impossible to find the farm your own, so it's important to check in with Mike and make a plan. His email is ecuasurthrival@gmail.com and his cell phone is 0989357315.Please send me a message if you have any questions! I had a great experience and am happy to help. I tried to give some details here because there really isn't much information in the discussion section - hopefully this helps out a bit! I attached a few photos of life on the farm. And if you go, give little Tito the farm kitten a scratch for me!Safe travels,Sophie

 

 

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​Reference: Helper: Ian and Jasmien Profile: From: Belgium Date: June 1, 2013  we had a fantastic time at michaels farm. we learned a lot as wel about farming as herbs as world-stuff as chiqong,... we could sleep in the bunkhouse that looks out over the beautiful mountains. the work whas varied, whe ve done weeding, coffee picking, diging, cutting roots, fertilizing,... a great memory of acuador! we recommend everybody to visit.

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  Helper: Tyler Davis Date: February 7, 2013 From: Canada Profile:  I stayed at Mike's organic farm for three weeks and had a great time while I was there. He taught us about permaculture and showed us all his sustainability projects, which I found fascinating. Mike's open to any good ideas you have and there are a lot of positive like minded people to meet that all have a willingness to help make his vision a reality. Thanks for having me, can't wait to see how everything turns out and good luck in the future!



 





   Helper: Joe Howlett Profile: hidden - premier members only
From: United Kingdom Date: February 1, 2013
Stayed here for 3 weeks and had a great time. Learnt loads from Mike about compost, growing food, and keeping animals. Food is varied and plentiful and the view from the bunkhouse balcony never gets old! The two local workers are a good laugh and good to practice spanish with. Highly Recommended!



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