Become a volunteer worker at our organic farm
We are inviting people from all over the world to come, live, stay and work with us for free.
The joy of the simple living where you reconnect to the earth and find home in the world is immense. It is a lot of physical work to do farming and we love it. We are not meant to be passive; we are not born to be lazy. It is totally the opposite. We are born to be joyful, motivated, dedicated, active, creative, inventive and productive. We are meant to participate in all the wonderful things there are happening around us. On the farm we are planning, seeding and planting, taking care of vegetables and fruit trees, and finally harvesting, cooking, and eating what we have grown. And we invite you to come and participate in all we are doing. If you see the value in this kind of simple living you will feel a happiness that cannot be described. It must be experienced.
Volunteers usually work for 5 hours a day on different projects (such as weeding, painting, planting, chopping the wood, harvesting vegetables, repairs, watering, digging, shoveling of the horse manure and others) + as there will be 3 vegetarian meals per day cooked and served we will ask you to participate on that for 1 hour a day (spent on cleaning or cooking). Projects are changing accordingly to season and need. Everyday in the morning you can choose witch project would you like to join.
Read the Feedback from some of our Volunteers:
GREAT TIME! I loved staying in Elsebråne with Pavlina, Soren and the other inhabitants of the community. Felt at ease pretty much from the start. Lovely house (with an amazing wood fired sauna) and surroundings. The type and amount of work you put in is quite flexible and of your choice and they really put no pressure. BUT there is a good chance that you’ll feel a strong urge to contribute to what they’re doing there, like I did. Also I rarely meet people who are as passionate about card games as I am 😉 Will be back for sure.
Annie from Sweden
I stayed for about two weeks in August and must say that I had a superb time in a youthful, atmospheric place with lots of daytrips, swimming, movie nights and unheard of card games. The work you put in is met with utmost respect and appreciation while range of jobs comprises of potentially/virtually anything from tree felling to waiting in the cafe. I loved the place, I loved the people inhibiting it and you on the farm should not be too awfully surprised if I show up again some point in the near future.
Martin from Germany
This is a nice place to be. The cozy farm and the lovely people made it easy for me to feel home and very hard to leave. Thats one reason why I stayed much longer than I planned. Now that I left I miss waking up by the ringing of a bell in the early morning knowing that there is a great breakfast waiting for me in the kitchen. The smell of fresh baked bread and Pavlina singing czech songs to her baby, spreading love, joy and energy. I miss Soren teaching his lessons, joking and doing his magic in the kitchen cooking an amazing meal for more than ten people in less than an hour. He is a very special and knowlegeable person. You need to be sharp to get his jokes but once you know his sence of humour, it can be really fun. I enjoyed helping on the farm and the evenings where we used to play games, watch movies or go to te public sauna in the forest and the wild trips exploring the beautiful nature of sweden on sundays. This is a very vivid place where you can be yourself, surrounded by friendly and supporting people, be part of a community and learn about life. I got the impression that there is a deeper sense in almost everything they do and five weeks in winter still werent enough for me to understand completely. But it was enough for them to gain a place in my heart. I truly recommend this place to all open minded people who love to work hard, being social and going to sauna.
Luka from Germany
This was my first workaway experience. Before I came here, I read many positive references of different hosts. I wished that I picked out my perfect host for the beginning too.
The welcome was outright and friendly, so I felt home from the very beginning.
The building work was fun and I learned much because of the variety. It feels good to see how the project B&B is growing and it’s amazing how much has been done in the last few months.
A big “thank you” to Denise, our lovely building leader. You never let anyone feel low while learning new things!
This is a nice place to enjoy the beautiful nature of Sweden. The community gave me so many helpful tips to find the most beautiful places. To visit the nearby sauna is one of the weekly Highlights.
I stayed 3 weeks and planned to stay longer. Because of a sudden personal decision of the host, I had to quit earlier.
Thank you for the exciting time and much luck for the future!
Lara from Germany
“We all are a little bit crazy here but in a good way.”
This was my first workaway experience and i feel blessed to get to know this place. 🙂
Thanks to amazing people on a farm, those 2 weeks were extremely knowlegeable and inspiring <3 though i believe it’s not enough to fully experience life on a farm. The place is extremely atmospheric and powerful. It’s impossible to explain. You just have to feel this energy yourself 😉
It was challenging and fun for me to do things i ve never done before: building, painting, living in a community. Volunteering here showed me how amazing life can be far from the noise of big cities.
Søren & Pavlina and all the people on the farm are really fun, friendly and caring. And i m so proud i had a chance to join it. Living in the nature, being a part of a community, finding a new perspective on the health issues, self-acceptance and inter-personal relations is exactly what i needed 🙂
It’ s so cool to see the results of your efforts and my heart melted every day after the work hours seeing the freshly painted red wooden houses. ^^ I wish all your big plans will come true very soon and more people can enjoy this magical place in Sweden 🙂
Sending the best wishes from St Petersburg and really hope to see you again one day 🙂
Anastasia from Russia
I stayed with Søren and Pavlina for 2 weeks and had a great time.
They built such warm and welcoming community there that it is hard not to feel at home.
When I asked before what would be to do I was told that it would be mainly planting etc. In the end it was not much farm work and more building – painting, plastering, digging, building a door etc. But I really don’t mind, since it was fun, I learnt quite a bit and it was awesome to see the project develop every day 🙂 And of course there will be more farming at other times of the year. Also, it was amazing to work with Denise. She always made sure everyone knew what to do and explained in a great way. Then she made sure that you were okay and tried to give you different tasks, so it did not get boring. I hope this does not sound like hidden criticism because it is certainly not. If I ever needed a construction site leader, I would totally want her for the job 🙂
In the evenings there were often games (thanks for teaching me poker), trips to the sauna or movie nights. Everybody in the community is really open and friendly, above all Pavlina – such a great person. She taught us a lot about farming as well.
There were a few other workawayers and after about one day it felt like we were old friends.
Søren is for sure an extremely interesting person. I just felt that for a host he seems not especially interested in his workawayers. I did not get the impression that he likes to talk to us and to answer questions about his holistic medicinical approach and therapy or takes us very serious as owners of individual brains. But he is still nice and caring and his wife kind of steps in there.
So overall it was a great experience to be on the farm and I think in summer it would be even more awesome 🙂
Thank you for everything and wish you all the best.
Victoria from Germany
First of all a warm thank you to the people living at the farm. You were all very welcoming and nice! I went here to find some rest and nature, with some curiosity towards holistic medicine. Getting there, the surroundings were amazing and (to me) the farm was breathing another (interesting) way of living. Getting to know the people&feeling comfortable around the house didn’t take much time, the house was in a way prepared for receiving a lot of guests. The hours were fixed and well timed but this made living together easy and without problems / unclear situations. The work I had to do, without much variation, was killing larvaes of the fruit trees. But as it was a big priority to the farm and the work was physically not heavy and the weather was just amazingly sunny, I didn’t mind doing this every day of my stay.
I’m going to miss my time in the fruit garden, hikes in the National Park, sitting by the lake, drinking too much coffee at the breakfast table, playing games at night.
To Søren and Pavlina I especially want to say thanks for having me here, as a part of the family and I’m wishing you all the best with the growth of the farm and busy summer time! I’m curious to see how things will keep changing and growing over there! Thanks, Josima
Josima from Belgium
I stayed for about two weeks with these beautiful people. They are very dedicated and hard workers, very pure in their own gentle way. This is a very unique and interesting place and I’m very grateful for their hospitality. Søren and Pavlina are full of joy and vitality which was very inspiring for me, how to enjoy food, playing, working, life in its simplicity (although they turned me into a professional larvaskiller.) Hope you are all doing well and good luck with all your ambitions!
Merel from Belgium
This was definately my best workaway experience so far ! I stayed with Søren and Pavlina for 3 weeks and I had an amazing experience. There are so many people living on the farm and everyone is so nice and welcoming that I felt like home since the first day.
The working days were always fun and it was a good structured work that you had always time in the afternoon to explore the nature in this beutiful place. There are lakes everywhere and you can also take a bike to explore the area. I definately loved this place and I’m sure that I will come back one day. Maybe to be one of the first guests in the Bed& Breakfirst we were about to built when I was there.
Also in the evenings it was never boring. All people on the farm love to play cards and watch movies with everybody.
Søren and his son are also really good in cooking! I loved the housemade peanut butter!
And again, thank you for always also cooking vegan food for me ! So nice!
You should go and see this place and meet these loving people! They always need help.
Thank you Søren and Pavlina for this awesome experience! 🙂
Franziska from Germany
We just stayed for 10 days with Søren and Pavlina but we already felt at home after short time. The surroundings are amazing (especially the lake) and all the people who live on the farm are really nice and open-minded. So time was running incredibly fast. The work was totally okay but you shouldn’t underrate it. We enjoyed our time at the farm and highly recommend a workaway experience at this place.
Carolin & Isabel from Germany
Just back from my travel in Sweden which started at this amazing farm! I’ve been here for five weeks in June and July. In the beginning it took me some time to feel home and to get used to the people on the farm. But from the second week it started to be an amazing time! The work on the farm was sometimes though but in the same time very good! I loved to work with my hands, to give all the energy you have, and after jump in the lake and feel so satisfied! Im very thankful for being hosted, for taking part in the life lived on the farm, for the spiritual talks with Soren, for the card games we played together, for the great pragmatic solutions of Soren, and of course for all the other nice volunteers and the joy we had!
Pieter from the Netherlands
Wow what a beautiful experience!
This was my first workaway and it was very intense. The first day when I came here, it was a shock for me, because of all the flies in the house, and it was compared to my house really a mess. I really had to get used to at first. I could not understand that they could live at this way. With always people around them. But after a week I felt more and more the love from the people in the house. The love for the nature, the people, the animals. I learned to enjoy the silence. And at once, I appreciated all the mess and flies. They accepted just how everything goes.
Every morning rings the bell at 7.00, 8.00 start work till 10.30. Then pause until 11.00. 11.00-13.00 working. Then a delicious lunch. And working from 14.00 to 14.30, and another hour in the house, or you keep working to 15.30 and you are of for the day. The work was divided among the workawayers. The work is very physical but also a sort of meditation. I worked in the field: putting horseshit by the plants. Stabling horseshit and weeding. After work, I was tired.
The first Saturday we went to the beach with the workawayers. This was 3 hours walking and back by hitchhiking. That was amazingly very easy! Every Sunday they go on trip and the workawayers could enjoy if the wanted. We went also to the beach so that was really nice. The food here was delicious. So much choice and freshly baked and made with so much love. Soren and Pavlina, I really want to thank you for making food I could eat (because of my allergies).
I slept in a dorm with five other girls so that was really cosy. We played nice games: poker, dutch and werewolves, we watched movies together. They have a lot of interesting books in the library that you could read if you want. The weather was very nice so almost every afternoon I went to the lake, 5 minutes away from the house. 1,5 hour walking to the beautiful nature was there another lake and fireplaces. There was also a sauna in the forest.
I stayed here for two weeks. The second week I joined the summer course. That made my stay more intense. Because of personal growth and the group feeling. I began to feel more and more at home and one of the family.
I am very happy for meeting all beautiful people and for feeling so much love!
This is a memory for my whole life.
Riemke from the Netherlands
This was my first workaway experience. Every day the bell rang at 7 am and we have a huge breakfast. The work was physically hard and one-sided.
But all in all it was a beautiful place and a nice experience!
Theresa from Germany
This experience in Sweden was my first workaway, and it was just perfect time. I have succeded in getting joy in the work, so I’m really thankful but not only for that because I have had a lot of chance to live during one month in this wonderful place full of good energies. I met some perfect poeple, I never forget this time, all the cards games, the sauna’s sessions, and all I did, saw, appreciated. I really want to say thank you at Søren and Pavlina for this experience, and Athena was a perfect baby who gave me smile ! I’m curious to see the farm in few years, when the little trees will become full of fruits 🙂
I wish you all the best,
Rébecca
Rebecca from France
This was my first workaday experience and couldn’t have it better! Everyone on the farm is warm-hearted and open minded. They really care that you feel comfortable. The farm is placed in a stunning nature, where you can hike, swim in lakes, pick mushroom and blackberries or go to the sauna. The work was tough but satisfying, you can see what you’ve done and after a few days I got used to it.
I stayed there for nine days which a really enjoyed and I experienced so many things. Thank you Søren and Pavlina!
Chiara from Germany
I stayed two weeks at this farm and it was a wonderful time. The work was well organized so I had a lot of time to enjoy the beautiful environment alone and with the other workawayers. There is a lake 5 Min from the farm which is amazing, a beautiful nature reservat in front of the door and a sauna close by. The work was hard, but I enjoyed it so much to be outside and move my body and it was amazing and satisfying to see our results when we were making strawberryfields forever 🙂 It was also great to work on a project together with other people. It was always smelling nice like fresh bread or pancakes in the kitchen and there was always vegan food for me – thank you for that!
It was wonderful to see all the people of the community loving each other and their work and being allowed to be a part of the farm for the time of my stay. It was a new experience for me to live with so many people, but I felt like they really wanted me to feel comfortable and at home – so I did very soon. Thanks to all of you for making my stay unforgettable, I would love to come back one day and can highly recommend this place!
Leonie from Austria
Sorry for my late feedback. I spend almost 4 weeks on the farm in July. Although we had a lot of fertilizing to do they where always looking for some new work to get a variety so it never went boring. The work was not to hard it felt good to do something and to see the development of your work. After a satisfying working day we always went to the lake for a swim. The Nature is just stunning. I could get my mind free and just enjoy the peaceful beauty of live.
Pavlina, Søren, Athena Rosie and also Denise, Markus and Lia I want to thank you for everything. The way you treat people the way you live together is so special and I was always really grateful that I could be a part of this. I learned a lot about myself during my stay. I hope I can come back one day to see how everything changed.
I can highly recommend this Farm! 🙂
P.S. I loved the food! 🙂
Tarek from Germany
I couldn’t be happier and more grateful for this experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you beautiful people.
It was my first time traveling with workaway and it couldn’t have been better. I’ve had a great time in the farm, it’s a beautiful and quite magical place. The nature is quite wild, stunning and amazing as it’s part of Swedish national parks. As other workawayers have previously mentioned, you can easily walk from the farm to many lakes, to a public sauna, and to some other beautiful spots.
Søren, Pavlina, Denise, Lia and Markus (the people living there) are so amazing. They’re open, warm, full of energy and joy. I really appreciated their simple way of living, the way Søren and Paulina are raising their sweet baby Athena Rose and the atmosphere of love which sorrounds the place.
I started feeling at home from the very first day and time passed way too fast. The farm couldn’t be more cosy and it always smells good for the delicious food that is being cooked.
I really enjoyed the work, which for me consisted mainly in weeding some rows of little fruit trees and a bit of tree planting. It was not too hard, but enough for letting me appreciate in the best way all the wonderful things Søren and Pavlina were cooking.
I already miss the smell of toasted bread when I woke up, the sound of the bell, the wet grass in the morning, the creaky wooden floor, the Christmas lights on the stairs, the movie and games nights, the X-files episodes (!), the Swedish coffee, the pizza making, the walks in nature, the mushrooms, the peanut butter, the shared meals in the kitchen, the sweat, the sunshine, the wind… and I could continue indefinitely.
Thank you again Søren for your stories and jokes and for introducing me to holistic medicine. Thank you Paulina for your energy and joy and for cooking delicious soups and cakes. Thank you Denise for your vitality, for teaching me how to do the work and helping me to feel a mio agio. Thank you Lia and Markus, wonderful young people, for the time I spent with you. And thank you to the other volunteers with whom I shared the experience.
I left a piece of my heart in this farm, it’s a special place. I really hope I could come back one day! 🙂
For now I just wish you good luck and I hope you’ll succeed in realizing all your projects.
Again, thank you. I loved being part of your big family.
I highly recommend this host and I encourage you to go and help in this farm, you’ll have a great time! 🙂
Alice from Italy
Hej,
I’ve just left the farm and I am really sad about this. It was my first experience with workaway but it couldn’t have happened any better. I totally agree with what is already said below. I stayed at the farm for nearly four weeks, although I only wanted to spend two weeks at this farm so that I could spend two further weeks at another farm. After an awful night at the other farm I was most welcomed back with lots of love and I will never forget about that. I was part of their lovely community and I enjoyed the evenings and being together in general so much so that I definitely want to come back. I was able to calm down and I could put a lot of energy in the hard work (it is astonishing what you create!) which involved weeding, chopping and cutting, preparing the meadow for a new field, harvesting, planting, “shaking cats”, and so on and on. In the evenings we watched x-files together (I have to continue now because the sound track is hunting me) or we played card and board games. On Sundays we went on trips to the nature which I loved so much. I also had the pleasure to meet some of their friends (Tove, James, Mathilde) who are such lovely people.
Søren, Pavlina, Denise, Lia, Markus, Rose: Thank you for letting me be a part of your community and bringing back laugh and joy to me!
Michi
Michaela from Germany
Like for many others this was my first workaway experience and I’m very thankful for what I’ve learned and seen in the very short time I spend there. The people I met on the farm were unlike any I met before, but absolutely kind and welcoming and I regret not joining games and fun in the evenings more often. I actually appreciated the strict routine and the work itself. Everything was organized and people so hardworking you could see the progress of the work every day. The food was fantastic, big thanks to every one who cooked. And thank you again for answering my neverending questions & may your orchard have the best fruits far and wide!
Barbara from Slovakia