Guest book …….
We love to hear peoples thoughts on their experience after they have spent some time volunteering or staying with us at Corga da pereira….
We love to hear peoples thoughts on their experience after they have spent some time volunteering or staying with us at Corga da pereira….
Corga da Pereira 
We spent a month of fun, laughter and satisfying and varied manual work with the wonderful Green family in spring 2010. If we hadn’t already booked our flights home, we’d still be there in the Rowan – our home from home little house surrounded by nature! We miss you all and the animal menagerie 🙂
Nigel and Julie are brilliant hosts, always making sure that you are comfortable and feel at home; with enough quality food, drink, warmth, good music and interesting conversation and jokes. Both of us were pretty new to self-sufficiency and permaculture – and we learnt so much about veg growing, water management, ram pumps, lime rendering, chopping wood, avoiding soil erosion and all sorts. The family are well connected to their Portuguese neighbours and local people in the nearest town, so as well as a week of working at Corga da Pereira, Saturday trips to market, the town and to collect water were also a highlight.
We miss you all and are making plans already to come back to visit. To anyone considering a stay at the beautiful Corga da Pereira, I would say don’t hesitate, you’ll have a great time and meet some friends for life!
The Green family are excellent hosts, it was our first WWOOF experience and we were warmly welcomed by a cosy home and delicious home grown home cooked fresh food. The way they live is very inspiring and they taught us so much. The family are very knowledgeable and hardworking and it has really paid off with their amazing house in the hills. WWOOFers expect hard work but also some time to relax and enjoy the surroundings.We are hoping to visit again sometime in the next couple of years to see how they are getting along and get involved with their future projects.
We miss you all Nigel, Julie, Emma, George, Jack, Humprey, Reggie, Cats, Kittens, escaping Goats, Chickens, Ducklings and noisy Fraccas!
Email if you have any questions!
Anna & Claire Brown
Nigel, Julie, Emma, George and Jack,
Of the more or less 30 WWOOF hosts that I met since 2008 you were one of my favourites! Your solid knowledge and experience of Permaculture and self-sufficiency, your hospitality, your open mind and your sense of humour made my stay very pleasant and instructive.
So, at the end of my WWOOFing tour in Portugal I would like to thank you again. Good luck with your project and see you later.
Tim Lambrechts (France)
Hi there,
I`ve never been in your house, despite of having lots of invitations.
I think we haven´t see each other since the end of 2010.
Well, everything it`s OK with me and hope the same with you all.
Sorry my english, but what i want to say is that you are fantastic people and someday maybe i had the chance to visit you and finally meet your house.
A big hug for you all.
Ricardo (FORUM)
We had the good fortune to find ourselves in Corga da Pereira for what started as a couple of weeks and became nearly 2 months! This happens a lot, according to Nigel & Julie, which isn’t a bit surprising, with the killer combination of good company, delicious dinners, idyllic surroundings, a cosy place to sleep and a wide variety of enticing projects to get stuck into, depending on your personal interests and what happens to be on the agenda. My passion is rocket stoves, which Nigel and Julie soon shared when I gave them the low-down. Their immediate response was “let’s build one”, giving me the chance to build my first rocket heater with a cob bench as a thermal store. As it happened, our friend Nuno was giving a workshop on building a cob bread-oven when we were there, so we gained lots of experience working with cob.. and had lots of clay left-over to build the rocket. With help from everyone we managed to finish it and test-fire the day of our departure, the fact that it worked took the edge off our heavy hearts when saying goodbye to the Greens. I can’t wait to return to our new-found friends and see what new projects they are cooking up.
Hello World,
If anyone has the chance to go and visit the green family then all I can say is GOGOGOGOGOGOGO! I was lucky enough to be the first wwoofer that they had taken on and had a truly wonderful time. The only bad part of the experience was having to leave after a wnderful month. It was amazing being part of a work in visible and rapid progress. We repaired stonework, clay/lime rendered, build swales, examined ram pumps, fed goats, heated yurts, built their first heated shower (and turned it into a dragon), roasted chestnuts, clad roofs, polished beams, build trapdoors, to mention just a few of the schemes. On top of that we discussed permaculture, eco living, developed ethical board games, and generally spent so many loverly evenings round fires or stoves warming ourselves with wine, cheer, laughter, and humour. All the family are great, and between them have such a huge wealth of knowledge of pretty much everything that i am interested in. They have been a true inspiration in my life, and confirmed the thought that brought me to them in the first place-There is another way! Hope to catch up with all you guys some day soon. Love as ever, Rowan
A primeira vez que fui à Corga da Pereira cheguei á noite, talvez 23h e o caminho foi difícil, mas assim que chegamos fomos recebidos pelo Nigel, Julie e Emma que nos deram logo comida e vinho quente para nos aquecermos. Estava muito frio em Dezembro mas lá dentro estava quente e o ambiente era acolhedor e alegre.
Depois da recepção calorosa e de barriga cheia fomos para o nosso quarto que estava aquecido e tinha a salamandra a bombar.
Eu fiquei sem palavras… era melhor do que eu tinha sonhado. Fiz o curso de construção de forno a lenha com barro, terra, palha e telhas e foi espectacular. Éramos quatro a fazer o forno e mesmo estando muito frio não o sentia porque ou estávamos a trabalhar ou estávamos lá dentro da casa a beber chá quente.
As refeições foram muito boas e os serões eram simplesmente para estar e sentir a alegria de estar ali. O bom humor e as gargalhadas reinam…
Para mim foi revelador do caminho que iria seguir a partir daquele momento.
Obrigada Green Family pela vida que levam. É um exemplo de simplicidade voluntaria extraordinário.
Obrigado vosso acolhimento e hospitalidade. Fazem-nos sentir em casa
A vossa maneira de viver é inspiradora em todos os sentidos e depois da primeira visita em Dezembro penso em ir viver para o campo, de preferência não muito longe de vocês.
A comida, a musica, o quarto, os animais, a serra, a ribeira, a bomba hidráulica, roquet stove, painel solar portátil, agricultura selvagem, casa de banho de luxo, duche com um dragão (que a mim pareceu um porco), tipi, etc etc…você…é tudo .. UAU …vocês são espectaculares.
Aconselho toda as pessoas a irem à Corga da Pereira e ver como se pode viver tão bem … a alegria e humor vai-vos contagiar.
É um lugar perfeito para aprender fazendo…
Espero ver-vos em breve pois agora que sei onde estão hei-de vos visitar muitas mais vezes.
Ate breve
Love
Ana Paula
The first time I went to Corga Pereira I arrived at night, maybe 23h and the path was difficult, but once we arrived we were greeted by Nigel, Julie and Emma who just gave us food and wine for warmth. It was very cold in December but inside the atmosphere was warm and cheerful.
After the warm welcome and a full stomach we went to our room which was heated and the stove was burning well.
I was speechless … it was better than I had dreamed. I took the course of construction of wood-fired oven with clay, straw and tiles and it was spectacular. We were four people doing the oven and I was not feeling too cold because or we were working or we were inside the house to drink hot tea.
The meals were great and the evenings were simply to be and feel the joy of being there. Good humour and laughter reign …
For me it was reveal the course that I would follow from that moment.
Green Family Thank you for the life you lead. It is an extraordinary example of voluntary simplicity.
Thanks for your welcome and hospitality. I felt at home.
Your way of life is inspiring in every way and after the first visit in December I think about moving to the field, preferably not too far from you.
The food, music, room, animals, mountains, the river, the hydraulic pump, rocket stove, portable solar panel, wild agriculture, luxury bathroom, shower with a dragon (which to me seemed a pig ), tipi, etc. etc. … you … is everything .. WOW … you guys are awesome.
I advise all people to go to Corga da Pereira and see how we can live so well …the joy and humour will infect you.
It is a perfect place to learn by doing …
Hope to see you soon, because now I know where you are, I will visit you many times more.
See you soon
Love
Ana Paula
(Sorry for my bad English)
We spent only one week with the Greens in April, getting introduced to the practice of permaculture. It was a truly wonderful week, with so much nice conversations, really nice work to do (lots to be done!), a magnificent land and garden and a fantastic place to stay.
It was great to see so much comparison between nature and the whole project being Corga Da Pereira. The way the Greens (what’s in a name 🙂 work really makes sense! Coming back from Portugal, we were convinced to go and follow a PDC, which we will be attending this summer.
We recommend anyone interested in permaculture, warm and happy people, a biutiful way of living and early crowing roosters to spend a good time and do some helpful work at Corga Da Pereira!
with Love from the Low Lands,
Willem & Marieke
sem comentarios….100%
adorei tudo o mais dificil foi ter de me vir embora.
a nao se esqueçam de levar algumas iguarias para partilhar.
abraços e beijinhos pa todos
Que inveja tenho de todos os que tiveram a experiência com a Green Family. Os meus parabéns pelo vosso projecto.
Luís Caupers Fernandes
I visited the Greens for a day back in May this year; it was short but I knew I wanted to go back again so I have just booked my flights to Portugal for a two week woofing experience with Nigel, Julie and the gang in September. Look forward to seeing you soon guys!
John
I can feel the conscious energy coming from your efforts to live and thrive… Thank you
Tahj B Kjelland
Hiiiiiii
I’ve had a very nice time at the farm, learned a lot everyday again new things do to, new things to think about. It felt like home, I miss my daily morning routine of feeding the birds and the rabbits, having the excitement of chickens laying an egg eating, eating and cooking delicious food with good company.
Thank you very very much for the lovely time and I really hope to come back soon.
Love, Milou
Ola amigos!
I would like to thank you for your support and help throughout the last months and years….without you guys we would not be in Portugal yet;)You are very welcoming and the best hosts ever!So everyone who has the chance to visit:do not hesitate!!!!!
ate logo!
kat
We stayed with the Green Family for 2 weeks and enjoyed every minute of it! They couldn’t have been more welcoming hosts. If you want to learn about Self-sufficiency & Permaculture then Corga Da Pereira is a great place to visit. Both Nigel & Julie are knowledgeable and keen to teach the skills they have learned and pass them on to others. They have a fantastic ethos and are genuinely great fun to be around. We would have loved to have stayed longer and hopefully will return in the not too distant future.
we were extremely inspired by the Green family… they are really following their words with action… amazing to see people living their dream, and showing a new way of life is completely possible. the whole family is so welcoming and open to share their way of life and knowledge of permaculture. we felt at home immediately. the world needs more Greens!
sponses to Volunteering
Eddie Rochford says:
07/14/2010 at 7:30 am (Edit)
i am a self employed joiner i live in the uk and am very interested in volunteering to help you guys, can you advise me please
kind regards
eddie
Reply
nigel says:
07/19/2010 at 10:01 am (Edit)
hi Eddie,
could certainly use a joiner as we have our next project comming up ,it is to put up a timber frame that we want to infill with straw bales and then lime render !! so if you have any idea of dates let us know ,we also take helpers through the wwoofe site http://www.wwoof.pt . kind regards nigel and julie
Reply
Ana Costa says:
11/08/2010 at 10:07 pm (Edit)
Hello.
I would like very much to help you on what you need. I´m a teacher and so I´m only available in December (26 to 30).
Is it possible for me to participate on your “adventure”? 🙂
Thank you very much for your attention and I will be waiting for
your answer.
Ana Costa
Ps. I´m Portuguese and I live in Aveiro
Reply
nigeljuliegreen says:
11/11/2010 at 4:26 pm (Edit)
HI Ana, thank you for your message, we have a space available for you on these dates ,always happy to have more hands! many thanks Nigel and gang
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Rui Oliveira says:
01/03/2011 at 12:31 pm (Edit)
Ola chamo-me Rui e estou a começar um projecto de permacultura m Portugal e gostaria de vos conhecer melhor, vivo no Fundao, logo somos quase vizinhos.
Reply
nigeljuliegreen says:
01/03/2011 at 6:38 pm (Edit)
Oi Rui, bom ouvir de você, seria bom para conhecer, você está convidado a vir e ver o que estamos fazendo aqui na Corga da pereira, e eu também estaria interessado no que você está fazendo? meu português é fundamental no momento, mas os nossos rapazes falam bem, espero voltar a ouvir de você, nigel
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ines says:
05/25/2011 at 2:08 pm (Edit)
ola rui, tambem estou interessada num projecto de permacultura, e tambem sou do fundao, se tiveres interessado em contactar me o meu mail e inesrochaa@hotmail.com, quem sabe nao podemos realizar umas coisas em conjunto.
obrigada
ines
Reply
Pip Faulks says:
01/11/2011 at 11:23 am (Edit)
Hi there! Didn’t realise you were being so awesomely productive, it looks amazing – I’d love to come visit and could write an article or two about the place to get you some more publicity 🙂 I’m freelancing as well as writing books. Love to you all. xx
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Pedro Gama says:
01/20/2011 at 12:22 am (Edit)
Boa Nigel ! gostei de ver o teu site , um dia destes gostava de visitar a tua Quinta.
Força amigo. Um abraço a toda a Familia, vocês são formidáveis.
Pedro Gama / Snack Bar o Gil
Reply
Rodrigo Borges says:
10/04/2011 at 3:12 pm (Edit)
Hi all,
I’m Rodrigo, we’ve met at Garri and Bruni’s. Great site! When will you have volunteer vacancies?
Regards,
Reply
nigeljuliegreen says:
10/07/2011 at 4:44 pm (Edit)
hi Rodrigo, we have the billy goat thanks for your help! we take volunteers most of the year, if you wish to come e-mail me at nige4401@aol.com nice to hear from you , Nigel
Reply
Rodrigo Borges says:
12/29/2011 at 9:15 pm (Edit)
A minha estadia na Corga da Pereira coincidiu com uma fase de ruptura e mudança na minha vida. As pessoas que conheci, as experiências que tive, o que aprendi e tudo o que mudou em mim desde então foram de uma importância tal que não é fácil descrever.
Um amigo disse-me que tenho a sorte de poder fazer o que quiser da minha vida, de mudar e de pintar a tela em branco que era a minha vida. Nesta altura eu nem conseguia ver a tela…
A familia Green, os seus amigos, a Corga da Pereira e a permacultura transformaram-se na minha tela.
Sei que apenas fui inspirado, que apenas toquei numa pequena parte, mas tudo isso devo-lhes a eles, para sempre!
Eles são um exemplo de vida que todos deveriam conhecer.
My staying at Corga da Pereira occured during a rupture and change period in my life. The people I’ve met, the experiencies I had, what I’ve learned and everything that changed in me since then, have an importance that it’s not easy to describe.
A friend told me that I have the luck to do whatever I want in my life, to change and paint my life’s white canvas. At that time I could not even see the canvas…
The Green family, their friends, Corga da Pereira and permaculture became my canvas.
I know that I was just inspired, that I only touched a small bit, but all that, I owe to them, for ever!
They are a life’s example that everyone should meet.
Inês says:
11/15/2011 at 12:01 pm (Edit)
Olá!
Chamo-me Inês. Sou de Lisboa, mas vou estar na zona de Góis nos próximos dias.
Gostaria de visitar-vos e conhecer o vosso projecto, se vos for conveniente. Onde posso encontrar indicações do caminho até aí? Obrigada!
Abraço
Reply
Chris says:
05/14/2012 at 11:51 am (Edit)
Hi nigel
How are you keeping long time no hear !
I am thinking about coming over to see you
And the family for a visit .
When is the best time of year ?
Take care
Chris
Reply
nigeljuliegreen says:
05/19/2012 at 10:58 am (Edit)
Hey Chris.
alls good here thanks, your welcome ant time of year !!
Reply
chris says:
05/21/2012 at 2:32 am (Edit)
hi nigel
Ok great i will sort out some dates and let you know , take care
chris
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Alice Vogt says:
06/29/2013 at 3:53 pm (Edit)
If you want to go to a place in Portugal where you can learn, laugh, be inspired and ´live´ than go to Corga da pereira. After doing a pemaculture course this is the place where I´ve realised that it´s actually possible. Family green did what they believed in and made it happen, they left their ‘comfortable’ life in England behind to live in the mountains from central Portugal and in only five years already they have turned their land into a true paradise. Beautiful land, animals, manual work, inspiration, knowledge, amazing happy family, what do you want more? This family shows that life is there to be lived, do what you believe in and do it with a laugh! ! Thank you so mutch for everything Family Green, I will see you soon!
Reply
Daryl Ross says:
10/03/2013 at 6:10 pm (Edit)
Hello , I will be arriving in Portugal in a couple of weeks and would love to come and help you . I have been wwoofing around France and the UK for the last couple for years . I have various skills and am always willing to get stuck in and learn new things whenever i can . If you would like to know more about me you can find me on Helpx at http://www.helpx.net/profile.asp?usercode=2276711
Good article. I absolutely love this website. Stick with it!
I’m on my way home after an incredible 16 days on the 2014 PDC.
Corga Da Pereira is a brilliant place. The Green family are extremely kind and friendly and the food was sensational.
The PDC was taught by Josh and Rosie who are an excellent team. On top of this we had specialists visitors teaching us about natural building and energy plus the Green family chipped in with excellent knowledge ranging for animal care to soap making and bee keeping 🙂
As a whole the course was a fantastic opportunity to take in a huge wealth of knowledge about permaculture in a really fun and practical way.
I believe that this has got to be one of the best PDCs out there 🙂 I enjoyed every moment and learnt so much.
Hats off to the Green Family and all the course teachers. It really was a special experience and one that I’ll always treasure.
Spend 6 weeks with the Green Family prior coming back to attend the PDC.
The Greens are one of the most welcoming hosts I’ve experienced. During my stay I became part of the family which was truly a special experience. It was great to have seen the family dynamics of such an adventure as the Greens are doing.
A small holding on a beautiful place in Central Portugal. Both for inexperience and experienced an opportunity to learn, experiment and enjoy! The Greens have realized a lot over the years and keep changing the landscape according to Permaculture principles. I am happy that I could contribute and got some freedom to experiment and had an input on new projects.
The PDC was a great experience! Thanks for Josh & Rosie who were leading the PDC very good and are a good team together. The mixture of practical’s with theory was very important in order to get experience and get the complete picture. Of course a big heads-up for the Greens for hosting and organizing the course, to make it an easy going atmosphere while it’s quiet intensive, well done!
Thank you for the experiences and introducing me to Central Portugal!
Love and all the best,
Gijs
(aka gggggg Bond)
An amazing place, and a really informative and useful workshop.
We came for a day for a ram pump workshop with Nigel and the family, and I have to say that it’s been a huge game-changer for our land!
the information and utility of the pump has made a dramatic difference to our project and for that I can’t thank you enough.
The whole family were very knowledgeable, and I learned so much more from them then just how to build and install a ram pump, and the raspberries you gave us are going strong, thanks guys!
I can’t recommend undertaking a course here strongly enough, and hopefully we can make it back there again in the future.
(Sorry we took so long to post this, been really busy and forgot :-/)
Thanks and all the best, Jimmy (and Kenny)
Thanks guys, for the kind words , we were wondering how you were getting on , always welcome here if your passing by…n