Peloponnese villa in Greece, sleeps 8

Planet

All our farming activities include harvesting, feeding and maintaining our 200 olive trees, vegetable garden and fruit orchards. We incorporate organic and permaculture methods to help in maintain the healthy soil and minimize our water usage. All the garden plants are endemic and selected to have minimal water requirements and are watered using a drip system, again conserving water wherever possible.

Our chickens are free range and aid us in sharing the kitchen waste with our compost bin as well as providing enormous tasty eggs. As often as possible we use recycled materials for outside building projects (greenhouses, pergolas, raised vegetable beds, walls, paths, animal shelters, tree houses etc) either combed from beaches when storms have delivered timbers, or stones and wood recovered from dump sites.

We have restored and converted a stone store room to form the master bedroom of one house using local methods, craftsmen and materials. Our swimming pool incorporates the most energy efficient filter system and liner. Thus enabling us to keep her filled with water even in winter and only having to refresh the water by a third instead of 100% every spring.

People

All produce and products we can not provide for are sourced locally and we encourage our guests in the same manner. We provide information from where to buy locally caught fish or visit local artists galleries to which restaurants cook original local cuisine often with ingredients from their own farms. We are happy to inform guests of any local festivals or cultural events such as Greek dancing or local musical performances either in Methoni or Pylos castles or the surrounding area.

We encourage recycling of both food (chickens eat everything! compost uses the rest.) and packaging, through recycling bins. Whenever we have extra bookings that we can not fulfill we pass the enquirers details onto local accommodation providers, thus aiding our business in cooperation with others in the local community. We are great believers in exchange and barter system. So whenever feasible we avoid the money system in preference of exchanging services or produce. This works well in the agricultural sector.