Season 2023 volunteers
This page will give you a basic info about what can volunteering with Cidrerie Jara offer to you and what is asked in exchange. It is focused on the year 2023 for now. This project is a commercial one, with fair trade being at it's core, it may be not achieved all the time but closer to that goal better! You should be happy or at least satisfied with your experience during and after you spend time with us. It would be fair to say here that joining us in our activities should be especially appealing and profitable for people who are into the cider and even better cider making (but not necessarily). More interested in the cause better! If you would like to spend some nice time in Normandie willing to help out in the meanwhile it is fine with us but if there are already people in touch who are really serious cider enthusiasts we would give them a preference.
Now what is volunteering with us about. Well there are several times of the year when help is needed. Number one by far and longest period for involvement is the season of harvest and processing which begins around 15th of September and ends up by end of November. One more trip this summer (2023) (there was one in spring and one in early summer already) will be done starting around 27-29th of July till most likely 6th of August. This one will be a lot about building with wood (showers, toilet, big farm door repair) and preparing caravans for the autumn. There will be another one or two trips by the end of winter 2024 and spring 2024 for bottling.
Are main motto is "be excellent to each other", that is foundation stone of enjoying time together. For the practical part. We offer food&bed. I (František, main organizer), like to eat well so we definitely aim for good, healthy and tasty food. Currently we are staying in two caravans, medium and large size. They are nothing special but they are clean, dry and have a decent size. During our stay we do things related to cider making, care of the orchards like cutting the grass but also other things needed for the place to be nice and to keep ourselves feeling good - cooking, laundry etc. Sometimes and that is announced in advance we do build up activities like making shelf systems, shower etc. If you are into cider you can learn quite a lot by hands on and discussions during your stay. Of course, for the ones involved, we taste ciders during the course of the day (especially after work) and not only Cidrerie Jara products but also other interesting stuff. The rule of thumb is that next day you should be usable even if you are not helping out. Currently four days per week of labour are asked during your stay. If you want to do more you can but it is not promoted. It is important that you can rest well and also explore the local area which is really nice and worth of your interest.
