Cootharaba, Sunshine Coast

We have a cabin available for a SARBB: Single, Active, Retired, Baby Boomer (born anywhere between the late 1940's and the late 1960's). We are looking for a capable veggie gardener who would like to look after one of our three small veggie gardens. There are two veggie gardeners already living on the farm. We only grow sufficient for our own use.

The farm is a small self-sustaining community of seven SARBB's who want to live in an environmentally friendly way, spending up to 3 hours a day, M-F, doing their chosen chore.

Chores may include working in the veggie gardens, caring for the free-range chooks, looking after the fruit trees, managing the food stores and maintaining the cleanliness of the Living Pavilion, drying and preserving excess produce, doing the communal shopping, maintaining the farm's infrastructure and overseeing the common landscaping.

We live on a delightful 5 acres of organic farm and rain forest, 20 minutes north of Noosa, close to Lake Cootharaba. There is accommodation for seven folks. We only produce sufficient fruit and veggies for our own consumption.

Each of the comfortable, recently built cabins, offer a living space including ensuite and private patio. The communal areas consist of a tropical style Living Pavilion with breezeways and living and dining spaces, a winter lounge with a dining table, lounge and a fireplace, indoor/outdoor gas and wood fired kitchens, pantry room, tea/coffee kitchen, TV lounge, laundry, undercover car parking, a large covered workspace, tool shed, storage shed and a visitor’s suite.

Facilities included internet via ADSL and TelstraTV, Netflix, Stan, deep spring water, ample 240V "off the grid" solar power, 60m's of possum and bird proof raised veggie garden, an enclosed and covered micro herb and seedlings nursery, two enclosed root veggie gardens, 60 fruit bearing trees, 100 tree bush tucker forest and nine free range chooks.

In exchange for the low rent, which includes access to all the produce grown on the farm, water, power, Wi-Fi, Telstra TV, Netflix and Stan, the house phone and covered carpark, you will be asked to spend up to three hours a day, Monday to Friday, doing your chosen job and helping the community achieve self-stainability.

If need be, part time employment off site is okay, providing you are still happy to offer the community hours on your chosen job. There is the opportunity and the encouragement to create small businesses onsite to generate a personal income if you so wish.

The cabin/position available is for a person willing and able to manage one of the small veggie gardens which is possum and kangaroo proof. We coordinate all plantings to provide veggies all year round whenever possible.

The cabin available is 44sq under roof, timber floors, lounge and separate bedroom with walk-in wardrobe, tiled ensuite and a private 6sqm undercover timber deck, overlooking landscaped gardens. The cabin has high ceilings. The cabin is offered with furniture.

There is also an additional community cost of $80/week which pays for all the communal essentials and all food not produced onsite. There is no religious theme nor are we all strict vegetarians. The average stay is around 40 weeks. Some folk stay years. Smoking outdoors is acceptable.

We welcome your visit and meet the folk already enjoying our small farming community lifestyle.