Orto Two - straw eco cottage

Superhost

Farm stay hosted by Mara

  1. 2 guests
  2. 1 bedroom
  3. 1 bed
  4. 1 bath
Mara is a Superhost
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Cooking school & regenerative permaculture farm 15 min from Daylesford. We run classes, for groups 2 to 10. Surrounded by wonderful neighbours, Jonai Farm (free-range pork), Danny's Farm (sweets) Captain's Creek Organic Wine, Morningswood (berries) and Tumpinyeri Growers (vegetables). LGBTQI welcome! Book both listings: Orto One & Orto Two for a group of 4 . Breakfast not provided but we love to share our summer kitchen garden. Must be vaccinated to book. Thank you very much. Arrivederci! Mara

The space
Orto One cottage is separate to the main farm house we live in but is immediately adjacent to it. The bedroom faces east and receives beautiful morning sun. It has a woollen rug, wonderful mid century furniture and an en suite.
It is spacious with views of Mount Franklin. The intimate bathroom receives chlorine free water from our rainwater tank or bore and what a pleasure it is to use! The communal kitchen/living room is accessed by exiting the bedroom and walking outside an undercover walkway (a mere three metres). I use the word communal because Orto Two has access to it. If Orto One and Orto Two are booked by different people not travelling together and both guests are interested in using the kitchen then the kitchen becomes a shared space. We wanted to foster a shared space because when we were in Italy we stayed in an agri-turismo villa with the same set up and we really loved it.
The walkway between the bedroom and kitchen is undercover and protected by a beautiful wooden facade. Our winters are very cold and very windy so do what the Europeans, Americans and Canadians do and bring lots of warm clothes, scarves and hats. The kitchen has been lovingly furnished with found objects and furniture from vintage stores in our area. There is an oven and gas cook top, fridge, toaster, kettle and wood fired stove for heating. Once the fire is on, the room heats very quickly. In the bedroom, the Scandinavian NOBO panel heater heats the room to a deliciously warm temperature.
A prairie/bee garden adorns the west and to the north the kitchen garden. We are currently fencing the paddocks to make way for future free range pasture fed pigs. We have planted thousands of young trees, wild flowers and native grasses. There are four of us permanently living on the farm, myself and Ralf and our two girls Ahlia and Artemisia. We also often host international volunteer guests who offer us help on the farm in exchange for a home. Our home and garden design is based on permaculture principles and we like to make and grow as much of our own food as possible. I am almost always in the kitchen baking, fermenting, making yoghurt, preserving, making soap, or cleaning foraged fruits and seeds, or in the garden, watering, planting, sowing seeds in trays and choosing what seeds to order for the new season. I work full time on the property. I am fluent in Italian and Ralf in German. To find out what we are up to most days please find us @maravillagedreaming or please search for Village Dreaming as it will give you a very good idea of who we are and the many projects we are passionately cultivating. We are a non-smoking property, and that applies to every bit of our property. We also encourage you to have waste-free meals while here and to take responsibility for the waste you produce by taking the waste you create home with you, with the exception of compostables: we provide a compost bin. We provide a bin in the bathroom as well because that is necessary. I love to give tours of what we are up to and try and offer this opportunity to every guest. If you wish to eat in, there is always something to harvest from the garden in summer, herbs all year round, berries in mid to late summer and a mix of vegetables. In winter, however, we grow soil not vegetables.
We really look forward to sharing our story with you and hearing yours. We love having guests!

Where you'll sleep

Bedroom 1
1 double bed
Bedroom 2
1 double bed

What this place offers

Kitchen
Wi-Fi
Free parking on premises
Indoor fireplace
Luggage drop-off allowed
Long-term stays allowed
Unavailable: Carbon monoxide alarm

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4.97 out of 5 stars from 181 reviews

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Where you’ll be

Blampied, Victoria, Australia

Our neighbourhood is great. We are in a farm district with pork, cattle, chicken, organic wine and vegetable farmers. The landscape is beautiful I think. You can purchase free range pork from our neighbours Jonai and Organic wine from Captain's Creek Wines. We sometimes have fruit, herbs & vegetables for sale too for those who would like to take some home with them (seasonally available). The Maze House on 3155 Midland Hwy, Newlyn North, has a really beautiful ornamental and vegetable garden. If you are a garden lover like me, you will really like the Maze House. Lambley's Nursery is on 395 Lesters Road, Ascot, a 30min drive from us. They have really wonderful and unique perennials for water efficient gardens.
There are lots of foraging opportunities too. Plums, apples, elderberries, and wild herbs in summer. Pine mushrooms, chestnuts and quinces in Autumn/Winter.

Hosted by Mara

  1. Joined in June 2016
  • 350 Reviews
  • Identity verified
  • Superhost
I love cooking, growing food and teaching! I love visitors and sharing knowledge. I run a cooking school and wild foraging classes. Wild fungi walks and sourdough bread baking. I love singing Italian Folk songs and dancing the tarantella. Join me if you can.
I love cooking, growing food and teaching! I love visitors and sharing knowledge. I run a cooking school and wild foraging classes. Wild fungi walks and sourdough bread baking. I l…

During your stay

I thrive on community interactions and very much look forward to meeting and interacting with you. There will be times however when I will be in the middle of planting or preserving or harvesting or watering, or tending to animals (once we have some) and hence might need to slightly hasten my interaction a little.
I thrive on community interactions and very much look forward to meeting and interacting with you. There will be times however when I will be in the middle of planting or preservin…

Mara is a Superhost

Superhosts are experienced, highly-rated hosts who are committed to providing great stays for guests.
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Things to know

House rules

Check-in: 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Checkout: 12:00 pm
No smoking
No pets
No parties or events

Health & safety

Airbnb’s COVID-19 safety practices apply
No carbon monoxide alarm
Nearby lake, river, other body of water
Smoke alarm

Cancellation policy