Observe and interact: Before the arrival of the volunteers, the application form helps to ascertain skills and disabilities so I can find the best project to suit their needs and wants. Observing during their stay, the way they work on each project allows me to interact with the volunteers and adjust my teaching skills. Knowing when to step away and leave the volunteer to work on their own gives them the feeling of achievement, providing interaction in the form of guidance and confidence. Observing their eating habits, do they need more food?

Catch and store energy: By taking on volunteers at the right time, the projects will be achieved when they are needed, i.e. winter for preparing the olive trees and collecting the harvest. In spring to prep the garden for planting and turning of compost.

Obtain a yield: Not only from the number of working hours that you receive from the volunteers themselves but also the harvests of olives, vegetables and composts (human and land)

Apply self-regulation and accept feedback; When working alongside others, it is essential to take their views into consideration. Remember that I am not the all-knowing guru and that they can give excellent ideas that I might not have thought of.

Use and value renewable resources and services:

Using reclaimed materials whenever possible.

Produce no waste: Do not waste the time of the volunteers or myself by being disorganised. Understand the needs of the volunteers such as food or hygiene stops water and food waste.

Design from patterns to details: What patterns occur with the volunteers? When are they happiest? What foods do they like? Sleeping arrangements and energy levels, what affects these?

Integrate rather than segregate: Just by taking on volunteers is an integrated process. Having different volunteers at the same time allows even more integration. Sharing my family life and food provides transparency into the reality of living a more sustainable life, making the volunteers feel at home, explaining what they can and can't do when first arriving gives them the freedom to settle in.

Use small and slow solutions: Do not make the projects too big or longer than the time the volunteers are staying for, or if it is a long project, break it down into manageable parts. Always find an appropriate project that can be done at a leisurely pace with no guidance, for when I can not be there due to work commitments.

Use and value diversity: We are all different, and we all have something to give. Use the opportunity to learn from each other. Learning about the different countries and environments that volunteers have come from or travelled to provide us with a broader sense of diversity. Having various volunteers at the same time or even overlapping can help me, as the present volunteer can assist the new volunteer in the ways of the farm and home.

Use edges and value the marginal: Sharing the edges of my life with a marginal of volunteers gives value to everyone included and the environment where we live.

Creatively use and respond to change; By understanding the aims of the volunteers. What they would like to take away from their experience on the farm, not only helps me adjust the projects to their needs but also lets me see where peoples thinking is in the world today.