Agroforestry and Permaculture farm located adjacent to São Miguel do Gostoso, RN
Rio Grande do Norte
We started planting on the 21st of January 2018 under the tutelage of Namastê Messerschmidt. At that time the farm was a barren sandy lot. The farm had been used for fifteen years to grow sweet potatoes. We bought the land a couple of months prior and the seller decided to surprise us by completely clearing the land (in the height of summer / drought). When we actually received the land, there were only a handful of trees around the farm house and the rest had been tilled and all organic material had been taken to the rubbish tip. The soil was pretty much as dead as can be.
Today, in 2025 we have three amd a half hectares planted with agroforestry and three with different types of grass. Our main crop are coconuts, mango, lemon, lime, guava, pitanga, suriname cherry and pineapple however we are constantly adding to our biodiversity and have a wide selection of other fruit and medicinal trees. Since 2019 we have been studying permaculture and in 2020 we completed Geoff Lawton's Permaculture Design Course and since then we have been working to implement the design on the land while maintaining and expanding the agroforestry systems. We also have some animals on the farm to care for.
The farm is located near São Miguel do Gostoso, a thriving beach holiday destination well known for water and wind sports such as Kitesurfing, Windsurfing and Wing Foil among others. We have high speed internet at the farm and there are plethora of restaurants, hotels and hostels in town which is 3 kms away.
We host numerous courses and workshops during the year with some of the most respected Syntropic Agriculture educators in the world. During the courses the bedrooms are booked for students of the courses and volunteers need to stay either in the campsite or in a hammock on the verandah. But they get to learn from some of the best in the field!
Our current focus is agroforestry planting and management, harvesting and processing the produce of the forest, including but not limited to vegetable oils (extra virgin coconut oil), essential oils and hydrosols, tinctures, teas and spices, etc.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Green Building
Food justice / sovereignty
Methods or systems
Holistic management
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
6
Hectares
|
14.8
Acres
John
Member since 2019
Languages spoken:
English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 38%
Response time: typically within 15 days
Rio Grande do Norte
São Miguel do Gostoso
Reviews
Irene
Brazil
•
September 2025
Die Zeit bei John war echt toll und sehr lehrreich. Er ist ein super flexibler und herzlicher Mensch. Wir waren mehrere Wwoofer und haben nicht nur zusammen gearbeitet, sondern auch viel voneinander gelernt.
Wenn das Wetter schlecht war oder John nicht da war, hatten wir frei. Besonders schön fand ich, dass er uns zweimal zu sich eingeladen und uns stundenlang spannende Dinge über Agroforst erzählt hat.
Wir hatten Zweierzimmer und eine Küche, in der wir Wwoofer gemeinsam gekocht haben. Grundnahrungsmittel (wie Reis, Bohnen, Cuscus usw.) hat John bereitgestellt, den Rest haben wir uns selber im Dorf gekauft – zu Fuß ca. 40 Minuten oder mit dem Mototaxi für 10 Reais.
Danke lieber John und liebe Wwoofer – ich bin mit vielen schönen Erinnerungen zurückgekehrt!
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Tom
France
•
August 2025
The experience at triibo was great!
John has a lot of knowledge and great pedagogical skills. He's truly dedicated to his projects and becomes very contagious when speaking about them.
We've learned heaps of things on a very wide range of topics. From the most complex biological theories to the way to manipulate tools.
The environment is awesome, and São Miguel de Gostoso a great place to spend time.
I would love to visit again in the future and I highly recommend this place for other volunteers.
All the best for you John!
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Karoline
Denmark
•
August 2025
Lots to learn at TRiiBO, John is great at sharing his knowledge and combine practice and theory. The volunteer experience at the sítio really takes into consideration what the woofers wants and the day-to-day feels like a conversation which was perfect for me. You get a run through of how to use a chainsaw, facão and tree pruning which can also include climbing (very fun). I got answers to a lot of questions about the theoretical and planning side of Agrofloresta and permaculture and left feeling like there would still be lots more to come back to!
The setting is beautiful, close to beaches and more importantly Ice cream shops and for animal lovers there are fluffy friends that will happily do their best to find a hole in the fence just to say hallo to you :)
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Leif
United States
•
February 2025
We got to do some great hands on learning about agroforestry! We came in with zero farming experience and left with a good fundamental understanding of agroforestry. John and his family are very welcoming hosts. The work mostly consisted of slicing plants with a machete to generate organic matter for the soil, planting cuttings, clearing areas with rakes, and constructing basic farm infrastructure. The shifts were always reasonable and we had lots of opportunity to explore Gostoso. John is well connected to the community and gives great suggestions for things to do.
Thank you for hosting us John and Jamile!
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Luis
Germany
•
May 2024
I spent a month at Triibo and it will be one I´ll never forget! John, Jamile and little Sophie are warm, welcoming and kind hosts. John is a skilled and amazing teacher and will bring you lots of knowledge if you are keen to learn about synthropic agriculture, permaculture and many other things, like processing coconuts or distilling essential oils.
The farm has already many different systems, some 5 years old and are very diverse, as the fauna there. A good spot to see live how well synthropic agriculture works :)
I´m very grateful to Triibo for hosting me and hope to visit them again in the future!
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Mathias
Belgium
•
May 2024
Oi John.
My stay in Triibo was a complete discovering of systems in agroforestry syntrophic approach.
I've been welcomed by John, and others volunteers, in very warm and welcoming way. John is a generous person, attentive, and he's trying to put you in the projects on, he proposes discussions, he shares hese ideas, hese projections
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