Goodwill Mountain

In a vast and wondrous corner of the world, we are building a sanctuary for the heart and a retreat for the soul.

Goodwill Mountain was founded out of a desire to be of benefit to the land and of service to our fellow beings. This manifests in many ways – we are regenerating ecosystems and becoming ever more sovereign with our food and energy; we offer space for retreating or celebrating and spending time with loved ones; we are a budding intentional community who sing, dance and meditate together – and much more in an ever changing flow of activities and projects. At the heart of it, however, Goodwill is a prayer, an intention. A prayer for ourselves and the people around us to wake up, to be free, to live from the heart. An intention to create a place on Earth that supports this way of life, not just once in a while or in one way, but all of the time and in every way. The driving force of all that we do here is our dedication to being of benefit and of service – to each other, to the land we steward and to the love in our hearts. That’s where it all starts, and where it all ends. 

Goodwill Mountain Farm is a permaculture project in progress! We have been blessed with the most beautiful side of any mountain (but we may be biased) and we are working hard to create the life that we have been dreaming about. We currently grow olives and buchu, but our goal is to become largely self-sufficient through sustainable and biodiverse food forest systems as well as hydroponics and closed-circuit waste- and water management. Our project wouldn’t be worth anything if we couldn’t share it, and therefore we offer accommodation in self-catering cottages as well as retreats and volunteering. We will be hosting events and courses and sometimes we’ll take our farm on the road to farmers markets and festivals around South Africa.

Our cottages are restored labourer’s cottages which we have renovated to create a space for you to be completely as you are. They are set amongst beautiful old pine trees where fallow deer come in the mornings to hang out with the horses and take their fill of the lush grass surrounding our rainwater dam. The silence and tranquility is abundant and our best efforts have been made to provide you with a place to unwind and forget about the hum-drum of daily life.

We care passionately about sustainability, nutrition, food production, soil health and the wellbeing of our fellow humans. The name of our farm comes from the Afrikaans word “Welgesind”, which means good intention, or goodwill. For us this is not just a catchy title but a way of life: our intention is to create as much good as we possibly can with the means we’ve been given. We hope you will join us!