wwoof

We are happy to find there are many people willing to come and work on our property just for the privilege of being here. It’s a good reminder to appreciate what we have, but sad too, that the simple and grounded lives we are building have become such a rarity. (For those who can afford it, real life has even become a kind of commodity.)

Our first two WWOOFer’s arrived yesterday afternoon—Eliad and Genya are a young Israeli couple who grew up together on a Kibbutz, so they are comfortable with our communitarian values and living arrangements. Comfortable even with our composting toilet system—always the test. (So far they are less comfortable with the temperate climate—they came via Costa Rica and are finding it cold here and damp. They didn’t sleep so well in the trailer on their first night. Today, after a hard day’s work, I think they'll sleep better.)

WWOOF stands for Willing Workers on Organic Farms—it’s an international network of folks who want to travel and learn about organic farming and who will work in exchange for room and board. In this particular case, our WWOOFer’s have more experience with gardening than we do, so it is us who are learning.

If this experience goes well, we would like to have one or two WWOOFers around for the summer and into the fall, helping with gardening and building. Technically, you don’t need to run an organic farm to sign up with the WWOOFers network—you just need be able to attract people to your place. Our blurb in the WWOOF catalogue focuses more on the beautiful, remote location, our earthen construction projects, and our epicurean bent. It reads, in part:

“We are trying to build a more sustainable life with earthen building projects, organic gardens, renewable energy systems, grey water treatment, and other fun things. We eat very well (including local, hormone-free meat, eggs, and dairy). We like to work hard, but we also like to have fun and enjoy life. We have a cozy trailer and bed waiting”

Based on the number of inquiries we’ve had already, it appears an attractive prospect for many young travellers.

Eliad and Genya are working now, digging new vegetable garden beds—it’s a physical job, pulling out the broom and creeping blackberry roots and loosening up the sandy soil, packed hard with small stones and rocks. Later this afternoon, we’re planning a truck run up the local forestry roads where we can collect some larger rocks for terracing the slopes and building retaining walls. There is Scotch Broom that needs to be cut back and a pile of salvaged timber that needs to be de-nailed and stacked…

Not only are we getting the advantage of the WWOOFers’ contributions of labour, but we’re also getting a boost of energy from having new blood on the land, renewing our own enthusiasm for what, some days, can seem like an endless and ever accumulating list of jobs. Having others around, especially from another part of the world, also helps give us perspective on the cultural context of our neohomesteading lifestyle.

We joke about hosting “Chop Wood, Carry Water” retreats—homesteading boot camp for corporate team building and spiritual practice for the well heeled New Agers. In this scenario, people would actually pay us for the privilege of a hard day’s work. It seems a joke to us, but it’s probably not such a stretch.

People are hungry to dig in the earth and sleep in the quite of the woods.

Photo: an old alder tree.

WWOOF