Monthly Archives: January 2013

WWOOF Host #2

Postcode: 2795
Days of Work: 3
Dates: 17th January – 20th January 2013
People: Keith (Host), Travis and Therese (Full-time employees and WWOOFers)

This time, I headed out to a small farm in the middle central tablelands, NSW! Very pretty surroundings, but a little concerning considering the temperatures that were due to be hitting the area and the risk of bushfires. But then, you can’t be in NSW in January and NOT get them! It’s something to get used to and live with!

wwoof02_showerBasics in the Outback
Things were a little primitive, accommodation wise, and it took some getting used to. I had not been prepared mentally for what greeted me, mainly because I had not been told exactly what was going on. However, my first WWOOF experience away taught me some valuables lessons, least not what to ask before I make a commitment to stay somewhere!

Ready to Leave?
I was ready to turn right around and head back to the train station, however, I managed to talk myself into trying it for the night and seeing how it was in the morning. In retrospect, I think had I known what I was going to end up with, as opposed to what I was under the impression would be there, then it wouldn’t have been so bad.

wwoof02_bedBed Dilemma
Anyway, job one was to sort out the bedding area, and it was still just a mattress and the mozzie net and frame still needed to go together! Bed put together and my own little creepy crawly defense in place! That made it all a little better. Then to get used to the compost toilet outside, and the shower that was a hose pipe in the middle of the field! Rustic! So, after a somewhat sleepless night, it was off to work and the exciting prospect of learning new tasks.

Weeding
Removing all the weeds from the veggie patches – great fun one afternoon as it decided to rain, and give us a break from the 40 degree heat! It was actually quite pleasant weeding in the rain! Although very muddy, and I have come to learn that I can get dirty/made a mess in the cleanest of situations, let alone when mud and rain are involved 😉

wwoof02_nettingFruit Tree Netting
Ended up doing this on the hottest day! Temperatures hitting over 40 and we were down in the apple orchard, climbing ladders, swinging from branches (not really, that would be health and safety!), and putting up large nets around the trees to stop the birds from eating all the precious fruit

Seedlings
Firstly, we had to make newspaper pots using a device to shape the paper. The reason for this was once the seedlings were planted, they could be put straight into the ground in the pots, thus not disturbing the growing roots. Since the pots of made of paper, they are also biodegradable, so put back into the soil. We planted seedlings into the pots ready to take to the greenhouse where they will grow for a few days or weeks before being planted into the veggie patches.

wwoof02_cornVegetable Picking
Of course, with it being a vegetable farm, there was plenty of vegetables to be picked and made ready for the market/direct to customer selling. Most vegetable picking was of cucumbers, rock melon, rhubarb, spinach and another green-leafed vegetable that was not particularly popular with customers!

Planting
Planting the seedlings into the veggie patches replacing old ones that have died or already been harvested and because they are made in the newspaper pots, they can be planted in the pot because it’s all biodegradable! Organic farmers have the right idea – why make more problems/waste for yourself when you don’t have to?!

wwoof02_chickenAnimal Care
We had an alpacha with a bad eye, so had to corner him and administer eye ointment – for a baby he put up quite a fight! Then of course, we had the amazing escaping chickens! Baby chicks who still weren’t quite big enough to be left to roam free, kept making a break for freedom, so had a crash course in how to capture a chicken! Of course, that came in handy as they escaped more than once, despite us relocating their cage!

It was definitely an experience, and one that I am glad I stuck it out, rather than high-tailing it at the first chance I had. It’s not something I would do again, but I am glad I did it.

WWOOF Host #1

Postcode: 2146 (Not eligible)
Days of Work: 2
Dates: 11th January 2013 and 16th January 2013
People: Roberta (Host), Mark (French WWOOFer)

Well, I decided the best way to see if I liked the WWOOFing experience would be to find somewhere nearby, whereby I could just work for the day, and return to my mum’s in the evening. That way, if it wasn’t working out, I would only have to get through the day. Plan conceived, time to put it into action!

So, I grabbed my WWOOF Book and started searching through the NSW section for my mum’s postcode. Low and behold, I actually found a WWOOF host with the same postcode. A quick look on GoogleMaps told me it was within walking distance (25-30mins), and so I whipped off an email. A fast, positive response, and my first WWOOF experience date was fixed: 11th January 2013 – the start of my WWOOFing adventure!

I ended up with a lovely host, Roberta, who had a very large garden (don’t want to think how many times bigger than mum’s – maybe 20? ), where she kept chickens, a variety of fruits and vegetables, all within a permaculture-based designed garden. This was my first exposure to permaculture, and I really like the principles, although I would like to see how one creates a permaculture garden when chickens/rabbits/animals are not involved in the chain.

wwoof01_gardenPermaculture
Permaculture makes a lot of sense, designing the garden with the elements like sun coverage, wind directions and water/drainage. It is also clever in the way that plants and the like are selected – nothing in a permaculture garden has just one use; they have two or more! That is the beauty of it.

Grey Water
Roberta had her grey water (used water from the washing machine/kitchen sink) redirected so that it heads down a pipe and straight into the banana tree section, making use of water that the rest of us, especially from Europe/America where water is readily available, would normally through away. It means the banana trees get watered, and therefore more bananas! One selection of fruit that will be fresh from the tree and free to eat!

wwoof01_chickensChickens
The chickens have multiple purposes, running around the garden eating the bugs, digging through the dirt and thus turning over and aerating the soil regularly. And of course, they poop everywhere, so there is plenty of manure to fertilize and feed the plants! Double bonus – they lay eggs! So, yet another food source, readily available, generally daily, if not every few days, and fresh! You can’t get much fresher than from the bottom of a chicken to your dinner plate, and there is nothing like FRESH eggs. Triple bonus – free food!!!

Walkway Paving
We soaked several layers of newspaper and then placed them over the soil (a kind of weed mat) and then used the leaves we had raked to cover the newspaper and then watered the whole combination. The idea here is to create a more natural pathway than just soil. Given a few months, the pathway will resemble a forest floor, where the leaves fall and naturally become part of the pathway.

wwoof01_gardenWeeding
A very important job. For every weed that shares the soil with the fruit and veg, it is one more source that is soaking up the precious water and nutrients. Why feed the weeds when you can feed the tomatoes? Of course, there are a few weeds that are edible, but unless you planted them on purpose, then they’re still weeds!

Worm Feed
The worm farm dirt is used and mixed with water to make a feed for the plants that is both natural and very rich in the nutrients needed by the plants. It’s a bit like playing mud pies as a child, but because it’s all natural it’s all very good for the plants, and with the very dry NSW weather, it was important that the fruit trees got a can of water each, and then the rest of the bed got a really good dose around the roots.

Seed cleaning
Collecting and cleaning seeds from the stems ready to store for future planting or trading with the local seed store circle

Mulching
Using dried grass and other natural produces to make a layer over the soil to prevent weeds appearing

All in all, it was an enjoyable day. So enjoyable, that I returned for another one-day session on the 16th January! Because I had nothing else to do and I wanted to make myself useful!

The WWOOF Book

So, I got my WWOOF book and my membership for the year.

Why not go and work for 3-months and earn money?
In principle, that’s a nice idea, but there’s no substance to that experience. At least, in my opinion. While I may consider this an option further down the line, I am going the volunteer route for now and heading across Australia with WWOOF.

Okay, so, why WWOOF?
Why not? Experience and knowledge, basically. It’s just as good as paid work, and I see it as being that bit more involved. Not necessarily work wise, because you’re basically doing the exact same work, but knowledge wise. I think most people who are WWOOF hosts are going to be a bit more involved with you while you are staying, and more willing to share their knowledge of their operation and everything that is involved in organic farming.

Personally, I see the paid work, especially fruit picking, a bit cattle-truck like. They ship you in, you pick fruit for 8-hours, they ship you out again. I want to know why there are certain fruits growing, which varieties of apple or orange are more hardy. I always have questions and I always want to learn – those particular objectives seem a little more hard to come by via paid work.

So onto the volunteering… It’s always good for the heart to ‘help out’ and feel useful. Besides, no amount of money is going to get you the cultural experiences and life stories that can only come from Australian (and others!) farmers who have seen it all, and in the case of some hosts, been at it for years with plenty of stories to tell. Where else could you be totally immersed in a family and farming life?