About when WE wwoofed
Hey there!
Today we are going to tell you about that time we were volunteers on a farm … and what a wonderful farm! But let’s start from the beginning:
Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms - https://wwoof.net - is a wonderful network of farmers’ farms profile:
1. look for a country
2. subscribe
3. search for the region and take a look at the farms
You can also search by filters, looking forward to learning about beekeeping, tree pruning, vegetable farming, animal breeding … but also pottery, cultures, cooking, building: you name it!
Over the last 6 years, we also had our share of volunteers that have contacted us thanks to WWOOF - with them we built greenhouses, planted, seeded, transplanted; they played with our daughter, fed our pets, helped us clean our home, organize our clutter and our thoughts, but more than ever WE HAD REAL FUN!
To connect over a task relieves the people from the pressure of having to demonstrate who they are: by simply being, we collaborated better!
Is this a secret for a healthier humanity? Yes: revealed.
Was this our choice when our time for traveling had come? For sure :) and the fire that destroyed our general head quarter pushed us more into this choice, guess why? … well, it cut our budget. We would have wwoofed anyway, but maybe for a shorter time.
And this is how we met the Tsukuyomi Farm in Awa - https://awatsukuyomi.com !
Shiba and his family host more than 50 wwoofers per year!!! Yes, over 50 people go there and volunteer on their farm, and many of those also come back!! That’s because Shiba is the happiest farmer ever: he is always smiling, he is clear in explaining the tasks and makes real efforts to connect with other cultures.
We got to sleep in the house he grew up in, with Meredith and Matteo volunteers, we cooked some meals, and explored new ingredients, went shopping and could ride the bike to the many temples around … of course we had to work: 6 hours, every morning - we would take turns to be with our 2 year old, but the work was nice because of the winter and because they are selling their vegetables online, and distributing them all around Japan!
We have been well received, always taken care of and matched in our needs. What we learnt about the Japanese way of living, of behaving, of talking, we only owe it to the Tsukuyomi Farm, to which we wish the best, whilst waiting for another exchange … maybe at Perma Future?
Have you ever wwoofed? How was that experience?
Let us know!