Ahh, the pastoral life. What an idyllic time we are having on this blueberry farm near Dartmoor National Park, not too far from Plymouth! I think that I must be a country girl at heart. Of course, who wouldn't love staying in a 16th century thatched roof cottage in the month of May, with lilacs and bluebells in blossom, a baby lamb named after a dead singer (Whitney) and two wild Dartmoor ponies, as well as lots of blueberry bushes, fascinating hosts and bright young woofers. It also doesn't hurt that the weather has been warm and sunny. WWOOFers is an acronym standing for Willing Workers On Organic Farms. It's a worldwide group that places volunteers on organic farms, where they work in exchange for room and board.
The old, old home where we are living for 2 weeks
Sharing the work on the farm are two lovely young German students, Marlen and Lisa (the woofers), along with Alex, a 26 year old British university grad with an interest in sustainability, who is a paid employee. Our hosts are Robin and Wei-Wei, a delightful couple who have been trying to make a success of growing organic blueberries for 7 years now. This was a new venture for them, so they are learning all the time, tackling the problems that emerge, one after another, in the natural world, while also dealing with state rules and reg's and the hard realities of our market economy. They are interested and interesting, and we've had some great chats already about the nature of a healthy society and a just world - nothing heavy :)! Robin loves music of all kinds which he has available on his i-pad. So we all eat lunch outdoors in the sun, listening to American rock music or current British or German hits or jazz, while solving the world's problems over the delicious food that Wei-Wei has prepared. We have to pinch ourselves once a day or so to believe that we are living here (for 2 weeks).
Fellow woofers, Liza and Marlen
Lunch break outside
Wei Wei getting ready to feed Whitney
The farm has 18 acres planted in several different varieties of blueberries. At this point, one of the tasks in the blueberry fields consists of weeding between the bushes, which Maline, Liza, and Alex are doing. Having arrived only on Sunday, Bruce and I have just finished our third day of work. We seem to have found our niche in the "kitchen garden", where veggies are being grown for the larger group of woofers expected later in the season. We've been working in the potting shed, where it's warm and humid (which we love after our chilly weeks up north), as well as in the garden, potting and transplanting lettuce, beans, peas, and tomatoes. I've been thinning out the raspberry patch, while Bruce plants jerusalem artichokes. Today we both worked on setting traps to eradicate voles, small underground varmints which are eating the roots of the blueberry bushes. Every day is different. Thankfully, Robin is easy-going about the work, which I guess you have to be if you are relying on amateurs. He is eager for our ideas and seems to appreciate suggestions that we make. He hasn't asked us to milk the cow or kill a chicken. So, after 3 days of woofing, we are loving it!
Sharing the work on the farm are two lovely young German students, Marlen and Lisa (the woofers), along with Alex, a 26 year old British university grad with an interest in sustainability, who is a paid employee. Our hosts are Robin and Wei-Wei, a delightful couple who have been trying to make a success of growing organic blueberries for 7 years now. This was a new venture for them, so they are learning all the time, tackling the problems that emerge, one after another, in the natural world, while also dealing with state rules and reg's and the hard realities of our market economy. They are interested and interesting, and we've had some great chats already about the nature of a healthy society and a just world - nothing heavy :)! Robin loves music of all kinds which he has available on his i-pad. So we all eat lunch outdoors in the sun, listening to American rock music or current British or German hits or jazz, while solving the world's problems over the delicious food that Wei-Wei has prepared. We have to pinch ourselves once a day or so to believe that we are living here (for 2 weeks).
The farm has 18 acres planted in several different varieties of blueberries. At this point, one of the tasks in the blueberry fields consists of weeding between the bushes, which Maline, Liza, and Alex are doing. Having arrived only on Sunday, Bruce and I have just finished our third day of work. We seem to have found our niche in the "kitchen garden", where veggies are being grown for the larger group of woofers expected later in the season. We've been working in the potting shed, where it's warm and humid (which we love after our chilly weeks up north), as well as in the garden, potting and transplanting lettuce, beans, peas, and tomatoes. I've been thinning out the raspberry patch, while Bruce plants jerusalem artichokes. Today we both worked on setting traps to eradicate voles, small underground varmints which are eating the roots of the blueberry bushes. Every day is different. Thankfully, Robin is easy-going about the work, which I guess you have to be if you are relying on amateurs. He is eager for our ideas and seems to appreciate suggestions that we make. He hasn't asked us to milk the cow or kill a chicken. So, after 3 days of woofing, we are loving it!
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