WWOOFing it up in Murwillumbah

Say that 5 times fast. Or even once. I still can't pronounce it.

When I was back in Canada, I decided that WWOOFing would be a great thing to include as part of this travel experience. I've always been curious about the farming lifestyle, and have been getting really sick of my desk job lately. So I figured; no time like the present to see if this life is for me!

Some of you may be asking yourself what WWOOFing is. It's an acronym that stands for "Willing Workers On Organic Farms." To quote the international WWOOF website;

It started in the UK in 1971, and has since become an international movement that is helping people share more sustainable ways of living. WWOOF is an exchange - in return for volunteer help WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles. WWOOF organisations link individuals wanting to volunteer on organic farms or smallholdings with people who are looking for volunteer help.

I paid my 60$ to join WWOOF Australia for one year, received my book of australia's WWOOF hosts in the mail 2 weeks later, off I set on my trip with my book in my backpack.

Finding a farm to work on was fairly easy. While in Byron I decided now was the time, so I picked out a few interesting farms from the 'area' to contact. 10 emails later, I was in contact with my Hosts, and a day later was sleeping in the 'WWOOFer' room on their farm!

My hosts are a lovely family of EIGHT! They have 6 children whose ages range between 25 - 10. The farm is basically a self-sustaining operation; they grow veggies and fruit, keep cows, sheep, ducks, geese, turkies, and chickens; all for their own consumption. The only product they market are their Freerange Organic Eggs.

On my first day I was put right to work weeding, hoeing, then planting a new veggie patch. I've never been a gardener, but I must say - looking over the little patch I had taken from rainforest-overgrowth to food-producing-earth made me feel pretty satisfied! Especially the seed planting. One package has SO many seeds, and each tiny little wonder will (theoretically) grow into a large, food producing plant! Amazing.

The afternoon saw me doing some simple woodwork/construction on the Tardis - yes, that Tardis, my Hosts were building as a guest accommodation just beside the main house. I was glad to be of help with that project, and I have come to realize that knowing how to cut freehand curves with a jigsaw isn't the most common skill in the world.

I've also collected eggs from uncooperative chickens, taken a shot at milking the cow - very badly, cleaned out chicken sheds to make fresh compost, weeded, weeded and then weeded some more, made dinner for 10 people - twice - including dessert, done housework and normal chores, and generally learned alot about how the place operates.

One thing that I love here is how nothing is wasted. Once a week a couple family members head out to the local "Brumbys" bakery at closing, and help them empty all the leftover bread into garbage bags. The family picks out and keeps the good stuff for themselves, and the rest becomes chicken / animal feed. Then the animal droppings are made into compost which feeds the veggie patch, and any plate scraps go right back into the cycle as chicken feed. Dried grass and wood-project-shavings become chicken nesting material, and the weeds I pull out of the garden are fed to the cows and rabbits. On top of that the family is very resourceful, making good use of garage-sales to stock their home and workshop.

I also love how productive the family is. The kids are expected to help out, ALOT, every day. In fact, the kids are the ones who make dinner every night. Last sunday I watched a 21 year old girl made a full roast dinner complete with roast lamb, chicken, roasted potatoes and carrots, stuffing-from-scratch, perfect yorkshire puddings, and gravy - and she hardly broke a sweat. The youngest son, a hyperactive boy of 10, makes coffee for his parents in the afternoon every day and brings it out to them on the terrace. The boys help thier dad with various projects, fix the family cars, and do other various chores. There is hardly a spare moment in this house, at least until after dinner at 8pm when they settle in for a bit of TV, reading, or personal time. I find I have lost the patience for TV since I've been here (a miracle!!) I had a day off alone at the house, which I was really looking forwards to, but I wound up doing some cleaning because I was bored and unfocused! I am pretty tired, but a person could get used to this amount of productivity in their life!

All in all, a wonderful experience so far; not really what I expected, as all the best experiences are.

Pictures:
Top Set - the farm, aint it lovely?
Set two - me collecting and weighing eggs to determine thier 'size'
Set Three - The garden I weeded, hoed, and planted (yay!!) then one of the workshop arteas, and the TARDIS
Set Four - Pavlova (yuuum), My first aussie BBQ, and the paella meal I cooked for the family one night.