What the heck is a WWOOFer?
“Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms”
According to their own website,
WWOOFing is a global movement that aims to reconnect people to the land by having them voluntarily participate in organic farming.
Volunteers (WWOOFers) visit small scale farms where families and collectives (hosts) live and work. WWOOFers help with farm work while sharing in the daily routines of the hosts who offer them room and board.
Being a host allows you to stay open to the world by hosting WWOOFers from all walks of life. It’s also an opportunity for you to receive physical and moral support for your agricultural project, to exchange ideas, values and knowledge.
Now you may be asking why I brought it up. I am not a participant in the WWOOF program but a friend recently hosted a young couple on her farm through WWOOF and I had the very great pleasure of arranging several learning sessions with them.
Our first lesson was an all-day demonstration of cheese-making. They brought milk they got straight from the goat and went through all the steps from heating and adding the culture to putting the curds into the cheese press. On a second visit, they watched as I made goats milk soap. For a third demo, they learned how a cream separator works, and I showed them how I milk my goats using a milking machine. (If you are curious about that, here is a video showing the Dansha Milker).
Even though they were not MY interns, they graciously agreed to milk my goats in the evenings (my friend milked in the mornings) while we were on vacation for a week! They did a wonderful job and are 2 of the hardest working, most intelligent young people I have had the privilege of meeting. With folks like David and Daniela getting a start through this wonderful program, the future of family farms in this country is looking very bright!
