The end to last week
was great! I enjoyed a wonderful dinner
with Werner at unicol Friday evening and then packed up my bags for a great
adventure: WWOOFing.
WWOOF (World Wide
Opportunities on Organic Farms) is an international organization that links
volunteers to organic farmers around the world.
Basically, you live on an organic farm, from anywhere between a week to
even a year, and work in exchange for food and accommodation. I had never heard of this before until I
arrived in NZ, and since I am interested in sustainability and organic foods, I
decided that it would be a great and very unique experience since I had plenty
of time to kill before my first exam.
Plus, New Zealand is said to be the best place to WWOOF in the
world! So one of my friends from my
urban geography class ,named Celine, and I decided to wwoof together! That way we could study for our exam too (bet
you can guess how well that studying actually went)! So we found a great farm and signed up!
Saturday morning we
woke up at 6am to meet our host at the Dunedin Farmer’s market! It was pouring rain and not the most pleasant
20 minute walk carrying all of our bags, but our excitement kept us in good
spirits. I also killed my second
umbrella that morning. Not even going to
attempt to purchase another one. Anyway,
all we knew was our host’s name, Shaun, and that he had a big white van. Luckily it did not take us too long to find
him, as he spotted us looking a little lost and greeted us with a big
smile. And then we went right to work
helping him unpack his produce and set up the stand. He is famous is NZ for his orange carrots,
but he grows a large variety of veggies, including beets, leeks, parsnips,
white carrots, chard, all kinds of lettuce, purple sprouting broccoli, garlic, Jerusalem
artichokes, spinach, and even more that I can’t remember right now. He stand is pretty popular so we aided in sales
the rest of the time there and, in between customers, learned a lot about his
organic farm and the veggies he grows.
Once the market ended,
we hopped in his van to head to his home in Clinton, which is about an hour and
a half south of Dunedin. On our way, we
had some good conversation and were happy to hear him say that we would fit in
great on the farm! Once to Clinton, we
settled into our house truck (like a campervan), became acquainted with the farm,
and met the other WWOOFers there. There
was a girl from Brazil named Jamila, Miguel from Spain, Matilda from France,
Ying from Malaysia (also an international student at Otago) and two girls from
California who were traveling around the world for a year, but they left the
next day (only mildly jealous of them)! That
night we hung out getting to know each other over dinner and snuggling up near
the fire in the station (where all the WWOOFers hang out).
Sunday was our first
real day of work on the farm. It was
raining a good bit so we ended up working in the greenhouse all day, but that
didn’t bother me. It was mostly weeding
around lettuce and chard. After four
hours of work, we made some lunch and hung out that afternoon. That evening, Celine and I cooked dinner for
everybody in the station. On the
weekends, the WWOOFers cook for themselves, but during the week, we all had
dinner in Shaun’s house. Monday pretty
much consisted of the same routine with lots of weeding again. Shaun cooked us potato and leek soup that
evening with leeks that he picked that day!
Tuesday brought a
little more weeding around the pumpkins with Miguel and then a group effort
clearing a large patch inside one of the greenhouses. I attempted to study a little that afternoon,
but ended up putting the books down for a cup of tea and great
conversation! Shaun made us a great spaghetti
dish that night! Wednesday we started
harvesting for the market so in the morning Miguel, Ying, and I picked heaps of
parsnips. That afternoon, Celine,
Matilda, and I worked in the garden and used a hoe to weed around baby carrot
plants. And the sandflies attacked. I have so many bites on my arms and back it’s
not even funny. I remember at one point
looking down at my clothes and seeing at least 20 sandflies all over me! So itchy now!
Wednesday evening I also milked a cow for the first time ever! Celine and I looked a little goofy in the field
trying to round it up, but once she was in the milking area, Shaun showed us
what to do. It’s actually a lot harder
than it looks. But so cool at the same
time!
Thursday we picked purple sprouting broccoli
as a group and then Ying and I sorted garlic for the market. Thankfully garlic is a natural insect
repellent so the sandflies avoided us and the inside of the cloves also provides
instant itch relief! That evening,
Celine and I made artichoke and cauliflower soufflés. I have never really eaten much artichoke, but
I discovered that I absolutely love Jerusalem artichokes!
And Friday, Celine and I picked lettuce and
spinach in the morning and then worked in the packaging room for the rest of
the day. This day was definitely my
favorite as I witnessed everything that went into preparing for the farmer’s
market on Saturday. Lots of washing,
weighing, and packaging, but I honestly loved every second of it. Shaun was an amazing host and I learned so
much from him! That afternoon, we all
walked to “downtown” Clinton (it’s literally the epitome of a one horse town)
for a bottle of wine to celebrate because everybody was leaving the next day. That night Shaun whipped up his famous
artichoke lasagna after much convincing/pleading from Celine and I. That night we stayed up late chatting and
hanging out with our wonderful new friends.
The next morning, we said goodbye to the farm and Miguel, Celine, and I
caught a bus back to Dunedin. Last
night, I went out with some friends (and even did a little swing dancing!)
before cracking down to study today! I have
been in the library most of today…so lame, I know, but it needs to get
done! Missing my Starbucks pumpkin
spiced lattes to help me study though. And
this blog was my study break, so I guess I need to get back to the books. Have a wonderful week!
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