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Has anyone tried WWOOF-ing?

my post has nothing to do with WWOOF. It has everything to do with the post directly above mine.... :p
 
Oh, well just asking! Afterall, it IS a pay-to-volunteer program. :p ;)
 
great screen name SN2 :)

thusfar unnamed travel destination: the former yugoslav republics. simply amazing.

what is your budget? where are you located? what languages can you speak (even if it is only a little)? that will dictate a bit of your travel plans.
 
BUMP!!

I have been WWOOFing for about a month and a half- and I can tell you it`s awesome. I am at my second host now.

AT the first place the work was a little menial- weeding, harvesting carrots and pulling down dead shootrs from an jack bean vine. I was basically treated like family- awesome meals, all needs taken care of, and working was actually quite easy- I felt I was the one exploiting them.

Now I am at an organic pig farm in much higher altitude (fucking freezing!). Here it is not so much like a family, I have my own little house, and I basically give a shopping list whenever they go to town like once a week. I get anything I want, and have the privaycy I kind of missed at the last host. My jobs here are more like real woork- which is why I wanted to WWOOF in the first place- ideally put on some weight / muscle, and get my hands dirty. My jobs here are to mix up maybe 200 - 300kg of pig food using a massive grinding machine and adding a few cups of this, and a few cups of that at given moments (I can`t give away the secret pig food recipe;)), then load it up into about 20 steel buckets in the back of a tripped out little one-man truck / tractor (well it`s a truck, but it goes about as fast as a tractor) and drive up narrow and steep paths to 8 different pig pens. In the morning the ground is frozen and it has been snowing, so there is no problem with traction, but in the after noons (two feedings per day) it all turns to mud and the truck slips around which is scary and cool. SOmetimes it get bogged, so there`s a level to jam down the accelerator, and I get out and push. It`s good hard work, which is exactly what I was after. That`s 9am to 12 noon. Then I have about 4 hours to cook lunch and clean up, and at my leisure feed the 50 odd chickens and collect eggs.

Saw a mad cock fight yesterday- the loser is still lying dead, and at this time probably frozen in the corner- The Japanese have a thing about death, and tomorrow a special priest guy is going to say a little prayer before we can bury it)

Afternoon feeding until about 6 then I have the nights off. There is like a community centre full of Asian hippes nearby, so if I want I can get a ride on a motorcycle with the son of the family and check it out. Last night some Korean girl was teaching us how to play traditional Korean music- which was more difficult than I`d imagined.

Anyway, this is turning into a fucking journal entry, but all I can say is `go the WWOOF!!!! Very much recommended.
 
A couple of years ago i stayed in this small village south of france, i was living in a small caravan.it was a whole village of people that settled there in the 60s from germany, belgium and other places.it was really interesting and learned alot. there was this guy Andre that is some sort of biochemist/farmer.the particular thing is that they treated the soil as another living organism, there were no tractors or machinery, so we used horse plows and such things.nearby there were also some sort of waterfalls that formed little pools to go swimming, wich were usually infested with french nudists! its defenitely a nice experience to live in a self sustained community, get more of an idea of how things work, of how it reflects society/socializing as a whole. Nice to know that other BLers are intrested!
 
This sounds awesome. I have practical considerations in my life that prevent me from going on adventure of this type, but if things were different for me I would look into the idea of this.
 
im interested. anyone with any help would be appreciated.

-is it possible to get a small local side job for some extra cash?
-are these farms close enough to cities?
-do you live in the owners house with family or in a seperate farm house?
-how many helpers are typically gonna live on a farm?
-do the owners care about pot smoking habits of the workers? (assuming all the work still gets done efficiently)
-are these farms all over the world or in select countries?
-will some owners agree to paying a small bit (before work starts) if you want to work extra hours?
-are you stuck on the farm for the duration? how long do you stay?
 
DigitalDuality said:
I take it this isn't big in america.. b/c i have never heard of this either.
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I actually know a couple people who spent a season or two harvesting poi in Hawaii on an organic farm. Talk about a sweet deal. Wake up, get high, wade through water, get high, eat lunch, get high, get high, get high, harvest more poi, get high, get laid, sleep, repeat. =D
 
ive never officially WOOFFed but have stayed in many communites where wooffers have come to stay. basically, you can find most of these places through word of mouth without having to pay the $15 dollars or so to get the book of potential places to stay. there are self-sustainable communites all over the world. its all a matter of tapping yourself in. if youre someone who doesnt have previous knowledge of how to find these places WOOFFing is a great way introducing yourself to a huuuuge network of really cool people from all around the world.
 
atlas said:
I actually know a couple people who spent a season or two harvesting poi in Hawaii on an organic farm. Talk about a sweet deal. Wake up, get high, wade through water, get high, eat lunch, get high, get high, get high, harvest more poi, get high, get laid, sleep, repeat. =D
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yep, pretty much. i did about a 9 month stint on several farms in hawaii. had the best time of my life and also made some of the best friends ive ever had. if anyone wants to know about work trade in hawaii i can hook you up.
 
mintalyelevatid said:
im interested. anyone with any help would be appreciated.

1-is it possible to get a small local side job for some extra cash?
2-are these farms close enough to cities?
3-do you live in the owners house with family or in a seperate farm house?
4-how many helpers are typically gonna live on a farm?
5-do the owners care about pot smoking habits of the workers? (assuming all the work still gets done efficiently)
6-are these farms all over the world or in select countries?
7-will some owners agree to paying a small bit (before work starts) if you want to work extra hours?
8-are you stuck on the farm for the duration? how long do you stay?
Click to expand...

I can only answer these questions from my limited experience in Japan.

1- short answer no- unless you get lucky and can teach english to local people, but honestly it`s a little rude to get paid for this in a rural place in my opinion- they have no other option as there are few english schools and even if there are then they are exorbitantly priced. I just exchange a brief english lesson for a brief Japanese lesson over a nice meal, a few beers or a hike.

2- This ties in somewhat to your first question- answer, no (again in my limited experience). It`s been roughly a ten minute drive to the nearest shop to buy unnecessary essentials like ciggies, chewing gum etc. from both of the places I`ve seen. The last place (Uchinoura) was some three hours by bus from a bus station in the middle of nowhere, and to get there I had to take an overnight ferry (which was awesome) and a local bus for about 2 hours. here (Kikuchi) it is an hour drive to Kumamoto city, but I have no intention of going there. I went there a few days ago to buy a big BBQ tray thing from a hardware store as they`d recently built a mud woodfire oven outside. It was an interesting experience, but I much prefer the country side. Whilst WWOOFing I have happily forgotten about city life, which I advise you to do also for more than a few reasons:)

3- From what i read in the WWOOFer handbook it seems about half and half. Last place was in the spare room in the same house, but here they have an extra little house which is frequently visited by the farmer`s son and his friends, as well as members of a nearby community centre, Korean drummers, Chinese Calligraphists, artists who defy description, poets etc. (hippies, but not dirty dreadlocked ones, sexy Asian hippes;))- for amazing eating and drinking and laughing. Then we pull out 10 futons or so and crash in a room heated by wood fire. From what I can tell old farm houses usually have plenty of spare rooms as kids usually leave to the city, leaving parents to struggle on with the family business. They honestly treat you like family- just remember it`s not a hotel, you do what you can, and they really appreciate it.

4- From what I know the number of WWOOFers can be from one to maybe five. there is usually a person to show you the ropes- hired help or the familiesd son or the farmer himself , who will effectively train you up in what to do- be it feeding animals, weeding, harvesting, or maybe playing with their kids while they work, cooking food for them, cleaning up, repairing old houses- it varies too much from place to place. Good descriptions are in the WWOOFer handbook of jobs, the type of business, the atmsophere, local community etc. In answer to question I`d say typically not more than 3 or 4.

5- In Japan pot is not something which is commonly smoked, so I can`t comment. We did have a discussion on drug use and I told them everything, and there was no judgement or anything, as the impression I`ve made is rather good. Past history is irrelevant as far as these people are concerned.

6- use google! Each country which does offer WWOOFing will have their own website. There are maybe 200 or so in Japan. Research that your self;)

7- No (in my experience) You are basically treated like family like I said, nothing like an employee. This is odd as I do have a bit of responsibility here- if I fuck up, pigs go hungry and could charge out of their fields, then need rounding up, roosters (meat birds) fight to the death if not given fresh food and their water is not defrosted, an order of shitake mushrooms and eggs is usually picked up everyday so if this is not done on time then the business suffers.. but the treatment I receive and the genuine appreciation and thanks is more than money is worth. Most WWOOFers in Japan are on tourist visas, so making any money on the side is also illegal. I am not on a tourist visa, but it has never crossed my mind to make extra cash as I have everything I need provided for me. I just make a list of what I like, and when they go shopping they bring it for me. If only I could quit smoking I would spend absolutely no money here, but still eat like a king and drink like a fish.

8- by agreement. Also this information is in the WWOOFer handbook- some places are more of a sightseeing, novelty- come check it out, help where you can for a week or so (you`re likely just treated like an interesting foreign person- and that`s all they want- to meet people from different walks of life) and please be on your way, but other places say you can stay for a year, or pretty much inevitably as long as everything works out. I want to go to one more island, but I am having such a good time here I might end up staying another two months.
^ also you are pretty much `stuck` on the farm- meaning you have no car or means of getting some place far away, but I`ve found all Japanese regularly visit onsens (natural hot springs) so I`ve often been taken for a short trip here or there. Being locals they like to show off their country, so being `stuck` is probably not the best way to describe it.

At this farm I have one and a half days off- free time, so if it can be arranged with someone (like someone in the local community) to hang out with them for a day then that`s fine, but yesterday I just walked around, found a cool terraced tea plantation, wind farm (you know what I mean, wind electricity) and some very abandoned decrepit shacks out in the wilderness. I was looking for some animals but all I could find were birds and some bright orange ferret like thing which ran like lightning. Anyway I really ought to get a journal, or write a group email, but you get the gist of it I `m sure.

The first words they spoke to me when I arrived here were `please, enjoy beer.` SO I say to you, please enjoy WWOOFing in Japan:)
 
^^http://www.volunteerbrazil.com/?gclid=CPaRuYTgmoMCFU47GAodQyW6nw

http://www.volunteeradventures.com/?gclid=CN3Gg7zgmoMCFQwHIgod2mtKOA

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/shortterm/farm_jobs_agriculture.shtml


use google!

i can`t work out if there is WWOOF in brazil but you can fugre this out on your own

the above sites may have linke to してさテャ冠　
　頬k要　　宇ｐ
　　　祖，ワイｔ、
　　　ｓ派ｍ案背絵うぁｔはあｐｐっぺん
ガンバ手江　　っ刺すが　がいｋじｎ
 
^^ thanks for the links, but they weren't really relevant. I know that you can volunteer in brazil, but that's not what I asked. Volunteering is very expensive. for example Volunteer Adventures - Brazil, costs $1419 for two weeks!!

I was looking for wwoofing as it sounds more like an informal arrangement which would suit me better.

I DID use google, but couldn't find anything wwoof related in relation to brazil... the wwoof sites are pretty rubbish that I found.

Oh and I don't speak chinese...?
 
this site suggests that one can wwoof in brazil.

I'm definitely going to do this baring unforseen cirucumstances.

Places of interest for me are japan, nepal, india, australia, new zeland, all over europe (spain and holland in particular), and possibly central/south america.

Sardonic already mentioned his great experience in japan so that will most likely be a first stop destination. However, all of the countries I listed seem like great/interesting places to live and learn.

Has anyone been to these countries and can comment on their safety etc? I'm mostly concerend with the poorer countries like india, nepal, and south/central america.

Also, what is the best organization to go through..seeing as I don't know a soul in any of these places?

thanks and peace
 
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