Discovering farm work

I’ve been WWOOFing for 3 days now! (In case you don’t know: WWOOF = Willing Workers On Organic Farms.) I arrived at G. and K.’s farm and met another WWOOFer A. mid-morning on Monday after my Vipassana retreat. Needless to say I was very excited to see another part of New Zealand. The farm is located just outside of Hamilton on the North Island. It’s a small homestead with about half a dozen chickens, sheep and geese as well as a bunch of white pigeons. Inside there are two cats and a budgie… and I’m happy to report that my cat allergies aren’t acting up too badly yet.

I’ll be staying here until next Monday when I go to another farm near New Plymouth, a city a few hours south of here by bus. I’ve very much enjoyed my time here, getting my hands dirty and working with my fear of animals! So that you can have an idea of what I’ve been up to, here’s my daily routine:

7:30am – Wake up

8:00am – Feed the outdoor animals (I actually fed the pigeons and the sheep out of my hand! Big deal – as most of you know I’m scared of animals!)

8:30am – Feed the indoor animals and myself (Breakfast has been cornflakes with real milk – a great improvement on Asian powdered milk!)

9:00am – Start outdoor work. H. and I have been working in the old vegetable garden, clearing the area by weeding and turning the earth (I got a blister from using the spade even with gloves on! Also, blackberry bushes are very thorny…)

10:30am – Tea time, then back to work outside. Other random outside tasks include picking fruit: feojas and passion fruit so far.

12:30pm – Before lunch duties: let the chickens out of their shack, bring eggs inside, get mail, bring in firewood for the evening.

1:30pm – Lunch clean up and movie time! (I’ve been knitting a pair of socks for G. while watching)

Whenever the movie ends I go for a walk exploring the countryside. It’s really beautiful here and there’s usually a rainbow or two to spot.

6:30pm – Supper time

7:30pm – Supper clean up and then free time. (Note: dial up internet here! That means that most of my free time is computer-free - what a relief!)