Our day WWOOFing adventures
Host Contact, Taryn Field writes: On a Monday in early April, my WWOOFer buddy Jen and I went to Sol Haven which is based on New Manor Farm (#75184) in Northampton, to lend a helping hand… or four.
The host Natasha had put a call out for help to finish plastering their dome. Natasha has a vegan cooking company as well as making vegan skin care products for which she uses produce from the garden and polytunnel. When we arrived, Glen, who has been volunteering at Sol Haven for a good while, showed us around. It’s a fairly small site surrounded by a sheep farmer. The addition of lots of cute lambs definitely added to the peaceful atmosphere.
What I really enjoyed was seeing the self-watering polytunnel they have. Why haven’t I seen these before? Surely many hosts use this method as it’s so great! As you can see from the photo, the rain water collects in the drain pipe, sends it into a tank, then it gets piped under the raised beds in the polytunnel, watering the beds, which are also a great height for wheelchair users.
We then moved on to begin plastering the inside of the dome. The dome is made from one long earth bag, which is sausaged to create the spiral dome shape. The plastering was rather meditative and we were soon getting into our own rhythm.
Natasha called us in for lunch, and had put on a lovely spread of soup, salads and breads. Once our bellies were full and we’d had a good chat about life at Sol Haven, we carried on for a couple more hours until our arms were just plain hurting.
Not only did we get so many thanks and appreciation for coming to help, but Jen and I both received a tray of organic lettuce, which is now waiting to be planted out in my garden.
I really enjoy ‘Day WWOOFing’ with Jen; we both live the crazy urban life and really appreciate visiting new hosts and reconnecting with the land, doing something different every time. Where will our next adventure be? Well, somewhere not too far away of course!
photos: Taryn Field
