An Easter Weekend WWOOFing
By Joel Davies
This Easter just passed, Alice (my partner) and I spent four fantastic days at a smallholding in Shropshire, with our amazing hosts Scarlett and Phil.
Working full time in London, the two of us don’t have the opportunity to spend weeks or months WWOOFing, and so whilst four days might seem like a very short stint, it is still a really valuable and rich experience to get outside, to learn more about organic farming, and to help lessen the load of tasks that hosts need doing whilst at it.
In fact, whilst on this trip we actually came to learn WWOOF’s acronym origins represented Working Weekends on Organic Farms!
And we saw why.
In just four days we were able to genuinely help with a range of tasks – whether it be weeding and preparing beds for the season, planting a long bed of potatoes, or even building an enormous rabbit hutch!
All mixed in with having beautiful home cooked meals from food grown on the farm, rich conversations about growing, permaculture and our hosts journey in becoming smallholders, as well as simply enjoying the Shropshire scenery and the therapeutic feeling of four days out in the fresh air (the weather was on our side!)
We’re very grateful for the exchange that was able to happen between us and our hosts thanks to WWOOF existing as an organisation. And for both hosts and WWOOFers alike that it can work for, we’d highly recommend WWOOFing weekends!
