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WWOOFing
The Story of WWOOFing
How it Works
Why WWOOF?
WWOOFing at Shillingford Organics
Volunteer Days at Shillingford Organics
The Story of WWOOFing
WWOOF (Working Weekends on Organic Farms, as it stood for then) was born in 1971, when Sue Coppard organised a trial weekend for herself and three other Londoners on an organic farm in East Sussex. Sue arranged a deal with the farmer: they would help out with work that needed doing on the land in exchange for food and accommodation. The weekend was so successful that it became a regular trip, every third weekend.
News gradually spread of 'Sue Coppard's Land Army', and other organic farms got in touch, all keen to offer their hospitality in exchange for help from willing volunteers.
Today, WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: a truly global phenomenon with over 6,000 hosts in 88 countries.
WWOOF UK became a charity in 2008. With nearly 400 hosts in the UK and membership rising sharply year on year, it can't be long before the verb 'to wwoof' makes it into the Oxford English Dictionary.
How it Works
WWOOF UK holds a list of organic farms, gardens and smallholdings, all offering food and accommodation in exchange for practical help on their land. These hosts range from a low impact woodland settlement to a 600 hectare mixed holding with on-site farm shop, cafe and education centre. Hosts do not expect you to know a lot about farming when you arrive, but they do expect you to be willing to learn and able to fit in with their lifestyle.
All of our hosts must sign a declaration stating that they are farming using ecologically sound methods. Some are also certified organic or biodynamic by national bodies. Certification is an expensive process and only really necessary for those growers who wish to sell their produce to the general public with the 'Organic' label. We do not discriminate between those who are farming organically for sale and those who are farming ecologically for self sufficiency.
The list of hosts is available by joining WWOOF UK for a membership fee (£20 single membership, £30 joint). Once you have the list, it is up to you to contact hosts directly to arrange your stay. Your host should discuss what kinds of activities you will be asked to take part in, what accommodation is on offer and also the length of your stay.
WWOOFers do not pay to stay with hosts and hosts do not pay WWOOFers for their help (generally 25-30 hours a week).
Why WWOOF?
'WWOOF is an astonishing key to unique experinces.' The Guardian
* reconnect to the soil, get your hands dirty and get grounded
* reskill and help revitalise ancient knowledge
* gain first hand experience of organic and biodynamic farming, growing and animal husbandry
* find inspiration in like minded people
* rediscover the relationships between local food production, social community and spirit
* taste totally fresh produce
* acquire a wealth of experience for a relatively small financial outlay
* walk the talk - try it out for yourself
WWOOFing at Shillingford Organics
2010 is the first time we have taken on WWOOFers and this has proved to be a very good idea. Already we have made new friends with hardworking, polite, enthusiastic, friendly and like-minded people so we are very pleased to have chosen to go down this route.
To accomodate our WWOOFers Dan Entwistle (Bamboodan) recently built us two wooden pods, Yew and Cedar. (Yew because the first person to stay in a pod was Yu (seen above right) and we wanted to acknowledge this is some way, so what better way to keep her in our memories. Keeping on the wood theme we named our second pod Cedar as the roof is made up of Cedar. Konnie was the first to stay in Cedar (pictured below) Some of our WWOOFers camp here too.
Our WWOOFers also have use of the kitchen facilities, organic vegetables, a compost toilet & shower room, access to the internet, wonderful organic vegetables, organic bread, organic meat, a picnic area and much more.
Our pods are really well finished with beds, other furniture and a woodburner. They are also connected to the mains electricity supply.
The WWOOFers pictured on the right are from France, 2 are staying in the pods and 4 are camping. From left-front clockwise - Bruno, Gwénolé, Antoine, Mélanie & Florian. Alex is not shown as he returned to France to see Muse (a Teignmouth band)
*Love Local Music*
Much of the detailed information on wwoofing has been taken straight from the WWOOFing website with the exception of specific Shillingford details. For more details about wwoofing please follow the link below:
Volunteer Days at Shillingford Organics.
From 5th May and every Tuesday through the summer, we are having volunteer days at Shillingford Organics. You will be asked to help out with the operations that are happening on the day.
Come along for as long as you wish and learn about the techniques and practices for growing Organic vegetables on a commercial scale. Gain an understanding of the rotations, green manure and composting techniques for building fertility and learn about the varieties and planting schedules we use for continuity of supply.
Meet at 10.00am prompt outside the 'Shillingford Organics' offices. Come suitably dressed and prepared for physical work. Please ring if you are unable to make 10.00am.
Lunch will be provided. Please inform us if you are vegetarian or have any other special dietary requirements prior to attending.
26th August 2010
This week's box will
contain items from
the selection below:
New Potatoes (Bambino)
New Season Carrots
Onions
Lettuce/Salad
Sweet Corn
Chard
Tomatoes
Courgettes or Cucumber
Melon, Aubergine or Pepper (M & L Boxes Only)
NB: Due to availabilty box contents may vary
The boxes may not always contain the same number of items as shown in the list.
However, this is more likely to apply to the mini and small boxes.
Make up crops may vary from the list !
