My Experience WWOOFing on an Organic Farm in New Zealand for Four Months
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I found myself sloshing “poo tea” around a field of limes, covering myself with the scent of horse shit. I was used to this smell and actually enjoyed it, as I had ridden horses from age 7-14. However, I had about 800 lime trees to treat with this mixture of horse manure and comfrey, and my arms were giving out. They were already sore to start with from my past weekend of surfing with some locals that I had just met. I spilled a bucket of poo tea all over me, stopped, looked around me, and just laughed. I couldn’t believe that I was technically in college at that moment, doing a study abroad program at University of Auckland. What was I doing working 28 hours a week on an organic farm 2 hours away from university?
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The semester before I had taken time off from school and was backpacking through South America. After a 6 week stint in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I realized that I honestly did not like living in a big city. I grew up in the redwood forests 15 minutes north of San Francisco and had to experience living in the heart of a city before realizing that I need my space. Already accepted into an exchange program in Auckland, I began brainstorming ways to live in open space. Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and the rent is crazy high. I was finding apartments for about $1500 per month, which I just wasn’t going to be able to afford as a college student without a job. I couldn’t get a job in Auckland either, on conditions of my student visa. One of my friends had just WWOOFed in New Zealand for a few weeks and had a wonderful experience, so I began looking into doing the same.
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I ended up on SingingHeart Farm, a farm about 1 hour West of Auckland (2 hours by public transportation). It was a farm owned by the most lovely couple I had ever met in my life, both healers and counselors with a world of knowledge and kindness to share. My work exchange consisted of me working 28 hours a week for a room and all of my food. My work included gardening in the small veggie garden, cooking, working in the large lime and artichoke fields, and lots of odd jobs around the property. One of my favorite jobs was cooking for the family, as it consisted of me skipping out to the garden, harvesting whatever veggies were ready, and whipping up something new every night.
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I lived in an old house truck, and every night when I walked out to the truck I would look up to the sky and see the whole milky way. I could also see the southern cross, which was exciting for someone from the northern hemisphere who is used to seeing the north star. On the farm lived another long term WWOOFer, Samantha, and a horse whisperer, Nadine. A month into my stay, the horse whisperer Nadine contracted a bad case of pneumonia and it became my job to look after the horses. I had ridden Western style when I was younger, but Nadine practiced holistic horse training, which meant that often the horses weren’t ridden at all. Rather, she conducted lessons where she taught her students how to connect with the two horses, face to face.
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The food was to die for. Everything was organic, wholesome, and delicious. Imagine sourcing all of your fruits and veggies from your backyard. This was my life every day. For lunch I would wander to the veggie garden and choose what I was craving for the day: arugula, spinach, cilantro, basil, artichokes, tomatoes, yukon, carrots, you name it. It was peaceful and I had all of the air that I needed to breath. However, it was lonely. I spent most of my time in New Zealand in chosen solitude, and after a 5 month stint backpacking through South America it was greatly needed. I practiced yoga every morning and every night, occasionally went to my classes, and just learned to sit with my own self again. Just like my favorite poem from Oriah Mountain Dreamer states: “I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”
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After a roller coaster journey, some intense medicine work in Latin America, a recent breakup, and a long stint away from home, I needed to find self-love in my empty moments again. And I found it, there on SingingHeart farm, sloshing poo tea in a lime field with horses running in the background.
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Those are gorgeous photos! The two months I spent WWOOFing in Colorado were so rewarding. It made me a better person.
I don't take many pictures, typically. But I'm sure glad I took a couple shots of one of the farms I worked on. Most people think of the Rockies and ski towns when they hear Colorado... To me, it will always be the high desert on the western slope.
Wow that looks incredible! Thanks for sharing your pictures :-) What kind of farm was it?
They grow such a variety of things on that farm! There are orchards with peaches, pears, apples, apricots, plums and cherries. They also have lots of greens, various squashes, tomatoes, cucumber, and probably a lot of stuff I didn't even have time to discover.
The surrounding area is mostly all high desert climate. Most farms and gardens are irrigated from trenches that flow with water from the snow that melts from the mountaintops. But this particular farm was in a valley with a river next to it, so it created a micro-climate that was lush compared to its surroundings.
great, article. Organic and green life is what I love. I always strive towards organic and better lifestyle. Thumbs up! ;) Please, do share your experiences.
That's awesome good for you :-) Thanks so much!
Nice smile -
The place looks great. I hope I can save enough to travel there.
I hope you can too! It is a magical place :-)
nice country
Wow that is some interesting imagery. It also sounds like quite a bit of an adventure. The mushroom... that might be an amanita. I knew whenever I was collecting wild mushrooms to never eat anything like that. :) They are cool looking though. The interesting thing is I live all the way in Colorado and we still have mushrooms that look like that in the wild. It blows my mind that you are in New Zealand and they look the same. :)
That food made me hungry. Thank you for the post. It is fun to hear about places I'd love to visit. New Zealand always seemed like an interesting choice due to the variety of biomes in such a small area.
I think it is the amanita "death cap" as well! That's awesome, its so fun to find flora and fauna from around the world that is also in my backyard in California as well. I'm glad you liked the post, and yes New Zealand is extremely interesting for its incredible ecological diversity!
I always wanted to try WOOFing but never knew where to start or how to make sure the opportunity was legitimate or safe.
It would be great if you could share some additional resources on how to get started and prepare yourself for the experience!
Yeah of course! So each country has a different website/WWOOFing group that you have to join. New Zealand's website is here: http://www.wwoof.co.nz/
Once you are a member you can look at all of the farms that are accepting help, and if you are not sure about legitimacy you can always just opt for farms that already have a ton of verifications and reviews from past WWOOFers. I personally found SingingHeart Farm and agreed to come for three weeks, and because it was such a good fit decided to stay for four months. I would be clear about what you are looking for: a community with other WWOOFers? just yourself? how many hours a week are they asking for? are all meals included? And as for preparation...all I can really say is just be open! And be flexible, if you show up at a farm and its not at all what you were expecting and aren't digging it, you can always leave. Hope that helped, let me know if you have any other questions!
^ New Zealand is amazing.
Wow beautiful video thanks for sharing, it is amazing
Beautiful!
Thank you!
I was born in Auckland , miss New Zealand like crazy, so nice to see someone enjoy our beautiful country. Glad you had a great time.:)
Aweseome! I miss New Zealand like crazy too :-)