was that wwoofing, or is this?

hmmmm. well, i'm sure there isn't a right or wrong when it comes to one wwoof farm over another, but there sure are differences between the two that i've seen. let's say this "farm" doesn't exactly have the same feel as the one is aranjuez. it is similar in the fact that all veggies/fruit are grown organically, both require weeding, both have a separate house for wwoofers, and both have several cats and dogs. and i think the similarities stop right about there. for starters, we have a pool. not a natural pool that blends in with the surroundings, but the kind of pool you'd see at a resort. the "farm" as we'll call it is more like 3 extra lots that surround the house which holds the two veggie gardens and maybe 30 or so citrus trees (lemons, limes, oranges) -- and the whole places is cement-walled in; it's an estate. the work is a bit different as well; waking up early to feed the 2 dogs and 7 cats, trimming the bushes around the driveway, or sweeping flower petal up from around their pool don't seem to me like organic farming, but then again i'm just the volunteer and they're the farmers. the owners of this place are super nice people, and jackie is a great cook. they're originally from southern england and moved to conil about 5 years ago. they've been a part of wwoof for the last 3 years and have managed to make being here as a wwoofer quite luxurious. apparently their farm manager (yeah, farm manager) was in portugal last week and will be back to his 2-day a week work schedule starting on monday. i hear that is when the organic learning begins. i also hear surfing lessons start next week.

new casita

the "farm" house

conil with jackie & rich (and their dogs)

wait for the "day in conil" coming next week. the 6 hour a day work schedule is a bit different as well.

aranjuez to conil

that´s right, i´m leaving aranjuez on wednesday and heading south to conil. the original plan was to stay in aranjuez until the end of the month, but after receiving an email from the hosts in conil wanting me to come a week early, i decided to go with it.

as my day was described last week, this past week was about the same. ...like i mentioned it was "i" after wednesday when i was the sole wwoofer. and then last night two women from canada showed up. ...i didn´t realize how nice it was having the whole house to myself until i didn´t have it anymore. but anyway, they´re cool people and i only have another day or work before i take off.

but the real story of the week comes from an unexpected tuesday. i had been told that ana´s mom and aunt were going to make paella, but i had no idea it was going to be an all day event of extended family, friends, and whatnot. i was expecting us to eat somewhere around 8:30-9pm, in spanish fashion, and then ana´s mom and aunt showed up around 11am to get things rolling. i´m not even going to try and list everything that was peeled, cut, and added to the bubbling pot of goodness over the fire (go to wikipedia for a complete description), but after several hours (we ate around 3pm) of cooking we sat down to a table of about 20 and ate to our heart´s content. it was a beautiful thing. and then an extended siesta on the grass wherever there was shade happened next. but no that didn´t wrap things up. after we had all recovered from an afternoon nap, there were leftovers to be had. so we ate again, almost all 20 of us. and that pretty much ended us all.

ana´s aunt

paella

the meal

the aftermath

tip of the week: don´t fix your itchy contact with hands that have just finished cutting a chili pepper.

a day in the life

we all wake up around 7:30am to eat breakfast and do whatever before we start working at 8. breakfast usually consists of a grainy/fruity cold cereal, a glass of oj, and a cup of coffee. around 8 we head out to the garden and start weeding in an area that ana or juampa likely told us about the evening before. actually, i´m starting with picking the seeds off asparagus tomorrow. anyway, weeding could be for the entire day, but usually there are different odds and ends jobs that involve juampa or ana. it sounds like a like a lot of grunt work, which i suppose it is, but before/white/before we do whatever we´re set out to do during the day, juampa or ana will tell us more about whatever we´re doing it for, how it effects the plants, and that sort of thing. so it´s much more than "those onions need weeding. get to it." so then at 2pm we stop and figure out what we´re going to eat for lunch. most of the days, maybe all, we heat bread and cheese, with some sort of raw or cooked vegetable mixture. sidenote: the mornings are cool enough to definitely have a pair of pants with the possibly 2 layers of long sleeve shirts. afternoons usually hit 85-90 degrees, and then we´re back to long sleeves and pants in the evenings. and the sun has been out every day since arriving. aaaaanyway, after lunch, showers happen, and then the afternoon of whatever.

there aren´t a whole lot of options, really. and greg (brother), before you say, "rough life, dude." ...i know, okay. i´ve spent a lot of time in the hammock reading, taking afternoon siestas, and just hanging out/chatting with the other wwoofers. and then maybe we´ll wonder around the 2 pieces of land, checking out the animals or see what juampa and ana are up to. i´ve ventured into aranjuez (pronounced arran-queth) 3 times to just walk around and check out the scene, and/or get online. it´s only about 5km, so it´s an easy bike ride.

then it´s the evening and we figure out who is going to cook what for supper. we´ve (the wwoofers) eaten with juampa and ana once, but normally it´s just us wwoofers cooking for ourselves. supper can go on for quite a while, so depending on what time it is we either got to bed or read/talk/whatever.

and then we repeat. although now, the number of wwoofers has gone from a forcing-me-into-a-tent-for-a-few-days 5 to only one other and myself. wednesday will bring the number from 2 to just me. so then i suppose you can substitute "we" with "i" if you want to know what i´ll be doing later in the week. i hear more wwoofers are on the way...

the garden

i´d say the garden is about 6 acres total. outside of the garden is another 8-ish acres of farm land that surrounds juampa and ana´s place. our piece of land is includes the garden, wwoofer accommodations, and hangout area/whatever. and then the other 8 acres has alfalfa, feed corn, green house, pastures for the animals, and a composting area. between the 2 houses there are also 4 kittens and 2 dogs. so most of the work so far has been in and around the garden; weeding, spraying the veggies with bio-dymanic mixture, checking and picking off insects and such from plant leaves, loading and unloading the weeded weeds into a trailer, and then maybe some odds in ends jobs that ana or juampa need help with.

the veggies in the garden are: tomatoes, chili peppers, green peppers, zucchini, pumpkin-squash, egg plants, sweet corn, basil, strawberries, cauliflower, cucumbers, and asparagus. then surrounding the garden are a few pear, apple, plum trees, and then white grapes sort of hug our house and terrace type area. everything in the garden is fair game for wwoofer consumption.

chili peppers & green peppers

alon & amy weeding the sweet corn

the hours we work on a daily basis are flexible, as long as week reach the 6 hours a day, 6 days a week quota. since i´ve been here, we have all worked 8am to 2pm, which allows for a nice long afternoon to do whatever.

the scene

i made it. after a day of rest at the current homestead, my first day of work has been completed. a little wedding never hurt anyone, right. well that´s what i did under the hot spainish sun. so anyway, i´m 1 of 5 wwoofers at the farm: a woman from england, a young guy from israel, a 20 yr old from AUS, and a 30something year old woman from japan. the common language is english.

the place i´m living in is basically a room that has a kitchen in it. we all sleep on this wood bed type thing with our sleeping pads and sleeping bags. like i said, bed type thing, not cushion or mattress. our bathroom is isn´t attached to the main house, but quite lovely. the hosts, whom are maybe 30, have another separate house that they live in about a 1 minute walk from our digs. both houses, and water pumps, etc., operate completely on solar power. we have 1 installation at our place and the other house has 2.


the weather, food, company of the other wwoofer, and the whole "scene" has been great so far and i don´t see why it would change. here are a few pics...

our house

the lounge/solar installation/grape growing area

a piece of the massive garden

until next time...