Since April this year we have had a wonderful wwoofer, Michael, coming up from Melbourne every Saturday to help us out on the farm. We feed him a delicious lunch and he helps us with whatever projects are happening on the farm, such as planting, building, straw-baling, mixing compost and natural fertilisers, weeding, bed preparation, and propagation.
"I thought, what a great idea. I've always wanted to do something like this. I wish I had found out about it years ago." He was inspired by a friend who uses his spare time to follow his passion of standup comedy.
Michael told me "You need to work to get money but your spare time is for following your passion and after going back to Wooloongong after years of living in the city it became my passion to re-connect with nature. I returned to the city and felt uncomfortable, like I didn't want to be here anymore. Then I thought if I learn how to live off the land then I don't have to depend on anyone else. SO that was the primary motivation to start wwoofing on the weekend."
Having Michael come up every Saturday just for the day has really been a win-win situation. We get all the benefits of having an extra pair of hands (and those great muscles) and he learns about all aspects of running a permaculture farm.
Michael explained, "The highlights for me have been working with my hands in the earth, with shirt off and shoes off in the sun. Its the best feeling to get the city off me. I go home feeling wonderful and I learn more each time I come. And meeting like-minded people who are doing what I would like to do in the future. So that is the best highlight - knowing I am achieving what I set out to achieve."
