A WWOOFing life...

I'm sorry I haven't blogged sooner, but when you read this you will realise that I have been otherwise occupied.

In between moving to the farm on the 24th of Jan and now, we have spent a weekend in London, to see dear Jo before she goes off back to SA, hopefully only for a few months.

On Friday night we had a delicious dinner at Jo’s home with Cat, Tyran, Jus &Jo…it was great bonding time for us, though a bit different to how it used to be when it was just us 3 girls. Next time we will leave the boys for an evening to do what they want, and we’re going out!! London was hectic busy fun as usual and included Camden town, Soho, Canada Water, Oxford Circus, Primrose Hill and Shepherds Bush.

The weekend was not without a hiccup… after changing times and venues to meet up with everyone 3 times, I was convinced I’d found a nice central meeting spot for Saturday night…only to find ‘the conservatory’ no longer exists (it is now a goth bar where we looked at strangely upon entry…we didn’t feel too welcome, so we left). I was left wandering up and down the road wondering what to do…in farm chill fairy mode – or Sharon mode- I’d also forgotten to charge my phone but thought it’d last the day, but it didn’t. So 2 of the party had already come, looked for, tried to call and left before I managed to get my numbers onto Steven’s phone and call and text…massive apologies to Duncan & Uncle George!!! Anyway, Jo, Justin, Cat, Tyran and Steven were with me so we decided to go to Bar Soho where we met up with some of Jo’s friends and Gill came to meet us after work, and we had a fabulous time! Some of us even ended up at G.A.Y for a drink and a giggle later and then Steven & I got the night bus home to Shepherds Bush area.

On Sunday we had lunch with Bradley (who kindly lent us his home for the weekend) in the hotel where he works. It was so good to catch up with everyone! On Sunday afternoon we went to the Curzon in Soho to watch an arthouse movie, as we are rather starved of these in the Southwest. We watched Babel, which we thoroughly enjoyed! Got some photos from Primrose Hill on Saturday afternoon…plenty of monkeying about!!!(will upload and include a link here soon!)

I know some of you are dying to know how the WWOOFing is going…Farm life is more amazing than I’d even imagined, we are continuously learning!! Some of our first lessons included an explanation on the difference between hay and straw and which animals get what for food and for bedding. (for anyone as dumb as us…hay is grass and straw is wheat). We learnt that 2 of the most dangerous things on the farm are probably a knife which if left lying around can get buried and either us or the animals could stab ourselves, or it could get into the animal feed…- the other is baling twine (from around the bales of hay/straw), which if it got into the animal feed they could choke on it and die, or if left lying around we could trip over it and seriously hurt ourselves. Baling twine is doubled up as one of the most handy things to carry around in your pocket… as you could always use it to tie a gate closed if need be, or carry/ drag heavy things and you can use if to cut other baling twine (therefore eliminating the need for a knife in a haystack!)

Two of the five goats (Harmony & Buffy) get milked twice a day (around 7am &pm). Rob & Julie(the owners) usually do this, but Steven and I are learning and Tom (the other Woofer) has just learnt and is getting really good! Buffy has really tiny teats that are hard to grip, but since beginning this blog I think I have mastered her! Harmony is lovely natured and patient, and doesn’t mind us learning on her most of the time, but has a tendency to put her foot in the bucket…as both Steven and I have experienced…the dogs like that – they get all the milk! Goats (like us human girls) can get hormonal and moody and try to rebel when being milked, as I experienced with Harmony this evening. Poor Harmony…I know how you feel, girl!! (the moods – not being milked! Ha ha) Needless to say we only drink goats milk on the farm, and our cheese is goats cheese which Andrew & Julie are brilliant at making and which is suprisingly delicious! I'm not keen at all on shop bought goats cheese, but this stuff is gooood!

Every afternoon we feed all the animals (before dusk), which takes about an hour if there’s 2 of you, and about 2 hours if I’m on my own which I am often as Steven works most afternoons and Tom and Amico only work 2 days a week each. At the same time we do a headcount and quickly look over all the animals to make sure no-one is missing or injured or not hungry!

Some of the other jobs we have done on the farm include poo picking (yup, picking up poo with a poop scoop…we also have a machine but it can’t be used when it’s wet). I find poo picking wonderfully therapeutic and mindless. Alpaca poo can be used as manure straight away as they digest their food so well, whereas horse poo is more acidic (I think) and needs to go onto a heap with alternating layers of a couple of inches of horse poo and a couple of inches of straw. This is then normally rained on so it’s nice and soggy before it’s covered with black plastic and left to ripen. I can’t remember how long it takes…a few months before it can be used for planting I think.

Another job is dragging wood that has been cut with a chainsaw out of the woodlands, so that the tractor can reach it and bring it to the woodshed to be chopped. Andrew is responsible for conserving the Wet Woodlands and the Lowland Heath which are 2 of the rarest habitats in Europe and we are lucky enough to have both right here! This is a pretty tiring job, but it is so beautiful…and it has certainly helped build my stamina!

What has amazed Steven & I is how much planning has to go into everything. Wood can take up to 3 years (I think Andrew said) to dry, and we use plenty of it in the wood burner’s in the house everyday. This heats the house and I’m pretty sure it heats our water too. In the summer the solar panels heat the water. Also with composting…you’ve got to have compost to grow vegetables and yet I think household compost takes 6 months until it’s ready for use? Sorry about all the I thinks…but I’ve had an information overload and I’m hoping I haven’t got things confused. I like it…I’ve just bought a diary to try to keep notes of when we do things and how long they actually take (eg. Composting, sowing, reaping, lambing, etc)

Our water is also all from a spring on the property, and the drinking water goes through a filter before we get it, and tastes delicious. You Londoners would appreciate it.

I have helped to plant parsnips and beetroots outside, which we covered with a mini plastic tunnel thing, garlic & onion outside, lettuce in the polytunnel, and the broccoli is being harvested (and is scrumdiddlyumptious!!) Julie is the green fingers and the Dr Doolittle, Andrew is the woodsman, and Amico has been keeping a plan of crop rotation and planting periods etc as she’s being working 2 days a week for over 2 years in preparation for having her own small holding when she goes back to Japan. I’m still pretty clueless with the plants, but I love it all the same…it excites me to see the shoots popping through the soil! I didn't realise that some plants like manure and some compost and that you had to measure how deep and how far apart you sow seeds...hehe! I also love to feel the soil between my fingers – Julie said there is nothing quite like it to make you feel grounded, and she is certainly right! It also makes me smile when the animals become more trusting of me, as they are gradually…especially the alpacas - they are naturally very nervous and I couldn’t get close to them at first, but at feed time today they were letting me stroke their necks (probably because there were some crumbs left in the feed bucket I was holding!). They are gorgeous! Julie is a qualified Alpaca Trainer/ Practitioner (the only one in the UK). They are kept most commonly as pets (normally for the wealthy!) and for their fleece and obviously breeding.

So…other jobs have been planting trees on top of the traditional Cornish hedges which are made of stone and are quite a work of art. We planted yesterday in the rain, as the trees like it when there roots are kept moist, but man, we did appreciate the warmth of the fire at lunchtime. Generally speaking the cold has not bothered me much at all…I don’t even think it’s been that cold, but maybe it’s to do with having the right clothing…thanks to my xmas presents from Steven and all the extra waterproof gear and gloves provided on the farm.

We’ve also helped Julie to train the horse (Milo) and ponies (Charlie girl & Yasmine). There are another 3 ponies that Julie keeps for someone else. They are naughty little shites...but they all have there own personalities and are funny. Milo is so big and strong and quite jumpy and not ready for the saddle yet, but he is very cool! Yasmine almost is ready, but she is too tiny for me to ride…probably only Amico could ride her as she is small! The three rams share a field with Milo, Yasmine and Charlie-girl …Alex is the leader of the pack and will ram you quite hard with his head when you least expect it. They are wonderfully woolly and love to be cuddled and are so funny! The flock of girl and baby sheep are not as trusting and cuddly, but they love you at feed time! The sheep are all miniature sheep so they have these fat, woolly bodies on top of short little legs! They are hilarious and so cute!!

We’ve also started putting together some brood frames for the beehives. This brought back memories as my dad was a beekeeper and had a bee business (called Lovemore Honey J ). In the UK the bases of the bee hives have to be replaced after the winter as they go all soggy, and they often replace the brood frames too. I can’t wait to put the bee suit on and help out with the bee’s. All my projects at school used to be on ‘the honeybee’ as my dad knew so much about them that he could help me, and I think they are such incredibly interesting and intelligent little creatures!

The young alpacas also have to get a Vitamin A,D & E injection 3 times a year as they obviously don’t get as much sun in the UK as they would in their homeland of South America. I tried to help Julie to hold the animals still(there is a technique) but it was my first day so I think both I and the Alpaca’s were nervous and jumpy and Julie ended up doing most of it herself.

Other jobs included mucking out animal pens (some once a week), collecting eggs from the chickens and the ducks, gardening, putting up fences, moving animals to different pastures,etc. Evenings consist of chilling out with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, sometimes a bit of tv, or a book or we' re researching some new business idea...we don't cook as lunch is our main meal and we normally have an earliesh night! We have 5 cats and 4 dogs to cuddle and both seem to have overcome our cat fur allergy...it's amazing!! I never used to be able to look at a cat without sneezing but now i can stick my nose in their fur! Yay!

I’m sure I’m gonna think of loads more to add to this once I’ve blogged it, but if I don’t blog it now, I never will!!

It has been quite intense doing carework and farmwork, but I think my body is slowly getting used to it.. however I was not getting enough time with my fantastically patient and loving husband and found this frustrating, so I have recently quit working for one of my two clients. Our expenses are so low at the moment, and I absolutely adore the farm and I love Steven and don’t want to spend more than 2 nights away from him a week…so I thought, why not? Obviously I want to be spending every single night with him, but a girl has to work!! All in good time!

Andrew & Julie(they are an amazing couple) have also asked us to take a day off together, which will do us a world of good…as we have a to-do list that seems to be getting longer and longer. When we’re on the farm we don’t feel like leaving to go to town…why? It is so incredibly beautiful and peaceful here! It is home! I wish you’d all join WWOOF and experience what we’re experiencing! It is life changing in such a good way!

Anyway…click here for photo’s of the farm!!!(Soon to come...sorry guys- keep watching this space!)

Love, peace and gazillions of fairy dust particles xoxo