Wwoofing on our farm

 We are a stable couple, into sustainable agriculture & practicing ecologically sound organic farming methods. Our names are Christopher (48) and Rebecca (63), see picture above. Rebecca has been farming for 45 years. Christopher for 20 years. Very occasionally we host 'wwoofers' who seriously want to learn about farming and hone their farming skills (though we did not host any in 2015, due to the California drought). Must be registered with WWOOFUSA.org, and at least 21 years old to apply. 

We are located in the Sierra Foothill country of Northern California, we call our place a "subsistence farm", that is, we subsist on it. It is, at present, economically solvent, we make our total living farming, living close to nature. We sell beef steers and Pure Bred Angus bullocks and replacement Angus heifers, an occasional Angus breeding cow and Duroc weaner pigs, plus veggies and fruit at our farm stand. We are nine years into the process of rehabbing, with limited funds, an old farm into a small, bio-diverse, non-certified but organic operation, moving in the permaculture direction. Sir Francis Bacon said" One can only command Nature by obeying her". Studying the lay of the land and how Nature works on our piece of ground, in order to enhance that, has been like faceting a diamond, employing ART as well as science. There is still much to do. Some times we have opening for registered,'wwoofers' on our farm.

The two of us raise many farm animals, Rat Terrier dogs for organic vermin control. Rats and gophers are a real problem for us as we do not use poisons on our farm. Bees for honey. We usually have a flock of chickens in summer for eggs and meat. We have Duroc hogs (five sows & a boar). We have a grass fed beef program... with 12 purebred Angus beef cows and an Angus beef bull plus calves. We have a dairy operation that pushes everything along, with three Jersey, a Holstein and some Holstein/Jersey cross milk cows, along with

their calves & 3 Alpine dairy goats we milk in summer. We use the milk for our home use, making home made cheese, feeding our calves, pigs and chickens. Chris helps out part time on an exotic animal ranch near-by, helping care for camels. 

The main thrust of our farm development at the present time is soil improvement. Presently crops come and go with varying degree of success, however if the soil is developing in a positive way, crop success is not so important to us. Animal manure is spread directly on the soil or is mixed with other carbonaceous compost components, to be broken down further, until it is ready to become proper plant food.

The compost feeds the soil, the soil feeds the crops, the crops feed us and the animals. We do our best to facilitate the turning of a holistic self sustaining cycle. 

Through the summer (our busy season) we have a small farm stand, in front of the farm, every

Our farm stand

Thursday, where we sell locally grown vegetables and fruits, it starts in Spring and ends when the weather gets bad. The stand is attended by a small, slowly expanding, local customer base. It is exciting to explore anew, old ways of creating legal local community food sovereignty, by working together with other local producers and consumers, in the spirit of cooperation and trust... rather than in the out dated spirit of greed and competition typical of corporate style public food sales...so refreshing. 

This area is very rural, it has a post office and a gas station-country-store-video-combo and that's about it. There is no TV reception here (thank goodness). This is a pastoral foothill country, dry in summer and wet in winter; a classic Mediterranean climate, we can grow grapes, olives and apples, lemons and even hardy oranges. Irrigation water is normally plentiful; (though the last few winters have been exceptionally dry and we have  had drought to deal with in 2014 and 2015) soils are deep clay loam types, very productive. There are tracts of wilderness close by, full of wildlife. There is swimming in wild rivers, hiking and camping within a half hour drive. Grass Valley and Nevada City, Ca. are about 45 minutes away where there are many cultural events every summer...a bluegrass festival, a world music festival, a Celtic Festival, Draft horse show and more. The people in our community are friendly, interesting and generally ecologically minded. There are two award winning olive oil producers, three excellent vineyard w/wineries, and several organic farms, a farmers market, as well as a number of active artists and musicians, in our small community.

In 2011 late winter, our 1st wwoofer helped us for three weeks, which was an exceptional exchange of work and understanding for all of us, we are still in touch with him (thanks Marc).

Our first wwoofer

At this point we have had many wwoofers help us develop different aspects of our farm and are very thankful for the wonderful energy and enthusiasm that they have contributed to making a difference in our lives and on our small farm. We are looking forward to meeting more wwoofers in the coming years. 

Accommodations for 'WWoofers' are very modest. Wifi is available. We have an outside social area, where we hope to build a cob pizza oven/bench come summer (yum pizza). 

We eat healthy, tasty, organic locally grown foods whenever possible, we are not heavy meat eaters ourselves, finding it healthier, we tend to cook a lot of cheese and veggie loaded

dishes when we cook. While we do have family style sit down dinners, once or twice a week, guests will need to be able to cook for themselves and others on a regular basis. We have home grown eggs, farm produced meats (beef, lamb and pork), locally produced olive oil, cornmeal, tomatoes, lots of fruits, leafy greens, beans, home canned goods, salad stuffs, root crops, all in season of course, we buy bulk rice, bulk noodles and bake most of our own bread. Providing food for omnivorous or vegetarian meals is not a problem. 

Depending on the time of year, activities others can get hands on experience with include, garden work, planting, watering & irrigation management, seed saving, thinning and pruning fruit trees, propagating plants, grafting, composting and soil feeding, building and maintaining garden beds, roto-tilling, fence maintenance, daily feeding and caring for the critters,

working with horses, helping birth animals, bottle feeding baby animals, calves and goat kids, pasture management, herding, goat care, daily milking cows, daily cleaning and care of milking machines, the 'ins and outs' of how to daily handle milk for home consumption. Meat processing, sausage making, & in summer weekly farm-stand preparation of fruits and veggies,

packaging farm grown veggies. Then there is, processing and making cheeses, we make various hard cheeses, for home use. Mozzarella, provolone, cottage cheese, feta,& goat's cheeses, you can learn how we do it.

We do periodic soap making, pickling in summer, we dry fruits, mushrooms & herbs, can fruits and veggies, pressure can meats and soups, brew beer all for our home use; we also help our vintner friend make wine and manage his (legal) small vineyard; we make home made breads and more. There are lots of things to do and learn. 

Work can be hard sometimes, moving soil, building fences, etc., when it is, it is that kind of work that makes you feel "good", like you got something done at the end. Days are full... still we do take time to enjoy life, have a beer or glass of wine (in moderation) at the end of the day, relax, listen to or make music, read, do art work, have fun with others, engage in exchanging ideas and developing true friendships. We have found that balancing fun & wholesome play with the effort it takes to do farm tasks, is a big key to living the "good life". 

If you apply for a 'wwoofing' stay our farm and are accepted... we are looking forward to working and playing, together with you, on our farm, should you be our guest. 

                     ~Rebecca and Christopher