How to Volunteer in Canada on Organic Farms
Exhange Your Work for Food and Shelter with WWOOF
By Margaret Boyes
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Apple trees on a farm in Canada.
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There is no better way to get to know the people of a country than by volunteering on organic farms.
I was introduced to WWOOF by a niece who had just woofed her way across Canada. She said if I sent CA$25 to WWOOF Canada the organization would send me a list of organic farm hosts to contact. In summer all the farms need workers, she said, and if I contacted them at least a week ahead of time I could move easily from farm to farm.
I decided to WWOOF close to home in parts of British Columbia's Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands I had never visited.
My first of seven WWOOF experiences was on a woman-only herb farm called Goldstream Gardens in Coombs on Vancouver Island. There I herded goats, fed turkeys, and put up fences for four hours a day.
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Goat on Vancouver Island.
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I stayed in a private cabin with a woodstove for heating and cooking and prepared my own meals with home-made bread, vegetables, eggs, and goat cheese supplied by my host.
My last WWOOF experience of the summer was on Mayne Island, which I reached by ferry from Schwartz Bay. For a week on Mayne I helped a couple pick organic salad greens to sell to vegetarian restaurants in Victoria. We picked in the mornings and evenings when it was coolest. I ate vegetarian meals with my hosts and slept alone in a cabin with a woodstove, fridge, phone and running water.
Through WWOOF I went to out-of-the way places and met people I never would have otherwise. You don't make money wwoofing but you spend very little.
For More Info
WWOOF is
an exchange — In return for volunteer help (4-6 hours per
day, 5-5 1/2 days per week), WWOOF hosts offer food, accommodation
and opportunities to learn about organic lifestyles.
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Host farms/homesteads
in every region of Canada, East to West . . . over 625 hosts.
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Contact: WWOOF — Canada.
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Membership
is CA$55.
MARGARET BOYES originally from England, now works as a writer, interviewer, and musician in British Columbia.
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