Cwmglyn Farm - WWOOF #1

Today is Sunday, and since Monday night I have been here at Cwmglyn farm WWOOFign with Ben Gray. Basically what that means is, in exhange for food, shelter, and knowledge of organic farming (in this case, of organic Dairy farming) we work for 4-6 hours a day doing simple things like yard work, cooking, and cleaning. On Tuesday morning, our first whole day, we totally took apart the milk shed where Emily and Molly are milked daily and washed down the walls, shelves, floors, buckets, containers, and tools and put it all back together again. It took us roughly 4-5 hours to do, and then we made some dinner. This was a heavy day to be sure, but it was something of an audition day in my opinion, and we proved ourselves well. We took the rest of the night off beginning around 7:30 and relaxed in our spacious library that contains my bed and connects to Ben’s bedroom.
The next morning we awoke refreshed and ready to do some more work. Colin had us unearth some large stumps which though tipped on their side, had succumb to the dirt left on the roots and the quick New Zealand vegetation growth. It was tough but fun work to dig, then pry up, and then knock clean the giant stumps. By noonish we finished and went in to have lunch and begin a giant batch of stew, which would feed the four of us dinner that night, and Ben and I again the next day. With the pot simmering on the stove, we were given the rest of the day off and used it to go for a run in the countryside. The heat finally made me walk-run the last mile home, but Ben finished all 4.5 miles or so that we attempted over the rolling paddock-filled hills. We threw for a few minutes among the trees in one of the farm’s paddocks and felt our quads protest. It was a well needed run, especially with our high milk fat diet here. A shower, some puzzle work, and a couple card games took up the rest of our afternoon.
A note about our residence here on the farm. We live in a second house, connected to the newer main building by a hallway. Our house has a pool table, a huge library of fiction and non-fiction, and four separate beds. It also has a stereo of mediocre but well distributed sound. At first, our only real input was radio, but we finally put it together that Ben’s tape adaptor could give us iPod connectivity. In here we tend to play cards, read, nap, put puzzles together, and so on. It’s a relaxed study-like place that is nice and quiet when we want it to be, and much nicer than our former abode. It should also be noted that while we have earned no money this week, we have had to think about money the same amount.
We finished up our stay with some steaks one night, hack pizza the next, and my first ever attempt at Stroganoff, though with venison instead of beef. All went well. When Joey and Scooter finally came to pick us up, they stayed one night, and then we said goodbye in the morning after some pancakes. Colin and Biddy wished us well and told us to stop in if we were in the neighborhood again.