Wanderlust and WWOOFing: Farm 11...

Some places are truly special, and farm 11 is one of these places. People call it the “farmily”, and the name is fitting. The farmer and his three children (two part time, one full time) live here, along with an assortment of wwoofers (currently 8 of us), most of whom are long term and three of whom have been here for over a year. Also on the land are two tiny homes with another 3 people living there. Accommodation for wwoofers is provided in a motley assortment of roundhouses, wooden gypsy style caravans and small buildings on the property. The farmhouse is usually bustling with life, and since I’ve been here, the busiest evening saw 13 people around the dinner table.

The busyness of the social scene is balanced by the peace and tranquillity of the location. Situated on the edge of a lake in the middle of Cortes Island, a 3km driveway sets the farm a long way away from the nearest neighbours. 300 acres of mostly forest surround the farm buildings, and hiking trails lead straight from the farm to an assortment of local beauty. Cortes is a pretty amazing place too – where Hornby was about beaches and coastline, Cortes is about lakes and forests. The farm isn’t big – a small garden to supply the farm, cows and goats for milking and meat for the farm itself, chickens for eggs (some of which are sold), and a sawmill which provides much of the farm income. Most of the food we eat comes from the farm, and careful preservation means that even in the heart of winter, we’re surrounded by an abundance of tasty and nutritious food.

Daily animal and house chores make up part of the work here, with other jobs at this time of year focusing on maintenance and building projects. The farmer has a self confessed wwoofer addiction, meaning there are almost too many people here for the time of year, but yet the list of jobs never seems to run out. I’ve been working on organising the farm manual – a task that is testing the limits of my organisational abilities (currently I’ve found two different hard copy versions, and about 7 different versions on the computer...).

The magic of this place for me is the people. I’ve been interested in community living for some time, and this is my first real experience of it. I love having people around – there’s been a wealth of board games, music, film watching and hiking (including an epic snow hike), but there’s always space for peace and quiet if you need it. I’ve learnt so much from the people here in such a short time, from practical skills about fermenting kombucha and canning food, to life skills in Non Violent Communication and permaculture. I’ve got to try my hand at cheese making and found myself teaching people how to gut chickens. Meals are big, the food is amazing and there is laughter in abundance. But with the positives come along with challenges. So many people living so closely together leads to disagreements, communication challenges and strong personalities clashing. But people work hard at making it work, and for the most part, it does.

There’s been some tough times in the period I’ve been here. A truck accident resulted in another wwoofer being rushed to a hospital with a head injury, followed a few days later by another wwoofer with health problems. Bad timing meant this all happened in the run up to Christmas, and while the 3km driveway was almost impassable due to a foot of snow. But everyone made it back in time for Christmas thanks to the kindness of some neighbours, and 5 other wwoofers and I had a lovely and relaxed Christmas, with an abundance of good food and celebration. New Years was a relaxed affair, but 2014 has started promisingly, with a new years day dip in the icy cold lake and an outdoor hot tub.

For me, it’s the place I’ve felt most at home, and I feel like my individual skills fit in well here (the farmer is pretty disorganised...). Prior plans mean I’m currently leaving mid January, but I’m seriously considering coming back later in the year, either in the spring or summer. It's not often you find a farmily like this...