WWOOF #9 – Alexandra

Jan. 29 - Feb. 2

Keeping with our trend of large, diverse organic gardening operations, we booked our next WWOOF at Kutash Organic Gardens. Again to our surprise, another WWOOFer was already staying here. Mare, a young French Canadian hipster, was scheduled to leave already, but her next WWOOF plans fell through, and would be staying here for a few more days. Things began cordial, but within a day there was virtually no interaction between us. One funny story is that she made a batch of cookies (using our hosts' ingredients) and never offered them to us. Instead, when we came in the room, she put them away in the cupboard. It made for an uncomfortable setting, but we continued with our work and planned to leave a little early (4 days instead of the 6 we booked). Leaving early was also due to the fact that this farm consisted almost entirely of garlic (and there wasn't tons to do in our free time near Alexandra). We’d already gained some experience with garlic at our previous WWOOF and were hoping for a more diverse operation. Our hosts, Lon and Gilly, did make some additional garlic products, such as pates, pickled garlic, and roasted garlic, but our labors were in the field, pulling their huge crop from the ground. It was a monumental task, and one that required a celebration at the local Poolburn Pub upon completion on our last night.

Garlic, garlic, and more garlic

Less than halfway into the harvest, hundreds of pounds to go

Lon and Gilly were great hosts, and very accommodating. This was their life - truly making a living from the ground, and they continued to expand and grow their business, mainly consisting of farmers markets. It was a great experience to get some first hand working knowledge of the long and arduous days of farming. At the end of our long, hot days, we took short drives out to the lakes just above the dam for a very remote and private swim. The terrain was quite interesting, and was actually the land of Rohan in the Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson described the area as one of his favorite locations in the movie). All in all, we really enjoyed ourselves and felt a close connection with Lon and Gilly. Thanks for the memories!

Barren landscape with interesting rock formations made the land of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings

One of the lakes at the top of the Poolburn Dam. We were the only ones here.

Another lake above the dam, and yet again, we were the only ones. Refreshingly cold after a hot day's work. Freshwater crayfish as well, though we didn't catch any to eat.

The whole gang gathered around the LAST garlic to be pulled out.