A Swing and a Miss

Well friends, if we had talked a week ago I would have told you that I would be volunteering on a farm right now.  A few weeks ago, I signed up for the WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Israel program, which means that I have access to over 60 farms throughout the country that are looking for volunteers.  In exchange for work throughout the day, the volunteer is provided with a place to stay and meals, so I thought it sounded like a great opportunity to get out of the city for a bit and learn about organic farming methods.  Someday, I hope that Eric and I will have a home with a yard that allows for a few vegetable beds and chickens, but before then I want to learn more about how to keep plants alive and happy (since I mostly kill everything I try to grow now).

I found a farm just outside of Tel Aviv that grows vegetables for stores and private residences in and around Tel Aviv, so I made plans to spend 6 days volunteering and soaking up as much knowledge as possible.  I left Jerusalem yesterday morning and arrived at the farm around 11am.  The owner of the farm was not at all what I expected when I imagined an organic farmer (admittedly, I probably have an idealized notion of what this looks like), but I was reassured when he showed me around the fields and I saw all of the amazing produce growing on his land.  The farm really was impressive and I could not wait to get to work!  He then showed me his house where I would be staying.  The room provided for me was more of an office and the whole house was a complete disaster.  Now, I do not go to a farm expecting pristine conditions, but I honestly did not feel comfortable sitting on the "bed" let alone sleeping on it.  Not to mention, it would just be the two of us in the house, which felt a little off.  There were two other volunteers there, but I quickly learned that they were both leaving that evening and would not be back until Sunday.  When arranging the visit, I specifically asked if coming during Shabbat would be a problem, because I knew that most places would not work Friday and Saturday, but the owner did not seem concerned so I assumed work would continue as usual.  Unfortunately, staying on the farm alone with a strange man for two days was not really what I bargained for, so I decided to head back home.  I did, however, get to spend the afternoon planting rows of garlic, so I do not feel like the trip was wasted.

My super sad almost bed for 6 nights :(
 
I do plan to look into other farms, as I know that the right circumstances could result in an amazing experience.  Now I know to look for farms run by a family (as opposed to one guy) and to ask specific questions about the room being provided for my stay.  I'll chalk this one up to experience and hope that the next trip is a bit more successful!  Now Eric and I get to have a quiet Shabbat at home, which will probably include lots of episodes of The Great British Bake-off, so things could certainly be worse :)