Fruits and Our Labor

   

      I want to be a farmer when I grow up, but I'm not sure I'm cut out for it.  There's so much heavy work involved; but fortunately the ends justify the means.  Fresh, wholesome food grows healthy people.  I came to the ranch for a test run - to see if I can work- and to taste the fruits of labor.

      The manager of Tauroa Trust, Heather, and I have a made a work exchange agreement facilitated by the Wwoof (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) organization.  The deal is that I work for 4-6 hours a day, 6 days a week, and in return I am provided with a place to stay and good food to eat.  Wwoof is an international web based community with branches in many countries, serving to link organic farming operations with enthusiastic farms hands.  This forms a mutually beneficial relationship where the affordable labor may advance their knowledge and skillset through experience.  

     For the past week I have lived in a big upstairs room of a woolshed with the rest of the workers.  People have come and gone, but our head count floats around 4 people.  We self-organize to cook and eat together.  We socialize and harmonize.  This communal home is a schoolroom of sorts.  It teaches us  to cooperate and coexist peacefully.  This is an important lesson for human beings.

     Our work has been varied, from harvesting horse manure and grubbing thistles to milking cows and transplanting tomatoes.  Heather explains how and why and lets us complete our task, often working alongside.         Earth offers her abundance anybody who is tuned in.  Though if we desire something specific, we must ask.  So we till the soil and plant some seeds.

        Here at Tauroa, people have been planting seeds for over a decade, and the earth is giving like a fruit tree.  We who are here now benefit from past effort, and since most only stay for a couple of weeks, we offer the fruits of our labor to those who come in the future.  With dirty hands and happy hearts, we pass on the gifts that we have received.

Check out the Wwoof website! http://www.wwoofinternational.org/