Get Your Hands Dirty with WWOOF

Summary: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms is a place to learn about how farms operate all over the world.

The World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms links volunteers with organic farms and growers. You can be a volunteer or host.

Don’t Forget to Give Back with Volunteer Work

To be a host you must have a farm, garden, vineyard, allotment, smallholding, or woodland that follows organic or sustainability guidelines. A volunteer can arrange to come to your place to act as an extra set of hands. The benefit for you is to receive extra help around your place while teaching them about alternative ways of life and new growing techniques.

The Benefits of Volunteering When Job Searching

As a volunteer you generally live with the host and join them in their day to day activities. Most countries that participate have an exchange of 4-6 hours of help for a full-day’s food and accommodation. Tasks that you may be asked to help with include sowing seed, gardening, marking compost, weeding, milking, feeding, wine making, planting, cutting wood, packing, harvesting, and more. You will negotiate the length of stay with the host but usually they are between one and two weeks long but some stay as long as six months.

While Seeking Work, Volunteer

The first step is to choose what country you want to head to and then join the WWOOF organization there. Once a member, you can access a database of farms and start the process. For hosts, they must join their local WWOOF.

Photo: wwoofeurope.net