Hello steemians, Bliss here with one of my first post. Hope you guys enjoy it and all is well!! Please subscribe, comment, upvote if you like what you read. I am also open to suggestions from anyone on my articles, writing style and what not god bless!!!
World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms
The dim traces of suns light race in through breaks in the shades. My phone reads 4:45 and a message goes off from my sister about some problems she is having at home. She is 4 hours ahead so her complaining to me at this time in the morning is quickly forgiven. I surf the net until 530 and the dim light has brightened considerably. They cut through the room like transparent blades stuck frozen in time.
I brush my teeth and make my way to the kitchen and find a pot of coffee brewing. I open the fridge to find some fresh goat milk from the day before and poor some into a half full cup of coffee . A few minutes later my host shows up with a bug net, something about a chicken escaped from a pen. She details her early morning chase as other woofers show up in the kitchen. We are 6, all from different places on earth. Germany, France and few Americans we some how all get along.
After our small breakfast we all head out like a gang to a corner part of this 12 acre farm in California.The temperature in the mornings and late evening could be a little frisky. I pull my hoodie over my head. We pass the roaming ducks, some turkeys and the little brats we have running around in pig form. They approach us with they're little faces probably begging for food. We ignore them and head to the goat pen where our morning begins.
We spend the next hour milking 35 goats. Brown Nubians, Lamanchas, all wait in line to be milked. Soon the pesky flies appear as some inexperienced woofers spill milk on the ground. We fight through the heat and flies and finish our morning duty. A few complain about the flies, while others boast about how many goats they milked. We walk back to the house and have breakfast together. We spend the rest of day working on special projects until our break and then later around 6pm, we milk the goats again.
This was my life for a month at bohi Farm. It was gritty at times and the work as the summer crept closer became increasingly hard on many of us. Some woofers left a few weeks early as many could not stand the heat and task. It was only 25 hours a week but many if you heard them speak would have you believe they were building the great wall of china. I have been working since i was a teen so hard work is in my pores.
My host alana showed us so much while i was there. We learned how to make cheese, pies, yogurt and many more. I swear i know how to cook now because of that woman. I made a pie for my family just last week, they loved it and were proud of my progress as an adult. I learned so much about nature and even slaughtered my first pig which sounds fucked up but its a part of life. The pigs are only fed goats milk so the meat was unlike anything i had ever tasted before.
I left the bohi goat farm after my month a whole new person. Just stepping into this foreign world that my host was living in was surreal. She has been milking goats for more then 30 years. Her hands are strong, her eyes sharp even at her old age. This woman and her husband were part of a dying breed. Many farmers with goats milked with a milking machine but at this farm we milked them by hand twice a day. She spoke very fondly of the damage the machines can cause the goats. She was not wealthy and loosing good milking goats could disrupt the flow of her ecosystem.
My first woofing farm was such a blast and i have a new found respect for the program and what it offers. I suggest anyone not bogged down by anything sign up and check out a few farms. There is a 40 dollar yearly fee but its well worth it. There are farms in every state and part of the world. All it takes is a message on the woofing site to reach a host
START TRAVELLING NOW!!
Thank you for reading i will try and make more in dept posts. Just a little about the last month. I am currently back home and saving to go woofing in portugal! Should have a review sometime later this year god willing. I work long hours so post on heres wont be as frequent at first. Hope everyone is ok even if your not and still breathing, be grateful for what you have. Other people are struggling and dying in poverty this very minute, while we get the honor of being on steemit and sharing our lives! PEACE LOVE AND LIFE!!! GOD BLESS!! GOOD VIBES EVERYONES WAY!!