Nice people like us can really get cheated. Sometimes you have to be a little mean, a little tough, to get what you need and want. It is your farm, your house, your food budget. I’m not sure if your farm is your moneymaker or if you’re just hobbyists. But WWOOFers, like any guest, should understand that you’re the boss and you set the boundaries. For most WWOOF hosts, the farm is not just a home but also a place of business. Like in the traditional business world, workers are expected to be on time and do the work requested. In the real world, if you don’t do your job, or if you show up late too many times, you get fired. Some people think that since WWOOFing is unpaid and more casual, they don’t have to follow the rules. But rules and boundaries keep problems from happening.

To prevent problems in the future I would suggest a couple things:

-decide now what things are critical to your success as a farm and family and make these essential rules. If you have communal meals or share things like the kitchen and bathroom, you should definitely have boundaries as to when and how these things can be used. Consider your water and electric bills as well as food costs. Figure out how much leeway you can afford people with the schedule. For example, if you raise animals, they must be fed and watered at a certain time each day, eggs need to be gathered before they’re stepped on and cracked, etc. If your WWOOFers are working on independent projects like weeding or painting the barn you could be less strict about timing (as long as it gets done).

-explain these rules from the beginning. You may not need or want to put everything in the WWOOF listing, but in response to the initial contact email is a great time. Just a message with, “We’re really excited to hear from you, and you seem like you could be a great match for our farm. These are the daily expectations we have for all our WWOOFers” would be fine. The party animal who likes to drink and dance til 3 and get up at noon isn’t likely to pursue a farm that wants everyone up at 6 to feed the chickens with lights out at 9 to save electricity.

-When things begin to be a problem, you have to say something. If you allow a WWOOFer to abuse your bigheartedness you imply that this is ok with you. The longer it goes on, the more uncomfortable it will be. Explain why you have this rule (ex: we all have to get done with breakfast and out of the house by 10 so I can do the housework and have some personal space) and that you’re not picking on them, you expect everyone (including yourself!!) to follow the rules so everyone can have a pleasant time.

It’s ok to request that WWOOFers clean up after themselves and to expect people to help with things like washing the dishes and setting the table. You could even have a rotating “chore” sheet so that a different person is in charge of clearing the table, washing the dishes or cooking each night.

You know, I think this is going to be a whole new blog post, lol. Well, I need to be writing something on here anyway.

Let me answer your question about meals… I never mind to fix my own breakfast or lunch, and sometimes I even prefer it. At most WWOOF farms I helped on we prepared some or all of our meals, often with a communal dinner to bring everyone together. Different hosts handle it different ways.. with one we were alloted a certain amount of basics per week (bread, eggs, milk, pasta, all the rice, lentils, whole wheat flour and oatmeal we wanted from the shared pantry, butter, peanut butter, etc plus all the apples and garden veggies we could eat), with one I had free range of the kitchen and its 3 freezers (filled up with delicious things like smoked salmon and wild blackberries), and on one we provided all of our own food (in France, and what delicious food there was to be had). It all depends on what you can afford and what you are able to provide from the farm. You can’t give away all of your cash crop, but it’s nice to give WWOOFers a taste of what they’re producing. Of course if you have plenty of it and it’s basically a “free” resource then you could give more. On the apple farm for instance, there’s no way even the hungriest WWOOFer could eat all the apples, so for most varieties we were allowed to eat and bake with all the apples we wanted. Certain varieties were off-limits, destined for market, but we always got at least a taste. This is another great topic for an article so I’m going to stop there. Oh one more thing, keep in mind that some WWOOFers, especially young ones don’t know how to cook! I wouldn’t go buy convenience food for them, but have simple things like leftovers that can be heated up in the microwave (if you use one), toast or cereal/granola for breakfast, etc. And teach them how to cook for themselves! That’s an essential skill everyone should have.

Report Spam/Abuse

Report Spam/Abuse

Report Spam/Abuse