Google Calendar

Below is my Google Calendar recently updated with my driving plans to get to my first WWOOF farm in Chimacum, WA.  Click the right blue arrow to flip between May and June where my plans are posted.  Click on each event for details of where I'll be driving each day, mileages, etc.  In the pop up window, you can click "more details" and can find a link to the Google Maps route I'll be taking in the description section.

Confirmed!

The moment has arrived - I have officially secured my volunteer positions at two farms in the pacific northwest for endersession! After emailing 10 different farms - some saying they were full, others not responding at all - I have found two places which I can't wait to start working for!

Starting May 15 I will be working on Red Dog Farm in Chimacum, WA on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula.  Located just 20 minutes away from the nearest town (Port Townsend), Red Dog grows over 20 acres of hay, mixed vegetables, berries, and flowers.  The farm is part of a local CSA and sells crops to restaurants, farmers markets, and individuals.  WWOOFers are expected to work 25 hours a week weeding, planting, and working on whatever projects require volunteer attention.  I'll be enjoying the experience tent camping and have access to communal bathroom, shower, laundry, and kitchen facilities.

After a ferry ride (less than $12) across the sound and a short drive east I'll arrive on May 25 at my second WWOOF volunteer site, Finney Farms near Concrete, WA.  Once a blueberry farm at the foot of the Cascade Mountain range, the land now supports fruit orchards, mixed vegetable gardens, and a second-growth forest -- providing food almost exclusively for the group of people who tend to the land and community.  After 32 hours per week working in gardens, assisting in "green" building projects, or preserving food, I can stay in a community/guest house or my own tent.  I'll have access to a living room, kitchen, shower, laundry facilities, and sauna, but no indoor toilet -- they have an outdoor composting toilet instead!

I just had a phone interview with Jennie from Finney Farms yesterday, and she explained that I won't get the same "tractor and all-day field work" type of opportunities I may find on other farms.  I feel Red Dog Farm represents more of the "traditional" farm experience, whereas Finney Farm focuses more on land stewardship and communal living.  Each site seems far different than the other - Red Dog farm is a business whereas Finney Farm is a self-sustaining community - but I feel these individual quirks will give me a taste of the variety of farm models seen in modern agriculture. 

Red Dog Farm image from reddogfarm.net
Finney Farm image from travelblog.org