WWOOFING It in Canada

By Margaret Boyes

There is no better way to get to know the people of a country than by volunteering on organic farms.

I was introduced to WWOOF by a niece who had just woofed her way across Canada. She said if I sent $25 to WWOOF Canada (www.wwoof.ca) the organization would send me a list of organic farm hosts to contact. In summer all the farms need workers, she said, and if I contacted them at least a week ahead of time I could move easily from farm to farm.

I decided to WWOOF close to home in parts of British Columbia's Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands I had never visited.

My first of seven WWOOF experiences was on a woman-only herb farm called Goldstream Gardens in Coombs on Vancovuer Island. There I herded goats, fed turkeys, and put up fences for four hours a day.

I stayed in a private cabin with a woodstove for heating and cooking and prepared my own meals with home-made bread, vegetables, eggs, and goat cheese supplied by my host.

My last WWOOF experience of the summer was on Mayne Island, which I reached by ferry from Schwartz Bay. For a week on Mayne I helped a couple pick organic salad greens to sell to vegetarian restaurants in Victoria. We picked in the mornings and evenings when it was coolest. I ate vegetarian meals with my hosts and slept alone in a cabin with a woodstove, fridge, phone and running water.

Through WWOOF I went to out-of-the way places and met people I never would have otherwise. You don't make money woofing but you spend very little.

MARGARET BOYES originally from England, now works as a writer, interviewer, and musician in British Columbia.