Down On The Farm

Feel the need to get out of the city? Get back to nature, give something back and blow the cobwebs away? A chance to don your designer wellies which are still caked in Glastonbury mud? What you need is a weekend WOOFFing (Willing Workers on Organic Farms, for those of you who don't know! http://www.wwoof.org/.  Which is exactly how myself and some lovely pals spent this weekend, there is nothing like a spot of log carrying and leaf mulching to clear a red wine headache I can tell you!

Our farm of choice was Lower Shaw Farm in Swindon, last year's winner of Best Organic Garden in The Observer Ethical Awards. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jun/03/observer-ethical-awards-community-garden . It really is a fantastic place, run not for profit, it hosts numerous activity weekends - yoga, dance, jewellery etc as a community centre where kids get the play with the animals and learn how farms work. Owners Matt and Andrea are passionate about their work as well as being wonderful, interesting and entertaining hosts.

The work itself was kind of repetative - moving piles of logs, gathering leaves, cleaning buckets and sorting out a greenhouse. I couldn't bring myself to pluck and gut the chickens although some of my fellow wooffer's were frighteningly keen - FREAKS!. Still any monotony was more than made up for by the well earned tea breaks with endless home-made cakes and red wine around the bonfire complete with fire juggling display by the owners son. The food was all fantastic, my personal favourite the lemon and apple, cinammon cake which I informed came mainly from Cranks cookbook, I am getting me one of them!

Wellies have returned to their rightful place under the stairs for now but thoroughly enjoyed their airing!