WWOOFing on an Organic Farm

After our Bentong farm experience I decided to volunteer on an organic farm for a few days. On December 8, I emailed Kenny Ng of Green Wish Vegi Garden which is located in Chenderiang, a small town 14km from Tapah in the state of Perak. I received a positive reply from Kenny the same night.

I decided to begin my *WWOOFing experience on December 17 and began making a list of essentials I needed.

D-Day and I depart for Chenderiang, about 166km north of Petaling Jaya. The drive was smooth and weather was overcast. Splendid! I exited the expressway into Tapah town and as I neared Chenderiang - I lowered my window. Lovely clean, fresh air. The small town had one main road with rustic pre-war shop-houses.

After another 8.8km passing through kampung (village) houses I arrived at my destination. At this moment I had not decided on the length of my stay. I reckon it will be the 3-day minimum and if I could I'd aim for five days.

I was greeted by Lee May, Kenny's wife at the main house. Minutes later Kenny emerges from the farm at back to welcome me. After I had stowed my kit away in the guest room I followed Kenny to the area where three other volunteers are busy weeding the plot. I am introduced to Romy, a young German lady and Mike and girlfriend Alle from Boston (short for Alejandra), who just arrived the night before.

My first task was to scoop compost with my bare hands from the wheelbarrow and spread it onto the raised bed. The compost comprised of weeds and goat dung - totally no smell. Next was our break and we feasted on juicy papayas in the dining area. I learned that the water was sourced from the mountain stream and it was safe for drinking even without boiling. 

The sheeting we installed is on the left. Compare to the weather-beaten one at right.

After the break we replaced the sheeting on a hoop house. It was quite challenging to get the UV sheet over the structure and down on both sides as it was about 12 feet high I guess.

Oh, did I mention that my hosts were vegitarians? It means I will for once in my life will not be eating any meat. Over lunch I learned that all the three other WWOOFers also do not consume meat. Romy, is the lone vegan. WWOOFing work hours are from 7.30 am to 12.30 pm, thus the afternoon I spent chatting with Romy. As for the Americans, well they were still recovering from jet-lag.

My alone time in the afternoon was to take a ride on my mountain bike. I must say that time really goes by quickly when I'm farming but the afternoons and nights dragged by slowly as the other WWOOFers preferred to retreat to their quarters. Between listening to music, reading and playing with the dogs (all nine of them), there isn't anything else to do.

Day two saw us uprooting the old okra plants and rebuilding the raised-bed which over the months had been eroded by rain. The entire work-day was spent doing so and boy my back was aching now. Lunch was a delight. We had a salad with over ten vegetables picked fresh from the garden. I never thought I'd hear myself say, 'being vegetarian is not that bad after all'.

After another night of inactivity I had decided tomorrow would be my last day. Also the fact my arthritis had flared up with my right knee and left ankle both swollen.

Day three was the most difficult as my knee and ankle pain is now further aggravated with backache shooting up my spine. I trudged on and we complete rebuilding the bed and planted bitter gourd seeds. Mission accomplished!

I may want to go on another WWOOFing stint at another farm. This time I will get in shape before I begin.

Last day_with Romy from Germany

*WWOOF - World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF, /ˈwʊf/), or Willing Workers on Organic Farms en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF