Lucky us!

The host on our last farm Christian invited us along on his yearly youth camping trip this past weekend. What good luck for us, we were there at the perfect time! Christian is a volunteer fire fighter where he also works with the youth. We went to a small town in East Germany where we rented kayaks and canoes. We loaded them up and paddeled to our first camp site where we pitched our tents.

 In that particular part of Germany there is a few small towns connected by canals. We think we paddled about 15 miles in about 17 hours total all weekend. Our return trip Sunday was supposed to be quick and sweet but no one took into consideration that we would be going against stream and wind. Actually I shouldn't say no one, Lucas mentioned it to me a few times Saturday and then to the group but with the communication barrier no one understood what he was trying to say.  In the end it took a long HARD day of 6 hours (after 8 the day before) to get back to the rental dock.  Overall, sore arms included, it was the perfect way to end our month long travels through Germany.


We are now at a hotel in Dresden, Germany getting ready for our early morning flight to London. :-)





Kayak parking at the restaurant we stopped at for lunch Saturday

Our 2nd farm

We are quite disappointed with our 2^nd farm. The biggest let down is that no one speaks English here. On the WWOOFing site they claimed to speak English and German.  I feel sometimes that they get frustrated with us because we don’t know any German. With the communication barrier we are unable to learn much from them. Christopher is our host and the person we have to communicate with the most.



Our digs for the week, like I said clean!

At the farm they have about 3 hectors of land that has two fairly small gardens, many fruit trees, and some horses. Everything here is very well maintained and groomed. On our first day of work we had to trim a bush, weed, and sweep the front sidewalk. We were both surprised that our work for the day was to make the front of the place look pretty! At Ulf’s farm there was no time in the day for such silly things. The farm has two large buildings sectioned off into apartments that house the whole Neumann clan. We’ve learned that the farm has been in the family for many generations. There are a total of 5 families that live here currently. We have noticed that everyone has their tasks they do daily. Grandma takes care of the bunnies, Christopher the sheep, his father is an all around fix it guy and Markus’s family tends to the horses. They are very well organized and planned in that way.



Part of the small garden

The biggest difference between this farm and Ulf’s farm is self sustainability. Here they are not self sustainable. They have two gardens and some animals; they buy most of their groceries at the market. Ulf’s farm was a well planned out operation. Everything he did affected something else in some way. All the weeds we pulled went to the chickens or  pigs whose crap was then used as manure for the gardens. Anything we didn’t eat was fed to the pigs, so he had essentially no waste. He had fresh milk; cream and cheese daily form the milking cow. He harvested vegetables from the garden, made jams from his fruit trees and meat from his pigs, cows and chickens. We can’t forget about the honey the bees produce!  Almost everything we had to eat at Ulf’s was self made on his farm. Pretty much everything we’ve ate at our current farm has been processed crap! Things I don’t even buy or eat at home. Ulf told us many times that he feeds us better than any other farm ever will. At the time I didn’t believe him but now I think there may be some truth to his words.  We’ve said many times now how much we miss Ulf. We had long hard days while staying on his farm but we were rewarded for everything we did. Most of all we learned form him. We feel we can’t complain too much though, we do have a safe and clean place to rest our heads at night.

Ulf, Me and Lucas the night before we left

 We’ve spent the week catching up on our planning for future travel. Next week we fly to London where we’ll spend 3 nights sight seeing. Then we take a train to south England to our first farm in the UK. We are really excited to travel the UK for many reasons, and English is one of them!



My favorite thing about this farm is the baby horse

Much to do!

Our last few weeks at Ulf’s farm have been great. He has been generous with everything and has made us feel very comfortable in his home. He feeds us excellent food and a lot of it! Ulf says “the only way to not get fat while staying here is to work hard.” Apparently I’m not working hard enough because my pants are getting a little snug! We have had many jobs while staying here; I’m going to give a brief description of each below. Some we have enjoyed very much and some not so much. All have been a great learning experience.

Harvesting Strawberries- I only had to harvest strawberries one time, in the freezing rain. I did such a crappy job Ulf had to send Lucas out after lunch to help me do it again. We got more strawberries the second time than the first. I guess I was just too picky, only picking the perfect ones. Needless to say Ulf has not asked me to harvest strawberries since. I am ok with that. J

Hoeing the fields- In the beginning I much preferred to be down on my knees picking weeds than using a hoe. Ulf says “hoeing is like a violin, it takes at least 10 years to master.” We have to pick and hoe weeds a lot! I am getting used to the hoe and don’t mind it as much anymore.

Mucking out the stables- This is a job I do not like at all. Ulf says some people LOVE this job. I find it very hard to believe. Lucas and I had to muck out the pig pen together, which was very dank. The smell is so bad it actually burns your nose and eyes. Lucky for me I got the job of holding the door shut so the pigs couldn’t come into the area that Lucas was cleaning.

 A few days later Ulf very casually asked me a half hour before lunch to shovel all the shit off the concrete slab in Lucy’s area. My reply was “right before lunch!?!” He said, “A half hour is plenty of time for this job.” I have to say although I had to do the heavy lifting with this one it wasn’t as bad as the pig pen. Cow crap doesn’t burn your nose like pig shit does. I filled the wheel barrel four times with cow crap! I did manage to finish just in time for lunch to hit the table (although I no longer had an appetite).

Planting crops- Just yesterday Ulf got 1000 small plants that needed to get into the ground. Lucas and I worked on it all day yesterday and today. This is a pretty easy job, although being bent over for such a long time got really hard. Monday Ulf put a fresh coat of manure on the field we were working on. It was a real treat slipping and sliding through that! Plus the smell was a constant reminder of
what we're digging in.

Cleaning jars- It rained here for a week straight so Ulf had to get creative with jobs for us since we couldn’t be out in the field hoeing. My job for two days was washing jars for honey and sausage. Three of the pigs went to the butcher this last Wednesday so Ulf needed the jars cleaned anyhow. I probably hand washed a couple hundred jars. The best part was being in the kitchen right next to the warm stove. Everyone else had jobs outside in the cold and rain.

Digging potatoes- This is Lucas’ all-time least favorite job. He has to dig potatoes Friday morning before the store opens. This is really hard work! Plus the large amount of potatoes he has to get. Since the first day I have helped him to make the work a little easier. He gets very crabby from this job. He told me “we are NOT growing potatoes back home!”  

Honey production- We are very fortunate we were here for the collection of honey. Ulf “stole” the honey from the beehives (We got to watch). Then Lucas or I had to open the combs by scraping off the wax. Then put them into the honey spinner and spun all the honey out of the combs. The honey goes through two strainers and collects in 5 gallon buckets. We Filled 9 buckets. Lucas has to stir the honey by hand everyday until it gets milky (about a week). Then Ulf puts the honey into jars that get labeled and go onto the shelf to sell. It’s quite a sticky mess but a lot of fun! We both enjoyed every part of the honey process and we still want to have bees some day.

Opening the honey combs

We have to work hard, get dirt under our nails, animal crap on our shoes and hay in our bras (maybe just my bra) but so far it has all been worth it. By the end of the week we get to be a part of what goes into Ulf’s store and then onto our and other peoples tables. Getting to know Ulf and how he operates his organic farm is the best part of our experience so far. We are quite sad to be leaving Saturday, but are also super excited to see the next farm, meet the next family and start the next chapter of our adventure.

A small cage Lucas built for holding momma & baby birds

While I was washing jars Lucas was building a table

Our first day as a farmer

We woke up in time for breakfast (amazing since we don’t have an alarm clock) then out to do work at 8:00 sharp. The morning started fairly easy, Lucas was harvesting strawberries and I was sent to the green house to plant and tie up tomatoes. It was a hot sunny day and very muggy and hot inside the green house. When I went out to visit Lucas in the breezy field I commented on how nice it was and told him “I wish I was doing strawberries.” He said “he wishes he was in the green house.” I said to him “I think the grass is greener on the other side.” We continued this work after our 2^nd breakfast until lunch.



The strawberry field

While eating lunch (usually our biggest meal of the day) Ulf said he had to meet someone at 2:00 to do hay bales and that he needs one of us to help, the other was welcome to come along and watch. Lucas volunteered to be the helper since my allergies were a mess. The guys got started and it was Lucas’ job to catch the hay when it flew out of the shoot of the machine that makes it. I got myself a comfy spot in the sun and watched them go around and around and catching hay bale after hay bale filling the trailer until they started to fall off the back. We then drove them very slowly back to the farm. Lucas was quite the site to see! I wish I would have taken a picture of him. I asked at the time but he was too grumpy to let me. He was covered from head to toe in straw and dust, he was so sweaty from the hard work that it all just stuck right to him. He had two little white spots on his face where his eyes managed to survive the debris. (I still chuckle when I think back)

I feel that this would be a good time to tell you about the swimming hole. It is a man made hole in the ground full of water. It looks much like a small pond back home. (see picture below) Ulf told us we are welcome to swim in it any time we like. Also, he showed us the sign near by stating that it was a NUDE swimming hole! He said “you are welcome to wear your swim suits like most other young adults do, but beware when you are around the swimming hole.” We both agreed in private that we did NOT want to swim in that thing with or without our swim suites! We also had no interest in seeing Ulf in the nude. We never thought that the very next day Lucas would be more than happy to jump into the swimming pond, NUDE even! He was very eager to get the itchy straw off his skin and was not allowed in the house that filthy. I fetched him a towel and some clean clothes while he relieved himself of the itchies in the swimming pond. Hahaha!



The swimming pond. Behind is Ulf's log cabin that he built on wheels because the government would not approve him to build it.

The swimming pond up close and personal. Needless to say there is many frogs that call it home.

 Once cleaned up Lucas then had to pitch fork all the hay off the trailer onto the ground. That is where I had to load 5 bales at a time onto a wagon and walk them to Ulf where he would throw them up into the loft. Lucas was now in the loft where he would then get them, throw them over a wall, climb the wall himself and then arrange them in a suitable fashion! (Keep in mind the loft was very hot and muggy) We did this over and over again until we had no more left. We then had to go back and get all the ones that fell off the trailer. Lucky for us the trailer got stuck in the mud towards the end and that is what ended our work for the night. It was 8:00 by the time we got back for dinner.

We woke the next morning so sore we were barely able to walk. It was a cloudy day so Ulf wanted to start right away and get the rest of the hay up into the loft so it wouldn’t get ruined by rain. Thank goodness this was a smaller load or I don’t think I would have made it. I should mention that we call Ulf “The machine” He will be 50 this month and he has more strength and endurance than anyone I know. He amazes us more every day.

That is how we started our very first day of work, on our first farm of the trip, Moving190 bales of hay!

Ulf's solar panels that generate enough power to run the farm. He also owns a wind turbine that generates enough power to run his entire village 

Meeting Ulf

We have not been able to get connected to the internet at the farm. I have been writing my blogs in word to post later. I am now in a hotel in Berlin, Germany connected to the internet so here is where I left off last.

We got off the train in Peine, Germany (Pronounced Pyna) on Saturday afternoon with no idea where to go. Once again wanting to rid ourselves of half the things in our pack! We found a restaurant and sat down to order some food and when I looked out the window I saw across the street a Taxi business. I was washed over with relief that we found a taxi!

Here is some of the farm!

The cabbie who claims to not speak English was quite the driver! We feared for our lives when the speed limit was 60kph on a very tiny two lane road and he was going 120kph. Not only was he speeding by double he also felt the need to pass slower drivers on the way. 20 euro later the Taxi dropped us off safely (to our surprise) at Ulf’s farm, which was in the middle of a small village.  There was no apparent place to go. He has many doors and owns two houses on the street. First thing we found a place to drop our bags then very unsure of what to do or how to find this farmer we slowly started to look around. Some things that I first noticed was cob webs all over the house, un-groomed flower gardens, bird houses everywhere and houses all around.  I was thinking what kind of farm is this and what the heck did I get us into? We were wondering around for about five minutes when Ulf pulled up in his old Mercedes station wagon. He was very friendly and smiley, first offering us food and drink. Asking if we needed to rest? We just had dinner at the restaurant and I was very excited to see what this place was all about. He showed us around the farm and introduced us to all the animals. Lucky Lucy the milking cow, six pigs, six colonies of bees, many chickens, five baby geese that he bred, two ducks with bigger babies and many other birds that I cannot remember all currently breeding. After showing Us around he said it was time to eat. Over dinner he told us he has much more land around the village. He invited us to go with him and his aunt in the morning to see it all. After dinner we went to our living quarters upstairs to unpack and get settled in.




Lucky Lucy-  she visits me every morning for an ear scratch!

Yes, I've had to eat a lot of pork!

There is only 2 baby geese left. They both think I'm their momma and follow me around. I've named them Baby #1 & Baby #2

The next morning we went with Ulf in his station wagon to pick up his Aunt who was very sweet but did not speak English. She kept talking to me in German, Ulf assured me that as long as I smiled and looked friendly, I would do fine. Although I still have no idea what she tried to tell me. We then drove to the prairie where Ulf keeps his cattle, another field where he keeps his sheep, where his ex girlfriend keeps her horses (she lives in his other house above the store), another plot of land where he grows his potatoes and rye. Then there is also the lot of land across the street from him that has strawberries, earlier planted potatoes, and some German beans and we can’t forget the two green houses stuffed with different vegetables and Herbs. Overall he has a lot to take care of and it’s only him to do it all, which explains some of the neglect in less important areas. In his words “if it does not make him money or bring him food, he does not waste his time on it.” The rest of Sunday was very laid back. Ulf walked us through his daily routine. Up at 7:00 to have breakfast, work at 8:00, 2^nd breakfast at 10:00 (coffee and bars he baked), Lunch at 1:00 where we take a 1 1/2 hour break, then dinner at 7:00. Overall I am very fond of the schedule. By the end of Sunday we were feeling bad for eating free food and doing nothing all day. We were very excited to see what a work day would be like. Oh my, were we in for a surprise!



Inside one of the green houses

Just some pretty flowers on the farm