WWOOFing in France: a day to day account of the first farm

• Day 1: We arrived in Bernay around 6pm on a Monday and we’re greeted by Adeline and her three kids with the traditional French la bise, which immediately made us feel welcomed. The house was a short drive from the train station and we were shown our room, and the rest of the house. We were greeted with a new litter of kitties only a few weeks old and as cute as can be. Moments after the tour, Stephane, Harry and Dean came home from the farm carrying cartons of eggs and boxes of fresh vegetables that Adeline later made for dinner. Once everyone was settled we all sat around a table in the backyard and got acquainted. I was filled with nervousness and anticipation for what this journey would hold.
• Day 2: We got up, had breakfast and was out of the house at around 7. Mornings were pretty much always cold but once the work starts, I quickly warmed up. Every morning we let the chickens out and refilled their water and food. My first individual task on the farm was watering the cabbages. There were hundreds of different types of cabbages. Stephane only asked me to water four rows then have someone else replace me. We would take turns watering, this way we won’t get bored doing the same thing all day. Next Stephane asked me if Ive ever been to a sauna because my next task was harvesting the strawberries in the greenhouse. And boy did it feel like a sauna in there. Harvesting is fairly easy, all I had to do is move the plant around and pick anything red. Funny little side story, I had my nails done in OPI’s big apple red so I kept seeing red only to realize that it was my nail polish. I laughed to myself about that for while. After I was done, I took a moment to look at all the strawberries that I had picked and it was pretty cool seeing my fruits of labor. It was time for lunch and for dessert we ate some of the strawberries which brought me a great sense of pride. There were perfectly ripened with a sweetness I cant describe. After lunch Dean and I helped Stephane lay down a couple of planting fabric then planted cucumbers and zucchinis in the holes of the fabric. After all the new plants were in place, we watered and feed them plant food. The day was almost done. Our last task at the end of every work day was to herd the chickens back inside and gather the eggs. Back at the house, Adeline made dinner and we all sat around eating dinner as one big diverse family.

sorry taken from my phone

• Day 3: It was Wednesday and we had Wednesdays off so Lance and I slept in. When we woke around noon, we had brunch, I read a little then decided to take the bikes into town, which was a 4.5 mile ride. Lance and I went to the marche and bought some food then went across the street to the park and enjoyed our picnic. We rode the 4.5 miles back (mostly uphill). When dinner time came around we all gathered together around food and wine discussing life. I helped bring in the plates and when I came back out I was greeted with a soccer match. Three on three, our team won, no thanks to me of course.

the road to bernay

• Day 4: We left the house around 8 had a little coffee and it was off to work. I picked weeds around the peppers then feed them. Harry watered the tomatoes, making sure not to get water on the leaves because that will cause them to develop mushrooms on the leaves. We then hung strings from the bars of the greenhouse and fastened them to the cucumbers to help the stand and grow. Once the cucumbers were done, we tended to the tomatoes, pitching the pit and wrapping them around the strings to help them not fall over. By the time we were done with the tomatoes, our hands were caked green and gnarly looking like a villain from some comic book. We gathered the eggs and headed home. It was an easy day and I enjoyed helping the plants.

• Day 5: We started at 7. On Fridays, we harvested so that Stephane could sell what we harvested at the farmers market on Saturday and Sunday. I harvested more strawberries and peas. To prevent mushrooms from growing on the tomatoes, we took turns spraying a copper solution onto the leaves and stems of each tomato plant. We then, helped prune and prep the vegetables to be presentable for market as well as sort and box up orders placed. After we left the farm, Stephane drove us over to his friends goat farm to show us how goat cheese is made. Stephane even bought a few for us to try for dinner.

peas and artichoke ready for market

ready for market

spraying copper solution on the tomatoes

• Day 6 and 7: We had Saturdays and Sundays off to do as we wished, Lance and I walked the 9 miles to and from Bernay to tour the town. Sunday, Harry had news that he had to leave early so we all stayed up to hang out with him. that night we laid out in the middle of the road and looked upon the stars. There must have been millions of stars out engulfing us in a sweet serenity. I even made wishes on several shooting stars.

the walk to Bernay

the walk to bernay

• Day 8: We dropped Harry off at the train station before heading to the farm. I didn’t sleep well the night before so I was a bit tired, but the work still carried on as usually. We dumped bad seedlings from the trays that we later stacked in numerical order. We harvested the broccoli and cauliflower before pulling them all up since it was the end of the season for them. Then Pierre and I spent the rest of the evening bailing hay.

Their son Pierre

• Day 9: Dean and I filled up 40 or so seed trays with soil and place different seeds in them. Lance used the weed whacker to clear walkways. We moved thing around into storage.
• Day 10: It was Wednesday so we were off. Adeline and Stephane has a tradition that every wwoofer had to prepare dinner for everyone once. It was something fun for the wwoofers to do and the family to experience food from different culture. So today was our day. Lance and I made Vietnamese spring rolls, parmesan mushrooms, greek pasta salad and cheesecake. Having never really cooked a meal in my life, I burnt the mushrooms and the cheesecake was more of a pudding but everyone was kind and told us it was good.
• Day 11: It was a hot day and the plants were thirsty so I spent majority of the day watering the greenhouses while Lance and Dean used a hand plow to uproot weeds. We harvested zucchinis. Now Ive never associated zucchinis with evil but they have these invisible hair on them that pokes ya. It was Dean’s last day on the farm which was a bit sad but we kept busy not to dwell to much. That night we spent an especially long time talking after dinner. Around midnight Quentin showed up.

zucchinis

• Day 12: We said our goodbyes to Dean and dropped him off at the train station. It was Friday so we harvested strawberries, more zucchinis, peas, thymes, basil, and mint then prepared everything for market. Being Quentin’s first day it was nice getting to know him and showing him the ropes around the farm. The family was hosting a big party the next day so we help set up the farm for it. That night, after dinner, we stayed up and offered to helped Adeline prepare some of the food for the party until midnight or so. It was fun just hanging out with everyone over a few beers.
• Day 13: Today was the day of the big party! We were so excited to be apart of it. I mean when we’re we ever going to get the chance to attend a party in France again?! Some 100 or so people showed up. After arriving everyone grabbed a chair and headed over to the fields where a couple of actors were putting on a play. It was all in french so the story was lost to us. Instead we walked around the farm to check on the plants and fare them well. We weren’t asked to help but Quentin, Lance and I offered to serve the food, food that we had harvested and prepared. For the appetizer we served bread the a friend of Stephane had made, with egg and salad. The main course were the chickens that have running around in the back yard the last few weeks all rotisseried up with potatoes. For dessert, we served a strawberry and mint salad that was divine. There were numerous occasions when someone would come up to me and start speaking french, flustered, I had no clue how to respond so Id grab Quentin and have him save me. However, by the end of the night I was comfortable enough to exchange in small talk with the 100 french people and I could tell they appreciated my efforts. Once people knew we were Americans, they all wanted to come and practice their English with us. It was incredible that even though we didnt speak the language and were still new to the culture, we never felt left out. What was strange was the band was a reggae band and even stranger, everyone was totally into it! The lead singer being from Africa spoke little French and even less English came up to me at the end of the night and paid me at compliment saying I was tres bel, I blushed.  The other two members are two French guys with dreadlocks down to their waist. One of them came and sat with us and asked us how his English was when he sang. His English was fluent and his singing was beautiful so thats what I told him. He told us of his longing to travel the U.S. and play all the different genres of each region. Our hometown Memphis, being the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll was definitely on his list. The party went on until 4 in the morning with everyone dancing the night away. It was a sight to see. Stephane and Lance got pretty wasted and by the end of the night Lance described Stephane as a unicorn and well, Stephane couldn’t stop dancing. It was a marvelous night that I will cherish.

reggae band

dancing the night away

So there it is, my honest account of my experience WWOOFing at our first farm. The days were sometimes long and the work was sometimes hard but I loved every minute of it and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.