How it Works
WWOOF enables people to live and learn on a variety of organic properties. Volunteers (WWOOFers) help on the land and in the home for 4-6 hours a day. Hosts provide food, accommodation and opportunities to learn new skills. If you want hands on experience, to learn and share organic and sustainable ways of living then WWOOF might be for you.
Volunteers
Many skills can be learnt on a WWOOF stay. Usually you live with your host and are expected to join in with the day to day activities. In most countries the program is based on 4-6 hours hands on help and learning a day. Food and accommodation is provided by your host. You may be asked to help with a variety of tasks like sowing seed, making compost, gardening, planting, cutting wood, weeding, harvesting, packing, milking, feeding, fencing, making mud-bricks, wine making, cheese making and bread making and whole lot more!!
WWOOFers say, “We like giving back to the country we are traveling in†by helping where needed.
The length of your stay is negotiated directly between you and your host. Most WWOOF visits are between one and two weeks, though some may be as short as two or three days or as long as six months.
If you are interested in alternative ways of living and want to meet interesting people then WWOOFing is for you!
Hosts
Volunteers can provide an extra pair of hands to help with various projects you are busy with. Many of our hosts practice Permaculture or Bio-dynamic growing methods. Some hosts make a living off their land, some are subsistence farmers others are homesteaders interested in self-sufficiency, some are families, others are individuals. There are also cooperatives, communities and eco- villages.
Hosts say, “We like the world coming to us†by opening up our homes and sharing our lifestyle with others.
WWOOF hosts are organic farmers and growers. They enjoy passing on their knowledge of sustainable and organic practices. Volunteering with a WWOOF host is about helping on an organic property and learning and experiencing organic/biological farming and gardening.
Hosting volunteers can be hugely rewarding as you are enabling people to experience and share your lifestyle. You will also be demonstrating an alternative way of life to what many of them are used to. Often volunteers are so inspired by the experience that they end up changing their lifestyles and even setting up their own organic farms! As a host you are improving communication and helping to grow the organic movement.