WWOOF France

In winter, the pace gets slower as the temperature grows colder. But the work on organic farms continues all year around. From cutting wood to baking bread, WWOOFers and hosts talk about their experiences WWOOFing in wintertime, when there is never a lack for something to do or a warm meal to share.

Marie, organic farmer and baker in Moulières

My husband and I were looking for a farm to do organic gardening, when it all started—becoming bakers, that is. We ended up in the Périgord region, cultivating our own grains, raising our chickens, and other organic processes in order to start making bread à l’ancienne. Because we are a bakery, our principal activity is bread making! Three times a week. All year long. That’s why we do WWOOFing in winter as well.

« For the bread-making, there are three batches a week, which means making the breads and pastries in the morning, and going to market in the afternoons to sell fresh. »

There’s all kinds of organic baguettes, croissants, brioches, chocolatines, cookies. In the winter, we also fabricate our own flour and shiitake mushrooms when we are not prepping for market. We typically get more french WWOOFers in the wintertime than summer—the high season tends to bring more foreigners interested in travel. However, there is an American coming next month in February—a chef who wants to learn bread making in France.

See Marie’s profile here

Pauline, a French WWOOFer chez Marie: « Sustainability isn’t just in summer when the weather is nice »

I had finished my studies in political science and decided to do a year of WWOOFing starting last September. I want to focus on eco-sustainability thus WWOOFing made for a perfect personal project. Gardening activities slow in the winter so I’m here doing bread now, and after I will go on to work with a cheese making farm. I wanted to a do a whole year—winter, too—because sustainability isn’t just in summer when the weather is nice, but a 365 cyclical process.

Here at Marie’s, my favorite pastry that we make is the “forrestier.” It’s a sort of pie crust turnover. In the interior there’s shiitake mushrooms from the farm, Gruyère cheese…it’s super good! We always sell out of them at the market.

Laetitia, equestrian and animal farm in Saint Clément

« The activities we do in winter are different from those in summer. There’s still horse riding, cleaning of the stables, also for the goats, sheep, and pigs. The animals spend more time inside in the winter so there’s more cleaning, naturally. We have to cut the wood too for the heating—chopping, gathering it up and bringing it inside. If the weather isn’t nice, we do activities inside where we stay nice and warm, like working in the sewing shop for the summer horse shows. Here we make little artisan things we sell at shows: bracelets, key chains, paintings, etc.

Then end of winter we do lot’s of rewiring for the animals’ enclosures so they have new pastures to graze for the spring. All year around we give horse-riding lessons on the weekends. The WWOOFers help the kids prepare the horse, accompany on rides, and even do a little riding themselves! »

See Laetitia’s profile here

Chris, an American WWOOFer in Alsace and Bauges

WWOOFing in winter sort of happened spontaneously. I was staying with friends in other parts of Europe when I started to feel like I wanted to find a way to contribute and give back to the hosts of where I was staying; that’s when one of my friends told me about WWOOFing. The first place I stayed was a chateau near Lyon. Incredible! There was an amazing garden that stretched all around, located in the alps. The hosts had me transferring their summer garden plants into the greenhouse for the winter.

The second was a farm in Saint-Marie-Aux-Mines. We were preparing for next years harvest by using the compost collected from the city. We would take it back to the farm and make long rows for the fertilizer and perma-culture in Spring.

These winter WWOOF experiences opened up all kinds of alternative lifestyles for me in a foreign country

I stayed in communal cabins in the snowy mountains, saw a jam session in a recording studio barn, and really got to live the life like my french hosts, all the while feeling honored that I could help and give back.

See the profile for the hosts in Alsace here

Renaud, farmer and baker of Loire-Atlantique

In fall, we start preparation of the gardens and to start preserving for winter. We teach our WWOOFers to make preserves of tomatoes, ratatouilles, fruit purées; we take all fruits and veggies and transform them with zero-waste. Moving into winter, we prepare and cut the wood, plant trees, and do fences for the sheep. Even some weekends we have work sites that WWOOFers can participate in: eco-constructon and renovation, DIY projects, cleaning and organizing within our farming community. Also very important, as we are for now primarily grain farmers and traditional bakers, is the preparation of wheat seedlings for the grain crops. So, you see, there is always a lot to do!

My dream started with becoming a traditional organic baker but my project is to grow our farm into a shared work space with many other people who share the same dream. Now we just do bread-making, but in the future we would love to expand our community to have beekeepers, vegetable gardeners, others for cheese-making etc. Since we are a growing organic community, we have activities all year around.

See Renaud’s profile here

Martinus, farmer located in the region of Bourgogne

In summer we prepare for winter. In winter we prepare for summer. WWOOFers participate to their abilities. Chores are adapted to suit them and the weather conditions outside. A few of those activities in winter include:

Cleaning forests
Cutting down trees to make room for pastures and selecting trees which we keep
Planting trees
Pruning fruit trees
Racking leaves
Chopping wood for the fireplace
Repairing fences and putting up new ones
General repair work on the farm and sorting and servicing tools
Cleaning our herb garden and preparing it for the next season
Making jam

« WWOOFING for us is not just about farming. It is a way of life. It is a constant exchange of ideas, culture, language, interpersonal relations. »

One WWOOFER, a guy from Canada, arrived at our farm and as usual we were first getting to know one other. He told me that his father has a Christmas tree farm in Canada and he has some knowledge. I was very happy and thought how I could tap into that knowledge base. After some discussions we decided to prepare and plant a natural hedge on our farm consisting of 150 cypress trees. All done in winter. And trees are all still growing!

This time of year, as it gets dark very early we tend to socialize more. Sit around the fire, cook together, exchange ideas and just talk about life in general. Our children love the idea of WWOOFers as they love to make new friends and play. We also like it as it broadens their (and our) horizons and makes them better at languages.

See Martinus’ profile here

Cécile, WWOOF in the Hautes-Alpes on « Harvesting the wicker, a winter specific job. »

The wicker is picked in winter, when the sap has come completely down. It is an incredible activity because it is very colorful at a time when the landscape turns black and white. The reds and ocher of the different varieties of wicker warm the heart and the fingers! We accompanied our host in the morning and then we would warm up in his little workshop where the rest of the work takes place. We sorted by size and variety and made pretty bundles before drying them.

Warming up with human exchange and knowledge, rediscovering the sleeping extremities of the fingers.

It is a specific activity for winter and I am very happy to have experienced it. In the quiet moments, we learned to braid the wicker between the two of us, some of whom were very gifted and they showed us their techniques. The ideal is when it’s cold outside: we warm up by human heat, by the exchange of knowledge, and we discover the dexterity of which our sleeping fingers are again capable.

See this WWOOF profile here

WWOOFers and WWOOF hosts share their advice on the ‘best practices’ of WWOOFing as well as some general guidelines that may not be so obvious to those unfamiliar with the culture. These rules are not written in stone, nor necessarily spoken outright, but are born of experiences working on organic farms.

Alice, a French WWOOFer in Montesquiou

“Take initiatives. Have motivation to do things. Anything. Set the table, sweep the floor if you notice it’s dirty. Ask if there is anything more you can do. Don’t always wait to be told what to do every minute but try to be autonomous as much as you can. I’ve WWOOFed at farms where the hosts have so much work and the more you can pitch in without them having to stop and explain, well, it’s a huge help. At one farm in the south of France, it was very autonomous. I got up every morning to feed and care for the animals for example. But it’s different everywhere you go. On that note, I would say a good rule of thumb is to honor the rhythm of your host or better yet, know how to adapt yourself to and follow their rhythm. From beginning to end. At one host’s, we had “siesta” until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and would work after. But with the next host, that wasn’t the case because we ate much later. At every place, it’s a slightly different tempo: meal times, when to shower, work time, work pace, which days are free, and so on.”

Gilles et Christine, biodyanmic and organic wine cultivators in Savoie

« WWOOfing is first and foremost about discovery―not only for the WWOOFers but for us too! They bring us their culture, their knowledge, their eagerness. And we teach them how to cultivate and run a vineyard―everything from the grape harvest to the wine tastings with clients. Openness is at the heart of the philosophy of this exchange, and we love to have our WWOOFers taste local dishes, like escargots, and visit the region. Because we do take our roles as hosts seriously, we expect the same from our WWOOFers. A good rule to respect is that if you make a commitment with a host, keep it! We just have two spots for WWOOFers that in peek season, July and August, are booked; a few times we were stood up by those who had committed to coming and then last minute cancelled. For us, it complicates things for planning and becomes lost opportunities for more serious WWOOFers who want to come. Life happens. There may be an emergency, or you may get sick. But plan your stays with hosts in advance as best you can, and follow through on your word. »

See the profile of Domaine Partagé

Jodi-Lea and Jean-Paul, two Australians with experience WWOOFing in France and Japan

“One thing that stood out when WWOOFing in France is that every farmer’s garden is a sacred area that you don’t work in unadvised! Every host attended to their garden in a completely different fashion and what you think you know about gardening can be all wrong―and we come from a farm background in Australia! One Gardner might be bio-dynamic and go by the phases of the moon, another might go by some other system. We had ones with very straight rows and the farmer would rotate them, and then others that might be a circular permaculture garden. One time, there was this messy garden and we thought we were helping by weeding, but accidentally upset the farmer because he had his own time and system for for pulling weeds! In this case, as a permaculturalist, he left the weeds to act as « shade » for the seedlings, locking in moisture and keeping them from being dried out by the sun. Who knew? Not us! Our rule is: do not touch a French person’s garden for the first time unaccompanied!”

Leni: poet, gardner, and veteran host in Dordogne

« Being a WWOOF host goes back to this old fashioned idea of hospitality. That word has been stolen by the market for hotels, and business and such. However, here in the Périgord, most people still have a real sense of the traditional custom of hospitality which goes right back to the root of hospice, hostel, hospital―it’s about giving care to people who are away from their homes. And that has always been my attitude in welcoming WWOOFers here. As for the exchange between WWOOFers and hosts, I suppose you can say it’s a two way process. There should be no hierarchy like in a top-down system. To make a pun, it’s an organic process! When you go into someone’s home, it’s a very intimate sort of space. Whatever I have given to WWOOFers they have given me so much more back. I can’t say there is any one general rule. My word of advice would be: Be yourself, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Look around, just look around inside the farm, the house, look outside. Really take a deep breath of fresh air, and don’t necessarily come with preconceived ideas about what to expect. Really observe and don’t hesitate to join in and help. Don’t be shy. That is something I have to repeat a lot to WWOOFers because for a kind of security a lot of people bring their own images that they sort of transpose. You’ve made this big gesture to go WWOOFing so be confident in yourself. Look around with the eyes of a child. »

See the profile of Le Bourmier

Alyssa, an American who WWOOFed in Alsace, Bourgogne and Provence

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« Participate as much as you can in the day to day life of your hosts while WWOOFing in France. For foreigners, it’s much more of a unique experience than conventional traveling, like staying in a hostel or in a hotel. Being welcomed in locals’ homes creates a warm and intimate setting―we were treated like family by the people we stayed with! Their sincere hospitality made me want to help my hosts in any way I could to show my deep appreciation. Dive into the work and the relationships with the people you meet without any hesitation, because by being present and engaged, you can open yourself up to life altering changes. In my case, WWOOFing in France has been the most monumental time from my traveling and living abroad; it truly changed my life and how I want to live my life. Working on the farms made me realize how obtainable it is have my own sustainable farm in the future, to grow my own food and have an self-sustaining lifestyle that aligns with my values. It was by talking and spending time with my hosts as much as possible and as they felt comfortable―while working and in my free time―that I learned about alternative lifestyles.”

Louis-Abel, vegetable farmer in Savoie

« The ‘savoir-vivre’, or good manners, is important. At the same time, everyone is different, we all have our own personal values and beliefs, so you can’t ask the same thing of everyone. That being said, what I find favorable among WWOOFers are those who participate in many aspects of our daily life as a family, like wiping down the table after eating, or making a meal from time to time. There cannot be a general rule that applies to everyone, as every WWOOF experience is different. My advice to WWOOFers would be to communicate what they would like to learn; it’s not a job interview! But also good communication between WWOOFer and host is key. What is working? What is not working? It’s a dialogue. Another quality I personally appreciate with WWOOFers’ help is spontaneity and autonomy. Finding their own projects to do when they feel inspired or taking over a chore at the farm, like feeding the animals. There’s always something I have to be doing, in-between being a farmer and having a family, I’m always on the go!

See the profile of Les jardins de St Julien

Pia, a Lebanese WWOOFer living in Dubai

« I had been romanticizing farm life for a few years and finally decided to try it out. I was a typical city girl in my youth, but now I find myself drawn to nature and it’s raw, abundant beauty. In July of this year, I volunteered for three weeks on a farm in Montendre, next to Bordeaux. The work was relatively easy. I learnt a little bit about permaculture, hand picked Colorado Potato Beetles and beans. I weeded some and helped Kath with the irrigation system. That would be my advice to hosts: be very clear about the work at hand, and have fun teaching. On the farm, Kath had messages placed in different spots about the permaculture way of life. It taught me the twelve design principles. For instance, one sign would say « Integrate rather than segregate, » the permaculture principle being that by putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other. That was new to me; and it made sense to me. »