WWOOF enables people to live and volunteer on a variety of organic properties. © 1997-2020 Transitions Abroad Publishing, It is an international network linking people who want to work on organic farms with people looking for volunteer help. We needed two drivers to transport the olives and Kirsten and I were the only ones standing. You will receive no other emails. I thought about becoming a WWOOFer myself in my 59th year when I was facing up to another Big Birthday. I have no option but to follow. I didn’t think I would need it in October; it being too cold to swim.” She glances at me from under her curls and smiles. So I emailed Bridget Matthews who runs the WWOOF Italia organization. WWOOF farms exist all over the world, including New Zealand. The last few days of the trip were on autopilot. Most farms state a minimum of one week’s stay. The Italian WWOOF Association officially began 2001 and now includes hundreds of hosts in all regions of the country. Nearly four decades on, the aims are still the same: to let volunteers experience life in a rural setting and learn about organic farming. The organization was the brainchild of British secretary Sue Coppard who, in 1971, set out to provide city people with a rural experience and arranged working weekends on organic farms. Kirsten and Pascal have up to five WWOOFers working on their property during the busy seasons. Visitors or WWOOFers as they kindly known, give a helping hand with the daily activities on the land and in the … 12421558 in the name of WWOOF Italia Association. Payments with Paypal are secure and managed directly from the Paypal platform. One farmer said she had hosted a young couple each harvest for eight years, during which time they had two children. What is it? On day three, a young Swedish WWOOFer, Gustav, joined us. How does it work? They had re-purposed the mine for outdoor festivals and events. Inc. Catalina’s farm was on a steep hill overlooking the sea, 10km south of Livorno. WWOOF is working as a volunteer on an organic farm. Who can do it? They really are the best kind of people. We connect people in search of lifestyles in harmony with nature to offer them opportunities for direct experiences on farms that practice agroecology. I took some photos of my living situation and gifted Vitto my hat and a book I read, A Walk in the Woods. Evidently, Sicily used to be #1 in sulfur, but then someone in Texas learned a new, cheaper, and faster way to extract it and sort of blew the wheels off of Sicily’s operation. WWOOF™ was founded in 1971 in the UK and is one of the world’s first voluntourism and ecotourism organisations. Contact the WWOOF organization in the country you want to visit. Vitto packed these guys with herbs, spices, and salts and let them sit for years.