Slavic Heritage Farm Volunteers, Wwoofers, Interns Hall of Fame.
We are happy to introduce to you people that came to spend some time with us on the farm. When we get the help from our volunteers, wwoofers, interns and just farm friends we can't agree more with the saying "many hands make the work light". Thank you to all of you who dedicated the time and effort to help us around when we mostly needed it!
Summer 2014
Elaine came to spend 2 weeks in June with us and helped with planting our 3,000 strawberries. It was a daunting task but, nevertheless, we've never seen Elaine frown. A ND June was a bit on a chilly side for a LA gal but her smile brought a lot of sunshine into our days. Elaine introduced us to a wonderful Japaneese culture, taught our kids some Japaneese, cooked us a few wonderful meals, told us about her mission work around the word. We all wish Elaine and her brother success in starting an Organic Ice Cream Shop in LA.
Davida came from NYC and stayed for 2 weeks. Long way from home! She helped us with mulching, weeding, trellissing the tomatoes, milking the goats, setting up pastures, fixing up the grain bin room, and, of course, the most fun chore EVER... strawberry picking! We had such wonderful time cooking felafel, shakshuka, tadziki dip and baking fresh pita breads together to go with an authentic Mediterranean meal! It was a true feast. We also loved to hear about Davida's adventures around the world and we'll be using a lot of recipes from the cook book she gave us as a gift.
Zak, Manga and their 2 children, Zoe and Titus, were a perfect match for our farm! Our kids got friends to play with when the chores were done, and we used a lot of Zak's muscle power and Manga's weeding determination in our newly planted raspberry patch. It was also a peek of harvesting time and we needed extra help in the kitchen. It was always a mini communal event to process the beans, or basil, or pack away our precut stew mixes for winter. We hope that Zak, Manga and the kids will find their dream homestead soon!
Kevin drove almost half way through the country when he came to our farm from South Carolina. He stayed with us the longest and was able to see quite a few things happenning on the farm. His dream is to have a goat dairy one day and we allowed him to become our dairy manager for almost 2 months that he staied with us. We hope that what he has learnt he would use in the future in "Kevin's Goat Creamery".
Andrew is about to graduate with a degree in Finance from a University of Florida but wanted to have an opportunity to experience a farm life and work with his hands. So he flew in and wwoofed on our farm for 2 weeks. He got a few blisters here and there because he worked really hard and was very helpful. He learn to plant greens, harvested produce in the greenhouse, came along for farmers markets and...now knows how to bake bread!
Emin is our first returning wwoofer. He came from MN and spent about 2 months on the farm again. He helped Mirek a lot with carpentry projects. Also, one of the highlights of his farmstay was to participate in moving a small building that we are now using as a farm stand.
Emin has become almost a member of our family by now and we are hoping to see him next summer.
Summer 2013
We were so priveleged to have Hana with us for six weeks in June and July, during our busiest time. Hana is a high school student from the Czech Republic and came over to experience life on the farm and see "the wild, wild west". She was an amazing "farm hand", eager to participate in different farm and garden activities from seeding, to mulching, to weeding, to harvesting, to milking the goats, to bottle feeding our heifer. Together with our oldest daughter she also baked the most delicious desserts for the local farmer's market. We miss you a lot!
Emin is from Minnesota and came over as our wwoofer to spend some time on the farm. He was so eager to learn new things! He was a great help in our potato patch, gave a hand in setting up pastures for rotational grazing and was one of the muscles behind the greenhouse putting up.
We all really enjoyed his company and hoping to have him over on the farm again some time soon!
Kelly and Tom (plus Roger, woof-woof) are another married couple from New York. They are the most amazing tomato harvesting team ever! Thank you for rototilling the sod inside the greenhouse, Tom. And Kelly, that sign is a treasure to keep forever! The kids really enjoyed the art lessons and the evening walks along the Red Apples Valley. And farmer's markets together were so much fun!
We wish you to find a place to start your farm soon! And don't forget to drink your kefir daily!
Gordon is from Vermont and is a very talanted carpenter! He also helped us with weeding (I've never seen anybody weed so fast before!) Thank you for saving my beets! The Juneberry patch he assisted to plant has been officially named "Gordon's Juneberry Patch".
We enjoyed having him on the farm and Mirek secretly hopes to have him back as a "carpentry partner".
Josh and Rachel are a married couple from New York. They were fun to have around and helped a lot in the garden and in the barn. Josh was a natural milker! Thank you for the haircuts, Rachel, and for teaching us how to make a pretty flower arrangement!
April, Randy and family visited our farm from Washington. They were on their wwoofing cross country trip in search for a place to homestead. We had a great time with all of them. Thank you for all the help with weeding and putting up the greenhouse. We hope you'll find "your place" soon.