A true organic farm

Written yesterday evening:

Today (Tuesday 1st of July) I had the day off. I arrived here at Kerikeri Organics Saturday morning – the day Armin (my last host) left for a meditation retreat in Auckland. I met Martin Robinson Friday night at the Waipapa ceili. Very few people showed up for the Ceili, and even fewer showed up on time. So I started talking with lots of people. One of the ladies I was talking to introduced me to Marty, knowing that he relied on WWOOFers to run his business. He already had 2 WWOOFers, but could use my help. So, rather than leaving Armin’s and setting out into the unknown, I left Armin’s and set out to wash fruit!

I had been to Kerikeri Organics in my first week staying with John (1st WWOOF host). We stopped by the store on our way back to a Bay of Island’s water quality meeting. I remember being completely surprised at the selection of organics – everything from the expected produce of potatoes and apples, to the unexpected dry goods of baked beans and chocolate, with everything in between (including organic nori and pickled ginger for sushi lovers!). If the selection didn’t surprise me, then the fact that it was completely unsupervised certainly did. The customer was on the honor system for weighing their bulk goods (cashews to cane sugar to quinoa flour) and entering the correct price per kilo to get the total price. The customer then wrote everything they purchased on a slip of paper, put their payment in the honesty box (or into the IOU notebook), and took their goods!! Not even the threat of a camera watching them! I thought it a bit odd, but then decided that if a person was going to go through the effort to drive 800 meters up a gravel road to buy organic food – they were probably of a person of principles and wouldn’t try to rip off their supplier. Marty agreed with me when I told him this (over coffee and toast (homemade bread spread with organic butter and organic marmalade) after washing oranges). I mentioned that I had seen many unmanned roadside stalls since seeing his store – they seem to sit in front of every orchard/garden that produces surplus goods. Marty said those do tend to get ripped off. I guess that 800m drive makes all the difference!

Life here at the farm is pretty good. The chickens get fed organic grains in the morning and the pigs get fed left over house and store food. I haven’t been here long, but I have already picked kiwi fruit, dug potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke (a root I have not yet tried), and helped organize paperwork. I earned today’s day off by working a full day yesterday, instead of a half day. I like the other WWOOFers I work and live with. We have our own "cabin" which is very minimal, but provides shelter. The blankets I hung up in front of the glass door and in the middle of the room keep part the part of the room with the fire a lot warmer than when I first got here. When Thomas (French) is off at his friends house I cook dinner, but when Thomas is here he does all the cooking (he is schooled as a pastry chef, but makes fantastic meals too). Shin (Japanese) makes the fire every night and helps with the dishes at lunch. When Thomas is here and cooking, I do the evening dishes. It’s a pretty good system. It also works well when digging in the dirt. We have only 2 pitchforks, so 2 people work and the 3rd person rotates in to provide a break.

It has filtered down to me through e-mail that some people would really like to see these people I’m running around with. Unfortunately, I no longer have a digital camera so I will probably never have pictures of Marty, his family (one adorable 5 year old girl that I met at the ceili, a 14 month old, and his wife along with a couple shared kids I don’t really know), or Thomas and Shin. I never did get a picture of Armin either. Someday I’ll try to post pics of the other people I’ve met though – Bobbie in Auckland, John and Dominic in Kaitaia, and I think that’s really everyone! However, I’m back to 10 cents a minute internet, so no pictures in the near future ;)
I’m not sure how long I plant to stay here. Sometimes I feel like I’d like stay for a whole month – so I can be around for the next Waipapa ceili; there might be a big music and dance get together in the Puketi forest after the ceili!! Other times, I really want to get out of the muck (there is very poor drainage here and los of rain – as I may have mentioned previously) and back to a place where dirt and cobwebs aren’t the norm. I wouldn’t mind being back in Auckland for part of the international film festival. I’d also really like to at least have a place to sit on the floor and stretch again! I think I might be unrealistic asking for a warm place though! I was warned before coming that New Zealanders do not build their homes with insulation in mind. I was told (by a former NZlander) that it is common for one room in the house to be heated, the bedrooms to be freezing, and coats to be worn through dinner!!! So, I guess I’ll just get used to the cold! I am now glad that I didn’t try to get a job as a lift operator at a ski resort. I may have cold feet in rubber boots here on the farm, but at least I’m moving around to get warm. A lift operator stands there ALL day!

Anyhow ---- I spent my day off driving ½ an hour from Kerikeri to Waitangi. I didn’t pay the money to see the Waitangi treaty house, but I may do that in the future – it is an historic landmark where the first ever treaty between Maori and the British government was signed. Much like the treaties between the US and it’s natives, it wasn’t (and isn’t ) honored real well – but it’s still historic. Instead of spending the sunny day inside (the 2nd sunny day in a row!), I took a 4.5 km track up to Hururu falls. It wasn’t a difficult track at all, and took me half the time the map said (2.5 hours), but it was beautiful. I didn’t feel that I was alone in nature (as it starts by edging a golf course and then a maintenance truck was on the road below the path), but the trees were green and I could see the river below me. Eventually I walked on a boardwalk path through a mangrove forest. I stopped and read the sign explaining the importance and ecological significance of the forest. I listened to the echoing "cracks" all around me – created by the snapping shrimp that lived in the muck. It was low tide. I should go back at high tide and see how the area differs. I walked all the way up to the falls. Nothing tall and amazing, but very wide and neat none the less. Since an e-mail from a cousin, I always consider sticking my head under the falls that I hike too, but no trail has yet to take me close enough. This trail took me to the top, and I certainly didn’t want to disappoint my family by falling off! Sure, I could probably bushwack through to the bottom, but I don’t want to hurt the kiwi habitat by my needless tramping (ha ha, I can hear the collective groan of my family even now ;)

After my walk, I bought lunch in Paihia, since I had left mine at home - on the table :( I then drove up to Waiomio to check out my first ever glow worm caves!!! After taking a turn of the main road, following the gravel road for a while, and coming to the mountain with pretty cool rock formations, I was informed that this family run business did not take Eftpos (debit)!!! I had spent the last of my cash on lunch! I had considered hitting a cash machine, but didn’t. So…. I turned around and drove back to the farm. The caves aren’t far away, so it will make a good afternoon trip on some day I work only ½ a day. It will give me something to look forward to. You can be sure I’ll blog all about it. I think glow worms are the one thing I was most excited about seeing when I came here. Silly, I know , but that’s me….