Life on the Farm

Life is certainly different on Peter's Farm in Derby... different, but good. Turns out that Peter is not only an organic farmer, but he is doing his best to live sustainably in a world that is going beyond its sustainable limits. This means that we don't have any electricity, we eat mostly food that grows on the farm, our water supply comes by gravity from a nearby stream, and we go to the bathroom in a bucket - yup, our waste gets put into a compost bin to be processed by worms and eventually goes back to the garden (so you may say that we eat shit, but the food is actually quite tasty).

A typical day consists of waking up and taking a walk out in the cool morning air to a shed that houses the bathroom bucket... and then on to the river to see if the local platapus is out and about in the stream... as all the other WWOOFERS (willing workers on organic farms) begin to rise, we congregate at the low-standing round wooden "table" where we sit on pillows, munch on morning porridge, and drink warm tea... some mornings we have fresh blackberries in our porridge (Mmmm!). After our morning meal, we do a few household chores like cleaning the dishes, sweeping the floors, or replenishing the stack of firewood for the stove.

We then set out to work for the morning. Some of our tasks include gathering wood, creating paths through the forest, laying down sawdust on the garden paths, picking beans, weeding the garden, shelling peas, harvesting seeds and making meals (Mally is quite the cook and I have been making sure we don't miss out on dessert). After working for a while, we gather back around the large wooden table and enjoy an afternoon meal. Then, we usually "rest" for the afternoon... our rest has included jogs into town (which turn into walks as we pass the blackberry bushes!), tours of the garden, a couple games of darts, and bushwalking (real bushwalking... we don't follow any paths, we just follow Peter as he takes us through brush, over fallen trees, and across streams) We then get back to working for a couple of hours until the sun fades and smells of dinner draw us back inside.

The evening meal is my favorite part of the day. Once again, we gather on the floor around the round wooden table for some yummy eats... but at night, our table is lit with kerosene lanterns and we all sit around long after the meal ends to chat. Among the group, we had two Korean guys (Kane and Kung), one German girl (Gitta), one very happy Japanese fellow (Yo), another Japanese gal (Miuki), and an Australian guy (Mike) - almost everyone in their early 20's. It was fun to learn a bit about everybody's different cultures and hometowns. Peter also led some thought provoking conversations about sustainability and how to lead a sustainable life. Peter definitely sends people away with issues to think about. It is great that he can show his lifestyle to such a diverse group of people and get them to ponder sustainability - it is easy to get caught up in the ways of our world without giving a thought to the future.

Ater talking for a while people continue on with assorted activities - cleaning up the dishes, taking an evening shower, perhaps playing a game of chess or connect four, reading a book off of Peter's shelves, or continuing an interesting conversation. Eventually sleep falls over us and one by one people begin heading to their bunks, cuddling up in their sleeping bags, and drifting off to sleep until dawn brings another day on the farm.

We spent six nights on the farm. Life slowed down a bit, we learned a lot, and we had a nice break from the hills of Tasmania. Yesterday... after our adventurous bushwalk... Peter, Yo, and Gitta gave us an enthusiastic send-off with hugs, goodbyes, and enthusiastic waves... then we set off for our last days of pedalling in Tasmania.