Ogurayama Farm is a WWOOF Host!

2017/10/14 WWOOF

出典：https://www.wwoofjapan.com

Contents

What is WWOOF?

Have you ever heard of WWOOF?

Many people ask me, but WWOOF is…

WWOOF: World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms

(For Short, WWOOF)

The information below is taken from the official WWOOF JAPAN Website.

What is WWOOF?

WWOOF is an interexchange between people, with no money involved.

WWOOF is a means to make friends, and to share and exchange with them.Hosts give WWOOFers meals, accommodation and social engagement, in return for which WWOOFers help Hosts with what they do at their place. It’s simple. You give what you have, and you receive what you don’t have. There is no money paid between Hosts and WWOOFers. Both Hosts and WWOOFers undertake to support each other, like friends and extended family do. Come on to wwoof website to “Become a WWOOFer” and for more information

⇒ https://www.wwoofjapan.com

WWOOF Experience at Ogurayama Farm

Every year, approximately 50~80 people come to our farm.

From ages young as 16 years old up 70 year old come and help us with our WWOOF.

Not only from numerous districts within Japan, but over 20 countries from around the world come here to Azumino, where we are located, to live in the same atmosphere and experience agricultural jobs.

People as far as from Brazil to as close as people in the same town visit our farm.

As in our motto,

“The conduct of agriculture connotes the infinite richness, the simplistic charm of its scenery, the enthusiasm that starts up from our food. We hope that the community filled with these feelings spread out endlessly”,

we think that our community spreads out through these people who come all the way from different parts of the world to experience our farm.

Experiencing different seasons first hand, actively moving your body in nature unlike everyday, eating meals together as one, a place for people to meet and mingle. We have become a place where you can make memories like such everyday, which you would cherish forever.

There are WWOOFers, people who come for WWOOFing, who visit us repeatedly, as well as people who come to live here because of their love for our town, with people contacting us to tell us “we got married!” or “we have a new baby coming!” Such interactions are a great bliss for us, giving us happiness from time to time.

WWOOF Examples

On the WWOOF JAPAN Page, we have posted examples of helping task contents conducted here at Ogurayama Farm.

Depending on the seasons, these tasks may change.

January-March

Pruning orchard trees
Preparing fire wood
Scattering chaff onto orchards, etc.

April

Picking buds from peach and pear trees
Raising and planting vegetable seeds, etc.

May

Picking the flowers off apple trees
Picking out the excess fruits
Weeding and cutting grass
Planting tomatoes, etc.

June

Picking out the unneeded excess fruits off orchard trees
Covering peaches with bags
Weeding and cutting grass, etc.

July

Harvesting tomatoes
Weeding and cutting grass
Planting carrots, etc.

August

Harvesting tomatoes
Harvesting peaches
Weeding and cutting grass
Planting carrots, etc.

September

Harvesting pears
Chaff collecting, and bagging
Weeding and cutting grass, etc.

October

Harvesting apples
Harvesting carrots, etc.

November

Harvesting apples and boxing
Making dried persimmons
Harvesting carrots, etc.

December

Boxing apples
Scattering chaff onto orchards, etc.

We were broadcasted on TV!!

We were introduced on a TV show called 「信州発見」, meaning “Found on the lands of Shinshu”. There is a video of it so please watch it if time allows.

Like this, we share our living and helping space together.

Introducing a book from WWOOF

This book was written by Ms. Hoshino from WWOOF JAPAN, who sorts out hosts and woofers within WWOOF. If you are interested in WWOOF, please have a look. This may give you fresh insights into a new world with new perspectives.( in Japanese)

旅とオーガニックと幸せと: WWOOF農家とウーファーたち

Comments on WWOOF

The photo below shows over 10 notebooks that are filled with comments from WWOOFers. The comments filled with thoughtful, heart-warming feelings make us overly happy.

This is an example. Some are written in English, in Japanese, some even accompanied with small drawings.

I will introduce one of these.

A Happy Experience in the Countryside of Japan

By Mr. R

Akio-san, Terumi-san, Fuwa, Wara, Towa, thank you!! The days living here were just like a massive culture revolution, unlike anything I had experienced before. The 6 weeks I stayed here went by so quickly. I am so happy that I was able to experience such a living in the countryside of Japan. When I first arrived, there was still some snow left on the pavements, but now, the cherry blossoms have fully bloomed! I am very sad to leave this place without seeing the apple flowers open up. I am sure the scenery would be extremely beautiful. Starting from the family, you all treated me with extra kindness and faith. I will never forget that. While spending most of my free time in Azumino and Matsumoto, it was way

more valuable than the normal sightseeing tours. The days I learned new things will be unforgettable memories as well. About the food, it was very pleasing. When I go back to America, I will make Okonomiyaki, Curry, Takuann, Rice balls, Umeboshi, and Miso for sure. The time when Terumi-san took me to make Miso was one of the best memories ever!! Being able to see that the Matumura Family were truly enjoying their living from the bottom of their hearts was charming, and wonderful. Like the family does, I also loved the fresh vegetables and fruits. I would love to live in an environment like this in the future. Thank you Akio-san for answering any and every question I had. I learned so much about agriculture during my stay. The days I spent were satisfying and comfortable. Akio-san, Terumi-san, Fuwa, Wara, Towa, and the staff members Hide-san, Etsuko-san, Imai-san, thank you so so much. Thank you to all the WWOOFers I met as well. I cannot express my gratitude with only words, but thank you for everything! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU! Dear my loving family, the Matsumura Family.

By Mr. R

If you sign up for WWOOF, you can use your account for a whole year. There are WWOOFers who travel to many prefectures through different hosts, as well as WWOOFers who travel on weekends only. At our Ogurayama Farm, we are looking for WWOOFers who can stay over a week. We are also happy to accept long term stays as well.

If you are interested in farming, wanting to experience agriculture, or just want to live in a different environment, I strongly recommend you sign up for WWOOF.

Our host number is h3055.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Accessing WWOOF JAPAN