Now that the last layer of dirt has been washed off and the smelly, grass-stained clothes are in the rag pile, it’s time to recap our 3rd WWOOF experience in Hawaii!
This was our very own “B&B” for “Barn & Breakfast” 🙂
Once our own breakfast was finished, it was our job to head down the driveway to the Mango Sunset B&B. There we did the breakfast dishes and made sure the rooms gleamed. Fresh flowers for the guest rooms added a nice touch…
Brilliant Coffee Beans brighten the landscape as well…
Then the real farm work would begin, whether it was weed whacking, spreading fertilizer, or picking coffee cherries…there was always a job to be done!
- Driving the Gator!
- Mushing Mango!
- Building Hasso a House!
- Picking the Beans!
- Spreading the Cherries to Dry
- Somebody’s Gonna Get Wet!
- Two Beans Per Cherry
- Tasting the Good Stuff!
- Tending the Garden
- Sorting Coffee Cherry
Working as a “farm intern” at Lyman Kona Coffee Farm taught us a great deal about what it takes to make a quality cup of coffee. The perfect combination of sunshine, water, fertilizer and helping hands from the WWOOFer world!
Four-Year-Old “Farm Manager” Karen keeps Priscilla company! 🙂
at 4:26 pm
i’m looking to go on my first wwoofing experiance. i would like to go to oahu. do you have any recommendations for me. i’m not sure where to start and i don’t know anyone who has done this before.
at 4:12 pm
Unfortunately, we never spent time on Oahu WWOOFing. I did subscribe to the Hawaii WWOOF site to get more information on Hawaii – you can either subscribe to the WWOOF USA (where there are some Hawaii sites) or the Hawaii only site. If you plan to do any more WWOOFing that Hawaii, I would do the USA site because you get more for your money. Hawaii link is: http://www.wwoofhawaii.org and the USA site is: http://www.wwoofusa.org.
I wish I could help you more! I will say that it is very important to make sure you ask questions of your host prior to committing. You want to understand exactly the kind of work you will be doing, how many hours a day, and what the accommodations/food situation will be. I suggest this only because we have heard more than one story from fellow WWOOFers we met on the road where the experience was not what they expected. At one spot a guy we met was asked to sit at a fruit stand all day and sell produce and smoothies to tourists.. Not exactly what most people are looking for when they WWOOF! The host should be happy to answer all your questions because they also want a relationship that will work.
Good luck and happy WWOOF’ing!
at 3:30 pm
That sounds like a pretty incredible adventure. Me, my husband and our three year old daughter are looking to go wwoofing on the islands in about three to four months. Of course we are still at the begining planning stages and still have sooo much to do and learn. We have never done anything like this before. We are looking for something a bit more long term. Eventually after wwoofing around for about a year, we would like to find a community to become a part of, where organic gardening is a way of life. My question for you is, are you still wwoofing? How long have your different stays been? Have you had any particularly bad experiences? Any big advise on what NOT to do? have you met any one will children while wwoofing?
Thanx, any info and insight you can provide would be awesome!! I have a facebook if interested
Magicalhall@gmail.com
Melissa
at 10:09 am
Hello Melissa! wwoofing was a wonderful experience for us and while we are not currently doing it, we will be again soon. We had 3 different woofing experience in Hawaii. Two on Maui – a dragon fruit farm and a lettuce farm. One on Kona – a coffee farm. Neither would have been a good fit for a younger child. You might find that to be a little limiting but not impossible!! You will just need to meet the right host. I bet if you were to check around Hana you might find some nice hosts willing to take on a child as well.
As far as bad experience – not really, but I would suggest to anyone that they work out all the details prior to heading off. For example, on our Dragon fruit farm adventure we were handed a tent when we arrived. No worries as we were prepared for that because we asked a LOT of up front questions. I would suggest you get clear information on what work you will be doing (as well as how many hours a day!), what accommodations are like, and what the food will be.
You might want to also check out http://www.helpx.net as well. They have a lot of organic farming opportunities and I see many that suggest their location to be a community of organic farmers. That might connect you with a long term opportunity.
Best of luck and let us know how it goes! We can also be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/whatboundaries if you want to drop us a line there.
at 8:06 pm
Howdy! Thanks for posting this:) I’ll be “wwoofing” on Lyman Farms this summer and I am super excited!
Would you by any chance have more pictures of the room you stayed in or the outdoor kitchen/living area? I’m curious!