Veggie Heaven

Last Sunday we made the long and arduous car ride (all of 10 minutes) to our new Workaway. We are now on an organic farm where they make all of their income from the vegetables they grow. The owners are lovely and have said we can help ourselves to the produce… I don’t think they realise how many vegetables Rosie can eat!

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We are staying in a simple cabin, more separated from the family than in our previous experiences. We have an outdoor (flushing!) toilet, shower and kitchen – glamping at its finest! Groceries are provided for us and we cook together with the other volunteers. We are currently joined by two students (originally from the Netherlands and Russia), who were previously studying in Squamish – just north of Vancouver. Apart from them initially assuming we were old enough to be their parents, we are getting on great so far! They are also vegetarians, so our shared meals have close to the lethal dose of vegetables that Rosie favours.

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We have just finished our first week of work. Starting at 08:00, we work until 11:30, have 1 hour for lunch, then back to work until 14:30. We have weekends fully off (hoorah!) to relax and explore more of the island. The farm have some really cool systems in place and we have already learnt loads! We manage to cram a lot into each day, highlights include: harvesting, washing and packing, transplanting, starting new seedlings indoors and preparing beds for new plantings. We have also done some weeding, but can’t claim that is a highlight.

An added benefit of the new location is that it is closer to the beach, so most evenings after dinner we have wandered down to relax and enjoy the views. There is also a cat called Sweetie, which Ollie has quickly bonded with. The friendship is a dangerous one however, as Ollie has already been caught with Sweetie on his lap when he was meant to be transplanting basil plants.

Tonight we are being treated to some varenyky made by our new Russian friend. The weather is colder than we expected, apparently “Juneuary” is a common phenomenon on the west coast. We will enjoy our glamping dinner in the garden anyway, with a glass of wine and extra knitwear.