Wwoofing at the Absthof

Before anything else, check out Nicolaas' blog (somehow it doens't always work on my laptop, but it does on my phone)! It is an independent website, and also a very light file, which makes sustainable blog for not asking too much processing power and also not being dependent from a gigantic polluting corporation like Google (like my blog). I do appreciate blogspot for being free and also relatively handy to work with, but respect to Nicolaas for his little project. It's written in Dutch, in a very nice, associative, right-off-the-bat manner. I think he manages excellently in painting little scenes of our travel with a lot of ease. I have also made a permanent link to it on the right sidebar of this blog.

the Abtshof garden with

the caravan tent in the background.  

I assume that the term 'wwoof' is not generally known, so let me tell you a little bit about it. It stands for WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms, and it is a platform that enables farmers and interested travellers to find each other. It shares some similarities with Workaway, but here the focus is on volunteering specifically on sustainable farms. Indeed, between the hosts and the so-called wwoofers, no money is exchanged and the central ideas are education, exchanging ideas and participation. Every country has its own platform, where visitors have to pay a yearly fee to become member. For now, Nicolaas and I made a double account on the Belgian Wwoof that costs us 22€ altogether. I think that with our week of staying we completely got our money back in very special memories. We were able to witness how the cooperation works, that is to say with a sociocratic structure based on consent and consensus (even though they are not strict with it to enable more flexibility). I think Abtshof works well because of the special mix of people who are present. They share lots of ideas in common. They seem to fit together like puzzle pieces, with more silent types and more extravert, organisers and followers, all in a open atmosphere. So is it mostly a lucky mix? Every new person has to do a trial period, so the group will automatically select those who fit in the best. So luck is not entirely the main factor. Then I ask myself: can this project be repeated ad infinitum? Probably not, as not everyone could live in this kind of system. But it does seem to be able to be replicated by those who want to! It is an incredible structure. Something that merges past and future, using old ways to organise (micro-)societies to build the ones that will lead us through climate change, to more efficient (in a organic way) worlds and to more inclusive, thoughtful behaviour. It also makes me want to live in one, and that is the amazing thing about wwoofing! We have the honor to be temporarily a little part of it. 

The barn, with the pumpkin harvest

At the same time, we ultimately did witness some of the frictions that I think just have to occur within such a big group (almost 20 people). It was interesting to hear some complaints that were always very respectful and nuanced. At the same time it pointed to the issue that at times when tensions and distrust were high, it can be really exhausting living in a community, having to be careful and constantly aware of interactions. I guess that is not very nice, but for the inhabitants, this negative side of the community life was still largely overshadowed by all the positivity. I think this was a very valuable and nuanced insight.

We also were not the only woofers, also residing there was Théo, a young traveller from Quebec. He was doing an European tour for three months. We needed some time to adapt to each others presence (and Nicolaas had to overcome the French language barrier), but it turned out that Théo's amazing personality was a very good complement to everything else in the Abtshof. Besides that succulent (I find no other word) Quebec accent, I shared with him common interests in literature, music (progressive rock!), outdoor sports and views on the world. We also did enjoy a few beers in the local café on Sunday. It helped a lot to forget about the very bad results from the communal elections in Belgium, where the green parties were largely wiped out, and the rightwing parties won big time in Antwerp and other communities. The conclusion seems to be that the green party is maybe too kind and too constructive, which does not operate well in the often hostile and bitter local politics. (I felt like commenting a little bit about it in my blog, it was not meant as primer to start any political conversations here).

From garden to kitchen, literally

Another nice part was the abundance of food. We ate really well and a lot. The community provided us with free basic food like bread and vegetables (and even peanut butter!). October is the harvest month after all, which meant a lot of greens, like potatoes, carrots, salads, beetroot, beans and some plants that go beyond my botanical knowledge. We cooked every evening with them, especially after Saturday, when the communal working day, where everyone works together on different community tasks, resulted in a big potato and carrots harvest. Good food, definitely!

I was also happy to be here, because Nicolaas's and my main goal was learning. And we have been learning a lot. Thanks to Jakob (the community's wood worker), we have been introduced to some of the basics of woodworking.  One of the units under construction needed to plane some parquet wood, so we started to learn to work with the big planing machine. After that he took the time to learn us some basic wood joints and we practiced on lap joints. While helping in the pantry, we also got the idea of making an extra shelf there to store things like vegetables, jams or other conservation foods. This was the start of our main project at the Absthof: building The Shelf. It sounds simple but it really wasn't an easy process, as we had to start from scratch, taking measurements on an uneven floor, and mimicking (for purely esthethic, yet very firmly established reasons) the hight of the other shelves. We started selecting the right wood, then cutting it in the right lengths, planing it, and then making the already learnt lap joints. This took us more or less four days. On the last day we did a sprint and started to really assemble everything, but with the much-needed help of Jakob, who even learned us to work with the very dangerous, but amazingly effective table saw! The result is not entirely finished, but we were able to leave quite satisfied, assured that it would be of service very soon! It did feel incredible to look at it, knowing that we had conceptualized and then created it. 

At the same time, our services seemed to be much needed. We worked in the units under construction, we helped moving a neighbour out and on Saturday, the collective working day, we helped out both in the garden and caring for the house by oiling the window frames. We stored vegetables by burying them in sand, according to an ancient method. Enumerating all this makes me realise how busy this week was, we were almost constantly out, being busy, cooking, gathering food or talking. And yet, I do not feel exhausted at all! It felt good fitting into the community and being useful. I slept well, but not very long and naturally woke up between 6.30 and 7.30. Having kicked my coffee addiction in August I also felt energised naturally. I did drink a LOT of tea to be honest (just replacing one caffeine source with the other?), but more for the nice warm feeling than for waking up even more. But it meant I did not eat or drink between meals, which felt healthy as well (no idea if it really is). I realise I have used the verb 'feeling' a lot, which makes me realise that my stay at the Absthof made me 'feel well'. Looking back at it, I felt I lived an uncomplicated life, that didn't doubt, but proceeded in just doing.

So thank you Abtshof for this. I'll definitively return.

Our finished shelf, to which Theo also contributed a lot!

We left on 16th October, to Voeren which is the Flemish exclave between Wallonia and the Netherlands. There we were hosted by Roos, a friend of Nicolaas, who is working for the Elzéard foundation, that is busy with buying land to reforest and reconnect nature with rewilded corridors. Super interesting! But that part of our travel will be for another blog post....