Volunteering at a farmside

After spending some time planning my journey, I discovered a nice opportunity to volunteer at a unique farmstead. This is no ordinary farmstead; it’s a DIY project created by a former electronics engineer turned farmer. He acquired knowledge independently, thanks to the internet. His desire for freedom led him to develop his own self-sufficient farm concept, featuring numerous greenhouses. One of these greenhouses serves as his living quarters, constructed with wood, straw, and clay. Additionally, he designed a biogas reactor to heat water and fuel his car, which operates on biogas.

His entire building operates autonomously, collecting rainwater in a self-made lake and an easy filtering system, to make it drinkable. Electricity is generated by solar panels and stored in batteries for later use. During winter, a wood stove helps keep the house warm. The unique aspect of this house is its ability to store a significant amount of heat, reducing the need for the wood stove in spring and autumn.

Apart from the greenhouse, there are few fields where he cultivates vegetables, ensuring an abundant food supply for his family throughout the year. In addition to growing vegetables, he produces his own flour, bread, and meat from chickens and sheep. His primary source of income comes from the sheep, which are raised in the mountains. Does he have everything needed for a good life?

I spent a week at Jean-Philip’s farm, helping him with several projects on a voluntary basis. A typical day started at 8 am with feeding the chickens and collecting the eggs. Then, we had some breakfast while discussing the day’s plans. Everything depended on the weather, and the most important morning task was determined by it. Usually, we began with harvesting on the farm, collecting carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, onions, etc. After that, we worked on building a new project: a greenhouse for growing tropical fruits. During lunchtime, we went into the garden, picked some vegetables, made a one-pot meal in a large iron pan, and served it with a fresh salad from the garden. I loved this part. After lunch, we usually resumed construction work. Once a week, we had to take care of the sheep and dogs in the mountains. The sheep needed fresh grass, and the dogs needed food and water. Every couple of day, we moved the fences and built a new area. We collected all the fence parts on foot, folded them, and put them on the trailer of the quad. It was time-consuming and required a lot of effort. The dogs were well-trained to keep the sheep together when the fences were not there. It was impressive to see how everything worked so well. In the evening, we prepared the food for lunch while having a beer or making sourdough for the homemade bread. It was typically a long working day that ended around 7 pm.

It was a nice week, and I learned a lot about harvesting, building, and taking care of animals. It was amazing to see how Jean-Philip invented and built all these things on the farm, especially his biogas and green/living house, which blew my mind. I also loved the food at the farm. From going into the garden to cooking everything in a large iron pan with a nice salad, it was a quality of life that I appreciated. The tomatoes, in particular, were the best I had ever had in my entire life. When I compared the vegetables from the supermarket to those from the farm, there was a world of difference. I underestimated the working hours on the farm. With several projects simultaneously, it could be really exhausting. I also had difficulties with the French language and understanding the people on the farm. Literally, nobody except for Jean-Philip could speak English with me. That made me feel uncomfortable, especially sitting at the table and not understanding a word. That was one of the reasons why I only stayed for one week. In the end, it was a nice experience, and I am grateful for gaining new insights into life. I would do it again, but only if I knew the language.