Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.07.2009, Síða 39

Mr. Farmer let me watch your crops;
Mr. Farmer let me water your crops; Mr.
Farmer let me harvest your crops; Mr.
Farmer let me save your crops.
I f lew to Egilsstaðir. Less time travelling
meant more time WWOOFing and, an-
ticipating a relaxing escape from Reyk-
javík, I was quite eager to get started.
Driving the compact sky-blue rented Toy-
ota down the long gravel driveway and
around a bend toward a charming old
white house, I let out a faint sigh of relief.
This is just what I need.
The Grapevine’s graphic-design in-
tern and fellow WWOOF virgin, Hailey,
and I parked the car, hopped out and
greeted Eymundur, a fit middle-aged
man of slight stature, ever the farmer in
practical denim and a plaid shirt. “Get
back in the car and follow me to the
WWOOF hotel,” he directed. We obeyed.
Farther down the driveway, through
an overgrown undulating field, beside
a large white warehouse where Eymun-
dur manufactures Móðir Jörð vegetarian
burgers was the WWOOF ‘hotel’ – a por-
table shelter elevated on concrete raisers
and painted in a hodgepodge of contrast-
ing colours chosen by the WWOOFers
themselves. It took only a glance for me
to utter what my travel companion and I
were both thinking: “what have I gotten
us into?”
It was overcast, drizzling slightly,
and the surrounding mountains were
shrouded in a thick fog. The excitement
felt when boarding the Air Iceland flight
in sunny and warm Reykjavík was decid-
edly diminished. Upon entering the ‘ho-
tel’ we were greeted by nine WWOOFers,
all of whom seemed sceptical about the
presence of a journalist and graphic de-
signer.
Fast-forward five hours, after a deli-
cious vegetarian lunch prepared by the
housekeeper of the WWOOF ‘hotel,’
Lilja, and a mind-numbing three hours
clothed in neon-orange vinyl overalls,
rain boots and an oversized WWOOF-
supplied sweater, holding a hoe in my
cramping and callusing gloved hands.
“So how was your first day of real
work?”
Goddamned WWOOFers.
I ain't gonna work on Eymundur’s
farm no more
WWOOFing was hard work. Mentally
more than physically, though I presume
those who seek out summers of the prac-
tice, travelling from country to country,
farm to farm, are stronger of mind than
I am; less in need of constant entertain-
ment, less dependant on outside distrac-
tions and shiny trinkets to fiddle with or
get lost in.
However, Vallanes, I learned over my
four days living there, is not the typical
WWOOF farm. The young volunteers
were disenchanted with Eymundur’s
lack of participation and one-on-one
time with the WWOOFers. They seek
out experiences on organic farms to
learn and that was clearly something
that this farmer had little time for be-
tween business meetings and marketing
his barley, veggie burgers and massage
oils. Due to this disconnection between
the farmer and his minions the nine
WWOOFers living with me in the ‘hotel’
lamented that I was not experiencing the
WWOOFing they so loved.
Speaking with one particular
WWOOFer I met on Eymundur’s farm
really made me crave a WWOOFing do-
over. A WWOOF-over?
Leah Mawhinney travelled from
her home state of Maine, supported by
a grant, to WWOOF. Truly interested
in learning about farming practices
throughout the world, she WWOOFed
other farms in Iceland and was so con-
vincing about how phenomenal an ex-
perience WWOOFing typically is that I
found myself pricing out tickets to run
away with her to the beaches of the Golfo
di Taranto.
As a matter of fact, if I had a credit
card to pay for it and no responsibili-
ties to tend to in Reykjavík I would be
WWOOFing on the coastal kiwi farms of
southern Italy at this very moment, con-
fident that my bombardment of thoughts
would be more manageable under the
Mediterranean sun than they were on
Eymundur’s farm; just me and a bed of
lettuce and a hoe.
27
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 10 — 2009 Flight provided by Air iceland.
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EyMUNdUR MAGNúSSON - 54 - “ThE FARMER”
Eymundur didn’t grow up on a farm. His grandparents had been
farmers but he was born and raised in Reykjavík and experienced
farm life during his summers in Egilsstaðir. “I was on my grand-
mother’s farm in the valley not far from here and I just fell in love
with the countryside and I decided to be a farmer when I was about
six.” He actually pursued a life of farming when he was 24 years
old, beginning with a traditional dairy farm and making the shift
to organic farming ten-years later. At that time he was a pioneer of organic farming in
Iceland, often told by other farmers that he was crazy to go organic in conditions that are
already difficult to grow in. “I got to know organic farming, I had been growing organi-
cally for myself and once you get to know organic it’s easy to see that it’s the right thing
to do. It tastes so much better.”
AMy BORkWOOd - 25 - TORONTO - CANAdA
Amy lives in Toronto, Canada, where she’s beginning a university
programme in feminist social work in the fall. She has WWOOFed
in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Greece… and Iceland. During
her time in Iceland Amy spent time on two farms in the Selfoss-
area. “WWOOFing is perfect for me, because I can travel alone
and still get into the countryside, meet people, and it's also a really
great way to travel for a longer period of time for cheap. I also
love being able to do something productive and helpful while I'm travelling in another
country.”
LEAh MAWhiNNEy - 20 - MAiNE - USA
Leah was WWOOFing with a grant for people that study psychol-
ogy… but she doesn’t study psychology (she studies food and ag-
riculture) so she’s not even sure how she got that money. “I’m here
partially because I want to travel and partially for learning about
the changes in agriculture over recent years. “The good thing
about WWOOFing is that you often work with the farmers and the
farmers are often very knowledgeable so you can spend your days
doing things that you’ve never done before – like herding sheep or birthing sheep during
the lambing season.” After Iceland Leah was jetting off to Bologna, Italy, to spend some
weeks on a farm there before travelling south to the Golfo di Taranto to harvest kiwis
and olives in 40 C temperatures.
GRACE hAWLEy - 20 - BRiSTOL - Uk
Grace is an English literature student on a gap year. “I was sup-
posed to be getting a job but because of the economic situation in
England it’s really hard to find anything. So I was sitting in Bristol
spending lots of money on rent and thinking I really want to travel
but I don’t have much money and thinking ‘what the fuck am I
going to do for the next six or seven months?’ So I went WWOOF-
ing!” Her three week stint at Vallanes farm in Egilsstaðir is her first
WWOOFing experience and she has really enjoyed it “Working with the soil is really
healing and I’m met some really great people,” she says. After a short trip back to Bristol
Grace is off to two other WWOOF farms in southern and central Finland.
hANS BURGER - 18 - NEThERLANdS
Hans works at an organic grocery store in a small town in north-
west Netherlands. “I want to learn about organic agriculture and I
wanted to travel in Iceland so that’s what brings me here.” Vallanes
was his second WWOOF experience – he was in France last sum-
mer in a spiritual commune – and his first farm in Iceland. He will be
spending a total of one month on the farm in Egilsstaðir. Hans de-
veloped a reputation among the WWOOFers as ‘the kid who eats a
lot of garlic’ as he was often caught eating raw cloves of garlic sneakily from the fridge. “I
like the way it makes me feel; a little bit high. It’s also useful when you want to be alone.”
CAThARiNE FULTON
hAiLEy LOMAN
The WWOOFing Bunch
Introducing the farmer and WWOOFers of Vallanes organic farm