Host Profile
My Property
Business Type
Farming methods
Short Property Description
We have a 20-acre farm with around 80 fruit trees, 20 hens, 2 cows, and a large organic vegetable garden. We are partly self-sufficient. We tend to work in the morning after breakfast and there’s always a variety of tasks that need doing. As the soil in St Andrews is quite poor, we have built up the garden beds over time, with dedicated compost making. The compost bins needed turning often. We gather all the dry leaves, fresh lawn clippings and kitchen scraps to layer our compost, a bit like making lasagna. The chook houses often need cleaning, or the cages modified. Fruit trees, especially in summer, need mulching and watering. For the practical person, there’s an opportunity to design new sheds, or finish working on the Folly, a wonderful outdoor area that needs a few walls. In summer, we grow an amazing variety of vegetables, including 6 types of tomatoes. All the San Marzano tomatoes need processing into passata. We also have seasonal gluts in plums, apples and pears, which also need processing into jams, wine, or chutneys. We always have a good lunch and retire for the afternoon.
Rae makes wonderful sourdough bread every second day. The food is mostly vegetarian, with an occasional fishy dish. If you eat meat, there’s a BBQ on site. Guests live in a separate, modern self-contained studio, with bathroom and kitchenette. The views are vast, the bird visitors frequent. We have resident kookaburras, rosellas, and king parrots who come by daily. There are kangaroos roaming in the front paddocks.
We are 7 kms from Hurstbridge station which runs to Melbourne every 30 minutes. We are happy to pick you up from there or drive you there if you need to travel to the city. We live within walking distance of the famous St Andrews Market which occurs every Saturday, and the St Andrews Hotel is close by, a venue for blues music. There are good walking tracks in the district.
Many years ago, we hosted WWoofers from Italy. It was a great opportunity for Rae to re-engage with Italian speaking, and our Italian WWoofers were keen to practice their English.
We like hosting couples. I look forward to answering any queries you may have about staying with us.
Skills WWOOFers can learn here
Organic practices & techniques, Gardening, Composting, Soil conservation, Propagating, Mulching, Pruning, Poultry care, Using & caring for tools, Fencing, Building, Natural Building techniques, Handyman, Fermenting foods, Preserving & processing food, Bread making
My Details
The Stay
Can Accommodate
Preferred length of Stay
Accommodation
Other options
Meal Procedures
Eat together, Share most meals
Languages spoken
Diets we cater for
Fish based meals, Vegetarian meals
Work and Study Remotely here
Work and Study Remotely here by arrangement
Why I became a WWOOF Host
We became hosts because the property is now too large for us to manage alone. I enjoy wwoofers sharing our good food and hopefully we can pass on some of our farming knowledge. We are also keen to share information on travel.
