Have you ever heard about wwoofing? This is one of the most representative Knowledge Sharing projects worldwide and we were quite impatient to experience it along our journey. The principle is easy: you as volunteer offer your time and energy by working at an organic farm and in return you have accommodation and food provided by the host. Besides learning rural skills, it is also the matter to get closer to a different culture and meet local people by helping them in their daily work. In Turkey, the wwoofing organisation is called TaTuTa and we got the chance to be hosted during one week at the Bayrak farm, located in the small village of Gümüshaciköy in the Amasya region.
After getting retired, Ibrahim Bayrak and his wife Birsel built their own farm and have been working for the last eight years mainly in the production of organic jams (strawberry, blackberry, rose hip) and growing apple trees. Their way of living is a remarkable example of ecologic sustainability: what they produce not only fulfils their basic needs but also provides friends and family with healthy and delicious food.
Besides getting inspired by their hard-working and generosity, we learned constantly from their farming know-how. Our daily tasks consisted on picking ripe fruits and vegetables (berries, pears, peppers, tomatoes, beans, potatoes, …), helping out in the process of producing marmalade and other farming activities like watering the fields, removing bad weeds or participating in the preparation of their amazing meals.
We would definitely recommend this enriching experience to everyone. It did not only teach us the technics behind farming but also made us think about where our daily food comes from and the benefits of a sustainable and organic production versus what you are used to get in supermarkets. Also, meeting these wonderful persons and their environment was something we won’t forget.
