Volunteering at Dulra
Volunteers normally come through
WWOOF Ireland or
Help Exchange. We have been hosts for 3 years, and over 70 wwoofers and more local volunteers have passed through our farm in that period. We have also wwoofed ourselves with our 4 children for 6 months in Europe so have be able to create our own Carraig Dulra wwoof experience: the main part of that is is to wwoof in a small community of other wwoofers. We started by hosting 2-6 or even 8 wwoofers at a time. We once had thirteen and last summer we hosted 21 young people from all over europe and Africa for a two day work camp. Many of our volunteers also end up doing work with other hosts in the area; we have links with several families and the neighbouring egg farm.
During the season, we try to have a small community of volunteers camping at the farm. We've found it a great way to host, as the sense of community and meeting others is the fun, which makes the work much nicer! We prefer WWOOFers and Help Exchangers who are staying with us to come for at least 2 weeks; as with any new project, there's a learning curve. Long-term volunteers may be able to attend some courses, depending on numbers.
Living and Working at Carraig Dulra
Farm work is hard. Ours is a teaching place with lots of different projects as we develop them, so there is plenty to learn about organic growing, bee keeping, permaculture and bush craft for example. Being interested in learning is a critical element to being a good wwoofer and getting the most out of the experience. We find that work done with others also helps keep it fun.
Volunteers live close to nature at our farm as we have no electricity or hot water so you have to boil water to wash yourself, dishes or laundry in. Accommodation is camping (we have some tents and sleeping bags, if you don't have one of you own) and we have a covered outdoor kitchen for communal cooking. In the evenings, we have a yurt with a wood stove to sit in chat, dry out wet clothes and make music if anyone has that talent and even sometimes when they don't. There are two villages each about 3 miles away from the farm. Several wwoofers have found the walk ok and there are a number of old bicycles we are trying to fix up. Some are usable. There is a bigger town 15 mins by car and hitch hiking usually works well.
We find that if everyone can have some choice in which way they work :
- some cooking for the group, some working on different jobs on the farm,
- some working in groups or some alone,
- each person finding their own pace and rhythms
- some being early risers others happy to wash dishes late at night in the dark by candle light
then all can see and learn what it is like to live with others in a simple way. Comments from past wwoofers tell us that people love the opportunity to get closer to nature, new people and new parts of themselves. They like our family atmosphere and welcome too apparently :)
We live near the farm and camp there at times when we can, usually during school holidays, but as we are still developing the farm we also have to run the business side, things like marketing courses, looking after our shop and we too volunteer in our wider community helping it move to sustainable living through projects we've helped start like: community and school gardens, transition towns, and local small producer supports and events our OOOOBY store, and - having four children - our lives are busy! Therefore, the wwoofer group has to work on tasks quite autonomously at times with us dropping in and out and or being available by phone.
Work Camps
This year we are introducing two week "work camps", where all wwoofers will arrive together and work together on a series of projects. The first 2 week work camp runs from the last week of January to the first week in February
At the beginning of a "work camp", wwoofers come to Glenealy to the OOOOBY store by bus if at all possible, otherwise we will pick people up from bus or trains in Wicklow Town, Rathnew, Ashford, Rathdrum or Glenealy. Then we get to know everyone.
We need to get everyones
emergency contact details, and see
proof of insurance, (we have had two wwoofers end up in hospital: one with a thyroid problem and one got hit by a car while running at night and broke his elbow, so we are insistent about this: WWOOF Ireland recommends
OV Europa if you don't already have insurance), and please note that unfortunately
we cannot provide assistance for any Irish Visa applications).
We then go over lists of current work projects and explain how things like compost heaps and compost toilets work. We don't always assign jobs, but allow the group to self organize as much as possible. We are good as spotting talents now!
Then it depends on what is going on in the rest of our lives how often we will call in and out. Usually wwoofers see one of us every day or two days. There are also other people involved with the development of our project and sometimes other wwoof hosts that drop by to help or visit.
Food
Food is mainly vegetarian and not processed. We buy lots and lots of fruit and veg. Making sure everyone has enough to eat is important, and we make sure that is what happens. But it is worth noting that we are still getting going with our project and so far we find it hard to make a good income so we can't supply all organic or whole food items or luxury foods. When the garden has surplus we do supply some from there. We will teach you at the beginning how to cook economically for a large group and this involves a menu roughly like this:
Breakfast- porridge, or muesli fruit, nuts, unlimited organic eggs from neighbour, pancakes
Lunch- (main meal as hard to cook late in dark) various styles of vegetable stews and stir fries with nice spices, chinese, indian; with either potatoes rice, pasta, lentils, beans or couscous
Supper -soup, salad, bread eggs fruit crepes etc
We cannot supply large quantities of meat, bread, cheese, sugar, or biscuits so when these arrive with the weekly shopping, we ask that each person is aware that if they eat big portions of any food brought in, then someone else will not get any. We call this portion awareness and sometimes call it out if the main meal looks to be just enough, to make sure those in the front of the line don't take too much and leave others hungry. We sometimes BBQ with burgers, sausages hotdogs etc.
Applying
Well we hope this lets you know more about our set up and encourages you to come join us for a work camp. There may be opportunities to stay beyond a work camp or come back in between then once we have met you and seen whether there is a good fit. Some wwoofers from previous years have come back again some for two summers and will probably come again.
We have a limit to the number of places we can offer and we try to get a nice nationality, experience, age and gender balance so may not be able to accept you. So if you would like to come then please write soon and give us a bit more information about yourself, your experiences and why you'd like to come to us in particular and what areas you think you'd enjoy contributing in most.
The village of Glenealy is about 15 minutes bicycle ride away; it has a shop, post office, church and pub. Wicklow Town is much larger and is about 15 minutes away by car, or 40-60mins by bike. There is a swimming pool there for showers, as well as shops and other facilities. We are about 15 mins away by car.
Volunteers can stay in touch via the Carraig Dulra facebook group
We are on Couchsurfing as THECLAN, where you can read some comments about us.
Quotes from our vistor book 2008
"What kind of spot this is... Mike and Suzie you have got it going and your generosity is staggering. Volkswagon forever. Darius from Seattle"
"Thank you for sharing this beautiful paradise with me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience here and have had some amazing learning opportunities: willow making, women's shelter-girl power, fertilizing flowers, sheep herding, collecting eggs, cooking traditional Irish griddle bread, making Jam. I've grown very attached to the veggie herb garden thanks for letting me adopt it for a while. I very much hope to return some day, Sarah Australia"
"Thank you very much for the experiences in Carraig Dúlra. Even if it rained a lot we enjoyed our stay. We kept the kitchen clean because of the wasps then we don't need to kill them. This is our wish. thanks Tenzin-Tibet, Rebecca-Germany
"Its a very special wonderful place. I did so much different interesting things, I'd never done before. I think its really great that everybody can find something to do that he, she likes, and bring some new ideas. Hannah-Sophie Germany"
"We looked after the place when the family were gone, work on the farm was limited but we were shared by the greater community an worked on two school gardens! Wendy and Martha's gardens too as well as amateur sheep herders. The rhythm of Carraig Dúlra seeped into out beings and we woke every morning in awe of our surroundings the wild wind and rain, only accentuated the wonder and stark beauty of this small but powerful and magical piece of Ireland Teagan Marie"
Quotes from our vistor book 2007
"We are not members of wwoof but you accepted us to camp at your beautiful farm. Thanks a lot for your welcome, we slept very well in the yurt. We are very happy to have found a so nice place during our visit to Ireland. Thank you David and Alexis France"
"I hope you will have people as passionate as you are to help you with your little piece of paradise. Thank you for your welcome and fun and for all I had to learn there. It will leave me with an amazing memory of Ireland." Chantal, Canada
"This has been an experience of a life time, one I will never forget from falling into the gorse bush to finding a case of cider in a river, walking to Glendalough, walking the dogs to the Black Castle in Wicklow, mud at the Green gathering, dancing, pulling weeds, building counters....so many good memorie and good people." Thank you thank you Petra, Canada
"I am the girl who didn't know anything about any garden, who ate fresh lettuce for the first time in her life and who tried hard not to weed the herb and vegetables out. I loved sitting in the sun looking at nature, doing garden work, having campfires, eating vegetables. I also enjoyed family life with all of you children running and playing all over the land." thanks a lot Eva Germany
"After being here, after walking barefoot, after eating from the garden and gazing at the stars this place is in my heart. It is such a beautiful give to be able to share a place so deeply with others. I leave here feeling deeply inspired by what you are doing. thank you and your kids for all you have shared." Meg, USA
"I only wish I could have been here earlier and spent longer. My time has really flown by." Ramsay USA
"I wish I could stay longer the five now six of us have really bonding while cooking!" Stephanie, USA
"At first the cold rainy weather was a shock to my Californian blook but as the days on the farm went by I grew to like it. The two weeks seemed to go by so fast, I wish I could relive them one more time." Nathan USA
"I think I have just experienced one of the most amazing three weeks of my life. Words can't do justice to the experience of nature or community, for how the grass in the morning felt on my feet, the sensation of not knowing or giving a dam what time is according to a clock. An excerpt from my journal reads "Nature heals us, makes us well again, more like humans. At the very least it humbles us. Dam 'chard' is gorgeous!" Jeff USA
"Thank you for the great experience to make me part of your family for these days , I'll never forget your conviviality." Alberto Italy
"Well gang it looks like I am actually going to leave. I arrived talking about how great Galway was and now I am going to be telling everyone about life on the Carraig mountain. Thanks for everything. Grayson, from Canada :)
