¨La Zonda¨

So, we made it to our first WWOOF farm. Its called Rincon Madre Tierra, and is located outside of Mendoza, Argentina. It is a fairly large area, is run by a friendly and knowlegable local Argentine family, and right now the volunteers are Chris and I, plus two other wonderful volunteers, from Buenos Aires and California respectively. We are throughly enjoying our time so far, and expect to be here for at least another week and a half to two weeks.

The farm has horses, a bull, about 40 chickens, dogs, cats, a greenhouse, irrigated fields with fruit trees/vegetable plots, buildings being built with local materials including living roofs. Also, there´s a river nearby and the Andes are in the background, along with a neighboring WWOOF farm as well as other nearby vineyards. We live in a cabin with two other volunteers, where we eat really good food, work hard throughout the day together with the family. We have a variety of tasks, including clearing out the irrigation channels, constructing buildings, caring for the animals, planting vegetable seeds, preparing beds, planting trees/roses, baking bread, cooking meals, and lifting really heavy things (well, át least for me, Beth).

The first day we arrived, we showed up in the morning, and before we could barely put down our bags, they put us to work, which we really appreciated. There is so much to be done to get ready for the upcoming season (its early spring here). So we worked until the winds started blowing so hard, we had to stop. Then, we were informed that the ¨Zonda¨ was here, which basicly means that a fierce wind (cold air from the Andes mixed with humid air from the ocean) had arrived, and had caused a wildfire to start inching toward the farm....it was quite a bit of excitement. So we packed our bags along with things from the family´s house, grabbed shovels, and approached the fire to try to put it out. But it was really large and growing, so we had to give up. Luckily, it put itself out, so the farm didn´t burn down. We had no idea we´d also be volunteer firefighters! So anyways, we´re happy here. That´s it for now.

The forest fire, moving closer

Efforts from neighbors to put it out with about three buckets of water, three shovels, and maybe 10 people top, including 4 WWOOFers, who dont know much about putting out fires

Our fellow WWOOFer, Liz, in the hot seat

La Zonda, or the wind that raises hell

The smoke blowing onto the farm from the fire

Looks like a scary movie!

The neighboring WWOOF farm, a mother daughter operation, both from the US

Chickens on the farm

Lunch out of a barrel!

Lunchtime on the farm (yes, I´m using a twig to stir the stew!)