CSA Day!!

We harvested so many wonderful vegetables and herbs for the CSA pickup day this week! Oh my god. Pattypan squash, carrots, basil, melons, peppers, beans, zucchini, leeks, kale, eggplant - oh god so much!

Quin and Georgie harvesting the sweetest carrots.



Justin bunching leeks after Quin picked them, so Georgie and I could wash them.



Look at all this bounty!!!



What a fun day <3 I really like this farm.

Mano Farm

Oh wow....this is a real farm. Beautiful. It's in Meiners Oaks, near Ojai.



Quin and Justin run the farm, have a 20 person CSA business and are starting up a seed saving business too! It's all All Good Things. They are so knowledgeable, it's almost intimidating. Luckily they are so kind and eager to share their wisdom, it doesn't feel awkward to ask a million questions.



We eat SO WELL here!! Quin and Justin are great cooks - always using fresh things from their farm. There's an outdoor kitchen I will have to post pictures of soon, it's a dream. The entrance to their living space and communal area always takes my breath away.



Georgie is another WWOOFer working on the farm. She is from London, has a dream to start a business with her best friend who is a wonderful cook (she would grow the food her friend would prepare), and we immediately became buddies (the only girls on the farm gotta stick together, ya know? haha). In the middle of the day we usually get a decent sized break, and this is when Georgie and I go to Meiner's Oaks and Ojai to find internet and coffee.



Sadly, Georgie leaves soon for her next farm and to visit her family friends in Oakland. I'll really miss her! After we pick for the CSA shares, I will drive her to Santa Barbara where she will be staying the night at Hotel Santa Barbara in downtown. She gets the bus the next morning, but possibly coming back to Mano (depending on how she likes the next farm).

Goodbye Dinner

My parents took me out to Spirit Land Bistro and surprised me with this belated birthday treat!

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SLB is a great restaurant specializing in organic world cuisine with a TON of vegan and raw/vegan dishes. So good! My mom ended up eating the entire chocolate cake because I was too full from dinner. haha

Road Trip to SF!

So we reach Ragged Point and get out of the car to explore the area and stretch our legs. Sarah asks a stranger to take our picture, who happens to be the guitarist for Smash Mouth (haha!). Tom gets weak in the knees and gets loads of pictures taken with both Mike and Dusty. Sarah's pants break and she runs off in a panic. She disappears into the blackhole (aka the ladies room) for a good 20 minutes. They invite us back to see the view from their room, and also offer free tickets to their private concert happening the following night. Because we were on our way north, and had a long way still to go, we declined. Anyway, Ragged Point was beautiful...

Smashmouth and Tom lol


On the way through Big Sur we saw a free concert at the Henry Miller Memorial Library - SO COOL! We were still on our way to SF so we only stayed for a little while. Sarah and I dropped Tom off in Redwood City, and then headed to my sister's place in the Mission. We arrived around 1am, and talked until we passed out... It was so great seeing my sister! Next day we went on a walk with the dog, ran some errands, and had the most scrumptious vegan mexican lunch. Too bad I didn't get a picture of it :(

Mano Farm will be coming up soon! I'm excited to find out what this new farm will be like....another Madeline situation?? EEEK!

Road Trip!!

I spent the night at Sarah's hermitage (thank you so much you sweet, sweet woman! What a friend) after leaving the ArtFarm. I was exhausted, and completely slept through her allergy attack, moving the bed by herself across the room, and her attempts at moving me over to one side of the bed (I'm a bed hog I now find out). Hahah Sorry 'bout that! The poor lady didn't sleep a wink, and I was out like a light.

Next day comes and we head off to the beach for a short meander mid morning. By 11am I'm at my parents house figuring out my next move, checking on FB and find out Tom, who is still living at ArtFarm, is looking for a ride to SF instead of spending $300 on trains and buses. While we try and figure out the logistics of this impromptu road trip, he is trying to calm Madeline down over at ArtFarm who is having a complete melt down... Madeline is upset that Tom isn't gone like he said he was going to be since before we talked he was planning on taking a train, but with me driving him we had a bit more time to plan and pack. She's upset that he lied to her and is telling him to get back to work because he's still at the farm, and not actually gone. But he is frantically trying to get me to give him a ride via FB chat. She's also pissed that he has internet and her internet isn't working. Thus Tom is the devil and probably need to be kicked out. hahah no, just kidding.

Then, Annika brought up to Madeline that the food she was serving us for breakfast and lunch was between 1 year and 5 years expired! Madeline says that when her son started asking questions like that, she told him that he needed to move out. What? Is this not completely backwards?? Anyway, she and Annika go back and forth with their points for quite some itme, until Madeline says Annika should get out of ArtFarm. This obviously makes Annika very upset, as she is being kicked out for being served extremely expired food at what is supposed to be an organic farm. Tommi stays and comforts Annika while Tom tries to diffuse the situation, and I come to pick him up just about at the time she is sufficiently calm. He is beyond grateful to get out and be free of this black hole of drama, as I think anyone would be!

We then pick up Sarah and head off in the direction of SF! We drive for a few hours until we need to stretch our legs and take a look at elephant seals doin it.


We head back out onto highway 1 and reach Ragged Point...more on that later.

Okay, Madeline scares me. I left the farm the morning after she was accusing the WWOOFers of stealing her cat and threatening to kick people out who didn't clean up the house to her (undisclosed) expectations. I saw her in the morning and she was already was grumpy and unhappy about something, so I just packed up my things before work and flew away. HA!

I went to put my feet in the ocean and tried to figure out what I was going to do until the 15th, when I could go to the next farm. It was the most beautiful morning!

Later, I met up with current WWOOFers and ex-WWOOFers and we had a BBQ at Goleta Beach. The sunset was beautiful. Oh my god <3<3

Lots of fun!



Alex and Kathrina from France make such a beautiful couple :)


Later we got tipsy at the Mercury Lounge in Old Town Goleta haha

Operation ASAP complete!

Apparently, the cat is with Animal Services now...hallelujah. I felt so bad for that cat. Unfortunately, Madeline is very upset and came into the our house blaming us wwoofers. This was after coming up to the house, taping a note to the piano reading, "Dear Woofers: Please clean up the ktichen/livingroom/dinig area and bathroom and KEEP MY HOME CLEAN or you're not welcome to stay here. Thanks, Madeline" and walking out without saying a word. The lettering was huge with double underlines and exclamation points galore. Tom, Liza and I were in the living room just waiting for her to say something, but she just turned around and walked out. She came back about 10 minutes later, after we had read the note, and yelled at us about the state of the house. She said it was offensive to her and she told other WWOOFers before us, who should have told us her expectations. I asked her for a list of rules, so there was no room for confusion but she didn't address it, and just went on about the dishes etc.

Maybe I've just left a house in which I lived with 5 people and the state of that house was always much worse than it is here. So now, I've become immune to the mess, or something. I don't know but it really isn't bad here! We all started cleaning and scrubbing away immediately. Kathrina from France even started scrubbing Tommi's face! .....no just kidding. haha
I worked with Anie from Germany (and learned a few new German words myself!) watering the entire garden which takes about 2.5 hours, and turning compost. We then picked some green beans and a tomato for lunch. It was so warm today, we really enjoyed watering and 'accidentally' spraying eachother hehehe

I've received a response from a farm in Ojai that wants me to come on the 15th of September to stay for a few weeks. That leaves me with some time to kill if I leave this farm... Oh what to do what to do? I do know that I am going to a Fleet Foxes concert on Tuesday with Sarah though! I'm so excited!!! More updates to come once I figure out what I will be doing in the next couple days. EEK!

The Drama Mama

Madeline is crazy! Out of the blue she kicked out Bel and Max! She blamed Max for a gate being left unlocked, which neither Bel or Max had, and then yelled at Bel for over feeding the animals (but she was just feeding them like she was taught from Madeline when she arrived!). They asked for a grace period so that they could have a little time to find another place, but she refused and made them both leave immediately, stating there were "lots of reasons" she didn't want them here. But not one reason did she give them besides the gate (mute point) and overfeeding the animals. Is that really any kind of basis to be kicked out? Here's my last picture of Bel (with Tom) as we get ready to head down to the gate and squeak for Madeline. But we'll have a BBQ at the beach soon with Max and Bel and all the new wwoofers :) What fun!

Kate and Dave left for their next farm :( As they were leaving, and hitching a ride with Bel and Max, Madeline yelled at Dave calling him a liar! She didn't believe they were catching a ride with them, and then told them to go around the outside of the house to get out--and would not allow them to walk through the house to get out through the front door. What?! Kate asked her to act like an adult and not call people names, then she walked out. Smart move.
Btw, this was all happening when the next set of wwoofers were arriving from France! Hahahha what craziness. They sure were surprised at all the yelling, and bad behavior. I explained everything to them as best as I could. Later everyone went out for dinner with Bel and Max and had a great time. After work the next day, we had lunch and i grabbed a picture. Another two wwoofers arrived too! Liza (from Nor Cal, a vet student studying at UCD funnily enough!) and Anie from Germany (which made Tommi happy to be able to speak so much without confusion).
Our lunch spot was right by our house, under a tree. So sublime!
I'm thinking this place is a bit dramatic for me....I don't know what Madeline will choose to hate me for and quickly kick me out with out warning. I've contacted a couple farms nearby so hopefully I will hear back from them sooner than later. I'm worried my time is up!

Operation ASAP

Madeline's cat has an awful gaping wound and smells like death. She's really sweet and wants attention, but Madeline says we can't allow her in the house...that is just so sad. That poor kitty is slowly dying, and Madeline won't put it out of its misery.
Tom had a stuffy nose and couldn't smell her rotting away, so lucky for him. And Bel just loved her so much she would cuddle her--somehow she could ignore the stench.

I'll be sad to see Kate and Dave go, they are really fun. Kate is working on a beautiful nautical scene in embroidery as a thank you to a friend who had them over to stay upon arriving to the US. They will be heading to Gaviota to a large farm there where they will learn about biodynamics, permaculture and garden design. It sounds lovely! In the evenings, we usually watch old movies like Indiana Jones and Ghostbusters while the girls usually craft. I made some earrings, Kate worked on her embroidery, and Bel painted a scene in my art journal. What fun!


Dave could usually be seen updating his blog here.

Beach Day

We worked on the farm for a bit this morning. Kate and I weeded the vegetable garden, while Bel fed the sheep and chickens near the house. Tommi and Max thumped German techno music and worked on this glass bottle igloo project and Tom plugged on with the outhouse construction. We BBQed burgers, and had pasta and potato salad. After a rest and some relaxation, we headed out to the beach to play some frisbee. If you know me--- you know I'm not sporty at ALL :( It's kind of funny actually... Trying to catch a frisbee lol

It was a beautiful day today. Wow. While at the beach, I ran into an old friend of mine, Margy, who I haven't seen for probably ten or so years! She, her husband and her inlaws were visiting her hometown all the way from NYC before she heads off to India to do some Mormon missionary work. WOW! What a coincidence. It was so lovely to see her, she hadn't changed a bit. Sweet and kind as ever <3

Emergency Room Visit

Max, Tom and Tommi were working on cutting wood for the outhouse they're building when something made Tommi's skillsaw jerk and almost slice his big toe off! While I was planting basil with Kate who arrived with Dave (the couple from Scotland) I got a call on my cell from Max who let told me he was at the ER room Tommi and told me the story of what happened. I brought Tommi his wallet he had forgotten in the rush to get to the hospital which had his insurance card and all that. Here they are at the Goleta Valley Emergency Room:

We found out Tommi's toe was fine, and the saw had just cut open his flesh but not touched any bone or anything. YAY! Unfortunately, he did have to fork over $500 for a simple cleaning of the the wound and a bandage. In the evening, he was even doing some P90x workout stints with Max, lol. Very silly...

We're having a lot of fun here!

First WWOOFing days at ArtFarm!

I've arrived at my first farm! Immediately, I'm surprised with what I find here...a house covered in bright graffiti art and painted murals of mermaids, fish transforming into hummingbirds, Jesus and the Mona Lisa, and even MickeyMouse. I hear a squeaking noise, and notice a young woman standing outside a colorful gate, with a basket of fresh brown eggs, squeezing a soccerball shaped horn under a sign that reads: "squeak the horn for Madeline." She introduces herself as Bel from Massachusetts, and then we go off in search of Madeline after a few minutes of waiting with no response. Later on, I meet Max (who is Bel's boyfriend, also from MA) and Tommi who is from Germany. Nans, from France, is scheduled to catch a train at noon for Mexico, so I get a short tour and work in the garden for just a little while before heading up to the house to make lunch for everyone. Bel and I work on a tofu stirfry, with a fresh mix of veggies from the garden and market and serve it with brown rice. Here's Max and Bel -

After lunch, Nans leaves and soon after that, Tom from England arrives. A bit later, I wander again through the garden, which is like a jungle maze of art and strange treasures like old windows, sinks and bathtubs filled with vegetables and herbs, and slightly alarming sculptures. There's a huge yoga and mediation deck, with a hammock nearby where I sit and read for a while in the afternoon. FUN DAY!

Tomorrow, two people from Edinburgh are supposed to arrive and another woman from Germany, Karo, should be coming in the evening. More updates as they come!