"WWOOFER" to the rescue....!!!!

And, what is a WWOOFER you ask? One of the canine species? Or perhaps one that trains canines? NOOOOOO! Nothing do do with dogs at all, other than our WWOOFER happens to have a very cute puppy of his own.
W.W.O.O.F. stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.
The people who take part in this organization travel around to various farms, sometimes multiple in a year, sometimes only one a year, and work and learn....in exchange for housing, meals, and education on what it takes to create and grow an organic garden or farm.

So, insert Matt, our very own WWOOFER. He prefers to just explain it is a work/trade dealio...much easier. He works 5 hours a day, and we give him his own room, meals, and the experience of it all. Matt is great. From the midwest, used to work for apple, (you mean I have my own apple tech guy for all my crazy Igadget questions???!!!!) and is totally motivated to be on our beautiful property and land.
And....well.....we probably wouldn't have had a garden without Matt. Seriously.....with the two kiddies, myself working full time, and Alex doing the same, our beautiful organic greatly producing garden would have been kersplat! Not to mention the dire need of our fence keeping the bears out, the road getting rougher by the day, and all the other odds and ends that go into creating a somewhat smoothly running property such as this one.
Yes, sometimes I do lust for the simple surburbia that most of my fellow Americans coexist in, simply because running this household/farm/ranch is TWO (at least) full time jobs in itself!
But, Matt is coming to rescue us. He came from a good friend's farm, had been there for quite awhile, (they have quite a few WWOOFER's regularly) and was ready for a change. We snatched him up for our very own WWOOFER experience.

Other than cooking a bit more food each day, (something I need to get used to anyhow due to my two growing boys!) we really have not noticed any more burden. And the quantity of food Matt is helping us grow is going to be far and away more than what he eats. And great food for our family and kiddos!!!

artichokes abound, and new young melons, squash, corn, tomatoes and peppers...and our lovely bean teepee pole!

young summer garden, peppers and tomatoes

So, win win....you think!!!???
For more information on WWOOFER's go here....
http://www.wwoof.org/
(Even good for a family vacation....great story about a family with young kids who went to Costa Rica and worked on an organic farm....and, this story about one example of a person who decided to try WWOOFing out...   http://articles.latimes.com/2011/nov/25/local/la-me-wwoofing-20111125