**In addition to typical wwoofers, we are interested in finding someone with some market gardening experience to partner with us in the 2026 season in a more significant way. If you are interested in gaining experience in managing a CSA or small market garden operation, please reach out for more information.**
We are located on about 20 acres between Akron and Canton, OH. The farm is actually within the bounds of a local park, so there are about 6 miles of trails surrounding the property. The farmhouse and agricultural buildings were built in the late 1800's and are on the National Registry of Historic Places.
My husband Justin and I moved to the farm and started our business in 2020, but I worked at other people's farms during the 7 years preceding. The most significant part of our operation is our half acre vegetable plot. I use organic methods and focus on direct-to-consumer sales. Currently, most of our sales are through a self-serve shop we set up in our barn. We also have a CSA and attend occasional farmers markets. We grow a wide diversity of vegetables. We use intensive methods to produce a lot of food in a small area, focusing on soil health and biology as a top priority.
We also have a small flock of laying hens and some meat sheep. In the past, we've raised pastured pork once or twice per year, but we do not have pigs at this time. We would love to get started with grass-fed beef as well, but it's a long-term goal.
There are about 17 acres of usable pasture on the property. We partner with the city to offer a small U-Pick pumpkin patch each year. We would like to plant more perennials and fruit trees in the near future. We host some community events at the farm for additional income, like children's educational programs and yoga classes in the barn.
My husband and I have both been WWOOFers ourselves, both in the US and in Europe. When we WWOOFed, we were primarily looking to learn from other production farms so that we would be more prepared to start our own operation. We also liked the opportunity to get to know a local family while we were traveling, to learn about their cultures and practice our language skills.
WWOOFers generally work with us about 30 hours a week, but it varies a bit with the time of year and the individual's interest. We may sometimes ask for some amount of flexibility in the work schedule to take advantage of better weather conditions or to meet a harvest deadline. I am the primary farmer, my husband has an off-farm job. Work is mostly garden related (planting, harvest, sales, etc), but can be anything from chopping firewood, to moving animals and fencing, or preparing for public events on the farm.
Accommodation is in a guest room in our finished attic or a partially-finished outbuilding. You have use of your own bathroom. We have wifi but no central air. If you prefer to bring your own RV or camping equipment, you are welcome to.
We prefer people to stay at least ten days, but we are happy to provide more flexibility for local WWOOFers.
We often do at least one shared meal each day, but it depends on the given schedule that week. It is nice when guests assist in cleanup after meals or occasionally take a turn in meal prep. We are omnivores, but we have both eaten vegetarian at one point or another in the past. Meat is either from our farm or another local organic farm. While we are happy to host people with different dietary restrictions, you may have to prepare more of your own meals (using supplies provided).
If you are interested in joining us, send us some suggested dates! We'll email you a questionnaire to learn if we would be a good fit for you and vice versa.
Organic methods: We are not certified organic but follow organic protocols. We try to source organic seeds and only use fertilizers and pest control that is approved in organic production. We are very focused on soil health as the foundation for plant health. I use low-till methods, mainly relying on hand-cultivating, mulches and occultation tarps to handle weed pressure.
We rotate our animals over different pasture regularly. We feed our chickens organic feed and our pigs a mix of non-GMO grain, local produce and scraps. Sheep are 100% grass-fed.
Current projects: Winter: Mulching the garden. Building projects. Daily animal chores. Chopping wood.
March: Seeding transplants, garden planting / bed building, weeding. Daily animal chores.
April: Seeding transplants, garden planting / bed building, weeding, watering, harvesting. Daily animal chores.
May-August: Seeding transplants, garden planting / bed building, weeding. watering, organic sprays / pest control, harvesting. Daily animal chores. Canning / freezing excess produce.
Sept-Oct: Weeding. watering, organic sprays / pest control, harvesting. Daily animal chores. Canning / freezing excess produce.
Read more
Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Seed saving or production
Meat processing
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
No-till farming
Regenerative agriculture
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Production farm
Former WWOOFer
8.1
Hectares
|
20
Acres
