Organic Turmeric & Orchard Farm. Accommodates large groups. Vegetarian, Vegan friendly.
Florida
The farm is a forty acre piece, a mile off the main road. There is a beautiful creek winding through the woods on northern border. It is quiet out here. In the fields are turkey and deer roaming through the fields on most evenings. Owl and Hawk are common. The land is full of large oaks.
The farm sits between the two rural towns of High Springs and Alachua, and it just a few miles from the interstate giving quick and easy access to Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida. We are 20 minutes from Michael Singer’s Temple of The Universe. Wwoofers who have found Michael Singers YouTube videos often attend while they are here. The farm is a short drive from the rivers and springs that are abundant in the area.
We have been stewards of this land since 1992. The farm has seen many changes and has undergone many phases of development. We grew row crops here for many years in the 1990s, and we had Full Moon Music Festivals here for four years in the early 2000s. Currently the farm is focused on Organic Turmeric, Peaches and Persimmon trees in the organic orchard, and we have just begun a large Market Garden. The turmeric harvest begins in December and continues thru March. Persimmons are ripening in September and harvested in October.
ACCOMMODATIONS:
There is a four bed bunk house that is usually occupied by the ladies. Air conditioned and heated. There is an RV that sleeps two, and a converted camper that sleeps one or two. Also there are two spaces for RV’s that have electric and water. All spaces have WI-FI. The kitchen is a large converted green house with a very large table and chairs, prep counter space, and all kinds of kitchen equipment. The shower is an outdoor shower with plenty of hot water. There is detached flush toilet rest room. There are pictures in the photos section showing the kitchen, shower, restroom, and sleeping accommodations.
We shop once a week and buy based on the shopping lists of the volunteers. We provide a decent kitchen and Wwoofers prepare their own meals or cook together as they choose. The kitchen is for the Wwoofers. If you cook you will find all that you need in the kitchen.
From DECEMBER into MARCH:
Turmeric Harvest begins December 16th, and continues into March. This is the time we take on as many Wwoofers as we can accommodate. Eight to ten hopefully. What to expect on a harvest day. Some mornings can be cold. Days usually warm up to beautiful weather, but mornings can be cold. This is north Florida. We only had 2 freezes (over night) last season.
A big part of the harvest is the cleaning of the rhizomes. The work is not hard, but long and tedious. You would be at a wash station with a 60 psi hose jet cleaning rhizome pieces one at a time. There are five stations and they need to be kept going continually from when we begin in the morning to the end of the day. We will rotate during lunch so that some of the wash stations keep going always. We work five days a week, six hours a day, and have an hour lunch break.
In the field the turmeric is removed from the ground by hand with a potato fork. The rootball is field washed to remove the field soil and loaded into a field trailer and brought into the processing area. The mothers are removed from the root ball and set aside for replanting, and the rhizome and rhizome clusters are trimmed and go to the wash stations for a final cleaning. The field work is pretty physical. Some like it and some would rather work in the wash stations only.
Everyone shares in and keeping the kitchen, shower, laundry area, and rest room clean.
LATE MARCH/APRIL through SUMMER: When the Turmeric harvesting season ends the pace on the farm settles down. Attention goes to replanting turmeric, feeding the orchard, pruning the orchard, and thinning the peaches which become ripe in late April.
WEEDING. Weeding of the turmeric begins in April/May and continues into September around Persimmon harvest time. Often the weed pressure is minimal. Throughout the summer there is plenty to do to keep up with mowing and bush hogging, feeding the turmeric, working the market garden. Some work can be done in the cool hours of morning. Four and a half hours a day max, and often less during the summer months, five days a week.
THE RIVERS AND SPRINGS:
Close by are the rivers and springs that this area is famous for. The Santa Fe River, the Itchetucknee, a crystal clear spring fed river, and the Suwannee River are all within reach. The refreshing Rum Island Spring is 25 minutes away. There are also several canoe and kayak rental places that will take you to the Santa Fe River and pick you up downstream. For days off the Atlantic Ocean beaches of Saint Augustine, Crescent Beach, and Vilano Beach are under two hours away. Also the camp ground of Anastasia.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Seed saving or production
Mechanics / tools / technology
Host type
Production farm
Certified organic
16.2
Hectares
|
40
Acres
Accommodation
Donald (Don)
Member since 2018
Languages spoken:
English
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 78%
Response time: typically within 4 days
Florida
Gainesville has an Airport, and bus stops.
Reviews
Clara
United States
•
April 2026
I very much appreciate the friendship and family that manifested from choosing to visit with this space
I lived and worked here during the winter turmeric harvest. November-March. Tasks and daily work routine is as described. Everything is as described in farm profile, always a beautiful gift
It was my pleasure to meet a people and space i would be glad to return to
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Hana
United States
•
March 2026
Don is a gentle soul and a very generous host! We both had a great time working and learning while on the farm. Workdays were 9-10am to 3-4pm with a one hour lunch break. Work consisted of harvesting, trimming, washing and packaging turmeric. The property has a great view for star gazing and there was also a lovely kitchen with a wood stove! If we come back to Florida we hope to stop by again :)
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Avery
United States
•
March 2025
I ended up staying for over a month-a couple weeks was not enough! Don has cultivated a wonderful community of wwoofers and family alike . Everyone is so accepting and easy going, and it was very easy to feel welcomed. During my stay (February through March) the turmeric harvest was the majority of work throughout the week, which including digging in the field, processing, and washing. Other work included dehydrating and grinding the turmeric into powder and collecting and chopping wood of fallen trees. This was my first time wwoofing and it was the ideal experience! Thanks Don and fam <3
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Lidya
United States
•
February 2025
Solid experience full of characters
Nathalie
Netherlands
•
January 2025
I had such a wonderful time with Don and all the other great people living and working at the farm! This was my first experience and couldn't ask for anything more. The farm is a very special place to be and I will definitely come back.
Don is super kind, caring, helpful and without judgement; really easy going. I'm impressed by the way he runs the farm which is with love and care for nature. If we needed something, Don made sure we got it the next day.
The work was easy and I had a great time with other wwoofers and co-workers.
We played a lot of music (Don is a good guitar player and singer!), made big and small bonfires and had nice and good talks. We cooked together, took walks on the enormous property and once in a while someone took us to town nearby. The nature is overwhelming and beautiful, they have a creek where you can sit all by yourself which is lovely to do.
In the last week 9 chicks were born!
Working days started around 9 because nights were cold, perfect.
Thank you so much Don for a amazing time!
If you want to know more, please check out their socials. It's usefull if you need more information.
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Hamza
Canada
•
January 2025
It's our first experience as a wwoof and we really come away with very good memories that will remain engraved in our memory. Donalde was super attentive from the start of our exchanges until the end of our stay with him, he is super nice, we had a superb human experience of sharing and working in a group. the farm exudes a sphere of appeasement and calm, we really loved it.
