Small farm with a big garden, horses, dogs, cats, chickens near Shenandoah National Park
Virginia
We are a small farm with a big garden, horses, dogs, cats, and chickens. The operators are Kate, her husband, Sean, and her mother, Emily. Sean has real job with the post office but Kate and Emily run the farm on a daily basis. The main house is an old farmhouse (1804) with several additions but we also have a bedroom and bathroom in the barn. We have all done a lot of traveling and love meeting and hosting folks from anywhere. The farm is a short drive from Shenandoah National Park, Charlottesville, many wineries and a lot of other pretty scenery and lovely countryside. We have found that our situation doesn't really work if you don't have your own transportation.
You'd stay in the room in the barn which has a double bed and a bathroom next to it. We have recently renovated this room just a bit so it has a new floor and ceiling and new paint. I will not promise that you won't hear a rodent running above you occasionally but they can't get in the room. The bathroom is nothing special but it has the necessities. There is a new heat pump for heat and AC in the room. We will make some dinners in the main house and of course you can grab whatever's available at any time in the garden.
Since we are also an active horse farm, we can always use a little help around the barn with daily chores. We do have a few horses who are appropriate for less experienced or even beginner riders so we're happy to let you have a few rides and we have a lifetime of experience if you want to learn about them too.
We are by no means official, large scale organic farmers. But we try to have some sensible cost and resource saving measures and we don't use chemical crap on what we grow. We moved here from the north and west in 2019 so we're still figuring out what this soil needs and how to get the best growth in this climate. We have standard garden crops mostly for ourselves but someone could make a big production of it if they had the time. We've planted some fruit trees but they're still too young to bear fruit. We're developing a few berry crops. We are happy to share what we know and happy to learn from you too if your experience applies to what we do here. The chickens are laying really well right now.
Because we are a little of this, little of that type of farm, WWOOFers who are flexible and independent are going to do best here. We are happy to work with you as much as we can but every day is split a lot of ways and we can't always stay on one task long enough to complete it. That's why we want you. Generally animal chores happen from 6:30-7:00 AM, some quick bits mid-day, and 4-5:30 PM. Also, Kate works a couple days a week in the election office in town and teaches some riding lessons and trains horses so her time is limited by that schedule. That leaves a few hours mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon to do garden and farm tasks. If you have a little experience and/or follow directions well, you'll do fine here because we can give you tools, answer questions and get you started, and we'd love for you to be willing and able to continue on your own. We also strongly encourage you using resources outside of us to educate yourself and help us learn a thing or two. YouTube videos and some Facebook pages can be super helpful. We will try to be clear a day or two ahead about timing and schedule but sometimes it's hard to do so and sometimes things need to get done but are flexible and can work around whatever else you'd like to do. We are low key, flexible and easy to get along with so if you are too, we'll have a great time and get some stuff done.
A few other notes on folks we've found fit well - the room does not have a lock on the door. We are at the end of a long driveway and we don't really lock anything. If that makes you insecure, this may not be a good fit for you. The bathroom will get used by other people who are in the barn and it gets dusty easily. There are horses turned out literally outside your window(presently they have removed the screen so we'll have to solve that problem). The giant orange cat visits the barn often. If you have allergies, this will not work well. We are politically and socially liberal so we're cool with whatever gender(s), hairstyles, clothing, etc. work for you but it's going to be a very long campaign season and none of us will be happy if we can't rant about irrational and selfish conservatives. Two people could share this job but it's a small room. It has never worked before even though we keep allowing people to try. Pets can maybe, sort-of work but we have a lot of them here and it is generally a distraction or challenge.
Organic methods: We try to solve problems in biologically sensible ways. We substitute hard work for a lot of chemicals, etc.
Certifications: not certified
Currently: 12/25 - We have someone interested in staying for at least the first part of winter but if you're interested in getting in on spring projects starting in Feb/March, feel free to send a message with interest.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Horse or donkey farming
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Mentoring opportunities
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
6.1
Hectares
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15
Acres
Kate
Member since 2021
Languages spoken:
English
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 90%
Response time: typically within 3 days
Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Reviews
Shandra
United States
•
July 2025
This host and family and farm environment were a breathe of fresh air! I made very satisfying progress in the garden and really enjoyed being surrounded by the beautiful horses!! The visit offered an opportunity to use light duty machinery, engage with a large grid-planned garden, and do a little horse feeding, turnouts, grooming, and stall cleaning of course.
I would very much like to return and hope it is a longer stay next time.
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Micki
United States
•
June 2025
5 stars, loved my stay! An awesome opportunity, especially if you are an animal lover and passionate about learning
By volunteering as a first time WWOOFer, I had many positive experiences and I’ve learned a lot from Kate and Emily. They are wonderful hosts, very kind and easy to talk to and will be there to answer your questions.
Super sweet animals, getting to know the horses, kitties, and puppers was a huge highlight.
The farm itself is absolutely beautiful—nestled in a peaceful rural setting. The workload is very reasonable and very rewarding when you see the progress made. Plus 2 adorable kitties (Cash and Smudge <3) will often visit you in the garden for pets n purrs!
The accommodations were comfy and convenient with everything I needed to feel at home. There was plenty of space to relax, explore the surroundings (lots of great hiking/walking spots), or enjoy a quiet evening under the stars (really good spot for stargazing)
If you’re looking for a WWOOF experience that combines hands-on learning, genuine hospitality, and a peaceful, nature-filled environment, I can’t recommend this farm highly enough!
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Hannah
United States
•
March 2025
We love love loved our stay at this farm!!!!! The horses are awesome and so friendly, Kate and her mom Emily are hilarious and smart and really down to earth and fun to work with, and the room we stayed in inside the barn was absolutely amazing!!! It has everything you could need to sleep well and cook food and make coffee in the morning etc. It's so much fun to fall asleep hearing the sweet horses outside the room! If I were a student or worked remotely I would jump at the opportunity to stay for a whole season and stay in that room
for a while!! The bathroom is also right next door and the shower is great temp and water pressure :) Overall just a really peaceful informative fun stay that we thoroughly enjoyed!!!
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Molly
United States
•
November 2024
I absolutely LOVED this place! The horses made me feel so welcomed and safe. The most memorable part was the STARGAZING 🤩 they have one of the best night skies I’ve seen in all my hosts. I got to ride Abigail the horse and wow it was so magical for me. I haven’t been on a horse in many many years and it was such a powerful experience. Kate and her mom, Emily are very sweet and kind. They were very busy while I was staying so I didn’t get to work much with them but I built out a strawberry patch and had fun working on my own. If you enjoy solo work and being around horses, this is definitely the place for you :) the accommodation is a private room literally inside the horse barn haha so you’ll hear some horses chewing at night and I found it quite relaxing.
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Aubrey
United States
•
September 2022
I had a great time here! I got a bit of a different experience than typical, since Kate and Sean were out of town during my stay. I worked with Emily, who was very nice and who I learned a lot from. The atmosphere was very chill, I kind of got to make my own schedule outside of helping with morning and afternoon barn chores. I got to ride two of their amazing horses which was lovely. This was my first WWOOF trip, and I absolutely loved it. Definitely recommend this farm!
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Clara
Germany
•
June 2022
We had a great stay at Tuckerberry Farm! Kate, Emily and Sean are kind and uncomplicated people who we enjoyed talking to and all the animals are cute and friendly. We especially loved spending time with horse Mighty and cats Smudge and Cash.
The tasks we got were explained well and then we could manage ourselves when to perform them. Kate and Emily gave us the feeling that we could always come to them with questions and that they trusted our judgement, too. This made for a very pleasant work atmosphere. We reinforced a fence and did various sorts of landscaping: weeding, weed whacking and cutting trees and vines. In addition we sometimes got to help with feeding the animals, giving them water, grooming the horses or leading them onto the pasture. We even got the chance to ride two of the horses!
The accomodation was nice and private, we had our own room with a bunkbed in the barn. Hence, there were obviously some small animals around, like spiders and moths, and a toad lives in the bathroom. We were told to organise our own meals but in the end we spent many evenings eating dinner with the family and hearing interesting stories about their travels.
Alltogether we had a lovely time and felt very welcome and at home. We would recommend wwoofing at TuckerBerry Farm!
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