Small veggie farm focused on soil health
Virginia
Welcome! I'm Isaac. I run a small vegetable farm with my wife, Lina. We're in Scottsville, which is a small town on the James River not far from Charlottesville, Virginia. This will be our fourth year farming full-time as we revive the farm that Lina's great-grandparents built more than a century ago. We grow a variety of produce and sell it at a farmers market, a farm stand on our property, and to local restaurants. We have some generous friends and family who pop by to help us out on the farm sometimes, and we regularly have campers through Hipcamp. Our menagerie includes cats (indoor and outdoor), chickens, goats, and a pair of livestock guardian dogs to protect them.
Some of our regular activities include starting/sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings, harvesting produce, washing/packing/preparing the produce for sale, weeding and watering plants, turning over and amending garden beds, maintaining and fixing equipment, taking care of chickens, goats, and dogs and their housing, and canning our excess produce.
I'm passionate about building and protecting soil, rather than depleting it. My farming philosophy is that if I take care of my soil, it will take care of my plants. I'm committed to science-based regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and I hope you come away from your experience here with an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of farm systems, as well as the importance of science as a tool for improving farming. I could talk all day about sustainable farming, but I'm also always learning new things. I'm not set in my ways – I love new ideas, clever solutions to problems, and running tests/experiments to see what works best.
Lina would be happy to teach you about taking care of our livestock and preserving food. We host lots of events and workshops on our farm, which would give you an opportunity to learn from the experts that we work with while we build up our local community, which is what this is really all about.
A typical day might start with waking up as it gets light in order to harvest greens before it gets too hot. We would weigh, wash, and bag them, and then store them in our cold room. Then we might remove some invasive species at the edge of the garden before eating lunch on the front porch, while we watch the chickens roam the front yard. We might stay out of the hottest part of the day by making some basil jelly in the kitchen. Then, as the sun gets lower, we might go back outside to sow some dill and weed a few beds. Our workday usually wraps up with animal chores.
As a WWOOFer, you would stay in the "pink room," on the second floor of our house. It has two single beds. There's a guest bathroom with a shower and tub next to the bedroom, which you would usually have all to yourself, but may sometimes need to share with other guests. Our old farmhouse doesn't have central air conditioning upstairs and has minimal insulation, so you should be prepared for cooler indoor temps in the winter and warmer temps in the summer. However, you'll have a window AC unit and an electric heater available in your bedroom (and we have central air conditioning downstairs).
Our schedule is very varied, so we would be happy to prepare and share meals with you some of the time, but you would be responsible for making your own meals most of the time. We're vegetarian (technically ovo-lacto-pescetarian) so our meals wouldn't include meat, but you'd be welcome to fix it for yourself.
We like to get to know you, but we also need our own down time. I usually play the piano or video games to relax, and Lina likes to do various art projects. We have become enthusiastic mycophiles and enjoy exploring the woods for mushrooms. We're constantly listening to podcasts, and we love to joke and laugh as we work. Our animals are a big source of joy for us. We talk to them and allow ourselves to be distracted by them.
There’s always something going on in our small town: tubing on the James, kayaking/canoeing (we have two kayaks), events at the library, farmer’s markets, arts events and plays, and a brewery, for example. There's even more to do in Charlottesville, which is a 25-minute drive. We're near some of the best hiking in the country, with the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway only 40 minutes away. Large cities aren't out of reach either: Richmond is an hour away, and Washington DC is a 2.5-hour drive.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Cheesemaking
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
26.3
Hectares
|
65
Acres
Isaac
Member since 2025
Languages spoken:
English, Spanish
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 100%
Response time: typically within 2 days
Virginia
Charlottesville
Reviews
Ciara
United States
•
March 2026
Isaac and Lina are two of the sweetest humans I have ever met. I cannot recommend this farm enough to any experience level of WWOOFer! They have the cutest animals (shout out to Aspen, Quazzyyyy, & Cosmo-no shade to the animals not listed unless you are Velvet). I learned so much while I was there and wouldn’t hesitate to return given the chance. They host a wide variety of events and are always planting/harvesting something new, so there is never a shortage of things to learn!
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Sofie
United States
•
March 2026
I had a wonderful stay at this farm! I did some flame weeding and planting. I also got to trim the goats’ hooves. Lina and Isaac were very patient when teaching me and answered my many questions. They were very kind and I enjoyed my short and sweet stay.
Steven
United States
•
February 2026
Great hosts with an awesome farm setup!!!
Orrin
United States
•
September 2025
Isaac and Lina did an amazing job of putting me at ease, being accomodating to my schedule and quirks, and treating me like an esteemed guest and friend. They reminded me more of traditional bread and breakfast owners than the sort of transactional modern hosts we have today with the Air B n B and Wwoof industries. I don't have any problems with the transactional lodging industry, but it almost felt as if Lina and Isaac learned from a hospitality training manual from 30 years ago.
Before going to bed, Lina would ask "do you have everything you need? is there anything we can do for you. I had to go out of my way to do the dishes and other tasks simply because I felt I had to make up hours.
They were also very conscientious about being benevolent parts of the community, able to accommodate my quirks, and good listeners. I also felt I learned a lot about agriculture and what it takes to run a farm at a small scale.
A couple things to watch out for: -During the evenings, it can be quiet as the hosts had social commitments during my week and this wasn't a community where I was introduced to the farmers market so be prepared for some solitude. They are also vegetarians so if you want your meat fix, you'll have to look elsewhere.
For the social element, aside from Lina and Isaac, I did go to the farmer's market one week and it was a pleasant experience.
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Zebulon
United States
•
August 2025
Pros
The fresh produce from the garden was delicious and there was plenty available for us to eat. Lina is a good cook and made us plenty of meals though I didn't ask her to.
I liked the flexible schedule and did maybe 4 hours a day on average and like 23-26 a week.
The work was mostly enjoyable: weeding, harvesting, training beans up arches, washing, weighing, bed preparation, mulching. There were some unusual tasks too, like transplanting ground tomatoes into rows and building a trellis platform for them out of bamboo. And injecting squash with BT to try to save them from squash vine borers. And destroying "trees of heaven" and the spotted fly larvae that are attracted to them. They also did plenty of jelly-making and pickling, which I mostly skipped.
There were many box turtles on the farm! One of my favorite animals. And the cats were very cuddly.
Hearing Isaac play the piano was a pleasure and inspired me to work on my sight reading.
The room was cozy and spacious. I slept well.
Cons
- Lots of ticks
- Very hot and humid in June, which we adapted to by working in the mornings and evenings.
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Rayven
United States
•
August 2025
My time at Isaac and Lina’s farm was truly unforgettable. From the moment I arrived, they made me feel welcomed, supported, and part of their community. I learned hands-on skills like preserving and canning, tending to livestock, and understanding soil and plant care. All in such an encouraging and patient environment.
What makes their farm so special is not only the knowledge they share, but also the warmth, generosity, and joy they bring to every moment. They showed me around Scottsville, connected me with amazing local farmers and vendors, and even let me bake for them! It was the perfect balance of hard work, learning, laughter, and community.
This was my first WWOOF experience, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction. If you are looking for a place to grow your farming skills, build community, and leave feeling inspired, Isaac and Lina’s farm is the place to be. I’m deeply grateful and will carry this experience with me always.
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