Farm Life - The Good, Bad & Ugly (part 2)

Are we just wimps?

This idea to “stick it out” went through my mind over and over, but there’s a difference between positive change happening from working at the edge of your comfort zone, and simply enduring a bunch of BS (pardon my french). 

I mean, work is work. It’s farm work too. I was not expecting to wear a bikini and pick dragon fruits all day while getting a tan, but when you’ve weed whacked every day for two weeks, in the most unforgiving sun (Lahaina actually means: the land of unforgiving sun), you start to question the Host (owner of the farm) and their intentions for you and the other wwoofers.

I want to expose some truths about this farm, and also shed light on some of the wonderful things we got to see and do. I’ll start with a ‘day in the life’ on the farm, and hopefully get across to you some fun facts and photos. 

But first, let me quickly reiterate (at least on this blog) how thankful we are for freedom to travel and have money to experience a new way of working and life. I understand that for most the rest of the world- being fed, clothed and sheltered would be sufficient. We are thankful for new perspective and even though we’re ‘just in Maui,’ as the great Ricky Steves says, “Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.” 

☀

Day 1: The first day we arrived, Saturday, we cleaned and made our tent a home. We were told to meet the next morning (and every morning) at 8am for a team meeting, and then we’d be off to work on the farm for 5 hours (8am -1pm, five days a week). Awesome. Work when it’s ‘cool,’ beach in the afternoon, and have the nights off! 

When we arrived though, we were both feeling overwhelmed by the living space; but when one of us is feeling down, the other usually perks up, unconsciously. It’s a good balance 😏 Aaron, being the man he is, was doing his upmost to make the tent as safe and livable as possible. It was mid-day sun, humid as heck, and I could see in Aaron’s eyes that if he had to refuse a bong rip one more time, he was going to knock our dread-locked supervisor out cold. ha!

So we did what we do best: went down to Lahaina town, got some pizza, had a couple beers, and talked it out. 

‘We can do this. We just have to get the tent cozy and livable, and then work will be great, and we’re going to make friends, and we’re going to have fun. Heck, we can help the owners, chat with them and how they got started…maybe even help them run this place better…maybe we want to run a farm too some day!’

The more we talked, the more optimistic we became.

Day 2: Other than waking up a few times to the roosters (starting at 2am?!), we actually slept well for our first night. It was Sunday morning, 7am- the sun was coming through the mesh window, and the birds began their song. The tent was a little musty, but after a while, I was sure it would air out. 

My mind trailed off and I was thankful to be there. I could make coffee, there was free breakfast in the fridge, and other than the hacking-cough noises from the stoners next door, it was quite pleasant! 

8am- we all met in the kitchen ‘common area,’ only got a few mosquito bites. We met Taco and Kit, and learned they are the most domesticated cats on the farm. 

Everyone was warm and happy, smiling and saying good morning. Making tea, coffee and eating- every morning people we positive and encouraging (great for a non-morning person like me 😉 )

Our two supervisors - one girl and one guy (both young 20-somethings), made up the schedule for that day, and told us all what we were going to do. 

Mondays and Wednesdays were usually pineapple harvesting, Tuesdays and Thursdays were papaya harvesting, and after that was done, the other time and the other days consisted of: weed whacking, mowing a few lawns, weeding various places on the farm, and then cleaning the men’s and women’s public bathrooms, as well as the wwoofer shower and kitchen. 

Since it’s the winter time, and the harvesting season is May-November for dragonfruit, there wasn’t much fruit harvesting for us to do. 

So, Aaron and I were sent off to weed whack (it’s not THAT bad actually- kind of meditative). 

Other than weedwhacking, we did spend about 2 hours total actually harvesting some fruit. 

Pineapples take 18-24 months to ripen, and in Hawaii, they grow all year round! You can grow pineapple plants simply by cutting the crown off and replanting it in soil. We got to pick some pineapple, and replant the crowns (one day out of two weeks). So that was our favorite day to date. 

On one of our last days, some bananas were ready to be picked, and so we did that as well. Very cool.

So, the Dragonfruit farm produces a variety of fruits, but they also provide guided farm tours for families and kids, as well as zipline and aqua ball activities. After emailing with Crystal (owner/host), she explained that there’s a possibility to also make some money - we could help with the farm tours, and adventure stuff. We were told we would fill out a w-9 and would be paid a decent amount of money, if we mutually agreed to do the tours. 

Heck yes we thought! With our customer service/tour guide work background, we’d be great! 

The other wwoofers did a lot of tours. We later found out though that we didn't have to fill out any paperwork- everything was under the table.
There were a couple wwoofers though... one in particular... where every time we took a break or went to the bathroom, the same 31 year old mean vegan dude was in the kitchen, using all the farm fruit and organic food, making acai bowls…3 times a day! 

 I am sorry- I love vegans, I want to BE vegan, but this guy was kinda mean. He also took all the good food after Costco trips, and would hoard it in his cabin. Then, he’d basically make you feel like a murderer for eating a fig bar because it wasn’t made in a vegan-friendly environment. 

So again, our picture perfect idea began to fade away. 

Real quick: WWOOF Trade agreement breakdown: to live on the farm and eat - you must complete at least 25 hours of wwoofing work a week. No problem. Completely understood and it’s all over the wwoofhawaii website. 

Okay, now here’s a long paragraph from the wwoof website….but just read it- it’ll help you, as it’s helped me, understand how a Host should go about this process: 

“Through WWOOF Hawaii, Hosts provide WWOOFers with their knowledge about organic farming, meals and a place to stay. It’s a win-win-win for everyone: WWOOFers gain practical, organic farming experience throughout their travels, while having a chance to connect with like minded individuals; You, the Host farm, receive additional farming and gardening help, while having the opportunity to teach what you love […] If Hosts are looking for people to come work on your farm, WWOOF is not the way to do this. You should then hire employees and follow state guidelines. The Host’s guests are not workers and should not be treated as such. They are coming because they have a desire to learn about organic farming and want to learn through first hand experience. When being a Host, you should take this into consideration and make sure that you are prepared to spend time passing on your knowledge about organic farming. If your guests feel your love for farming, they will take this in and be happy to be a part of your farming family.”  

-https://wwoofhawaii.org/what-makes-great-host (bold by me).

On our first day, we weed whacked together for 5 hot hours. When the clock hit 1pm, we were ready to hit the beach. 

But, as we were leaving, the supervisors essentially said, “Wait, no - you guys need to stick around and job shadow the others.  You should hang out and learn with them incase someone comes in for a farm tour or zipline/aquaball adventure. You need to learn from them so we can have you working more hours ASAP. You can make a ton of money! It’s $10 per tour if it’s before 1pm. But after 1pm, you can make $15 per tour!” 

“Uhhh, what? We haven’t agreed to that yet,” we said. “We’ve only worked one day and would like to learn more about this ‘on call ‘ business to see if it’s worth our time…especially if we’re only making $10ish bucks for MAYBE one tour…”

“Okay,” they said, “we’re going to have to talk to the owner Crystal. She’s pretty intense and because of her culture… she might kick you off the farm if you don’t cooperate.” 

What in the heck!? Totally against ‘wwoofing rules.’

So long story short, you basically get roped into working 5 extra hours (after your 5 WWOOFing hours) to SIT on the farm, get eaten by mosquitos, and MAYBE have someone come in for a tour.

Plus, our new Slovakian friends, Kristina and Matuš, warned us NOT to do it. I remember Aaron and I talking with Matuš before we really knew him, and he was just sitting there in the hot sun at 2pm, waiting to see if a tour would come. All he and Kristina wanted to do was hit the beach, but since they were "on call," they couldn't leave the farm. 
And sometimes, when a tour finally did come, one of the wwoofers who had been their longer (‘more seniority’) would just decide on a whim that he wanted to do the tour and would take the money and all the tips. 

Baloney.  

I can’t even begin to explain how much pressure we got when we finally told them, “No. We are not working past 1pm. Sorry. We want to JUST work the wwoofing hours like it’s displayed on their WWOOF profile. We can help you with ANYTHING you want- we’d love to help with tours, as long as it’s before 1pm.”

Man… I can’t blame the supervisors though. They were doing the best they could, and being only like 20 years old…this was probably their first “supervisor” role and they took it VERY seriously. They were put in a tough spot. Trying to manage a schedule for 10 or more wwoofers who are always in and out, and you have no idea what their work ethic is like….that is rough. Plus, you have a “psychotic boss” (their words, not mine. Ha!)  who is never there on the farm teaching or helping, but just sitting at her mansion across the island texting us what to do and when a farm tour was booked. It was kind of insane.

At one point, we pulled both the supervisors aside and told them: “You guys, we’re here for you. We’re on a team. WWOOFing is supposed to be fun, adventurous, and a great learning experience. You shouldn’t have to do all this “supervisor” work for nothing….”

“Oh, well, we are getting paid to do this,” they said. 

“Good! Well, do you think it’s enough?” we asked.

“I mean, it’s $15 dollars…a day.”

Yikes. 

I don’t know - to you guys this probably sounds boring and too much info. But when you’re WWOOFing (at least that’s what you thought you’d be doing) at a beautiful farm, but your living and eating area is disgusting, and then you’re being guilt-tripped into working basically 40+ hours for maybe $10, $20 bucks a day… it just blew my mind. It really made me upset, actually.

I cared for all these friends on the farm (even the mean vegan!), and I felt like everyone was getting taken advantage of. 

“That doesn’t mean we need to be too, Jana.” Aaron said. 

So, next day (only day 3)….guess what?! WEED WHACKING… AGAIN! (and every day thereafter) …And that’s when I had my meltdown. Ha! I knew it would come. And just like I said above, Aaron took charge and perked up. Thankfully. 

I look back now and laugh because I was probably a real funny sight. 

Bawling my eyes out I could barley see. Weed whacking in my nerdy outfit and getting pelted with huge chunks of grass and rocks. Swearing like the tourettes syndrome chick from Deuce Bigalow… My body was literally covered in red welts and bug bites. LOL. 

But, anyway - we (and all the other wwoofers) were disappointed about the whole situation. We felt like we found a good place, but then were misguided. The supervisors took on a role, and had to roll with it. 

The other wwoofers would come to us and express they couldn’t trust anyone, especially not the supervisors. 

It was becoming a big dramatic mess- and Aaron and I began to feel like the rescuers of everyone else- even the supervisors (maybe because we were some of the oldest there).

The reality is though, everyone was trying to do the best they could. 

We expressed to the “farm fam” that we always want to help, but we need to set some boundaries. We packed up our whole life and left with 2 suitcases to the most secluded island chain in the world - we came here for OUR reasons. Just like they came here for THEIRS. Maybe it stems from playing team-sports since I was 8years old, but man, it kills me to say no to people and to actively opt out of helping them…when I know I could. 

So to end, and go back to my first line “ ARE WE WIMPS?” 

The second question to my first question was…. “DO WE HAVE TO ENDURE THIS?!” 

NO. 

We finally wrapped our heads around these emotions, and just started taking action. We looked at jobs and apartments/rooms to rent on craigslist. If something opened up, maybe it’s a sign… if not, we stay. 

Aaron actually found a job opportunity on a snorkel charter/dinner cruise during our first week- he was offered the job on the spot. He told them to hang tight though, we wanted to keep giving the farm a try (and keep our options open). 

After two weeks, we found a sweet Ohana (attached studio) at this amazing garden oasis home in Kihei. We have our private space- kitchen, room, shower, bathroom, patio -  everything we could want (minus a few cockroaches) 😜. 

I grew up coming to Kihei with my best friend Lauren and her family- so this REALLY feels like home.

We literally had two days to jump on this place, and it was scary making a decision this fast (and $$$$) - but we said YES. Let’s do it. 

So I contacted the owner Crystal, and she chewed us out through text message (seriously, like a child having a temper tantrum through texting). Right then and there, I knew we made the right decision to GET THE HECK out of there. 

We came with the intention to learn. Maybe we set our bar of organic farming/learning a little too high….but do we regret a single day? 

NO.

Did we still learn and grow through this experience, just not how we intended? 

YES. 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

– Mark Twain

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Fun Facts:

Centipede: One bite can feel like a gunshot wound; but the real danger can be how much bacteria is in each bite...almost guaranteed to get infected (we killed 3 in our tent the first day, and almost grabbed many while doing farm work!) Some doctors say the only way to relieve the pain is to get drunk for 3 days! 😂

There are also scorpions:

Also many toads- I LOVE:

Lastly, Our dear friends: Matuš and Kristina