Sophia Farm Volunteer (1/3)

This time around I will give you a bunch of updates regarding my stay at Sophia Farm, a bio-dynamic farm in the mountains of east Hokkaido. Bio-dynamic farms are also called Demeter farms and follow the system, which was invented by Rudolph Steiner, the founding father of Anthroposophy. I set out to visit this particular farm with two main objectives:

1. Experience the farm life and get an idea of bio-dynamic farming. Meet the awesome people, of course.
2. Look for a suitable spot to erect my tiny house. Both in regards to self-sustained living and the social ecosystem.

I know what you’re thinking.. Granted it’s quite messy, but I’ve seen pictures since then and it has become much better already as a result of some dedicated people moving in. Regardless, this was the space that for the next week we would meet and eat three times a day. Since everyone is quite busy with tasks all around the huge property, that’s the time you get to see all faces and figure out your next steps. Keiko-san, the cook and caretaker of the kitchen, always managed to cook delicious meals, despite the lack of fancy ingredients. I was very impressed by her and learned a lot over the next coming days.

Now this one is quite funny. At the time Toshi, Kondo-san, and I arrived at the farm we only managed to catch a small glimpse of the farm, before we had to stop. An urgent event was coming up, which would prevent leisure strolls over the property and required everyone’s participation. Darsie the cow was quite evidently pregnant and a baby cow would be born either that same day or the next one, latest. Sadly, Kondo-san was unprepared and freezing in his track suit, so they had to leave prematurely.
I returned to the kitchen at the foot of the hills to continue talking to Keiko-san and meet some other farm residents. It didn’t take long and we got a phone call that it was time for action! So everyone hopped into the car and we drove up to the barn again. The sun was setting as we arrived and puffy snow flakes were falling. After arriving at the fence not even a minute passed before the cattle with all the glibber and stuff plopped out of Darsie. It was really something else. I actually got the whole rare occurrence on tape, but I think it’s a bit too graphic to post here on my blog. You can just take a look at the final product. Jasper, before he walked his first step.

What you get to see here is the top floor of the (still temporary) farm house. Here the volunteers get to sleep until it’s time to get up to feed all animals and clear out the dung. The place might’ve changed already at the time you are reading this. There is ongoing plans to set up a more permanent farm house further up the hill, but that’s how I experienced the space. In total there were 4 beds in the room and also a bunch of lady bugs. Lady bugs seemed to love our space and it became my daily routine to get the critters off my sheets. Next to me on the left slept Tomoya-san, a long-time volunteer with boundless energy. He was a vital player and always going full force. He came from a restaurant background and was also interested in bio-dynamic farming as well as tiny house living.

To finish up this post, let us take a look to the left, where you get to see one of the more common wood stoves in Hokkaido. After all, it gets quite cold in the winter and people usually end up buying these super cheap stoves, which will only set you back a bit over 100 quit. The only issue is that those will not survive much longer than a year and need to be replaced. The metal is very thin and if you keep using the stove, it might actually end up burning down your house – playing with fire.
Moving on, maybe have a look at the pillow peeking out from behind the shelves. That’s where my other mate, Noa-chan, was sleeping. He only just graduated from high school in Tokyo and used this opportunity to go on an adventure in Hokkaido. Of course, yet another dude interested in frugal living and the such. Yoosh! Let’s leave it at that, for today. If you’re still curious about the farm, just read on in my next post <3