After over a week at Pitt Farm, it is safe to say that we've been absolutely, completely, and utterly spoilt. Life with the Bensons, a huge family of 6 children (4 of whom live at home), is just fantastic. Although we've only been here a short time, we already feel like a part of their family. Farming ain't so bad after all! At least here, anyway.

We arrived in Taunton last Thursday, after a 4-hour bus ride from London Victoria Station. Taunton is a town in the rural Somerset county, with a population of 60,000. Compare that to the 8.5 million in London, and you'll understand how different the two environments felt. From there, however, our hostess Kate picked us up and drove us to an even smaller town--Wiveliscombe (pronounced wih-vuh-liskem). This is where Pitt Farm is nestled: in the hilly pastures next to a town of just 2,800.

As we headed into the driveway, Kate told us about how three years ago she convinced her husband Harry and all of their children to move from the city to the countryside. They lived in Bristol prior to this. Now, they've all fully adjusted to life on the farm and absolutely love it.

Pitt Farm's online WWOOF profile describes itself as "a charming medieval farm house situated in the middle of its 4.75 acres. We have a wonderful kitchen garden full of herbs, a large vegetable garden with fruit cage, greenhouse and polytunnel and 3 fields for the livestock." You wouldn't be able to tell that the property is medieval just by looking at it from the outside, as they have remodeled it quite a bit. But it's absolutely stunning, and just as picturesque as it sounds. The vegetable garden is replete with cabbage, fennel, tomatoes, eggplants, strawberries, squash, raspberries, onions, and pretty much anything else you can think of. The garden produces enough to feed the family, but not enough to sell. Animals include lambs, horses, turkeys, chickens, pigs which were just sausage'd + bacon'd, and 2 adorable Whippet dogs named Whoopi and Dottie. 

On our first day of actual work, we got to participate in the making of 154 bottles of freshly squeezed pear juice and apple juice. Ten sacks of apples and pears, which had just been picked the day before, were put into a big scruncher and chopped into a pulp. We then stuffed that fruity mash into a circular juicer with a "bladder" in the middle that filled up with water, pushing the pulp against its walls and squeezing the juice out. After being filtered, bottled, and pasteurized, the juice was stored away, ready for the Bensons to drink whenever they please. 

We've definitely settled into a sort of routine here. At 8:30, we wake up and have breakfast--usually some toast, tea, and Kate's homemade jam, sometimes with bacon and a farm fresh egg. Around 9, we head outside to do the day's task, and work until 11-11:30. We then typically have a short tea break. The English drink a lot of tea. After another 2 hours of work, we have a delicious lunch at around 2, drink some more tea, work some more, and decide that we're done around 4 or 5. Then we shower, drink tea, relax, have a glass of wine or apple juice, and enjoy Kate's fantastic cooking for dinner. 

Kate worked as a chef and culinary teacher in Bristol, so the food that we eat is out-of-this-world delicious. Her kitchen is literally lined with cookbooks, and she makes everything from traditional English fare to curried lentils. Something interesting, too, is that Kate and Harry lived in Thailand and Hong Kong for a big part of their lives. They're very well-traveled and are always interested in asking Rachel and me about living in China and South Korea. 

Admittedly, the work these past few days has been slightly more difficult. We were given the task to clear a huge bank that was absolutely covered in nettles and brambles. If you've never gotten a nettle sting, consider yourself lucky because they feel like hot needles in your skin that last for a whole day. They're obnoxious and also get rooted really deeply into the soil. But apparently, they make great fertilizer, so we packed them into a tub with some water to make "nettle tea." Getting them out of the bank was an onerous task, but it was definitely rewarding to see how much progress we could make. Plus, it gave us great practice in weeding--which I'm sure will come in handy. 

Two other WWOOFers named Julia and Walker lived/worked with us at Pitt. They came from Seattle, and were super nice. As we were starting our journey, they were approaching the end of theirs, so they were able to tell us all about the different farms that they had WWOOFed at. Over the past 3 months, they seem to have had a mixed batch of experiences: some farms they worked with felt very "corporate" (with regimented break times, work hours, and contracts), and others, like Pitt, felt very personal and family-centered. Either way, it made us all the more excited for the rest of our trip. Unfortunately, their stay overlapped with ours for only 6 days, so we said goodbye as they left on Tuesday morning.  

Weekends are totally free, so Rachel and I took that time to walk to Wiveliscombe and explore the local scenery. The town is adorable, very quiet and the farmer's market is literally made up of 4 different stands. It's clear that they don't get a ton of tourists here, but the locals we've talked to have all been warm and friendly. We've got some stories of our time in Wivey (all the locals call it Wivey) that we'll share in our next post.

All in all, we're having a great time here. Life is comfortable, the work is hard but rewarding, the family is welcoming and dynamic, and the food is just amazing. Not to be effusive, but it seems like everything WWOOF should be. We feel like not just workers or volunteers, but also additional members of the family. We've learnt a lot about gardening, cooking, and British people. It's a load of fun. The fear that we have is that the trip can only go downhill from here! But that's a good fear to have, I think.