Thibaut has been here for three months as part of an agronomy internship for his school back in France. In order to complete a required paper assignment, Thibaut has had in-depth conversations about the farm with John. I've been assisting Thibaut with some of the English grammar in his paper, and so I've learned a lot about the farm from him the past few days.
The property upon which John and Sara have built their farm was originally wild, from what I can gather. They spent two years clearing, building a house, digging a well, making farm space, etc. before they could start producing. Except for their electricity bill, I'm under the impression that they live off the grid. Sara runs the washing machine and dishwasher at nighttime because the rate for electricity is cheaper. They buy gas canisters which can be hooked to a pipe on the side of the house for cooking, which I didn't know until we couldn't boil water this morning for tea because our gas can was empty. Their water is well water from their own well. They don't pay for trash removal because they compost, recycle, and reuse most things. Thibaut, Camille, and I have taken to burning things in our personal wood-burning stove when we don't know in which pile it belongs.
John used to be a biochemical researcher before he became a farmer. Now he is writing a book on his two-year hiatus from researching, during which time I'm pretty sure he biked through Europe and Africa. I know he caught a couple of nasty diseases--malaria and, I think, some kind of hepatitis--while on the African continent. This endeavor is NOT a travel book, according to John, and I think it's more of a compilation of history and cultural stories that he learned--probably some life lessons, as well, I would imagine--along the journey. Should be an interesting read!
I don't know too much about Sara's past, but she is currently studying cranioscopy to become a craniosacral therapist. I believe that she, too, is well-traveled and that the farm is more John's dream than hers. She's quite a particular woman and is typically the person in charge of making sure all customers receive exactly which farm products they ordered. If something needs to be picked or packed, the order comes from Sara. She's British, and she makes me laugh often.
Chris, along with Mary, is regularly employed at the farm. Chris is from the U.K. and a self-proclaimed former party boy. While waiting for a kettle of water to boil one day, he stated, "Alcohol, drugs, rock and roll." And I responded, "Really?" "Well, not the rock and roll part, but the other stuff, yeah." Chris is now married with two kids and has been living a reformed life in Ireland for the past five years. The French WWOOFers can't understand him because of his accent, but he's definitely their favorite, nonetheless. It's hard not to like Chris. He's your token farmhand: quiet, hardworking, doesn't argue, gets the job done, does it his way.
Mary is one of the most outspokenly polite people I've met. When I'm helping her put vegetables away, let's say, she always uses "please" to tell me where to put them and yells "thank you" as I start to get to work. One time she called Camille by my name, and after she caught herself, apologized, and Camille told her it was ok, Mary said, "It's not ok. That's not your name, and it's disrespectful for me to call you by any other name. Sometimes people do that on purpose to insult others, and that is not what I was doing. I am so sorry." Mary's mom died when she was just a baby, and her dad never remarried. Mary works part-time at the farm, and her other job involves giving care and assistance to those physically disabled.
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