Chapter 3 - learning not to skip a meal

A few hours later Jan came knocking. We went outside to milk the cows again, and I savored more than my share of raw milk. We also collected some eggs which would be used for breakfast. Having worked up an appetite, I looked forward to the first meal of the day. This morning Leah started me out with a poffertje, which is a Dutch pancake served with sweet toppings. After I had two plates of this dish, she brought over the entree. The ham and eggs breakfast had thick slices of toast, soaked in butter, and topped with fried eggs, ham and cheese. After two pieces, I felt quite full. Emma said I should try to have another piece or two because it was hard for me to keep up yesterday. Somehow I oblige, and feel warmly full by the time it is time to head to work.

As an organic farm, a big part of our work is to take advantage of what nature gifts us. This means that my project for the day is to work with Jan to scoop cow manure into a giant wagon in preparation for composting. Now, I'm not sure how familiar you are with cows but part of being such a large animal means that they produce prodigous pies! Barefoot as always, we walked into the field to find what Jan jokingly called, "brown gold" which we would use for composting. He opened the fence because the fields were surrounded by electrified fences to keep the cows away from danger. (Although majestic, not necessarily the smartest animals.) Pulling the cart, I moved forward almost immediately stepping into a large cow pie. In the crisp morning its warmth actually felt good on my feet, even though I was a little embarrassed as Jan laughed at me. He said, "Welcome to the farm. Now you're truly part of the family." It sounds like whenever they collected manure it was part of the job. Although a little grossed out, the whole barefoot thing and knee high shorts made much more sense. You would not believe it, but scooping poop is incredible work! Every pie weighs at least five pounds, and scooping up the poop into the wagon is real strength training after a while. That morning I stepped in cow pies at least three more times, every time feeling a little less grossed out. Still, but the time the lunch bell rang for the first time on the farm I had no appetite. With my feet literally covered in poop, and my hands not much different, I told Jan that I'd work through lunch. He suggested that this might not be the wisest idea, but also let me know that he admired my work ethic. Sounds like not every WOOFer made it this far. He told me that once the whole field was cleared we could call it a day, which motivated me to work just a little harder.

Jan went back to the farmhouse to have what was most likely an incredible tasty meal. With the sun overhead, I focused on moving first the card near a new field of manure, and then scooping pies as quickly as possible. Although with every pie my arms were getting a little more sore, there was something oddly rewarding about seeing the clean field. Working up a sweat as the afternoon temperature climbed, it seemed like Jan returned in no time. We had cleared about half the field before lunch, and somehow I cleared another quarter during his hour off. Working as a team, we proceeded to scoop manure in record time. Although I smelled like you know what, and was drenched in sweat, the feeling of actually doing work where I could see results was incredibly attractive. Still, as the afternoon continued on my strength began to wane. With the sun starting its descent, my arms grew increasingly sore. All this exercise also began to whet my appetite; this was the first time I had skipped a meal since arriving on the farm and maybe it was not so good an idea? Eventually I started to get a little dizzy, but fortunately we finished clearing the field before Jan noticed anything. I tried to start pulling to wagon back to the barn, but simply lacked the strength to get it to move. Jan teased me by saying, "looks like our skinny American friend needs to work on his strength." Jan pulled the wagon without much thought, and soon we made it to the barn. We had done a good days work, so we could return to the farm house to clean up before dinner.

Sitting down, Lea expressed concern that I had not made it to lunch. Jan told her not to worry, I was just having too much fun scooping poop in the field. Everyone thought this was quite funny, even joking that it could be my full time job. (I should hope not.) My appetite was raging at this point, and I could barely contain myself when we started eating. We started out with a bowl of pea soup. My first dish was rookworst (a smoked sausage), and a big plate of potatoes. Back at home this would have made me more than stuffed, but I had to have seconds and thirds. My stomach seemingly was a vacuum that could not be filled! For the first time I was the last person eating, so with a little humility I joined everyone for a dessert of yogurt mixed with honey. All of this was washed down with a prodigious amount of milk. By the time I had finished you could almost see my belly underneath my loose fitting shirt; my pants were also quite billowy which was great because I did not have a belt to let out. Feeling a food coma set in, I stumbled upstairs. Taking my clothes off before heading to sleep, I gave my belly a rub. What had been completely empty a few hours ago was now rock solid packed. I tried to push my finger in just a little, and it was clear that I had never been so stuffed before! Giving myself a tummy rub to contain indigestion, it was all I could do before a food coma set in.

I don't know what time it was, but I woke up in the middle of the night for a bowel movement. Incredibly I was hungry again, and went to the kitchen. It took a liter of milk, and a few pieces of toast with butter and honey to sooth my stomach. Returning to sleep, I felt satisfied with hard work and that great feeling after a day of exercise.