|O| Farm Vakisopeli, Georgia a.k.a. "The middle of somewhere"

Vakisopeli, the village

The farm

Potatoe field

Beehives

The farm in Vakisopeli is a real rough diamond: facilities are very basic, but its location and surroundings are just breathtaking. The farm, known to us as "Nodar's farm" is run by Nodar and his mother Sanata. Here, there is no internet, no electricity, no hot water, and no easy access to the outside world. The impression is time stood still for a few decades here. The farm is build on a slope at an altitude of 1700m and consist of a few buildings: a kitchen and cheese stocking facility, a house and laundry place, a small separate toilet and bathing room, and a house where they can accommodate occasional guests (like us for example). Most of these buildings are made up with local materials.

Next to this there is a shed for keeping the wood dry, the main source of energy here, one for protecting the cows against rain, and one for keeping the material safe. Land in between all of this is used for crops, keeping the cows, cultivating the bees, and offering a nice playground for the dogs and chickens. The main business on Nodar's farm is cheese and honey. The crops they grow are mainly potatoes, garlic, onion, peas and corn. They of course eat what they grow, which means mostly cheese with potatoes or homemade bread; three times a day.

The reason they focus on cow cheese and honey is the preservation of those products. No need for a refrigerator; salt and jars will do the job. This comes in handy when living very remote and not having a deposit market close by. The focus on cows is that it's more feasible with two farmers, as one needs a smaller amount for a decent production compared to sheep or goats.

Running water is probably the most abundant resource on the farm. Ice cold water coming from the top of the neighbouring mountain is guided thru pipes to flow continuously in the farm's garden. Take the small pipe out of the big one and you have all the water you need to do the dishes, the laundry, wash yourself, drink, or boil it to have some nice warm tea. When the small pipe is in the big one, the water is used as a constant toilet flush running to the river.

An important and crucial activity on the farm is cutting down trees and chop them into twigs to feed the stove. The stove is the central place in the farm. When Nodar and Sanata are not working on the fields, you'll mosy likely find them here making fire, warming the milk, baking bread or cake, boiling water, making honey wax candles, or just chilling around. It is also around the stove we eat every meal or spend the evening talking.

Another small source of energy in the farm are 3 small solar panels with a battery providing just enough electricity to charge a laptop or smartphone. Very occasionally the little energy is used to watch TV. The only channel they can capture here is Al Jazeera.

Our favorite place on the farm is an edge on a field, overlooking the valley, where every evening, somewhere between 6 and 7 PM, we gather to wait for the returning of the cows.

Life on this farm is nowhere close to what we are used to back home. However, the simplicity and pace of life here, the proximity with nature and animals, and the disconnectivity is something we very much appreciate. If we could live here eternally, we don't know, but this farm stole our heart for sure. What a good way to start our WWOOFING adventure!