A place of calm in the modern world can be a magical find. I found mine through WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, a scheme where ‘wwoofers’ help out on farms for four to six hours a day in exchange for all food and basic accommodation.

The long, meandering road that leads to the Krishna eco-farm at the Karuna Bhavan spiritual community in Lesmaghagow – a small village 40 minutes drive from Glasgow – opens up a new path in life for many who arrive there.

Take Kevin McKay, 21, from Amsterdam. When I meet him in the on-site canteen on the morning he’s leaving to work in Pitlochry, Perthshire, he tells me that he’s finally found work in retail. Prior to seeking refuge through a wwoofing stint on the farm, he’d been unemployed for seven months.

Wwoofer Kevin McKay

“I’d been in the UK for a month looking for work but hadn’t found anything, so I decided to be a wwoofer here in Lesmaghagow,” Kevin explains. “I’d been busking on the streets to make money – really living hand to mouth – and one of the Hare Krishna monks approached me and told me about the scheme. Farming has taught me new skills and seen me working while looking for a more suitable job.

“What’s been nice is that it’s kept me active socially. It might not be my ideal line of work, but working with people every day and sharing accommodation with those I might not necessarily get along with too well, has kept me in check for work. It’s been nice working outside too,” he said.

Beyond being an option for students or those who wish to take a break to experience a life closer to nature, it seems that wwoofing is becoming, and has the potential to increasingly become, a genuine means of survival or route to employment for those struggling to find work or housing.

There are thousands of places to wwoof all over the world, all offering routes into different types of employment. In the UK alone opportunities are diverse, including animal care on a Scottish island or organic permaculture close to the sea in Cornwall.

“Wwoofing is becoming a genuine route to employment for those struggling to find work”

For one teenager I meet, 18-year-old Tim Solman from Cardiff, his decision to wwoof was based on his dream of becoming an environmental activist.

“Before this, I worked in a coffee shop for six months,” says Tim. “But towards the end of last year, I decided I wanted to do a retreat – to work more on the land, for a simple life, to meditate,” he tells me.

“Now I’m here, my skills in permaculture and sustainability have developed and I’m working on the farm on a more permanent basis. This work gives me practical experience in the field of work I want to go into.”

Head gardener, Bhakti Vinode, now manages up to 20 wwoofers at a time. “I’m very passionate about what I do here and feel I make a difference in people’s lives,” he says. “For me, work on the farm is a career.”

Head gardener, Bhakti Vinode

The Hare Krishna devotees who run the farm call the work Bhakti yoga (from which Bhakti Vinode gets his name). This is one of the highest forms of yoga, they say. When they plant marigolds for example, they do so with devotional love, which, say the monks, is great for reaping your spiritual blessings, not to mention good physical exercise too.

Some of the farmers have even gone on to become monks, or as they’re known in Sanskrit, Brahivachari. The delightfully friendly Steve Shaw, 31, started out working on the farm and stayed for two years. The monks then asked him if he wanted to get more involved in the spiritual side of the farms – like studying and organising youth work – which he’s now been doing for a year.

“This is a great charity to be involved in. I love meeting a variety of people and helping them develop,” says Steve.

As I leave the farm it’s heartening to know that there are employment opportunities outside of mainstream culture. The digging has been good, but the real find was unearthing this oasis of calm itself – a place that not only provides plentiful work but doubles as a spiritual retreat to boot.

Krishna Eco farm is a project of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) Scotland

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Run by a dedicated family crafting a sustainable existence, Karuna – meaning ‘compassion’ in Sanskrit – weaves together 18 acres of mixed woodland, forest gardens, fruit tree nurseries, an arboretum, water areas, low impact dwellings and horticultural activity.

Janta and Merva Wheelhouse and their children have planted over 7,500 trees on the site near Picklescott and for the past 5 years have been taking active responsibility for meeting their needs through growing food, generating all their energy from onsite renewables, as well as recycling rainwater and waste to build the land’s fertility. They also hope to grow enough fruit and vegetables to sell to their local community in the near future.

However, they see their ability to act as an example of living lightly as more than this. “We know that any real solutions must embody a change of heart, an empathic connection with the fullness of life,” says Janta. “Together we are creating an age of restoration, guided by shared values of interdependence, kinships, cooperation, community and mutual aid.”

As part of the Permaculture Association’s LAND learning centres network, Karuna welcomes groups and visitors. “This helps permaculture get more recognition as an accepted way of farming and a way of life,” explains Janta. There are also opportunities for volunteers, with one describing their experience as “truly humbling” in the “peace and tranquillity” they had found.

Practical courses at the centre include workshops on how to make an earth oven, hedgerow basket making, forest gardening, apple tree grafting, preserving fruit and making juice. This year they are also hoping to host a major permaculture skill-sharing gathering.

Schools groups have also engaged with Karuna. “The children are seeing and experiencing things at Karuna that we often talk about but cannot show them,” says a teacher from Long Meadow Primary School in Shrewsbury.

Many visitors come from urban areas but local people are also benefiting, says Janta, as many are looking for ways to best support the development of rural enterprises and find productive employment.

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