In Germany, an environmentally advanced country, I visited a traditional house in Spreewald Germany, surrounded by greenery. The wooden guest house “Schilfnest” is surrounded by an old-fashioned orchard and a stream running through the property. The diversity of forests and the flora and fauna – I had a dreamlike time.
Junpei Suzuki describes himself as a goofy magazine editor based in Japan. Last year, he spent six months in Europe as a digital nomad, travelling and working as a freelance editor. During that time, he wwoofed for two weeks each in Turkey, Germany and the UK. Here is what he told us about his time wwoofing at the WWOOF-farm Schilfnest in Spreewald – Brandenburg.
“My ideal life awaited me at Steffen and Noel’s house in Spreewald Burg. Burg has an interesting local culture, with its folk costumes, boat transportation culture, and rich nature, but they impressed me with their sustainable way of life that respects the indigenous culture. The massive house, which I can’t believe it was self-built, is a cultural asset.”
„Although their property is huge, one-third of it remains untouched, creating a biotope environment that is accessible to the natural animals that live in the area. The area is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, they are doing their small part to conserve it.”
The problem was the wild blackberries that had taken root throughout the biotope. The sweet and sour berries were useful to add to yogurt for breakfast, but their proliferation was too much to bear, so for the first time, they decided to maintain the ecosystem by tending to the untouched nature. Of course, we dug it up with a shovel and removed it from the roots without using herbicides. It was hard work, but I was proud to think that only humans could play this role in the biological world, and I felt like I was contributing to the ecosystem in a good way.“
Check out more photos from Junpei in our related instagram post.
