Smallholding, Family farm

Kocaeli

9 • Updated 2 years ago

SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH Kocaeli’ndeki organik çiftliğimizde bizimle beraber çalışacak, hevesli gönüllüler arıyoruz. Şehirden uzak, doğayla uyumlu bir yaşam arayışının sonunda kendimizi İzmit'in el değmemiş orman köyü Fethiye'de bulduk. 2016 yılında kurulumuna başladığımız çiftliğimizde hem üretim hem de kurulum çalışmalarımız yoğun bir şekilde devam etmektedir. 66 dönüm üzerine kurulu çiftliğimizde sebze, meyve, mikro yeşillik, çiftlik hayvanları, yumurta, bal, fide, fidan ve saksı bitkileri organik tarım yönetmeliğine uygun olarak üretmekteyiz. Amacımız çiftliğimizde üretimini yaptığımız ürünleri yerel organik pazarlarda ve internet üzerinden satarak kendimize yetecek basit huzurlu bir hayat kurmaktır. Bu düşünceyi paylaşan ve doğayı seven herkesi aramızda görmekten büyük mutluluk duyarız. Çiftlikte yapılması gereken birçok günlük işimiz bulunmaktadır. Örneğin tarlada veya seramızdaki bitkilerin ve hayvanlarımızın bakımları gibi. Bunun yanı sıra taşıma, boyama, tamir, paketleme, temizlik, düzenleme ve buna benzer birçok farklı iş de çiftliğimzde düzenli olarak yaptığımız işler arasındadır. Bu nedenle eminim ki burada herkes keyif aldığı bir iş bulacaktır. Çiftliğimizde gönüllülerimizden kendine uygun bulmadığı bir işi yapmasını zorlamıyoruz ve mümkün oldukça gönüllülerimiz için her gün farklı bir iş ayarlamaya çalışıyoruz. Çalışma saatlerimiz günde 5-6 saat ve haftada 5 gün şeklindedir. Genellikle saat 8’de işe başlanır. Konaklama için içerisinde perdelerle ayrılmış 2 adet ranzanın bulunduğu maksimum 4 kişilik iki odamız bulunmaktadır. Gönüllüler için ayrı mutfak banyo ve oturma alanı da aynı yapı içerisinde yer almaktadır. Gönüllülerimizden kendi yemeklerini ve temizliklerini kendilerinin yapmasını beklemekteyiz. Tabi ki bu işler için gerekli bütün ürünleri çiftliğimizden veya marketlerden kendimiz tedarik etmekteyiz. Bu sayede konakladığınız sure boyunca mevsimsel organik çiftlik ürünlerin tadına da bakma şansı yakalayacaksınız. Çiftliğimizde çevre köylerden yerel kadınlarla ve genç arkadaşlarımızla çalışıyoruz. Bu sayede şehir hayatına uzak bu insanların hayatını daha iyi anlamak ve öğrenmek için de fırsatınız olacak. Ayrıca Türkiye’de tarımın potansiyelini ve yapmaya çalıştığımız değişiklikleri de bizzat deneyimlemiş olacaksınız. Çiftliğimizin konumu sayesinde boş zamanlarınızı gölde yüzerek, orman yürüyüşü yaparak veya şehir merkezlerini ziyaret ederek geçirebilirsiniz. Her gün köyümüzden şehir merkezine otobüsler kalkmaktadır. Yaz aylarında Karadeniz sahillerine yüzmeye gitmek, kış aylarında da Kartepe’de kayak pistlerine ulaşmak mümkündür. Ayrıca çiftliğimiz haftasonları İstanbul’da geçirmek isteyenler için de çok uygun bir konuma sahiptir. OCA: Çelik alma, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı ŞUB: Fide yetiştirme, çelik alma, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı MAR: Fide bakımı, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı NİS: Çapa, tarlada dikim, sulama sistemi döşenmesi, doğal otların toplanması, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı MAY: Sebze hasatı, tarlada dikim, doğal otların toplanması, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı, saksı bitkileri bakımı HAZ: Çapa, sebze hasadı, tarlada dikim, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı TEM: Çapa, sebze hasadı, tarlada dikim, fide yetiştirme, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı AĞU: Konserve yapımı, kabuklu yemiş toplama, çapa, sebze hasadı, tarlada dikim, fide yetiştirme, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı EYL: Konserve yapımı, doğal ot toplama, çapa, sebze hasadı, fide bakımı, tarlada dikim, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı EKİ: Doğal otların toplanması, tarlada dikim, sebze hasadı, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı KAS: Sera hazırlığı, meyve fidanı dikimi, budama, sebze hasadı, tarlada dikim, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı ARA: Çelik alma, odun kesimi, hayvan bakımı, çiftlik bakımı --- We are looking for enthusiastic people to work with us in our organic farm in Kocaeli, Turkey After a long search for a life in harmony with nature, away from the bustling city, we found ourselves in an untouched village on the outskirts of İzmit named Fethiye. Since 2016, our farm has been growing with agricultural production and related projects. We produce vegetables, fruits, microgreens, farm animals, preserves, pickles, eggs, honey, seedlings, saplings, and potted plants appropriate to organic agriculture regulations. We have also recently begun to accommodate paying customers looking to experience the organic farm life in a separate guest house. Our main goal is to produce and sell these organic and sustainable products on local organic markets and on the internet so that we can support the simple and peaceful life that we have always dreamt of. We pride ourselves on working with locals and building a strong relationship with them. It would be our pleasure to see like-minded nature-loving and adaptable people join us and experienced the way we live :)

Learning opportunities

Vegetable farming

Fruit or nut farming

Grain farming

Poultry farming

Sheep or goat farming

Beekeeping

Wild foraging

Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas

Seed saving or production

Vegetable or fruit preservation

Methods or systems

Biological pest control

Biodynamic agriculture

Holistic management

No-till farming

Permaculture

Regenerative agriculture

Host type

Production farm

Certified organic

16.5 Hectares | 40.8 Acres

Accommodation

4+ WWOOFers

Bedroom

Children accepted

Pets accepted

Meals

Omnivore

Vegetarian

Length of stay

1-2 weeks

3-4 weeks

Over a month

Burak

Member since 2023

Languages spoken: English, Turkish

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Thu

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Sat

Response rate: 77% Response time: typically within 2 days

Protomaps | © OpenStreetMap

Kocaeli

My past WWOOFers

Nuno

June 2026 • Coimbra, Portugal

Théo

June 2026 • Bruxelles-Capitale, Belgium

Claudia

December 2024 • Australia

Yasin

June 2024 • 94 - Val-de-Marne, France

Mohannad M. M.

May 2024 • Konya, Türkiye

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Feedback

Nuno

Portugal • June 2026

I had a good time in Farge. Although at the beginning I felt a bit strange and lost because there was no one from the farm to receive me, I started to understand that that's how the volunteering works there, the volunteers manage themselves with the food that is provided by the farm and the livelihood of the volunteers and the rest of the farm (workers and family) are 2 totally separated worlds. It works because there are always volunteers to run the volunteers house with Berk. The house is a good place with a nice energy, and it was a wonder to share my days with the beautiful volunteers that were there with me.

Mohannad M. M.

Türkiye • August 2024

Wonderful experience with many lovely people. To start, the nature in this region is amazing and the diversity of wildlife is immense. The plant farm consists of both green houses, open fields, and the animal farm. The farm animals are well taken care of. They roam the vast field in the morning and are fed a mixture of barley, hay, and corn around the evening. The host Burak abi is a knowledgeable and kind man, he is adventurous, curious, and honest, he tries to spend some time with the volunteers, he listens to their concerns and takes their advice. The volunteers are expected to take care of the animals in the morning and the evening. The villa house is a common area for all the volunteers and therefore it's mostly their responsibility. It is cleaned and maintained by the volunteers. Every volunteer is expected to clean their personal space and the shared places. The volunteers should also expect to participate in cooking and maintaining the house regardless of how short their stay will be. The tasks are many and various in kind, so you can ask for a different task if you feel uncomfortable. The best thing about this experience is that you will get to meet many different people from all around the world. The work is around five and a half hours, I would like to extend especial gratitude to Aytan abla for being so kind and patient with all the volunteers.

Alborz

United States • March 2024

Farge Organik is a great place. A space to host around 20 people from around the world creates a great social setting for learning, no less with a spirit of new friendships and camaraderie. The tasks at work ranged from physically light to demanding activities, involving repetition; the breakfast of potatoes and eggs was definitely a highlight.

Zora Juli

Germany • November 2023

We had a wonderful time on this farm! We stayed longer than actually plannend, because we had a lot of fun working and living here. We did a lot of different things, like planting, seeding and weeding, and learned more about how an organic farm like this works. Since we worked five hours at the beginning of the day, we had plenty of time to socialize with other volunteers and live life as a community in the house. Burak and the staff members were always open to talk, when things didn't work out or an explenation was needed. Thanks to all the nice people we met here and the things we learned, it was a month that we will never forget.

Özlem

Türkiye • March 2023

Her ne kadar sadece 1 hafta kalabilmiş olsam da bağlılık hissi yaratan bir yer oldu. İlk deneyimimi bu kadar büyük bir alanda çeşitlilikle dolu bir organik bahçede yaşadığım için de ayrıca mutluyum pek çok şey görme şansım oldu. Tabi ki bahçenin insanları ve çalışanları bu süreci çok kolaylaştırdı her biri tatlı ve iletişime açık insanlar. Yine geleceğimi düşünerek ayrıldım belki biraz daha ılıman bir mevsimde daha fazla gönüllüyle daha da güzel olur diyerek. Kesinlikle tavsiye ediyorum başta challenge gibi olsa da alışmak keyif veriyor :)

Maria

Russia • July 2022

We had left this place on the third day, although requested two weeks. Maybe we had come not at the right time, but there were certain circs we could not come up with. At that moment the volunteer's house was overfilled, the first night I slept in the hall on a couch but it turned out that it was much more comfortable than to have a room. Rooms for volunteers are tiny small, the double bunk bed was all creaky and had no ladder, and there was no space to place our backpacks. Because of that almost all private things and closers were all over the main hall, it was a lot of mess and plain garbage. On the first floor where was a kitchen lived a small dog, she pee everywhere and bites bread that was placed on a low shelf. It was really unhealthy. Also about products: in the description, they said that they provide volunteers with food, but all vegetables were rotten and molded and there were tons of flies all around the kitchen. Also there were no water filter or bottled water but tap water was hard and not tasty. So for us accommodations were not acceptable. But! The huge upsides of Farge is work and working hours. The sheldue and jobs were perfectL it was easy and enjoyable to work and to communicate with other volunteers. We were planting at the greenhouse and helping with animals. In short: + great team, really nice people + only 5 working hours + break − accommodation − drinkable water

Reply from Burak

I am sorry to hear that you haven't been pleased in here. I thought we made ourselves pretty clear about one think; if you think something is not right, talk to us. During their 3 days staying Maria and her boyfriend never complained about anything to me or any other person on the farm as far as my knowledge. On the third day, Maria asked me for permission to leave and I haven't questioned it. After weeks I read this review and felt compelled to answer. First of all, when they first arrived there were some unscheduled volunteers in the house and we were trying to fix that problem. Thus, they spend a day on the sofa. Sorry about that. I never thought it was a big deal. Anyway, after the problem has fixed they moved to a room. Apparently, our rooms and bunks aren't up to their standards. However, if they had checked our profile pictures they could have seen the room's size and bunk's condition and decided before head. Btw there is plenty of space for a backpack. And we especially encourage volunteers to warn others If they think they are living messy in the room. It is clearly explained in the instructions that I sent before any volunteer's arrival. Let's talk about our puppy. We found her on our farm a couple of weeks ago and one of our employees decided to adopt her. Since she was not vaccinated yet, her vet advised us to keep him in the house till her treatment was completed. Fyi; she is living outside now. Again, you guys could have known if you have talked to us. Btw, if you think being close to a little puppy is unhealthy, maybe farms are not the right place for you guys. We don't provide rotten vegetables to volunteers, vegetables got rotten in the kitchen, and as a volunteer, it is your duty to dispose of them when you noticed and ask for fresh vegetables. However, again, if you don't talk to people and don't read the instructions you might believe it is what we provide. We have been living on this farm for over 5 years and drinking tap water. Locals are drinking it for decades. Still, if you think you are too good for tap water you could had talk to us and we would have told you that we provide filtered water for free! I wrote this answer to make ourselves clear about the accusations. I don't have any reviews about Maria and her boyfriend because I haven't had the chance to know them to make a proper review. In less than 3 years, we hosted more than 400 volunteers on our farm and those critics never became big issues. When volunteers talk to us we try our best to help them. However, when a volunteer leaves without complaining about anything and writes a full page of accusations, there is hard to find goodwill in it.