Vegetable farm with draft horses, small community, CSA
Hessen
LAGE:
unser Haus mit Garten und unser Mitarbeiterhaus gegenüber ist 60 km südöstlich von Kassel,im freundlichen Dorf Oberellenbach , die Pferde sind auf der gepachteten Summühle untergebracht, die Felder und Weiden liegen um das Dorf verteilt.
Wir freuen uns immer über Menschen die sich um unsere Pferde kümmern wollen und auch mal Lust haben zu reiten!!
Wir bieten Platz zum überwintern! Bei uns gibt es immer etwas zu tun. Im Winter bauen wir Gewächshäuser, pflanzen Obststreifen, schneiden Apfelbäume und machen Holz für unsere Holzzentralheizung.
Wir wünschen uns mindestens 2 Wochen Aufenthalt, mehr ist noch schöner. Es braucht Zeit, sich kennenzulernen, Arbeitsabläufe zu vermitteln und den Hoforganismus zu begreifen...
BESCHREIBUNG:
Wir sind eine Familie mit drei Kindern (18,15,10J.) Dieses Jahr ist unsere Teilnehmerzahl auf 220 Familien gewachsen. Wir bauen auf ca. 4 ha über 70 Kulturen und 4 Kartoffelsorten an. Diese Jahr haben wir 1000m² Gewächshäuser aufgebaut. Die Feldarbeiten erledigen wir zu 60% mit Arbeitspferden. (3 Bretonische Kaltblüter im Bestand, zwei davon im Einsatz, können auch geritten werden.) Wir haben ein sehr ländliches Umfeld und trotzdem guten Zuspruch von einer bunt gemischten Teilnehmerschar. Das nordhessische Dorf Oberellenbach, in dem wir leben, ist ein besonders offenes und lebendiges Dorf mit vielen Aktivitäten. Es gibt auch sogar einen Dorfladen und eine Gasthaus. Wir sind ein gemischtes Team, derzeit Alma, Tobit und Alyssa von der Demeter Ausbildung, Olivier, Gärtner und Elektroingenieur aus Frankreich, Marie von der Solawi Ausbildung und Leonie macht ein Vorpraktikum zur bio-dyn Ausbildung.
Sprachen: D, Englisch, Französisch Aktuelle Bilder findest Du auf unserer Instagram Seite: solawi.oberellenbach Weitere Infos zum Aufenthalt, und Bilder von unseren Unterkünften findest Du auf unserer Website.
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ENGLISH:
LOCATION: Our house and farm is located 60km southeast from Kassel, in the friendly village Oberellenbach (OE). We rent a stable for the horses on another Demeter farm in the village, and our fields and meadows are spread about in the area surrounding OE.
We are open for people, but we can´t cope with short time stays. From the social point of view this is too exhausting for us, because we live rather close together and from the work point of view it is ineffective. Also Your learning will just scratch on the surface when You only stay for a week. We ask people to stay at least 2 weeks, better 3 weeks or even more. It will take You a week to understand where all the fields are and how the rhythm oft the days and weeks is and then You slowly grow into the farm organism and the team. Take Your time for a real experience!
DESCRIPTION: We are a family with three children and we have spent the last 7 years cultivating and growing our CSA farm. This year we have doubled the number of our CSA members up to 200. On about 4 ha. we grow 60 different sorts of vegetables and many different sorts of potatoes. In this year we have built 2 greenhauses with 1000m². We work primarily by hand and about 60% of the soil cultivation, bed forming, manure spreading, etc. is done with the horses. (2 of our horses are trained for work and can also be ridden!) We live in a very rural area, however there is still a large interest in our vegetables. Our village is very open, lively and friendly with plenty of activities. There is even a little grocery store and pub! Our gardening team includes 3 apprentices from the Biodynamic Agriculture Aprentice program here in Germany.
Organic methods: Humusaufbauend durch Gründüngung und Pferdearbeit
Certifications: Demeter
Type of work: Mithilfe beim Gemüsebau, Verarbeitung, Verteilung und allen Arbeiten rund um den Hof und die Pferde, Holz machen im Winter
work on the vegetable field and all sorts of work around the farm, house and horses, wood making in Winter
Internet access available
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Fruit or nut farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Flower farming
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Food justice / sovereignty
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Animal drafting
Biological pest control
Biodynamic agriculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Production farm
Certified organic
15
Hectares
|
37.1
Acres
Dörte und Günter
Member since 2016
Languages spoken:
English, French, German
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Response rate: 96%
Response time: typically within 2 days
Hessen
Über A 7 von Norden: Rasthof Hasselberg, von Süden Ausfahrt Bad Hersfeld Nord oder mit der Bahn bis Bahnhof Alheim- Heinebach, von dort holen wir ab Over A7 from north: rest stop Hasselberg, from south exit Bad Hersfeld Nord or by train s
Reviews
Candice
France
•
March 2026
I stayed at Solawi Obellerenbach for three weeks and it was truly a wonderful experience. From the very first day, everyone was so kind and welcoming ! I immediately felt part of the community, which made my stay even more special.
It was a very enriching stay, both on a human level and in terms of technical knowledge. I learned so much about planting, harvesting, working with the soil, and discovering a wide variety of vegetables and crops. It was deeply meaningful on a personal level as well ; sharing daily life with a team of people from different backgrounds, reflecting together and learning about spirituality.
I also discovered a whole new way of organising agriculture through the SoLawi concept, combined with biodynamic farming practices. Understanding how it works in practice, and how it supports the farm and the community, was truly eye-opening for me.
I will always remember the beautiful moments we shared, working and living together. Vielen Dank von ganzem Herzen, Dörte, Günter und das ganze Solawi-Team, für diese drei unvergesslichen Wochen. Ich freue mich jetzt schon darauf, euch wiederzusehen.
Liebe Grüße aus der Bretagne ;)
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Meabh
Ireland
•
August 2025
I can't recommend the Huffman's Solawi enough for a WWOOFing experience!! I had an incredible time in Oberellenbach with Dörte, Günter, and the rest of the Solawi team. The early mornings and communal meals made for a relaxing and rewarding rhythm of life. I really enjoyed the work I was able to help with; from weeding, planting, harvesting, running water lines, to transferring freshly germinated seedlings into pots, I feel that I learned so much about gardening and farming from everyone on the team. I even got a lesson on driving the tractor!! I also had the privilege of staying during the Johannistag celebration and a local arts and drama festival, which Dörte kindly brought me to. I took several day trips into Kassel and Eisenach to see museums and historical sites. There's also lots of lakes and bike rides close to the village. I had so much fun and gained a newfound appreciation and understanding for the vegetables I eat everyday. If you are interested in spirituality - you would definitely enjoy Oberellenbach - it's a beautiful place to let your mind wander and talk with open-minded people who share an interest in spirituality.
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Thomas
Germany
•
August 2024
Es war ein schöner und vor allem Lehrreicher Aufenthalt. Ich konnte viel über den Einsatz von Arbeitspferden in der Landwirtschaft lernen, aber auch bei sämtlichen anderen Tätigkeiten durfte ich mit anpacken. So habe ich auch über die Pferdearbeit hinaus einiges neues gelernt, was mir vorher gar nicht so bewusst war. Leider musste ich aus beruflichen Gründen vorzeitig abreisen, was mir echt schwer gefallen ist. Aber vielleicht passte s ja mal wieder und ich kann nochmal nach Oberellenbach kommen.
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Reply from Dörte und Günter
Lieber Thomas, vielen Dank für Deine engagierte Hilfe bei uns! Es war so entspannt mit Dir zu arbeiten, da Du so viel landwirtschaftliches Verständnis und Herzblut hast und einfach hinlangst. Und wir haben Dir gerne unsere Pferde in die Hand gegeben, da wir gleich gemerkt haben, daß sie gut bei Dir aufgehoben sind! Alles Gute Dir und vielleicht bis bald mal wieder! Viele Grüße von Dörte und Günter
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BARIŞ
Netherlands
•
January 2024
I stayed in the Solawi Oberellenbach between 11-24 December with my wife Maaike. During our stay we had worked with Dorte, Gunter and Demeter Trainees. Althought Maaike has need to go to Netherland for the job she had, they did not mind her to stay with me. Work here starting in morning around 9 and finishes around 5pm. Its a massive farm and there is a lot of thing to learn.
One of the nicest thing about here is you have your own room and house with Demeter Trainees. You dont need to live with Farm owner in the same house, which is nice for both sides.
Understanding of Solawi is might be different than you expect, because here is a old farm which convert itself to Solawi concept. So phisically everything is there, Solawi practises and community is there too. But ideolagicly, they have their own ideology which is more with Demeter farming than Solawi concept.
We had great time here with the employees, and work. Dorte and Gunter does best of theirself to keep this place alive and running. We are greatfull for the chance has been given.
We wish you joy and unicity in your future activities,
Baris & Maaike
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Reply from Dörte und Günter
Dear Maaike, dear Baris, thank You very much for Your feedback! Just to make it clear I want to add, that bio-dynamic (Demeter) farming is a cultivation method and also an attitude towards life with a spiritual approach while SoLawi is the name for an economic concept. (By the way the first SoLawi farm in Germany was a bio-dynamic farm.) Every farm is an individuality combining different farming methods and economic ways.
And also to set it right we started 10 years ago out of nothing directly with the SoLawi system, because otherwise there would have been no chance in our area to survive as a vegetable farm. And a 10 years old farm is not an old farm. ;) To develop the soil and the croop rotation and the best farming practices it needs more then one generation...
Love
Dörte and Günter
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Mara
Germany
•
April 2023
One month went by super fast! I had a really good time here, and I learned a lot. You're definitely going to be working more than the 4-5 hours here, but if you're okay with that, this is a great place to stay for a while. :)
Reply from Dörte und Günter
Dear readers, we are a serious producing vegetable farm. About 200 families are looking forward to thier weekly bio-dynamic vegetable box. The gardener team has in average over the year an 8hours work day. So volounteeres can decide to join the full day for a demanding experience or to choose another work rhythm with less hours. It just has be clear and communicated. Some people want to find out, whether they want to become a gardener. Find Your own way to live and work with us. Love Dörte
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