Hiring Couples.

Some love it, some hate it...

Whats your take? Why do you like/not like hiring couples (for apprenticeships/WWOOFing/paid positions/ etc.)?

Hi Tom, this is Federico from Argentina. I think it is the best way to run a farm. But only if you find the perfect couple, which is extremely hard.
I was considering, I order to gain the trust of my workers and get the best of them, to give them a piece of land, so it would be theirs in the future.... like a leasing.

One issue with couples is reproduction. I took in two people a couple years ago. The woman was 4 months pregnant upon arrival and pregnant again 3 months after the first one. They were both usless leaches. I now realize that their moving to my place was part of a scheme to become Canadian citizens by having children here. They were to farm, but didn't get one useful thing done.They collected American food stamps during their stay. A huge mess was left behind and all of the insulation was stolen from the upper floor. I'm only doing short stay, week to week stuff in the near future.

Wow, you have the same problem with your southern border we have

Mexico is building a fence on their southern border, too. (not a joke, but there is one in there somewhere).

Wow Dale are those the same property where you made hugel beds but the tenants didn't plant anything? I hope you end up finding the right people who can take good care of your property

Same ones. I'm only interested in farm vacation types for now. I'm totally put off of anyone looking to practice an uncommon pseudo medical thing and those who voluntarily bring up their spiritual path etc. The number of red flag revelations grows constantly.

Great, So then 2nd question.
Fredrico, you mentioned "the perfect couple" what do they look like?
And Dale, what makes the list of "red flag revelations"?
My fiancee and I are looking to get hired together.

Is there a forum or place to see if people would be interested in a short term perma-blitz/learning experiment. I have 11 acres in the Helena, MT valley and I'm in the process of building 1,300' of hugel beds to plant 450 fruit and berry trees and would like to find a few people who want to learn and experiment with the hugelkultur on my food forest. I'm not sure woofers are an appropriate use here. Any ideas or suggestions?

Dale Hodgins wrote:Same ones. I'm only interested in farm vacation types for now. I'm totally put off of anyone looking to practice an uncommon pseudo medical thing and those who voluntarily bring up their spiritual path etc. The number of red flag revelations grows constantly.

That's interesting and maybe should be a separate topic. Paul also mentioned how he gets turned off when he hears "namaste" or "we should all love each other".

In a way, this worries me a bit, I've met a lot of young folks who are into improving the world, but then they project an image of unreliability (which is often true). I wish people my age would get their shit together a bit more. There's lots of important work to do out there.

I guess we also need more older people to provide opportunities for younger folks. I'm in one of those situations and it can be really positive if both sides understand what's needed.

Tom Kozak wrote:
Fredrico, you mentioned "the perfect couple" what do they look like?

Hey Tom,

I am thinking in someone that treats my land as his own. It is extremely arrogant of me, I know, so that's why I was thinking in giving them a piece (after several years!).
And I say it is extremely difficult because I moved to a place with very kind people already working in. They helped us a lot while settling down, they aided when I got stuck in the mud and taught me to se chains in my car among other things regarding life in the country.

To my dismay, I found very recently that the lady was stealing from us since the beggining. We've always left everything open (that was the reason we moved to the country!!). And every time we left the house, she came and took bags filled with groceries and consumables.

I still don't know what to do!

Now that I have written it down, I realize that they were indeed treating the land and everything else as their own!!!

I have friends who had been trying to get helpers for their small homestead for years. They went through numerous wwoofers with various disaster stories about each experience. Finally they quit wwoofers and looked around locally for a local couple. Found two people in the 30's that have worked out perfectly.

Eventually I'd like to get live-in caretaker/helpers too. I'm considering using the same approach where I ask other locals already in caretaking/working positions for suggestions or recommendations of people that they know who would be interested in the position. They would already know local people and there would be that added bit of pressure to recommend someone who wouldn't be useless or rip me off.

We are that" prefect Couple" but not available right now due to Caring for house bound father who is 91 years old , so we will need to watch this space as the saying goes , We are both farmers in different way

Hola,

Im one half of a farming couple who has been traveling and farming ( wwoofing, internships, hired positions, farm sitting) for four years now. And i cant say we`ve ever had complaints. I think what you need to try and find is people who are as interested in farming and working with the land as you are. And like you said, treat it as their own. If you give people the opportunity to get invested in your land i think you would get a good out come. But there is always going to be some trial and error.

dax

You need a couple that want more than just sleep together all the time. They need to want to work together. Surprisingly few really do.

Unfortunately, it is a two way road. The owner takes a chance on the right people to do the work and treat everyone including the land with respect. The worker takes the chance on learning things or earning land or whatever the agreement was. I've heard horror stories on both ends and experienced some firsthand. I had an agreement to pay rent for x amount of time to own the home I am in. After several years, the owner told me he gave the home to his children. I happen to know the family so with a grimace I've just decided to remind myself I'm renting. I had no written agreement so if I want to stick to details, the fault is my own. Over the years I've realized I really don't want to own this place anyway so it worked out well. Not the same thing but a little bit of a shove in the wrong direction for sure.

The only advice I can give on getting the right people would be to have a written contract made up for you both to sign. This way, if the workers do not pull their weight with the chores they are meant to learn and do...... you can terminate the contract and they must leave your land. Make sure the writing is very clear and simple with no room to warp things against you and your land. A contract would also help you against those people who like to gain land from squatters rights and crazy loopholes in the system. You could go as far as to list things you do not desire as well. Such as, no inviting people over for loud drinking parties, littering, etc... the normal stuff that most country people do in their sleep but some folks are too lazy or bothered to do. That way you don't end up with trashy people that don't care. Hopefully if they take the time to want to work a farm, they have the respect already for that much.

I wish I were younger and more able bodied. I'd inquire some of these opportunities you all have for myself. I'm only 43 but I'm physically disabled in the amount of walking and bending I can do, so a full scale farm is out of my ability. I will be purchasing some land in the next year or two and making a small homestead I can work. I've been researching what I want so I can build it in the manner that will best fit all my needs and yet leave me able to do things. Much like an elderly person who can no longer do it all. The best part about my situation is I have a friend joining this venture with me and she is a nurse! Bonus to my healthcare! I hope you all can find trustworthy hard workers to join your farms with you. They are out there, hopefully they step forward. I wish you all luck!

The question was posed a few months back, about what "red flag" items could warn of the people being unsuitable. This list could run many pages long. Here are a few. Each new item helps to eliminate some bad apples and some decent people who must not be given a chance, as a precaution. No particular order. I'm thinking and writing.

Be very careful whenever you consider doing business with anyone. I've developed many biases in my life, and will share a partial list below. I am wary of people who ...

No job --- I am not looking to hire full time employees. Any future tenant must have a means of obtaining money, that doesn't involve me. Those who claim to have no need for money get 10 red flags.

Lifers --- Some people express a desire to enter into a really long term arrangement. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that, but I have no desire to work with people who are not ambitious. I make it clear that I never intend to part with any land and still a couple people have said that they would be happy to just live on the land for decades, rather than looking for a place of their own. I suspect that lifers are not my type.

Broke people --- Broke people have seldom worked out for me. This has been true with tenants, employees and relatives. I have to resist the temptation to help or fix those who can't get their lives on track.

Spiritual path --- This is only a problem if they bring it up all of the time. I have found that too much enlightenment can lead to a lack of motivation.

Conspiracy theories --- I have a terrible track record in dealing with people who believe in alien abduction, jet chemtrails and lizard people. I decide what constitutes a conspiracy theory, with no help from anyone.

More later. I get tired just thinking about the potential pit falls.