For Volunteers
At Rainbow Koala Farm, we love hosting volunteers. We primarily host volunteers through, WWOOF, World Organization on Organic Farms.
As of the summer of 2024,we have hosted more than 25 volunteers from the U.S., Canada, South Korea, Sweden and Nepal. Having extra helping hands has enabled us to complete projects that would have been difficult for our family alone. More important to us, it has been fun and educational to host so many different people. Truly the cultural exchange component of WWOOF is the best.
FAQs - Conveniences and amenities
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WWOOFERS have access to modern outdoor composting toilet as well as an indoor toilet with running water and a sink.
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Composting toilets collect waste and break it down into compost, rather than flushing it into a sewer or septic system. This is better for the environment, saves water, and reduces strain on our farm’s septic system. Our composting toilet was manufactured by Sun Mar.
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In warm weather WWOOFERS enjoy an outdoor sun shower, with a surrounding privacy screen, solid floor, bench and hanging rack for your toiletries and wash cloth. When it is colder we are all ( often 6 or more people ) sharing one indoor shower—there may be a line.
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Just let us know if you need access to our washer and dryer. We ask that you use our unscented products because our family has allergies to many scents.
FAQs - Recreation
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In addition to touring around Midcoast Maine, you can also find hours of fun right on our property. You can swim or kayak in the lake, explore the woods and the cemetery next door, or check out our extensive board game collection. (We love board games and are always happy to play).
FAQs - Accessibility and planning
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We communicate primarily in English and using face to face communication. We can do video chats prior to folks arrival. We also use texting for short updates but try to avoid using texting as primary communication. We can try to communicate via Spanish, texting, AAC system or other ways as long as everyone can be patient as we are less experienced with these.
We share a small space with a lot of people. Introverts and others who need a lot of alone time will only be happy here if they are good about taking that time for themselves. All volunteers should have space and time for “me” time. There are places on the farm you can work, but if you need complete silence or privacy for video calls you may need to book space at the library or figure out something else.
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There is uneven ground, and depending on the season there may be ice, snow, or mud, ice that must be navigated to get to the main house or any of the outbuildings, or gardens. Once at the main house, there is a ramp into the house and no barriers in the bathroom or shower. There is one small step into the tiny cabin and we have a variety of places to put tents, some more accessible than others. Some wheelchair or mobility aid users can navigate our outdoor spaces and others can not, we are happy to set up a video chat to ensure our space can be navigated before your arrival.
We have work that can be completed seated in all three gardens or in the house, getting into and out of the barn requires going up a few uneven steps. We also have projects that can be done indoors for people with mobility or sensory concerns.
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Poorly….. but we aim for
7:30-9 AM we start serving breakfast, coffee, and tea as we slowly get ready to start our day. We tend to discuss the plan for the day over breakfast once we know the weather, who is available, energy levels and what needs to be done.
Every day we have goat and plant care, but other than that we tend to do tasks based on priority and energy level. We aim for a big chunk of downtime in the afternoon with light chores, such as watering and goat feeding in the evening.
Always let us know if you have plans that will take you away for part of the day, such as visiting a museum, remote work, or hiking a trail. We can generally adjust our plans to accommodate your needs.
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Yes. See our farm rules page for more infomation.
FAQs - Food
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We try to accommodate allergies. Please discuss your needs with us before you come. The limitation is our small kitchen prepares foods with wheat/gluten/dairy/peanut/nuts/shellfish/eggs/pork and other allergens on a regular basis, so cross- contamination is always a risk.
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WWOOFERS are provided with 3 meals a day, snacks, tea and coffee in the morning. These include meals on your off days
Breakfast: We always offer toast, eggs, nut butters, oatmeal, dried fruit, nuts and dairy/non-dairy milk. Sometimes we also fix a hot breakfast.
Lunch: We usually have sandwiches and leftovers. Guests who will not be around for lunch are welcome to pack a lunch to go when they come for breakfast.
Dinner: Most days we prepare dinner early and allow everyone to eat when they are ready/have time. We tend to plan dinners based on the needs and preferences of who is here, what is in season etc. What we eat for dinner varies a lot. In general, we eat a lot of Mexican food, pasta, local seafood, and salads. In warm weather we try to cook outdoors as much as possible, so you may get hot dogs and s’mores while you’re with us.
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We can always accommodate vegans and vegetarians as long as shared kitchen/cooking equipment is not a concern.
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Yes. if you buy your own food, please put your name on it. We have a shared fridge for guests in the basement.
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We love it when WWOOFERS share their favorite meals with us. Just give us your shopping list and we’ll buy what you need for your feast.
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We hear you! Midcoast Maine has some great restaurants. If you plan to have a meal out, just let us know so that we don’t plan a meal for you.
FAQs - Housing
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We have several options for accommodations, check with us what is available!
If you are staying in our tiny cabin, it is a one room dry cabin with locking door. The room is furnished with a full bed, chair and table.
If you are in a tent there are a variety of places you can set up, depending on how private you want to be, or how close to a bathroom.
Outside of sleeping areas other spaces are shared. We have both indoor and outdoor living spaces with seating, and a small shared recreation space in the basement. In the house, we have a busy shared kitchen. We also have outdoor shared cooking spaces, including a two burner propane stove, a Pyro wood-fired oven/grill and a fire pit.
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Due to the vulnerable nature of our community, zoning and the small space shared by everyone here we are unable to promise anyone a long term stay until we have gotten to know them better. The biggest limitation is if we have a space that works for longer term housing, which can have nothing to do with a person.
The terms of each long term stay are customized by the board of RBKF and the person(s) requesting a longer term stay, based on need, desires and availability however generally folks interested in a stay of 3 months or longer can expect the community to meet to discuss there stay within 10 days of their arrival. We try to give folks who want to stay clear longer term plan for there housing between 60 and 90 days of there arrival, if you can not live in limbo for that amount of time this situation is not for you.
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The ownership of rainbow koala farm LLC, the board of the rainbow koala accessibility project and guests who have been present more than 30 days.
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We discuss upcoming projects, visits and events. Chores or problems. General updates. We also do roses and thorns for new guests looking for a longer term stay.
When doing rose and thorns we discuss the ( good things) so far in the guests stay as well as the thorns ( problem areas). The roses and thorns are shared with the person after and the community along with new guests have time to engage in constructive problem solving with the goal of growing.
FAQs - Farm chores and activities
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No, feel free to say “no” to any activity, chore or project. We can always find something else for guests to do. Communication is key.
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We do have 17 goats and use there manure in all of our outdoor growing. However, there are endless things to do on our farm, and we can and have accommodated guests who do not want to handle goat manure. Non-poop projects could include seed starting, construction, making a scarecrow, sewing/mending, painting, fence repair, social media, or more depending on the time of year and your interests.
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We try to prevent injuries by teaching safe practices, however accidents do happen. We have first aid equipment on site for minor injuries. We are less then 5 miles from several urgent care centers and 2 miles from a Emergency Room. We will first get the appropriate level of care and make sure you are okay. WWOOFERS will report the accident to WWOOF.