At the Zittrauerhof – a wonderful spot on earth

Recently I received a lovely email from Daniela and it encourages me to continue offering farm time-outs. My joy in letting someone participate in farm life, “training” them and letting them discover new paths. Thank you Daniela for this beautiful report!

For a long time, I had been moved by the thought of helping out once in my life as a dairymaid on the alpine pasture or on a farm. I just wanted to get away from everyday life, do something completely different, get into nature and learn how to handle animals and help out, instead of just relaxing. Through a lot of research on the internet, I came across the Zittrauerhof in Bad Hofgastein at the beginning of the year; I kept reading the wonderful farm stories of the farmer Katharina. I got in touch with Katharina. She immediately sent me several reports from time-out women. Once the date was fixed, I went to the Zittrauerhof for a week. My “farm” project could begin.

As soon as I arrived at the farm, I immediately noticed the warmth in this family.
In the house, in the garden, every detail made with love. During this week, I learned a lot about the animals in the children’s barn, about the cows, driving cows, calf births.
Building pasture fences, I drove with Grandpa Hias’s tractor, rode on the back of the quad across the pasture with farmer Matthias. In the garden, I was picking up apples every morning, herbs were collected and dried, the
flowers plucked.

With Katharina in the kitchen, I was allowed to learn many Austrian dishes.
Topfen, yogurt was made. Preparing the breakfast for the guests. Bread was baked.
Of course, I was also allowed to join in with the house cleaning :- )
I didn’t even know what hidden strengths I had in me, even if some tasks
were strenuous, I fell into my bed in the evening happy and satisfied.
I am glad that I was there for the week, was allowed to spend time with the family, and made friendships for a
lifetime. I’ll be back!

Many kind regards, Daniela :- )