Monthly Archives: April 2012

Wow, we are in the paper!

Posted on by
Reply

Erin from the Karma Marketplace in Penetanguishene sent us this. We are doing a workshop there on May 5th.

Thanks Erin!

By Jennifer Harker of the Midland Mirror, Apr 26, 2012

Learning from Mother Nature

Participants in permaculture workshop May 5 will discover a new/old way of growing

Learning from Mother Nature. Hundred Mile Huronia’s Jenn McCallum said participants in a permaculture workshop on May 5 will learn a style of growing food that’s more productive, kinder to the environment and requires less legwork by the gardener. Jennifer Harker photo

PENETANGUISHENE – Permaculture may be a fancy word, but it’s actually a simple idea. “Permaculture is a type of ecological gardening that aims to be beneficial to the garden, to the environment and all wildlife in the area,” explained Jenn McCallum, marketing and communications co-ordinator for Hundred Mile Huronia.

It also benefits the gardener, as a permaculture garden takes very little input once established. Weeding, watering and maintenance are minimized, as plants are selected for their ability to shade each other, offer natural pest control and provide valuable nutrients in a supportive cycle. “It’s a way of modelling a garden after nature, where you work with it instead of against it,” McCallum said. “Nature doesn’t need any help.”

She pointed to natural edibles that grow lushly along the sides of trails without additional water, weeding, fertilizer or pesticides as an example of permaculture in action. With a little planning, home gardens can achieve the same effect. “Initially there is some work to set it up, but after, it should mostly take care of itself.”

Hundred Mile Huronia is a yearlong project aimed at promoting local food in the area. It will present a permaculture workshop on May 5 at the Ecology Garden in Penetanguishene. “We’re bringing in Jennifer and Tim of All Sorts Acres from Guelph,” said McCallum. “They have an ecological farm and they will show us how to design permaculture gardens.”

Topics will include practical principles to design a yard, garden and landscaping, as well as the top 10 permaculture plants for the region and how to create a “food forest” – a sort of engineered, biodiverse, richly productive garden. Hundred Mile Huronia is presenting the workshop to encourage the community to learn more about working with nature in their own garden. The symbiotic relationship between various plants and animals is not new. Terms such as bio-organics, biodynamics, agri-forestry and permaculture are simply being used to describe and resurrect ideas that were prominent pre-1950s, before the advent of intensive, large-scale farming.

Historically, there are many examples of symbiotic planting, such as the First Nations use of the three sisters (corn, beans, squash). The three plants provide mutual shade, support, nutrients and natural pest control.

“The idea of permaculture is really important for sustainability,” McCallum said. “Food in the grocery stores has travelled thousands of kilometres to get to us. If you grow your own, it’s a matter of metres, and no oil was required to transport it. Low-intensity gardening doesn’t require a lot of water, which is a worldwide issue.”

MORE…

OUCH! That hurt.

Posted on by
Reply

thomas02.jpg

Those horns are REALLY hard!

[pe2-gallery class="alignleft" ] [/pe2-gallery]We have had our last lamb of the season Ewenice, our Babydoll southdown/Horned Dorset cross had a lamb last Friday. It was touch and go for a day, but he is just fine now.

But that isn’t what this is about. I have to give a bit of background first.

This time of year we separate the boys from the girls. This is so the lambs will not encounter constant bullying from the boys. Sheep can be very territorial when new animals are introduced to the flock. S, this is for the lambs safety. The poor little critters have to deal with the other ewes bugging them and pushing them out of the way. A large set of horns doing the job is not really a healthy option for a growing baby.

So, Thomas, and Harry both migrated to their boy-house. They were NOT happy about this. Harry still bellows as often as possible to go back to his girlfriends. Thomas is far more reserved. But, after a few days they have calmed down, and accepted their own little barn filled with straw, hay, and even their own light.

Of course this little barn is not a real barn. It is more of a very sturdy shelter. Made from salvaged and scavenged pallets, metal, and wooden boxes. Inside is a hayrack, and even a wall so the two boys don’t have to “share” the space. the only downfall is that it is a very confined space. Great for sheep, not so great for people. Really bad for people and sheep together. Terrible for people and rams with horns that really want the food the people is holding.

In a nut shell I was incredibly stupid. I put myself in a position of danger. this is not normal for me. I am normally very careful about where I am in relation to a large, unpredictable animal that can knock me flat in a heartbeat. But, on Monday I was about to leave for a talk about Nature Connection I was involved with. It had been months getting this together with a group of people so to see it actually happen was great. I was excited.

Our sheep love grain. They REALLY love it. They will do ANYTHING for it. All brains go out the window at grain time. So I hurried through chores. I stepped inside the boy-house and put down grain. I put the first lot down. Harry came into the house. I was just about to leave and thought “Oh shit. I Shouldn’t be in here”. No sooner than I thought that then

WHAM. I heard a crunch and felt a bolt of pain go through me face, travel up to me forehead, and around to the back of my head. The back of my head went numb. Harry and I had just gotten in the way of Thomas and his food. And Thomas wanted Harry out of the way. I got in the way of the the two of them.

I backed out of the boy-house and shook my hand off. It was covered in blood and tissue. Oh great.  I had to steady myself so I didn’t fall over. The back of my head was still numb. Wow. I couldn’t believe what had just happened.

Of course the sheep were all bellowing for their grain. Mmmm. I proceeded to fill up the second grain bins for Harry then went back to the paddock. The girls and babies all got their grain as well.  I put the tarp back up on the gate (a shelter when the boys wanted to be close to the girls and it was raining) and made my way up to the house. The one thing I didn’t do was finish collecting the eggs. Tim could do that when he got home.

My head was pounding, I was getting shivers all over my body, and I was still bleeding like mad. into the house I went. I had to call and let the others know I wouldn’t be there. I needed a cup of tea. I needed to call Tim to tell him to come home a bit early. I needed to sleep.  Ouch. Boy was I stupid.

So to make a long story short, I did all those things. Tim and I went to emerge and got a clear for any major damage. My family doctor agreed, with a likely hood that I had fractured my nasal bone, and possibly my hand. I know my hand got hit somehow, but I don’t know how).

The moral of this tale is one simple thing. DON’T RUSH. Being hurried caused me to disregard basic safety precautions. I knew better than this. I was an IDIOT! Animals are unpredictable and must always be monitored, even the nice ones. Thomas is a great ram, calm, gentle, and respects people most of the time. It wasn’t his fault.I feel really lucky to be alive. If I had of fallen in that confined space with a jealous set of horns and a bucket of grain…I hate to think what could have happened.

 

 

 

Permaculture Teacher Training with Dave Jacke

Posted on by
Reply

Getting There

Whew, what a wonderfully amazing week that was. Of course the actual getting there was hindered by an Air Canada wildcat strike. For a brief period while Tim and I were on our way to the airport we heard some chilling news. Air Canada, the airline I was leaving on in a couple hours time, had gone on an unexpected strike. Or at least some of them had.

Arrival to the airport was almost dreamlike having no idea what we would find. Luckily, we managed to find ONE seat going to Philly just after my scheduled flight. I don’t even want to talk about the money:(

I arrived safe in Philly and managed to meet up with the others I was supposed to meet. The shuttle was caught and off we went to Kimberton Hills and to the teacher training all coordinated by the Eastern Pennsylvania Permaculture Guild (EPPG).

 PCTT_KHWS_201207.jpg

 

Training at the Waldorf Garden School

The Garden School is a part of the Kimberton Hills Waldorf School. It is a anthroposophic building that the teens have their classes in. It was spring break the time we were there. I arrived early with the others. It enabled us to walk around a bit. The grounds were beautiful. Fruit and willow trees were throughout the gardens. Birds fluttered around and the bees were just coming out of their hives after a long winter’s rest. A lovely little calico cat wandered up to greet us. Wow, would I have loved to go to high school here! Everyone else arrived, including Dave,Kim, and Chris our teachers. We all helped to set the space up. Then we went to discover our rooms. I was staying at Kimberton Hills.

 

Kimberton Hills

For those of you who don’t know, Kimberton Hills Camphill Community it is a “vibrant farming and handcrafting community that includes adults with developmental disabilities. Kimberton Hills residents, living and working side by side, create a dynamic and caring community for people of all ages and varied abilities. is an intentional biodynamic community. The villagers are differently abled people and the co-workers are mentors and care-takers.” All in all a really amazing place. I even got to stay there in one of the homes. Herta was our gracious hostess. She spoiled us daily with a musical alarm clock (she played the recorder to wak us up) and a home-cooked breakfast each morning.

A few of us were staying there, the girls and the guys. I had a few roomies. Luckily Julie and Jesse were kind enough to offer rides each morning to the school.

 PCTT_KHWS_201227.jpg

The Training

Mornings started early and ended in the evening. When they say intensive they really mean it. Despite the fact I had done the Edible Forest Gardening course with Dave last year, I still really didn’t know what to expect.

It was an amazing experience! It wasn’t just about telling people about permaculture, it was about BEING permaculture in mind body and spirit. Believe me, becoming permaculture is not all that easy. 

There were 28 participants from around the world, including Haiti, Ecuador, and of course, Canada. Many were from the local area. What a diverse group of people we were. Some older, some younger, some fairly new to permaculture, others that had been living it for a long time. All different facets of permaculture were represented. It was incredible.

It can be difficult to have such a large group. It is hard to bond, it is hard to listen to each other. It is hard to learn form each other. We all came with different levels of openness. Over the course of the week we explored learning from a variety of aspects. Types of learning, ways of facilitating learning, and how to become a better learner and teacher. We all took a journey inward so we could be a better person and teacher.

PCTT_KHWS_201235.jpg

I also discovered I had a really interesting talent. Well, I kind of knew it, but had never really thought much of it. I’ll start from the beginning.

 

The Presentation

We all had to have a typical presentation prepared upon arrival. I dilligently created my Powerpoint for the group. I chose to do my $100 Food Forest as a presentation. All my slides were prepped and my time was good. I was happy.

All of us had to present. I opted to be in the first bunch (thankfully) on the Saturday. I listened to the Friday night conversation and presentation by Dave and something dawned on me. I didn’t want to DO this presentation. I kept hearing about nature, urban areas, and lack of connection. I like to think of myself of being pretty naturally aware, and connected. I couldn’t stop all these cool stories and facts, and techniques going through my head. So, at the last minute, I ditched my whole Powerpoint presentation. I was going to do Nature in the City.

Of course I had no time to do to another Powerpoint, I didn’t have time to do anything on paper so I thought I would wing it. I had a chalkboard, coloured chalk, and a story.Well, at least the concept for a story.

So, the next day I waited for my name to be called. When it was I nervously got up. I really had no idea what I was going to actually do.

SO I began my story. I told of the amazing animals that reside in the soil, then I drew a picture of them on the board. I then explained that earwigs took care of their young after hatching. i then drew an image of an earwig on the board. I went on to reveal that an entirely new species of ant was discovered on a median in the middle of New York city. A whole new SPECIES found no where else on earth EXCEPT on this median in the middle of New York. I told of the pigeons looking at our cities as urban cliffs, just like the cliffs they lived in in times gone by. I drew the urban cliffs. And that all the pigeons brought back the Peregrine falcons to the urban skies. The pigeons also helped bring back larger animals like the coyotes and foxes.I drew a coyote.

AND if you were very observant, you could see the tracks of the coyotes. Telling people that these tracks told stories, the coyote’s stories. I drew the tracks. By learning these tracks we can learn those stories as well. And by learning the coyote’s stories, they become our stories. Our stories of the urban nature we live in. I explained, very softly, that if we were patient, and quiet, and still…if, then nature would let us into her world. And we might just catch a glimpse of that coyote, or peregrine.

At the end of my 10 minutes I had a blackboard full of drawing and people were amazed. I was shocked. I had pulled it off. Wow.

I also really enjoyed it.

 Getting up in front of everyone and becoming a different me. A me that was excited about what I was talking about and could help people visualize the story unfolding. People thought watching the drawing was fascinating, to see what next line I would draw, what would suddenly appear at the end of my chalk. It was great!

Fast forward to the end of the week. On the last Saturday we had a one day mini-conference. In about a day we had to create an hour and a half presentation for the public. We were in groups according to subject. Just about all of the subjects were different of course, so it was an incredible exercise in collaboration.

So, for that day we feverishly worked on our presentation, everyone did. They were all amazing.

What was really cool for me was I became the story teller again. I created another story, this time about vernal pools. I stood in front of both classmates and strangers. I became Mother Nature. I was Mother Nature sharing her magic, the magic of the vernal pool. The magic of the tiny salamander that relied on these ephemeral spring pools to continue their life cycles. How much they relied on those pools of water. Just like we relied on water. Water for life.

 

I met some amazing people I now call friends, learned some amazing skills, and, became more of a whole person.