Category Archives: Outdoor Skills

Permaculture and Nature Awareness

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Permaculture and Nature Awareness are two parts of the same whole. It is something that I have been practicing all of my life. Animals can teach you things that you can learn no other way. Animal teachers don’t only show you secrets about  themselves, but they also teach you about yourself. There is nothing like sharing a moment with an animal.

When asked how I found myself where I am, my honest answer is that the animals brought me here. My love an animals sparked a curiosity that brought me on a journey of learning and self discovery that I don’t believe any school could have shown me. When viewing the world through a permaculture lens, the animals tell me what is going on in a landscape.

It can seem like a challenge to take that first step of learning things like birds language, tree species, or animal tracks, but don’t despair. It can be a simple life changing action to ignite that spark of curiosity that you follow. Go and SIT OUTSIDE for 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes with no phone, no book, just you, the outdoors, and your senses. Breath deeply and just be. You might be surprised at what you feel.

Check out our Branching Out Nature Education Programs!

The W.O.W weekend

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What a weekend!

This past weekend I was on the Ontario Anglers and Hunters annual W.O.W. weekend or Women’s Outdoor Weekend. This is a weekend dedicated to letting women experience traditionally male outdoor activities in a safe, non-judgemental space and have a ton of fun.

Since I was a kid I have been against activities like hunting. As I have learned more about farming, my attitude towards hunting has changed greatly. After having participated in this past weekend, I have had many pre-conceived notions harvesting wild animals challenged and hence changed.

The weekend ran from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon at Kinark Outdoor Centre in Minden. Kinark is a great space to go and do something like this. the scenery is beautiful, the staff were great and the food was good. The only downside was that we all had to sleep in kids bunk beds. Being on the top bunk isn’t really my idea of fun anymore:)

I arrived later on Friday afternoon. We have dinner and then given a presentation about fishing from Get Fishing, a guide company that specializes in bringing kids out on their first fishing outing.

Saturday was the BIG day, and it was pouring. It rained pretty much all day, but that didn’t stop us. We continued on regardless. I had a chance to shoot a gun, crossbow, compound bow, go fishing, and learn how to use a GPS.

Three arrows I got into the target using the long bow. I also got a bulls-eye with the compound.

First was the archery. The instructors were two very nice women who had been bow hunting for a while. They began by coming to one of these weekends years ago. First I tried the compound bow. Being a lefty I didn’t have a lot of choice in which bow I used. It was quite an experience. The feel of pulling the string back to a certain point, then bringing it back just that little bit further was enjoyable for some reason. Positioning my body, something akin to archery yoga, sighting the arrow, and then releasing my fingers from around the string was a bit of a rush. The wonderfully quiet whoosh as the string returned to it’s natural position is like no other sound I have ever heard. It was an amazing experience. I also tried the long bow, kind of like the one that Robin Hood would have used. That one I really liked. The direct nature of a curved stick and a string was extremely visceral. I chose to stick with that one and do some target practice. On Sunday I tried the crossbow. Not my favourite, but I can see why it is used for hunting. It is powerful, fast, accurate, and much kinder to the animal.

One of the other women firing a .22

Shooting was next. Having never shot a gun before it was pretty intimidating. Up until that point I had only ever held a gun once before. The first thing the instructors explained to us was the safe handling of a firearm. they were really good about reinforcing it throughout the time we spent with them as well.We had the choice of starting at the skeet shooting or at the firing range. Not having ever fired a gun before I chose to begin at the firing range.The first gun I tried was a .20 gauge Beretta semi-automatic rifle. I discovered afterward that the higher the number the smaller the “bullet”. My stance was choreographed, my safety was flicked and “BANG” I shot my first shot. The emotions after that first fire were pretty powerful. I then went on to try a .12 gauge, and a. 20 gauge Franchi. The Franchi fit me really well. I ended up hitting 3 skeets in a row with it!

Sunday we had the chance to fire a .22 with a scope. I have to say that I found this rather easy. I had three shots, all three of which hit the stationary skeets. I put two bullets into one skeet. I far preferred the challenge of traditional skeet shooting.

Finally I went fishing. Unfortunately I didn’t catch anything except underwater trees, but I did learn a lot. I found out how to put bait on a hook so it didn’t snag weeds, I learned about trolling, and where to find fish. Dave took me out in a canoe and we had a good chat about fishing. The lake was windy so we kept drifting to the far end of the lake. Finally we came in and I cast my line off of the end of the dock. As it was mid-day I never caught anything, but some of the earlier groups had, and some others i my group caught fish. The lake was full of large mouth bass. I had a general idea of how to tell some common fish apart due to the excellent presentation given by “Serge” and Yvonne of Get Fishing Guiding. It was a lot of fun.

It had been a tiring day on Saturday. The sun finally broke through around 5pm or so, once all the activities were finished. That evening’s dinner was a delicious pig roast. The evening’s presenter was about trapping. Yes, line trapping. The two men that gave the presentation was excellent. I even put my hand in one of the new style leg hold traps. Yes, my hand is fine, it isn’t even bruised. I learned what animals could be trapped, the laws surrounding them, and what illegal trapping is. Like hunting, there is a lot I didn’t know about trapping that was worth finding out. I can’t say that I am a convert, but it was a fascinating talk that has got me thinking.

Throughout the weekend there was a raffle going on. At the last minute I broke down and bought a book of tickets. There wasn’t too much that I wanted, with the exception of a package that had 2 rods, reels, a tackle box, net, and some other odds and fishing ends. I put all my tickets in the bucket for that prize. There were quite a number in there, so I still didn’t expect to win. At the end of the weekend, just before going home the raffle took place. There were some great prizes. A trolling motor, a camping set, a nice crossbow, lots of fishing gear, all kinds of stuff had been donated. Well, I ended up winning the prize I had put my tickets in for. I was quite surprised (there were a lot of tickets in there)and pleased. Now Tim and I can go fishing together!

All the money that is made from the raffle goes back into the WOW program to keep it affordable. The price is kept low by also having only one paid Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters employee. All of the instructors, cleaners, and presenters were volunteers. Finally i also met a lot of really great women. Each woman had an inspiring story to share. We were all at different points in our hunting journey. Carrie was an experienced bow hunter, while Christine, Delia, and myself were here as curious newbies. Some, like Sylvia, were sent by their husbands, and others came with friends. Many new friendships were made over the weekend no doubt.

So will I begin hunting? Well, I think so. Fishing will be the beginning. I have a long way to go before I will be hunting though. Hunting courses, firearms licenses, and of course, lots of gear. One step at a time right? I couldn’t help but be amazed and inspired at how passionate all the people involved were. Every single instructor, and more experienced hunter had such an amazing knowledge of the natural world around them. Not once did I hear anything about trophy hunting or going out “for the hell of it”. No, the dedication they had to the environment and the creatures in it was astounding. The whole weekend has given me a lot to consider, and a new found respect for hunters.

 

I ate crickets

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Pandora sphinx moth caterpillar in Norval.

A couple of weeks ago I ate crickets… and they were really good! Yup, Crickets, and a gall wasp larvae. Cool huh? I did this all at the Art of Mentoring Program in Norval, Ontario.

The Art of Mentoring (A.O.M.) is a multi-year program created by naturalist, tracker, and educator Jon Young. Now John Young isn’t your average survivalist. His pedigree is excellent. He was trained by tom Brown Jr. from the age of about 10 years old.

Jon Young valued the method of teaching that Tom Brown showed him. So he began to create a nature education program based on traditional teaching method.

One of the programs to come out of this is called The Art of Mentoring. It is a way to help people deepen their connection to nature through community, experience, and being out in nature. In many ways it seems just like having fun…and it is. People came from far and wide to take part. All the way from the US and from out west.

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Mud tree meditation painting done while at camp.

Each year you go onto a new program. This year I was part of the Core Routines group. All of us were back for the second time so knew each other. We were to be out on the land for the week. No all the time, we checked in occasionally.

Now I don’t want to give too much away. But I can say that it was a life changing experience. Remember the wonder of being outside exploring when you were a kid? That’s the feeling you come home with. the world is a different place. At least that’s how I felt and I am always outside doing stuff.

What is more exciting is the change that happens within. Nature therapy definitely works! What is even more exciting is that the age of people at the A.O.M. ranges form 5 months old to 80 years old. It is great to have such a diverse group of people to learn from. We are all teachers and we are all mentors; one of the core ideas of A.O.M.

Now I get to ruminate on all the experiences I had and what they mean to me. It made me a better person:)

Spring’s a coming!

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This past week has been very strange. It has gone from -20C to +6 in the space of a week. Despite the temperature jumps spring is coming. It doesn’t always feel like it, but the birds have been chattering about the arrival of spring for the last week. Lately the woods have been far more verbal. The birds have become much more vocal, telling the world about the promise of warm breezes and warm sunshine. They are right. We had wonderful sunshine today. It was lovely to stand outside and feel the warmth on my face and NOT be cold at the same time.

With all these warmer days and cold nights means a change of routine here. Today the maple syrup taps and buckets came out of the shed. After washing them up I packed up the tree tapping gear and went outside to tap our trees.

We are both complete novices at making maple syrup as this is only our third year doing this. It is interesting to track the differences from year to year. This year tapping has started three weeks earlier than last year.

We also sold out first animals this past weekend. We had two very nice Chantecler cockerels we hatched out last September. Knowing we had too many roosters we knew we had to get rid of them. It is the eternal question if you have any kind of livestock, what do you do with extras, especially the males. These two birds were quite nice and coming from such nice stock,(they were form old bloodlines) we hated to put them in the pot. So, an ad went onto Poultry Swap. I have to admint I was a bit surprised when people contacted us to look at the two boys.

A breeder of bantam Chantelcers came to look at the two boys and took them both home. So we are happy to say that the boys will be used in a breeding program, not going into the pot. The visit was fascinating as this man had been breeding chickens for years and was VERY knowledgeable. He taught us an awful lot. It was amazing to watch him picking up the chickens. It was like watching him pick up a can of pop.

So we only have one more cockerel to find anew home for. If anyone out there is interested in a barred rock rooster with a nice looking rose comb let us know. If not we will have to make other plans for him.

Skills School -Learn Tracking

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Intro to Tracking

Intro to Tracking

We have recently begun a lofty idea of starting an informal school at our little farm.  We have begun doing this because we have found it difficult to travel far from home for extended periods of time due to all our animals. BUT…we really wanted to take these workshops and support our friends that offered them. Tim and I brainstormed and came up with having our friends teach the workshops here.

So over the next few months we have arranged for many of our friends and colleagues to come and teach us, and you, what they know. We have been lucky enough to meet incredibly knowledgeable people that are also great teachers. They are always eager to pass on what they know.

Some of the amazing workshops that our friends are teaching include: Herbal First Aid, Back to School Holistic Nutrition, and Wild Edibles. We thought this would also be a great opportunity to pass on some of what we have learned over the past few years too. Tim and I will also be teaching some of the workshops her which will include: Permaculture Basics, Felting, Backyard Chickens, and Composting.

The first workshop we have happening is a great way to enjoy the snow. Alexis Burnett of Earth Tracks Wilderness School will be coming to shoe us how to track some of the local animals. Not only is it about identifying the animals that made them, but finding the other clues the animals have left in the area. It really is like trying to “read nature’s book”. Alexis brings along great stories, experience, and enthusiasm to his workshops. I have attended a couple and always leave wanting to take another one right away.

If you KNOW anyone (maybe you) that may be interested in giving a workshop please let us know. We always like to search out new things to keep life interesting.