Outdoor Skills

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I ate crickets

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.

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:)

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Spring's a coming!

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.

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Skills School -Learn 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.