On seeding

I started seeding in early February, a few days after I came back from the Netherlands, planting a dozen or so packets of herbs and flowers given to me by a long-term friend who ALWAYS wins the prize for the best kept volkstuin (allotment) on his plot.

I started a steep learning process.

Within a week  the wind ripped out two thirds of the paper signs telling me which seeds were which.  Instead of companion planting I would have to opt for speed-date planting.

Two days later torrential rainfall inundated all the recycled water bottles I was using as plant pots.  YES, I forgot to drive holes into the bottoms  of the pots.  They were completely waterlogged and the corks at the bottom of the pots that I was using as soak-away had floated to the top of the pots.  I spent a long afternoon in the bathroom punching holes in all the bottles and picking the corks off the surface.  I soon learned to bring my seed trays in if rain was imminent.  (Did I tell you it rains a lot on the Basque coast?).  I later found covers for the trays, held down by bricks in tempestuous times.

The survival rate of the first batch was about 40%, though some of the seeds were a couple of years old so that   might have accounted for some of the failures.

I did not foresee that having nursery beds and a kitten might pose some management problems.  My kitten prefers my nursery beds to his litter tray, so the first time  I planted out herb seedlings I found them scratched up, pissed on and shat on.    The second time I tried covering them with a wooden tray. 'Great' thought Laptop (my kitten): 'a covered toilet'.  I have since covered them with chicken wire, but don't plan growing anything edible in them until I change the soil.

Moving on.. In March I received an assignment of heritage seeds from Caroline Miguel. I acquired two proper seeding trays and kept a eye out for the weather every night.  I built an excel spread sheet telling me which lines of seeds were which.  The majority of those seeds are now germinating so I am moving to stage two: building a cat proof nursery bed: recycled, large, plastic drinks containers.  They are too small for Laptop to be scratching in and I have some chicken wire to protect them.

One of my friends In Hendaye said I could try barbed wire or electric fencing.  I hope he was joking.

strawberry towers forever!

I  managed to squeeze in a site /networking visit this week - between all the administrative and and hunting visits. Here's Alain Darroze's 'strawberry tower'. A one metre or so high, and the same in surface area, 'tower' made with hazel branches and twigs and filled with compost. There are 250 strawberry plants in here (on 1 square metre of land). Different varieties of course. And they will ripen at different times according to their aspect to the sun.  Permaculture in action!  Stacking, minimum use of resources and labour, maximum output.

Me reading from Rob Cowen at the Permaculture Convergence

Me reading from Rob Cowen at the Permaculture Convergence

People Care

I spent my first week ‘on the road’ in a field, at the International Permaculture Convergence in Epping Forest, staying in a tent and not going off site all week.  There was too much of interest happening on site. There were six hundred participants from 60 or so different countries all sharing ideas on how to practically heal the land, heal society and heal ourselves.  I lost track of how many workshops there were, but then attending workshops wasn’t my priority.  I was ‘crewing’, co-ordinating and caring for a neighbourhood of about 200 people, half in tents and half in dorms.   It was a big job; facilitating a morning circle of 200 or so souls, ensuing cleaning rotas were filled, keeping the workshop listings up to date (they expanded daily) keeping the catering crew happy (they kept us fed with three delicious veggie meals a day for a whole week) and generally helping people with questions ranging from lost property to getting on or off site.  

Though I didn’t go to many workshops I had so many fascinating conversations with people from all over the world, caught up with several people from the PDC I did at Keveral earlier this summer, got invitations to visit people or projects in Spain and Malawi and, one night, danced with seven beautiful avatars of Shakti to old reggae numbers J.   The few workshops I did go to were on subjects such as the ‘ecology of happiness’:  about how to live and work effectively from a position of strength and joy and instead of one of fear, guilt and resentment.   

Throughout I felt provided for. I had left Brussels with too little time to buy an inflatable air mattress and the first day on site I found one on the ‘bring and take’ stall.  My neighbour in the field had a battery powered pump so I slept more comfortably than I expected.  And I reciprocated lending tools, cutlery, umbrellas to neighbours who needed them, all of which were returned.  The last day apart it only rained at night, a gentle pattering on the tent making me aware of being in nature.

After the PDC at Keveral I felt like I had met ‘my tribe’.  This week was a confirmation of that: a superb way to kick start my winter long journey to the South of Europe, full of energy and positivity.  Leaving site in torrential rain to spend an hour and a half driving around the M25 to Redhill was culturally dislocating.  It took me two days to dry out my tent and camping gear after the downpour we had on the last day. 

As the convergence as at a scout camp this is the best motif of my stay there. 'We will do our best'

Permaculture Course in Hindsight

I have just come off of a sixteen day intensive course about ecological design; with sessions on principles, contouring, foraging, pruning, water harvesting and re-use, mushroom growing, passive housing and many field visits: at times my brain felt like an over-filled sponge.

Sixteen days of living cheek by jowl with a bunch of ‘permis’, sharing meals, stories, knowledge and aspirations. The course culminated in a three half day design exercise in which we were asked to utilise what we had learnt.  I’ve now got a Permaculture Design Certificate and am seriously thinking about moving on to do the Diploma.  Here’s our design.

Sixteen days living in a canvas topped gypsy caravan, woken up every night by the patter of raindrops and every morning by birdsong.  From new moon to full moon: sixteen days of not having to think about locking my caravan or van. Learning about the multiple businesses that run out of Keveral: growing micro-greens, running a box scheme (see below), running a campsite, making cider, growing mushrooms and woodland management - and I may not have caught them all. 

Sixteen days of using dry-compost toilets with a view into the woods.  It's strange using water-thirsty, nutrient losing water flush systems again.

Sixteen days at Keveral and two quotes to remember:‘The best fertiliser is the gardener’s shadow’.‘You are endowed with two ears and one mouth. It’s wise to use them in that proportion’. 

Permaculture Course: Days 1-3

I  am on a Permaculture course, enjoying an intensive two-week long learning experience about ecological design, with lots of natural history thrown in. The days are long - sometimes 12 hours contact time. There's a wide range of people here: chefs, smallholders, a woodsman, a graphic artist and so and each person is bringing a different knowledge set to the course, although most of the guys have beards and/or buns!

Here's some photos from the first three days.