"OK, I'm ready to come home now! I'm done with my experiment, I know what I want, can it be over now?"
Yep, this is what I'm thinking right about now. A little homesick, ready to participate in our consumer culture of comfort and everyday luxury. Part of me is thinking logically; 'this is fine, Anchen. You're warm enough, fed, learning tons of things and have free reign to experiment with knowledgable folks. What more could you want?' And the other part of me says, "a bath. Warm fingers and toes and clean clothes more than every two weeks and peace and quiet whenever I want and chocolate and chips (whenever I want) and and and..."
You can see what I have to deal with.
On the upside, the adverts here have skipped straight to christmas, since there's no Thanksgiving to get in the way. This will be my second vegan Thanksgiving, and I'm quite pleased not to be participating the turkey genocide once again. The only thing I'll be missing is my family, friends...my community!
Personally, I think every day should be Thanksgiving, with lots of feasting. That's how I think of my meals, anyway :)
26.11.08
More potatoes and projects!
It's the end of a relatively long day and I feel the most comfortable, the most satisfied that I have in a long time. Lately I've been questioning why I'm here, what I'm doing and what I'm learning, and especially if Abeo is a community I want to be a part of.
Thing is, I like everything Abeo stands for, it's the weather that's the killer! Days of rain and wind, with little breaks where you can rush out and try to plant something before it starts up again, or you might get the whole afternoon to put things in the ground. Mayhaps it's just the temperamental spring weather.
The last two days have been beautiful: sunny, warm, little to no wind today, and I got to do ART projects! If it makes me this happy, I should create this every day!
Today I decided to put together the parabolic solar oven. That meant tearing strips of newsprint, making a paste/slurry, and gobbing it onto a papasan chair frame Tyler's been saving just for the purpose. I let it dry, touched it up, and applied tinfoil to the top of it. Tomorrow we'll be making an arm in which the pot sits, that we can turn with the sun. So very exciting!
I am covered in paste, and blood. The blood was an unpleasant discovery after I'd been pasting for an hour and bent down to investigate the sticky damp feeling on my ankle. Surprise! Gooey blood, creeping down my leg...from a leech. I knew exactly the one; I'd found it on the path earlier, leaking blood and inching oh-so slowly along and Tyler had relocated it down by the dam. Hadn't thought much of it, except to wonder what animal it had just disgorged from.
Me.
I even looked at the blood it was leaking and wondered if it was mine.
It was.
So I took a shower in our nifty outdoor shower stall and watched the blood clots disappear down the drain, only to realize I had more blood coming out than I knew what to do with. I tried using some paste to stem the flow: after a few minutes in the sun, it did the trick!
I'm quite looking forward to sleep this evening. It's not so cold tonight as it has been – no frozen nose anyway. Tyler made us a fried food dinner – his Patented Potato Things (this time with carrot!), pappadums and falafels. I never knew a fried dinner was what I wanted, but it tastes so good!
We finished planting the potato patch yesterday, except for a couple of rows the tractor kept sliding around, which we got to this morning. It probably wasn't the smartest way of planting; out in the heat of the day. We started before lunch and just kept going without much of a break until as much was done as could be done, and then we collapsed under a tree. I'd been considering having a mutiny and trekking back to the shed for food. I didn't because I didn't want to be a wuss. I was afraid of how Della and Tyler would react – disappointment, disgust? A few times I almost said something, and once I think I did, but Della didn't hear me over the tractor, and I didn't repeat myself. I kept pushing myself until it was over, and then after lunch, I took a two-hour nap until almost dinner time. I felt completely wiped out and fuzzy-headed, drained of my energy.
I don't want to be farming if that's what it takes.I honestly think they both forget about eating, so I would've been reminding them anyway, and I think it would've been healthier for everyone. One more step to self-acceptance!
This weekend we're headed to Deloraine for the Annual General Meeting for the Permaculture Association. We'll be talking and eating and watching some films, visiting a couple of gardens and then taking a couple of days to play in the countryside around there, perhaps visit Emma, another member of Abeo, who lives in Lorinna. I've heard a bit about her; it would be nice to meet her! There's also an Aboriginal Culture Center up by Devonport called Tiagononn or something like that. It has petroglyphs and pictographs. I would love to see those!
Thing is, I like everything Abeo stands for, it's the weather that's the killer! Days of rain and wind, with little breaks where you can rush out and try to plant something before it starts up again, or you might get the whole afternoon to put things in the ground. Mayhaps it's just the temperamental spring weather.
The last two days have been beautiful: sunny, warm, little to no wind today, and I got to do ART projects! If it makes me this happy, I should create this every day!
Today I decided to put together the parabolic solar oven. That meant tearing strips of newsprint, making a paste/slurry, and gobbing it onto a papasan chair frame Tyler's been saving just for the purpose. I let it dry, touched it up, and applied tinfoil to the top of it. Tomorrow we'll be making an arm in which the pot sits, that we can turn with the sun. So very exciting!
I am covered in paste, and blood. The blood was an unpleasant discovery after I'd been pasting for an hour and bent down to investigate the sticky damp feeling on my ankle. Surprise! Gooey blood, creeping down my leg...from a leech. I knew exactly the one; I'd found it on the path earlier, leaking blood and inching oh-so slowly along and Tyler had relocated it down by the dam. Hadn't thought much of it, except to wonder what animal it had just disgorged from.
Me.
I even looked at the blood it was leaking and wondered if it was mine.
It was.
So I took a shower in our nifty outdoor shower stall and watched the blood clots disappear down the drain, only to realize I had more blood coming out than I knew what to do with. I tried using some paste to stem the flow: after a few minutes in the sun, it did the trick!
I'm quite looking forward to sleep this evening. It's not so cold tonight as it has been – no frozen nose anyway. Tyler made us a fried food dinner – his Patented Potato Things (this time with carrot!), pappadums and falafels. I never knew a fried dinner was what I wanted, but it tastes so good!
We finished planting the potato patch yesterday, except for a couple of rows the tractor kept sliding around, which we got to this morning. It probably wasn't the smartest way of planting; out in the heat of the day. We started before lunch and just kept going without much of a break until as much was done as could be done, and then we collapsed under a tree. I'd been considering having a mutiny and trekking back to the shed for food. I didn't because I didn't want to be a wuss. I was afraid of how Della and Tyler would react – disappointment, disgust? A few times I almost said something, and once I think I did, but Della didn't hear me over the tractor, and I didn't repeat myself. I kept pushing myself until it was over, and then after lunch, I took a two-hour nap until almost dinner time. I felt completely wiped out and fuzzy-headed, drained of my energy.
I don't want to be farming if that's what it takes.I honestly think they both forget about eating, so I would've been reminding them anyway, and I think it would've been healthier for everyone. One more step to self-acceptance!
This weekend we're headed to Deloraine for the Annual General Meeting for the Permaculture Association. We'll be talking and eating and watching some films, visiting a couple of gardens and then taking a couple of days to play in the countryside around there, perhaps visit Emma, another member of Abeo, who lives in Lorinna. I've heard a bit about her; it would be nice to meet her! There's also an Aboriginal Culture Center up by Devonport called Tiagononn or something like that. It has petroglyphs and pictographs. I would love to see those!
Rainy Song
I’ve made up a song in response to all this rain. It goes like this:
Rainy rainy rainy rain
Wormy wormy wormy worm
Greeny greeny greeny green
Elly Elly Elly bean.
Maybe one day I'll sing it to you!
The last two days have been rain, testing the weatherproofness of the shed. In the middle of it all, we've had possum break-ins in the garden, so Tyler borrowed Bev's possum trap and after three days of no luck and lettuce losses, I set my intention to catch a possum, and we did. A black/brown one that seemed docile enough, until we lifted the cage (with long stakes through the bars, keeping our hands away from him) and he rammed against the walls until we set him down again, in the back of the Ute, for “relocation.” I was wondering about this affect on a possum's family, but Tyler says possums are loners who roam, never staying in one place too long. We let him out near a massive Gum tree, and got to watch some high-flying antics as the little guy scampered up, clutching the bark spread-eagled with his claws dug in, and then jumping from branch to branch to tree trunk while 20 meters in the air. I admit, I was a little worried about his high-rise jumping, but he didn't seem to be. It was neat to see what a possum's capable of; I've never really gotten to see them, since they're nocturnal and all.
Today's dawned fine and clear, with a breeze and a nip in the air. I would swear it's autumn, except everyone else around here thinks it's spring – you should see the newspapers! They think it's summer, and tout beach getaways and ads for swimwear. Ha. ha. ha.
I decided to look at some other communities in AUS, while I'm here. Tyler recommended a couple: Moora Moora outside of Melbourne, and Crystal Waters, also on the mainland. They've both been established for some years (CW for 30, I think) and use sustainable living practices and permaculture as a way of life. I'm not sure what I'm looking for at this point – I already know these aren't communities I want to join, and it seems that whatever I can dream up in terms of alternative living, I can look up on the web, so maybe it's people I want to meet and talk to about intentional living. I do feel isolated here, since the closest phone is an hour's walk, and internet access happens so sporadically and for such a short amount of time in comparison to what I'd like to look up and who I want to write to. I have a feeling that going around will help me see just how great this community is here.
I'm getting a feeling for this community here: I like the people, but the weather's killing me! Seriously, I'm pretty sure I almost didn't survive the night a couple of days ago. If I'd left one finger out of the covers I'd be one short now. I figured out how to layer three pairs of pants. That's how cold it was.
Everyone says this is unusual weather. I'm just cold.
Now, for the breaking story: We're planting potatoes! Tyler drives the tractor with the plow, and Della or I walk along behind, dropping potatoes every step in the open furrow. Then tractor comes back around, now driving with a wheel in the furrow, tamping the potatoes down, and plowing earth over it while creating a new furrow. We started last night and Della and I could hardly keep up with the tractor – that's one of us alternating each row, then running back to refill our potato satchels. I had a great time doing the drop one, tamp it down, step one potato dance. I felt like a native Aborigine, I almost started singing.
It's strange to participate in such mainstream farming practices as plowing and planting potatoes when what Abeo is about is permaculture and sustainability. Della wants a crop to sell this fall. She sees this as income, when all they've been doing is outcome lately, I understand her desire. She grew up in the part of the country, remembers planting potatoes as a kid, so this is probably familiar ground for her to be walking on and participating in.
**
Something I learned about Tyler: not his given name. Apparently, when he was working in Seattle, he did a lot of home improvements and came to work looking like it. When they asked what he'd been doing, he said “tiling my floor – you can call me Tiler Dan.” Then they shortened it to Tiler Jordan (Jordan is his last name) and it's been Tyler ever since.
I never would have guessed. Seems that people change their names for all kinds of reasons. Della has, too. It's one way of getting comfortable in your own skin, perhaps. I have – Anchen Sunshine Lover. Feels just right...
Rainy rainy rainy rain
Wormy wormy wormy worm
Greeny greeny greeny green
Elly Elly Elly bean.
Maybe one day I'll sing it to you!
The last two days have been rain, testing the weatherproofness of the shed. In the middle of it all, we've had possum break-ins in the garden, so Tyler borrowed Bev's possum trap and after three days of no luck and lettuce losses, I set my intention to catch a possum, and we did. A black/brown one that seemed docile enough, until we lifted the cage (with long stakes through the bars, keeping our hands away from him) and he rammed against the walls until we set him down again, in the back of the Ute, for “relocation.” I was wondering about this affect on a possum's family, but Tyler says possums are loners who roam, never staying in one place too long. We let him out near a massive Gum tree, and got to watch some high-flying antics as the little guy scampered up, clutching the bark spread-eagled with his claws dug in, and then jumping from branch to branch to tree trunk while 20 meters in the air. I admit, I was a little worried about his high-rise jumping, but he didn't seem to be. It was neat to see what a possum's capable of; I've never really gotten to see them, since they're nocturnal and all.
Today's dawned fine and clear, with a breeze and a nip in the air. I would swear it's autumn, except everyone else around here thinks it's spring – you should see the newspapers! They think it's summer, and tout beach getaways and ads for swimwear. Ha. ha. ha.
I decided to look at some other communities in AUS, while I'm here. Tyler recommended a couple: Moora Moora outside of Melbourne, and Crystal Waters, also on the mainland. They've both been established for some years (CW for 30, I think) and use sustainable living practices and permaculture as a way of life. I'm not sure what I'm looking for at this point – I already know these aren't communities I want to join, and it seems that whatever I can dream up in terms of alternative living, I can look up on the web, so maybe it's people I want to meet and talk to about intentional living. I do feel isolated here, since the closest phone is an hour's walk, and internet access happens so sporadically and for such a short amount of time in comparison to what I'd like to look up and who I want to write to. I have a feeling that going around will help me see just how great this community is here.
I'm getting a feeling for this community here: I like the people, but the weather's killing me! Seriously, I'm pretty sure I almost didn't survive the night a couple of days ago. If I'd left one finger out of the covers I'd be one short now. I figured out how to layer three pairs of pants. That's how cold it was.
Everyone says this is unusual weather. I'm just cold.
Now, for the breaking story: We're planting potatoes! Tyler drives the tractor with the plow, and Della or I walk along behind, dropping potatoes every step in the open furrow. Then tractor comes back around, now driving with a wheel in the furrow, tamping the potatoes down, and plowing earth over it while creating a new furrow. We started last night and Della and I could hardly keep up with the tractor – that's one of us alternating each row, then running back to refill our potato satchels. I had a great time doing the drop one, tamp it down, step one potato dance. I felt like a native Aborigine, I almost started singing.
It's strange to participate in such mainstream farming practices as plowing and planting potatoes when what Abeo is about is permaculture and sustainability. Della wants a crop to sell this fall. She sees this as income, when all they've been doing is outcome lately, I understand her desire. She grew up in the part of the country, remembers planting potatoes as a kid, so this is probably familiar ground for her to be walking on and participating in.
**
Something I learned about Tyler: not his given name. Apparently, when he was working in Seattle, he did a lot of home improvements and came to work looking like it. When they asked what he'd been doing, he said “tiling my floor – you can call me Tiler Dan.” Then they shortened it to Tiler Jordan (Jordan is his last name) and it's been Tyler ever since.
I never would have guessed. Seems that people change their names for all kinds of reasons. Della has, too. It's one way of getting comfortable in your own skin, perhaps. I have – Anchen Sunshine Lover. Feels just right...
20.11.08
Oregon Experiment
Della introduced me to a concept of building called Pattern Language,
developed by a man named Christopher Alexander. She wants to use his
method of building around a general concept and working with people
and the landscape to create what the community really wants and will
best use for Abeo's buildings.
developed by a man named Christopher Alexander. She wants to use his
method of building around a general concept and working with people
and the landscape to create what the community really wants and will
best use for Abeo's buildings.
The wiki address is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Experiment
and the bit abour CA is here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Alexander
Della described it as having a building plan, and walking around with
a window frame to find where the best place for the window will be -
to frame the landscape or let the light in or whatever your objective
is.
Sounds pretty cool!
LEECH! And Abeo plans
This morning I decided to widen the path to the dam, which means whacking blackberries with Tyler's imported heavy-duty scythe. It's hot, sweaty work! I'm glad it's cool today, I don't know what I'd do if it was hot. It's pretty satisfying work – you can see results immediately. The path is three times as wide now! I got so into it, I gave myself a blister. And I thought; ‘this is where I belong, putting my energy and intention into a lifetime living space. How wonderful. (That’s just a side note. Read on.) As I walked back to the shed for lunch, I scratched my side and wondered at the funny feeling I had there. I lifted my shirt and found a LEECH! Freaked out, once again, and this time it was attached – so when I flung it off into the far reached of the pasture I was walking through, a spot of blood appeared that didn't dry up for five minutes – it's just as Tyler said. Leeches don't give you anything, they don't hurt; they just fall off and you bleed. Later, a red ring appeared around the blood spot – I’ve got a LEECH hickey! I’m just going to close my eyes and pretend I don’t know it’s there.
I wonder if there's a plant here I could use to help stop bleeding? I've been thinking a book of the native medicinal plants of Tasmania or Australia would be great – I'm always asking Tyler or Della, “what's this? Can you eat it? What does it do?” We don't have any local bookstores, and Smithton is too mainstream anyway, so maybe the internet is the best bet there. I can't think it would be anything but fun to wander around seeing what does what. Although my experience with the homeopathic/western herbalist in Hobart was a bit lacking.
When I came in to the pharmacy, I wanted something to help my headache I'd had all night. I'd already tried all the remedies I know, and I needed something. The herbalist I talked to (Jason, I think his name is) concocted a noxious, brown substance that tasted bitter and hot with a nasty, lingering aftertaste. I took it seven times over the course of the day, without change to my head. The next day my head pain was gone, but I don't credit the brown stuff. Hmm, what is western herbalism based off of? Western medicine? Not the best system, from my experience. Maybe learning the local herbs (pronounced with the H) is more of an indulgence than something useful.
Tyler told me the Australian government is going to start censoring the internet here – they're putting two filters on AUS internet: one for porn, which you can choose to have on or not, and the other for ?, which is not an option, it's Australia-wide. What do they need to censor? And, is there a way around this – some way to get internet from somewhere else, like satellite, or to connect to an unfiltered system? We're on the same level as China at this point. Welcome to Communism. Fascism. I don't know if they've done it yet or not; the local access center has signs posted on all the computers saying they're filtered already from “unsuitable content.” Tyler wasn't able to open a You-Tube video about Vote n Vaccination in the US before the election. Why the AUS gov. wouldn't want you to see that, who knows. Maybe they're doing it next. Since voting is the law here.
It's pretty important to me to have access to uncensored information. And it's disturbing that they're not telling us, or giving us a choice. I don't know how to respond to this, except it seems more and more like a police state. You can get a $50 fine for NOT locking your car here. Seriously. I read it in the paper. Don't they have anything better to do???
My first day here, we stopped at the entrance to the block because two motorbikes were blocking the road. Della said, “those bikes drive around through the plantations, mainly on weekends, and they'd better not be on my property!”
'My goodness,' I thought, 'what's the big deal?'
Now I know. It's been nice the last couple of days, sunny and a little breezy, allowing the ground to dry out from all the rain we had. Last night was the first time I've heard motorbikes, and I'm coming to understand Della's frustration with them. It was noisy and disruptive, surrounding our bit of peace and quiet with a distant buzz-saw. Despite that, the sunset was like watching a golden surfer heading out to sea; the clouds wisped like the tide going out. I wanted to stand outside longer, but it was getting cold, and I've learned that if I let myself get cold at night, it takes forever to warm up in bed!
One thing I've been spending more time on is setting my intention for Abeo: for things to go smoothly, with planting and building cool things like brick ovens and solar cookers, AND, for people to visit our community and become a part of it. Building community takes people, and that's what we need here – people! Everything seems to be waiting for this. An explosion of creativity seems imminent!
On the rainy days, I've been going through old issues of a magazine called GrassRoots. I imagine it's like Mother Earth News in the US, but since I've never really looked at that mag, I don't know. GR has articles on sustainable living, permaculture gardens, a recipe section, building with rammed earth, straw-bale housing, choosing poultry and livestock, a huge section for readers to write in asking for information about making soap or starting a worm bin or they're taking a trip around Australia and would like to visit other permaculture farms. They print the address of the person asking, and voila, it's like freecycle before the internet. The mags I've been reading are from the mid-90's. I'm impressed, since so many people were working to be self-sustainable even then, and the information is still viable. I just wonder if they've got a website! Maybe: www.grassroots.com.au or something like that. I don't know, I haven't found one more recent than 2002, and that was their first completely digital issue.
The other mag I've been reading is called Earth Garden, and it's a lot like GrassRoots, it's just fancier. More color, more ads. Same information, more case studies of straw-bale construction. It seems that straw-bale construction is the way to go for a warm house! You end up paying the same amount for a completely natural kind of insulation that works 100 times better. The main thing is keeping it dry; other than that, once you've plastered, that's it. Done. Sounds good to me.
Straw bale me up!
It looks like we might be using straw bales to insulate Abeo house, once Tyler digs it out. However, there was a nasty frost this spring that wiped out a lot of straw-type crops; I don't know if we can afford strawbales this year. That means we might be looking at other options to use as insulation, like bracken or shredded newspaper. Tyler's current house design looks like a simply squeeze horn – the horn opens north toward the sun, narrowing down and back into the earth, forming a tunnel leading to a circular opening that would turn into a tree-dwelling, growing with the circle of pine trees planted around it. A picture might do a better job of describing it. Ah, well.
I wonder if there's a plant here I could use to help stop bleeding? I've been thinking a book of the native medicinal plants of Tasmania or Australia would be great – I'm always asking Tyler or Della, “what's this? Can you eat it? What does it do?” We don't have any local bookstores, and Smithton is too mainstream anyway, so maybe the internet is the best bet there. I can't think it would be anything but fun to wander around seeing what does what. Although my experience with the homeopathic/western herbalist in Hobart was a bit lacking.
When I came in to the pharmacy, I wanted something to help my headache I'd had all night. I'd already tried all the remedies I know, and I needed something. The herbalist I talked to (Jason, I think his name is) concocted a noxious, brown substance that tasted bitter and hot with a nasty, lingering aftertaste. I took it seven times over the course of the day, without change to my head. The next day my head pain was gone, but I don't credit the brown stuff. Hmm, what is western herbalism based off of? Western medicine? Not the best system, from my experience. Maybe learning the local herbs (pronounced with the H) is more of an indulgence than something useful.
Tyler told me the Australian government is going to start censoring the internet here – they're putting two filters on AUS internet: one for porn, which you can choose to have on or not, and the other for ?, which is not an option, it's Australia-wide. What do they need to censor? And, is there a way around this – some way to get internet from somewhere else, like satellite, or to connect to an unfiltered system? We're on the same level as China at this point. Welcome to Communism. Fascism. I don't know if they've done it yet or not; the local access center has signs posted on all the computers saying they're filtered already from “unsuitable content.” Tyler wasn't able to open a You-Tube video about Vote n Vaccination in the US before the election. Why the AUS gov. wouldn't want you to see that, who knows. Maybe they're doing it next. Since voting is the law here.
It's pretty important to me to have access to uncensored information. And it's disturbing that they're not telling us, or giving us a choice. I don't know how to respond to this, except it seems more and more like a police state. You can get a $50 fine for NOT locking your car here. Seriously. I read it in the paper. Don't they have anything better to do???
My first day here, we stopped at the entrance to the block because two motorbikes were blocking the road. Della said, “those bikes drive around through the plantations, mainly on weekends, and they'd better not be on my property!”
'My goodness,' I thought, 'what's the big deal?'
Now I know. It's been nice the last couple of days, sunny and a little breezy, allowing the ground to dry out from all the rain we had. Last night was the first time I've heard motorbikes, and I'm coming to understand Della's frustration with them. It was noisy and disruptive, surrounding our bit of peace and quiet with a distant buzz-saw. Despite that, the sunset was like watching a golden surfer heading out to sea; the clouds wisped like the tide going out. I wanted to stand outside longer, but it was getting cold, and I've learned that if I let myself get cold at night, it takes forever to warm up in bed!
One thing I've been spending more time on is setting my intention for Abeo: for things to go smoothly, with planting and building cool things like brick ovens and solar cookers, AND, for people to visit our community and become a part of it. Building community takes people, and that's what we need here – people! Everything seems to be waiting for this. An explosion of creativity seems imminent!
On the rainy days, I've been going through old issues of a magazine called GrassRoots. I imagine it's like Mother Earth News in the US, but since I've never really looked at that mag, I don't know. GR has articles on sustainable living, permaculture gardens, a recipe section, building with rammed earth, straw-bale housing, choosing poultry and livestock, a huge section for readers to write in asking for information about making soap or starting a worm bin or they're taking a trip around Australia and would like to visit other permaculture farms. They print the address of the person asking, and voila, it's like freecycle before the internet. The mags I've been reading are from the mid-90's. I'm impressed, since so many people were working to be self-sustainable even then, and the information is still viable. I just wonder if they've got a website! Maybe: www.grassroots.com.au or something like that. I don't know, I haven't found one more recent than 2002, and that was their first completely digital issue.
The other mag I've been reading is called Earth Garden, and it's a lot like GrassRoots, it's just fancier. More color, more ads. Same information, more case studies of straw-bale construction. It seems that straw-bale construction is the way to go for a warm house! You end up paying the same amount for a completely natural kind of insulation that works 100 times better. The main thing is keeping it dry; other than that, once you've plastered, that's it. Done. Sounds good to me.
Straw bale me up!
It looks like we might be using straw bales to insulate Abeo house, once Tyler digs it out. However, there was a nasty frost this spring that wiped out a lot of straw-type crops; I don't know if we can afford strawbales this year. That means we might be looking at other options to use as insulation, like bracken or shredded newspaper. Tyler's current house design looks like a simply squeeze horn – the horn opens north toward the sun, narrowing down and back into the earth, forming a tunnel leading to a circular opening that would turn into a tree-dwelling, growing with the circle of pine trees planted around it. A picture might do a better job of describing it. Ah, well.
Some of my projects...
Hello my friends!
I have been on this journey for three weeks, give or take a day, depending on how you count the days.
I am learning so much! And not what I thought I'd learn.
Ever heard of a towel cooker? Well, me neither. It's based on the concept of a Hay Cooker. That is a box of hay with a hole in the middle into which you place a pot of boiled rice and cover it, leaving it to cook. Since we don't have hay, or dry grass, I concocted a different method – surrounding a pot with towels just after I've brought rice to a boil in it. After about two or three hours, I've got delicious, hot rice! How exciting! And the best part is, it isn't taking any energy or the space on the burner, so I can make something else to go with it.
You might be wondering, those of you who know my food obsession, if I've managed to take over the kitchen yet. Well, the answer is yes, I most definitely have. I plan meals morning, noon and night, and I get full reign in the kitchen to create and improvise and see what works. To date, I think the curry was the best, and all that was was a liberal dose of blessing and love! Really. It seems all it takes is that intention and the space I give myself to be creative and wonderful things flow out.
Another unexpected lesson is that of childcare: I'm learning to put myself in Solomon's place to try to understand him, why he lies and is obstinate all the time, and how to be his friend and help guide him to more honesty and happiness. As it is, I'm learning to have a good time with him, and not to be so serious. Let me give you an example.
When I first arrived, the first thing I did when I got up in the morning is my qigong set. As it was so cooold in the mornings, I stayed inside the shed (although that’s just shelter from the wind, it’s not heated or anything luxurious like that J), and that meant Solomon heard me and popped out of bed as well. The thing about him is he's a verbal processor, so everything that goes in comes out the mouth. He's not afraid to repeat himself, to ask for anything, over and over again, or to simply talk, keeping a running narrative going of whatever's going on. Being very introverted and intellectually-oriented, I think a lot about things before I talk about them. Having someone around who is talking all the time, asking me for attention and treats and approval and telling me he wants to go back to Bev's house was exhausting to start.
He won't shut up!
So I began to ignore him.
This doesn’t feel good.
It doesn't feel good to be ignored, but I found myself treating him like Della and Tyler treat him: only paying attention when he does something wrong, or is about to do something wrong.
That's not how I want to be treated. That's not what I want to foster in my friends around me, or in my relationships.
So, how do I relate to this verbose child in a way that doesn't stifle or ignore him, but doesn't mean I'm always replying to his running narrative? I find I'm learning when he's talking to me, and when he's just talking, I'm learning to take time to myself and to walk (or run) away when I want to. Talking to him just seems to encourage him, so I’m finding other ways of communicating as well.
I think this will develop in time as I learn more of how to relate to a precocious, extroverted-to-the-extreme five-year-old. If anyone has more ideas, let me know! This is all new to me, and I'm like a possum that's been surprised out of its burrow in the middle of the day – bright lights! Confusion! Noise! Ahh! Roll over and play dead!
Well, even if I rolled over and played dead Solomon would have something to say about it. And he might poke me, and then run and tell Tyler.
I'm learning to have fun with him as well, and in the morning as I do qigong with a little boy running circles around me as I Belt Meridian Grind, I giggle to myself and think of last week when it irritated me to have him asking or saying “anyways, didja know? Didja know? Anyways, I'm gonna have some meusli now.” I can see how parents learn to tune out certain things and pick up on other certain things.
**
We've been planting things off and on, when the weather permits, and when we create a new space to plant seeds. A possum's been visiting our garden the last few nights, despite the electric wire and the extra electric wire Tyler added after the first visit. We have a possum trap and everything; just no possum. The possums and wallabies are our main plant threats – they can eradicate a year's work in one chomp, like when a wallaby sampled some of the bamboo seedlings out behind the shed. It takes at least a year for two inches of growth, and they probably won't come back. This means we have to put everything we seed into the fenced area, or it has to be something nothing wants to eat. However, we have rhubarb planted out by a water trough outside of the fenced area. It's surrounded by netting but some leaves poke through and these have been thoroughly munched, even though they're toxic! There's no telling what the wildlife will eat around here, despite the abundance of gum shoots (young Eucalyptus trees) on the plantations and grass and thistles and blackberries and bracken. On second thought, I bet we've got the tastiest shoots around!
I've been learning other things about the wildlife as well – it likes to crawl on you. There are ticks and LEECHES here, and while the ticks can leave a nasty bite that “feels like being hit by a hammer for three days” the leeches simply suck your blood and leave you bleeding when they're done – no diseases or infections or swelling. There's just something about them that's GROSS and fascinating. Tyler found one crawling up his pant leg. Watching it inch its way up, expanding and contracting an incredible amount to cover up to two inches, you can really see its elasticity. We put that one in a jar. I guess they can live a long time without food, but I feel bad about starving it, so I might release it along a wallaby path some night.
The other morning when I was doing qigong down by the pond on the dam, enjoying morning light and less wind than up by the shed, I felt something wet along my waist. What could that be? I'm not sweating, and it hasn't been raining. I pulled up my shirt and my waistband looked a little crooked – it was a LEECH and it was on me! My toes still curl at the memory. Needless to say, I brushed it off as quickly as I could and then watched, fascinated as it inched its way into the grass, disappearing within seconds. That sense of revulsion has stayed with me, even though it didn't attach itself to me, even though it's not going to give me anything, it just needs a little sustenance so it can grow. Is this what they mean by survival of the fittest?
Yesterday afternoon I decided to pull the thistles in our 'front yard,' the space just outside the shed door that Elly sometimes steps in barefoot. I'm finding myself creating projects to keep myself busy and feel productive, since Tyler and Della are self-contained projecters, and for me to help them means they have to tell me what's going on in a way I can understand. Often they don't know what their objective is anyway, or how they're getting there, so directing someone is impossible. I've taken it upon myself to do what I want here, and pulling thistles is about as satisfying as it gets! I happened to look behind me and watched a giant black snake slither across the bare ground and under the rotting Volvo behind the shed. Mind you, I was yelling, “black snake! Big black snake out here! There's a big snake out here!” as I watched it disappear. All the native Tasmanian snakes are deadly poisonous. Normally I might squat down and see how close I can get, or try to take a picture of it. This time I stood back and yelled.
And, I saw it again an hour later when I went to retrieve a bucket to catch worm juices from our new in-ground compost pile. Again I yelled. I'm still getting used to these deadly poisonous, shy beings. I suspect next time will be easier for me.
One thing I'm learning about is the soil here. On Saturday, when Scott was plowing, Bev and Grandma commented on how many bracken we have around the place and said it's a sign of good soil fertility. In general, Tasmania's soils are low in Phosphorous, a necessary element for plant growing. Tyler's latest plan for adding it back in is to use homebrand cola as a fertilizer – it's a combination of phosphoric acid and sugar, so it's like putting the soil on steroids! I'm thinking of how horrible this stuff is for humans, how could it be good for plants? But I'm the one learning about gardening here. Maybe fertilizer is the best use for it!
We've been planting a lot of Tagasastie seeds, and various other things like corn, buckwheat, amaranth and alfalfa, sunflowers, basil, squash and cucumbers. Tagasastie (a.k.a. Tree Lucerne) is a do-everything tree that has edible leaves and nuts (forage for animals and maybe for humans) that we plan to use as a hedge separating paddocks (fields). Everything we plant has a use and maybe several. Our latest plan has been digging a swale around the top of the hill in the garden. We used a triangle level to mark out the contour of the land that's level, then Tyler mowed the grass around there, and we dug a trench on the uphill side and dumped the earth on the downhill side, mounding it up. We'll plant pumpkins at the base of the mound, so they can suck up water from the trench. It's a work in progress, so it'll take some time for all this to happen. One thing I really love about planting this is watching them explode out of the ground. The larger the seed to start with, the faster it grows, so watching the pumpkins shooting toward the sun has been especially exciting! You can practically see them waving their leaves around and stretching out, bending their waists and looking around. Very charismatic, pumpkins.
I've been vaguely considering doing a comparison with plants – blessing one tray of tagasastie seedlings and comparing its growth to the other trays. Would I bless it every day, or just do one blessing and see what happens? I remember hearing about plants listening to music, and responding to being talked to, and I know the food I eat tastes better when I bless it (like the curry dinner!). Guess I'm off to bless some tagasastie!
Tyler and Della are using the Subaru to jump-start the tractor, so they can drive it into town to pick up the disker to break up the plowed earth down in the bottom where Scott plowed and where we'll eventually plant potatoes. I'm in charge of watering – with a hose! Ahh, this is the life for me!
I have been on this journey for three weeks, give or take a day, depending on how you count the days.
I am learning so much! And not what I thought I'd learn.
Ever heard of a towel cooker? Well, me neither. It's based on the concept of a Hay Cooker. That is a box of hay with a hole in the middle into which you place a pot of boiled rice and cover it, leaving it to cook. Since we don't have hay, or dry grass, I concocted a different method – surrounding a pot with towels just after I've brought rice to a boil in it. After about two or three hours, I've got delicious, hot rice! How exciting! And the best part is, it isn't taking any energy or the space on the burner, so I can make something else to go with it.
You might be wondering, those of you who know my food obsession, if I've managed to take over the kitchen yet. Well, the answer is yes, I most definitely have. I plan meals morning, noon and night, and I get full reign in the kitchen to create and improvise and see what works. To date, I think the curry was the best, and all that was was a liberal dose of blessing and love! Really. It seems all it takes is that intention and the space I give myself to be creative and wonderful things flow out.
Another unexpected lesson is that of childcare: I'm learning to put myself in Solomon's place to try to understand him, why he lies and is obstinate all the time, and how to be his friend and help guide him to more honesty and happiness. As it is, I'm learning to have a good time with him, and not to be so serious. Let me give you an example.
When I first arrived, the first thing I did when I got up in the morning is my qigong set. As it was so cooold in the mornings, I stayed inside the shed (although that’s just shelter from the wind, it’s not heated or anything luxurious like that J), and that meant Solomon heard me and popped out of bed as well. The thing about him is he's a verbal processor, so everything that goes in comes out the mouth. He's not afraid to repeat himself, to ask for anything, over and over again, or to simply talk, keeping a running narrative going of whatever's going on. Being very introverted and intellectually-oriented, I think a lot about things before I talk about them. Having someone around who is talking all the time, asking me for attention and treats and approval and telling me he wants to go back to Bev's house was exhausting to start.
He won't shut up!
So I began to ignore him.
This doesn’t feel good.
It doesn't feel good to be ignored, but I found myself treating him like Della and Tyler treat him: only paying attention when he does something wrong, or is about to do something wrong.
That's not how I want to be treated. That's not what I want to foster in my friends around me, or in my relationships.
So, how do I relate to this verbose child in a way that doesn't stifle or ignore him, but doesn't mean I'm always replying to his running narrative? I find I'm learning when he's talking to me, and when he's just talking, I'm learning to take time to myself and to walk (or run) away when I want to. Talking to him just seems to encourage him, so I’m finding other ways of communicating as well.
I think this will develop in time as I learn more of how to relate to a precocious, extroverted-to-the-extreme five-year-old. If anyone has more ideas, let me know! This is all new to me, and I'm like a possum that's been surprised out of its burrow in the middle of the day – bright lights! Confusion! Noise! Ahh! Roll over and play dead!
Well, even if I rolled over and played dead Solomon would have something to say about it. And he might poke me, and then run and tell Tyler.
I'm learning to have fun with him as well, and in the morning as I do qigong with a little boy running circles around me as I Belt Meridian Grind, I giggle to myself and think of last week when it irritated me to have him asking or saying “anyways, didja know? Didja know? Anyways, I'm gonna have some meusli now.” I can see how parents learn to tune out certain things and pick up on other certain things.
**
We've been planting things off and on, when the weather permits, and when we create a new space to plant seeds. A possum's been visiting our garden the last few nights, despite the electric wire and the extra electric wire Tyler added after the first visit. We have a possum trap and everything; just no possum. The possums and wallabies are our main plant threats – they can eradicate a year's work in one chomp, like when a wallaby sampled some of the bamboo seedlings out behind the shed. It takes at least a year for two inches of growth, and they probably won't come back. This means we have to put everything we seed into the fenced area, or it has to be something nothing wants to eat. However, we have rhubarb planted out by a water trough outside of the fenced area. It's surrounded by netting but some leaves poke through and these have been thoroughly munched, even though they're toxic! There's no telling what the wildlife will eat around here, despite the abundance of gum shoots (young Eucalyptus trees) on the plantations and grass and thistles and blackberries and bracken. On second thought, I bet we've got the tastiest shoots around!
I've been learning other things about the wildlife as well – it likes to crawl on you. There are ticks and LEECHES here, and while the ticks can leave a nasty bite that “feels like being hit by a hammer for three days” the leeches simply suck your blood and leave you bleeding when they're done – no diseases or infections or swelling. There's just something about them that's GROSS and fascinating. Tyler found one crawling up his pant leg. Watching it inch its way up, expanding and contracting an incredible amount to cover up to two inches, you can really see its elasticity. We put that one in a jar. I guess they can live a long time without food, but I feel bad about starving it, so I might release it along a wallaby path some night.
The other morning when I was doing qigong down by the pond on the dam, enjoying morning light and less wind than up by the shed, I felt something wet along my waist. What could that be? I'm not sweating, and it hasn't been raining. I pulled up my shirt and my waistband looked a little crooked – it was a LEECH and it was on me! My toes still curl at the memory. Needless to say, I brushed it off as quickly as I could and then watched, fascinated as it inched its way into the grass, disappearing within seconds. That sense of revulsion has stayed with me, even though it didn't attach itself to me, even though it's not going to give me anything, it just needs a little sustenance so it can grow. Is this what they mean by survival of the fittest?
Yesterday afternoon I decided to pull the thistles in our 'front yard,' the space just outside the shed door that Elly sometimes steps in barefoot. I'm finding myself creating projects to keep myself busy and feel productive, since Tyler and Della are self-contained projecters, and for me to help them means they have to tell me what's going on in a way I can understand. Often they don't know what their objective is anyway, or how they're getting there, so directing someone is impossible. I've taken it upon myself to do what I want here, and pulling thistles is about as satisfying as it gets! I happened to look behind me and watched a giant black snake slither across the bare ground and under the rotting Volvo behind the shed. Mind you, I was yelling, “black snake! Big black snake out here! There's a big snake out here!” as I watched it disappear. All the native Tasmanian snakes are deadly poisonous. Normally I might squat down and see how close I can get, or try to take a picture of it. This time I stood back and yelled.
And, I saw it again an hour later when I went to retrieve a bucket to catch worm juices from our new in-ground compost pile. Again I yelled. I'm still getting used to these deadly poisonous, shy beings. I suspect next time will be easier for me.
One thing I'm learning about is the soil here. On Saturday, when Scott was plowing, Bev and Grandma commented on how many bracken we have around the place and said it's a sign of good soil fertility. In general, Tasmania's soils are low in Phosphorous, a necessary element for plant growing. Tyler's latest plan for adding it back in is to use homebrand cola as a fertilizer – it's a combination of phosphoric acid and sugar, so it's like putting the soil on steroids! I'm thinking of how horrible this stuff is for humans, how could it be good for plants? But I'm the one learning about gardening here. Maybe fertilizer is the best use for it!
We've been planting a lot of Tagasastie seeds, and various other things like corn, buckwheat, amaranth and alfalfa, sunflowers, basil, squash and cucumbers. Tagasastie (a.k.a. Tree Lucerne) is a do-everything tree that has edible leaves and nuts (forage for animals and maybe for humans) that we plan to use as a hedge separating paddocks (fields). Everything we plant has a use and maybe several. Our latest plan has been digging a swale around the top of the hill in the garden. We used a triangle level to mark out the contour of the land that's level, then Tyler mowed the grass around there, and we dug a trench on the uphill side and dumped the earth on the downhill side, mounding it up. We'll plant pumpkins at the base of the mound, so they can suck up water from the trench. It's a work in progress, so it'll take some time for all this to happen. One thing I really love about planting this is watching them explode out of the ground. The larger the seed to start with, the faster it grows, so watching the pumpkins shooting toward the sun has been especially exciting! You can practically see them waving their leaves around and stretching out, bending their waists and looking around. Very charismatic, pumpkins.
I've been vaguely considering doing a comparison with plants – blessing one tray of tagasastie seedlings and comparing its growth to the other trays. Would I bless it every day, or just do one blessing and see what happens? I remember hearing about plants listening to music, and responding to being talked to, and I know the food I eat tastes better when I bless it (like the curry dinner!). Guess I'm off to bless some tagasastie!
Tyler and Della are using the Subaru to jump-start the tractor, so they can drive it into town to pick up the disker to break up the plowed earth down in the bottom where Scott plowed and where we'll eventually plant potatoes. I'm in charge of watering – with a hose! Ahh, this is the life for me!
Rainy tractors 'n more
What's been happening?
Well, yesterday morning Della arrived earlier than I've ever seen her and announced (in her very quiet way) that Aunty Bev, Grandma and someone, somehow related to Della named Scott were coming up to the block and bringing a tractor.
What does this mean?
It means the potato patch will finally get plowed!
In about an hour, Scott, tractor-driver extraordinaire, zipped up and down around the few rows Tyler had managed to get done before various things went wrong with the tractor, and plowed the whole field, pausing only to strip off extra layers and taking no note of the peanut gallery standing by. It was plain to see his years of experience in the way he handled the old Massey-Ferguson 35 (a newer model than ours, an M-F 28) and I was very touched by his kindness in driving up to our block to work in the rain before he tended to his own garden on what is most people's weekend. And he acted like it was nothing!
This is the day after I'd sat down and set my intention for things to go smoothly for Abeo. More and more I hear about this community, and what I see is different than what I envisioned. What I'm seeing is the beginning, the very seed of Abeo Intentional Community. I see quite plainly the manifestation; that seems very clear. It's just getting there.
This morning I asked Tyler what Abeo needed more; people or money. He said, “Della's very concerned with money right now, but what Abeo needs is people. It's only people who can build this property up and help create the Abeo vision.”
(He didn't say it quite like that. But that’s the gist.)
What I'm hearing is that it's time for people to take that step and participate in the change, whatever it is for you. If Abeo's the right place, then now is the right time. If your dream is something else, what's stopping you?
**
Solomon spent the night at Grandma's, getting a bath and a week's fill of sweet treats, which meant Tyler and I had the shed to ourselves for the evening. I asked him about using his intention to create an easy path for Abeo, but the only answer I got was that he and Della are overwhelmed with what there is to do, and with bringing up two kids, and it's been left by the wayside.
Tyler's been creating Intentional Communities for years; his first he called “Delta Infinity,” which means the same thing as Abeo – eternal change. He's never created a ‘successful’ community; I don't know if he's ever created what you would call a community. He has great ideas, but the manifestation is something else. I'm not saying he hasn't tried. The whole reason he began Delta Infinity was because after he carefully studied the first edition of the Intentional Communities Directory, he hadn't found any that interested him. So, he created it and no one came. He decided to visit other intentional communities to see how they worked and more importantly to him, how they didn't. The community he chose is EastWind, one of the Egalitarian communities that Kat Kincade (of Twin Oaks and Acorn) helped create, based on a book called Walden Two. He said he chose East Wind because they looked too good to be true, and he wasn't interested in finding a perfect intentional community, he wanted one with problems, so he could study them, learn what he didn't want and perhaps how to fix it. Even now, Tyler describes his on-again, off-again three years at EW as easy and dysfunctional, a 'sick' community. There is no commitment for people who want to live there; they can just show up. This was another reason Tyler decided to go to East Wind.
Along the way, he visited Sandhill Farm and Dancing Rabbit, both intentional communities nearby, and found them to be unhealthy and closed-off, uncommunicative and not open to new ideas. They also required more of a time and money commitment to join. It seems the website shows one thing and the reality is quite another.
Looking back in my case, the website is pretty accurate and it was my mind that created the rest. I'm not sure what I expected, but I think this is probably the best experience I could have. Starting a community from scratch, learning what it takes on every level to put something together, from where we get our water (rainwater collected from the roof of the shed) to how we'll get electricity (wind turbine up on the hill; power collected by battery bank, inverter used to turn it into AC power we can plug in. Just waiting for the excavator so we can dig something in – I don't know or remember what - and start it up), what it'll take to put a phone line in (more digging for the line and putting up a structure to house it – Telstra orders), to dealing with possums jumping the electric fence at night and munching on Elly's rose bush. There's heaps more things I'm learning; I had the choice today to watch a documentary or a movie and since I'm so overloaded with information to process, I watched the first season's episode of LEXX.
Ha!
I dig it. I'm still smiling at the twists and turns of The Shadow and the motley crew of misfits who escaped. Tee hee!
I'll leave you with that. I hear I'm missing a beautiful sunset!
Well, yesterday morning Della arrived earlier than I've ever seen her and announced (in her very quiet way) that Aunty Bev, Grandma and someone, somehow related to Della named Scott were coming up to the block and bringing a tractor.
What does this mean?
It means the potato patch will finally get plowed!
In about an hour, Scott, tractor-driver extraordinaire, zipped up and down around the few rows Tyler had managed to get done before various things went wrong with the tractor, and plowed the whole field, pausing only to strip off extra layers and taking no note of the peanut gallery standing by. It was plain to see his years of experience in the way he handled the old Massey-Ferguson 35 (a newer model than ours, an M-F 28) and I was very touched by his kindness in driving up to our block to work in the rain before he tended to his own garden on what is most people's weekend. And he acted like it was nothing!
This is the day after I'd sat down and set my intention for things to go smoothly for Abeo. More and more I hear about this community, and what I see is different than what I envisioned. What I'm seeing is the beginning, the very seed of Abeo Intentional Community. I see quite plainly the manifestation; that seems very clear. It's just getting there.
This morning I asked Tyler what Abeo needed more; people or money. He said, “Della's very concerned with money right now, but what Abeo needs is people. It's only people who can build this property up and help create the Abeo vision.”
(He didn't say it quite like that. But that’s the gist.)
What I'm hearing is that it's time for people to take that step and participate in the change, whatever it is for you. If Abeo's the right place, then now is the right time. If your dream is something else, what's stopping you?
**
Solomon spent the night at Grandma's, getting a bath and a week's fill of sweet treats, which meant Tyler and I had the shed to ourselves for the evening. I asked him about using his intention to create an easy path for Abeo, but the only answer I got was that he and Della are overwhelmed with what there is to do, and with bringing up two kids, and it's been left by the wayside.
Tyler's been creating Intentional Communities for years; his first he called “Delta Infinity,” which means the same thing as Abeo – eternal change. He's never created a ‘successful’ community; I don't know if he's ever created what you would call a community. He has great ideas, but the manifestation is something else. I'm not saying he hasn't tried. The whole reason he began Delta Infinity was because after he carefully studied the first edition of the Intentional Communities Directory, he hadn't found any that interested him. So, he created it and no one came. He decided to visit other intentional communities to see how they worked and more importantly to him, how they didn't. The community he chose is EastWind, one of the Egalitarian communities that Kat Kincade (of Twin Oaks and Acorn) helped create, based on a book called Walden Two. He said he chose East Wind because they looked too good to be true, and he wasn't interested in finding a perfect intentional community, he wanted one with problems, so he could study them, learn what he didn't want and perhaps how to fix it. Even now, Tyler describes his on-again, off-again three years at EW as easy and dysfunctional, a 'sick' community. There is no commitment for people who want to live there; they can just show up. This was another reason Tyler decided to go to East Wind.
Along the way, he visited Sandhill Farm and Dancing Rabbit, both intentional communities nearby, and found them to be unhealthy and closed-off, uncommunicative and not open to new ideas. They also required more of a time and money commitment to join. It seems the website shows one thing and the reality is quite another.
Looking back in my case, the website is pretty accurate and it was my mind that created the rest. I'm not sure what I expected, but I think this is probably the best experience I could have. Starting a community from scratch, learning what it takes on every level to put something together, from where we get our water (rainwater collected from the roof of the shed) to how we'll get electricity (wind turbine up on the hill; power collected by battery bank, inverter used to turn it into AC power we can plug in. Just waiting for the excavator so we can dig something in – I don't know or remember what - and start it up), what it'll take to put a phone line in (more digging for the line and putting up a structure to house it – Telstra orders), to dealing with possums jumping the electric fence at night and munching on Elly's rose bush. There's heaps more things I'm learning; I had the choice today to watch a documentary or a movie and since I'm so overloaded with information to process, I watched the first season's episode of LEXX.
Ha!
I dig it. I'm still smiling at the twists and turns of The Shadow and the motley crew of misfits who escaped. Tee hee!
I'll leave you with that. I hear I'm missing a beautiful sunset!
13.11.08
WoW!
Hello All!
It's so great to hear from all of youse guyse in the states. I'm psyched that so many want to follow me on my journey, and I want to thank you for your interest!
Much love, ASL
It's so great to hear from all of youse guyse in the states. I'm psyched that so many want to follow me on my journey, and I want to thank you for your interest!
Much love, ASL
Sunshine!
That's what we've had these last two days...until this morning, when I awoke to the sound of wind, wind, wind. It looks to be a blustery one!
But, we've got great farm news going on here. Our first bona fide sunshiney day here was a boon of productivity. We finished potting the viable bamboo seedlings, mixed up a special chicken poop/lime and dirt mixture and planted zucchinis, button squash, basil and, uh...cucumbers! I made sure at least half the flat (of about 65 dirt-filled tubes) was basil. Pronounce it baah-zil, like an Australian. Now say it again. Makes you smile, eh?
Then we watered, and I scattered amaranth seed all over the back bare area where the Volvo is, and where the blackberries used to be. Amaranth is nitrogen-fixing with a deep root structure – super-great for this soil! Plus, we can eat the seeds! After I seeded, I raked dirt around and hopefully over the tiny things, and then we scythed a ton of bracken and piled that on top of the amaranth as mulch. We could probably spend twice as much time covering it with more mulch, but well, you get tired. I gotta say, swinging that scythe – just like a golf club! - was very satisfying. It reminded me of whacking fiddleheads in Oregon in the springtime, and I remembered that Tiger Woods is a taiji practitioner, so I focused on swinging from my legs out through my arms. It got to be a nice rhythm. As I was swinging, I wondered if Tyler had a certain way he did it, and if I was doing it 'right.' Then I realized that however I was scything was the right way until I figured out a better way or until someone showed me a better way. Here I was, waiting for approval from someone – anyone – when all I have to do is approve of myself!
I love and approve of myself.
There. I've been approved of! That was simple!
We pulled weeds around the broadbeans (really big beans I've forgotten the American term for) and I got to play in the kitchen quite a bit. We installed a new shelf in the kitchen and I swept up and cleared off and wiped and tidied and arranged a bit – all quite satisfying. And then everyone headed down the hill to Aunty Bev's house (where they've been staying all winter and where half their stuff is) and I stayed, excited to have a bit of time by myself. Since the day had been quite warm, the solar shower was warm...and I took the shower of initiation! It certainly felt good, even when the wind nipped around and scattered goose bumps across my skin. And it worked! How nice.
It was so quiet on the block without Solomon's incessant questions and declarations, I almost felt at a loss. I gave myself time to meditate, but found I was just having conversations with Solomon in my head – they went something like this: “Can I have a treat?” “Not now, finish your lunch.” “But I have finished my lunch!” “Then why is there food in your bowl?” “There isn't! I want a treat!” “I can see food in your bowl right now.” “I want a treat!” And so on. So I took a walk around through the garden, surveyed all the plants we'd cared for during the day, looked at Della's pumpkin seedlings erupting green shoots through the soil, walked over to our potato patch and then up to the rise above the shed, watching the almost-full moon rise over the Eucalyptus plantation next door.
What a beautiful day!
That was by far the latest I've stayed up here as well – all the way til 9:30, and the light was just fading outside.
That's one thing I'm getting used to is how light it's getting and staying! At 5 pm the sun is still high in the sky, and I'm used to it getting dark around six or seven. I think the long days will be ideal – already we're planning to work early and late and siesta in the middle. It'll keep us out of the main heat and radiation of the day as well.
Then, yesterday dawned beautifully clear and even a bit warm as well – how wonderful! This is the day we were going to attach the plow to the tractor and really start planting potatoes! Well, it worked out that we didn't have car keys to drive down and meet Della at the farm, so the three of us (Tyler, Solomon and I) walked down the back way on dirt farm roads to get to the farm. What a beautiful and toasty day! Sun shining, birds singing, Solomon lagging behind, people singing and hooting and hollering (that was us) and making our merry way downhill. I checked how long it took when we got back to the farm – an hour and a half! I enjoyed it so much it didn't feel that long, but the other night Tyler had driven the tractor down and walked back up all in about an hour. Whew! Long legs! I could've dawdled much more than we did on the way down, too. There was a pond, and we passed a paddock of sheep where they've left bits of wool, and along the Eucalyptus plantations there are strips of bark hanging off the trees to gather – a fiber-workers dream! I've been wondering if the Aborigines used the bark for anything – baskets, sandals...who knows? The white settlers killed them all off anyway.
While Tyler tried to muscle the plow onto a bent hydraulic arm – he eventually used a crow bar and a hammer, which worked – I read the local paper, saw that it was slated to rain again today, and looked at the four comics they include. Della brought out a book called “Growing Vegetables South of Australia” by a former Oregonian named Steve Solomon. Della and Tyler have visited this guy, who's from Portland and a former Scientologist (who still believes the stuff, just is out of the cult) and from reading the introduction to his book, it looks like he's pretty scientific with his methods – very meticulous. He says the climates of Oregon and Tasmania are very similar, and recommends a website called soilandhealth.org, which is an online library he's created that has tons of information about composting , mulching, health and longevity, and other stuff. It sounds cool and as soon as I have internet access I'm going to check it out. His theory for longevity goes like this: Health=Nutrition/Calories. He recommends eating high-nutrition, low calorie foods. From their visit, Della said he's very much a fan of eating until you're 80% full, and is still concerned with calories. Apparently he lives on kale. In the book he says, “you would have to chew until your jaw got sore and you still might lose weight. But you would certainly become a well-nourished, long-lived scarecrow.”
Kale, anyone?
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this personable book.
Today's a big day as well, despite the blustering wind. Tyler's spent the morning adjusting the plow and getting ready to break some ground, and everyone's out there now, watching the momentus event. I'm in here, enjoying my own thoughts again, remembering a couple more things that I find funny.
Chicken are 'chooks'
Wallabies and poteroos come out at dusk, and if I happen to be walking along the road or go out toward the bracken-covered part of the field, I'll hear the hoppers pounding away into the night. In the morning things have been browsed down, including any seedlings that were left out of the electric fence, and little droppings are scattered around. As we came home right at dusk one night, we saw at least 6 jumping things bouncing out of the way of the Ute.
All pickups (including el camino-type cars, which are quite popular here) are 'Ute's' and semi's are trucks
Coming up the driveway there were even more of them – probably 25 in all. They are the main challenge to farming here, along with possums, and both of them are just about the cutest things. Down at the farm Aunty Bev caught a mama and a baby possum in a trap – I saw them curled up in the corner, mama protecting her baby and looking at me with unblinking filbert-shaped black eyes. I think I saw what was left of one alongside the road. The first thing that struck me was the hand – five fingers, just like a little kid's.
They have mixed drinks in cans here, like Jack Daniel's and Coke. They're called Alcopops. About 5% alcohol, like having a beer.
I'm not kidding. I can't believe the US doesn't have these yet!
Last note: Haven't been able to get pictures to upload very easily. Maybe when I have more time to figure it out. As it is, a trip to town is a big deal, and things need to get done!
But, we've got great farm news going on here. Our first bona fide sunshiney day here was a boon of productivity. We finished potting the viable bamboo seedlings, mixed up a special chicken poop/lime and dirt mixture and planted zucchinis, button squash, basil and, uh...cucumbers! I made sure at least half the flat (of about 65 dirt-filled tubes) was basil. Pronounce it baah-zil, like an Australian. Now say it again. Makes you smile, eh?
Then we watered, and I scattered amaranth seed all over the back bare area where the Volvo is, and where the blackberries used to be. Amaranth is nitrogen-fixing with a deep root structure – super-great for this soil! Plus, we can eat the seeds! After I seeded, I raked dirt around and hopefully over the tiny things, and then we scythed a ton of bracken and piled that on top of the amaranth as mulch. We could probably spend twice as much time covering it with more mulch, but well, you get tired. I gotta say, swinging that scythe – just like a golf club! - was very satisfying. It reminded me of whacking fiddleheads in Oregon in the springtime, and I remembered that Tiger Woods is a taiji practitioner, so I focused on swinging from my legs out through my arms. It got to be a nice rhythm. As I was swinging, I wondered if Tyler had a certain way he did it, and if I was doing it 'right.' Then I realized that however I was scything was the right way until I figured out a better way or until someone showed me a better way. Here I was, waiting for approval from someone – anyone – when all I have to do is approve of myself!
I love and approve of myself.
There. I've been approved of! That was simple!
We pulled weeds around the broadbeans (really big beans I've forgotten the American term for) and I got to play in the kitchen quite a bit. We installed a new shelf in the kitchen and I swept up and cleared off and wiped and tidied and arranged a bit – all quite satisfying. And then everyone headed down the hill to Aunty Bev's house (where they've been staying all winter and where half their stuff is) and I stayed, excited to have a bit of time by myself. Since the day had been quite warm, the solar shower was warm...and I took the shower of initiation! It certainly felt good, even when the wind nipped around and scattered goose bumps across my skin. And it worked! How nice.
It was so quiet on the block without Solomon's incessant questions and declarations, I almost felt at a loss. I gave myself time to meditate, but found I was just having conversations with Solomon in my head – they went something like this: “Can I have a treat?” “Not now, finish your lunch.” “But I have finished my lunch!” “Then why is there food in your bowl?” “There isn't! I want a treat!” “I can see food in your bowl right now.” “I want a treat!” And so on. So I took a walk around through the garden, surveyed all the plants we'd cared for during the day, looked at Della's pumpkin seedlings erupting green shoots through the soil, walked over to our potato patch and then up to the rise above the shed, watching the almost-full moon rise over the Eucalyptus plantation next door.
What a beautiful day!
That was by far the latest I've stayed up here as well – all the way til 9:30, and the light was just fading outside.
That's one thing I'm getting used to is how light it's getting and staying! At 5 pm the sun is still high in the sky, and I'm used to it getting dark around six or seven. I think the long days will be ideal – already we're planning to work early and late and siesta in the middle. It'll keep us out of the main heat and radiation of the day as well.
Then, yesterday dawned beautifully clear and even a bit warm as well – how wonderful! This is the day we were going to attach the plow to the tractor and really start planting potatoes! Well, it worked out that we didn't have car keys to drive down and meet Della at the farm, so the three of us (Tyler, Solomon and I) walked down the back way on dirt farm roads to get to the farm. What a beautiful and toasty day! Sun shining, birds singing, Solomon lagging behind, people singing and hooting and hollering (that was us) and making our merry way downhill. I checked how long it took when we got back to the farm – an hour and a half! I enjoyed it so much it didn't feel that long, but the other night Tyler had driven the tractor down and walked back up all in about an hour. Whew! Long legs! I could've dawdled much more than we did on the way down, too. There was a pond, and we passed a paddock of sheep where they've left bits of wool, and along the Eucalyptus plantations there are strips of bark hanging off the trees to gather – a fiber-workers dream! I've been wondering if the Aborigines used the bark for anything – baskets, sandals...who knows? The white settlers killed them all off anyway.
While Tyler tried to muscle the plow onto a bent hydraulic arm – he eventually used a crow bar and a hammer, which worked – I read the local paper, saw that it was slated to rain again today, and looked at the four comics they include. Della brought out a book called “Growing Vegetables South of Australia” by a former Oregonian named Steve Solomon. Della and Tyler have visited this guy, who's from Portland and a former Scientologist (who still believes the stuff, just is out of the cult) and from reading the introduction to his book, it looks like he's pretty scientific with his methods – very meticulous. He says the climates of Oregon and Tasmania are very similar, and recommends a website called soilandhealth.org, which is an online library he's created that has tons of information about composting , mulching, health and longevity, and other stuff. It sounds cool and as soon as I have internet access I'm going to check it out. His theory for longevity goes like this: Health=Nutrition/Calories. He recommends eating high-nutrition, low calorie foods. From their visit, Della said he's very much a fan of eating until you're 80% full, and is still concerned with calories. Apparently he lives on kale. In the book he says, “you would have to chew until your jaw got sore and you still might lose weight. But you would certainly become a well-nourished, long-lived scarecrow.”
Kale, anyone?
I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this personable book.
Today's a big day as well, despite the blustering wind. Tyler's spent the morning adjusting the plow and getting ready to break some ground, and everyone's out there now, watching the momentus event. I'm in here, enjoying my own thoughts again, remembering a couple more things that I find funny.
Chicken are 'chooks'
Wallabies and poteroos come out at dusk, and if I happen to be walking along the road or go out toward the bracken-covered part of the field, I'll hear the hoppers pounding away into the night. In the morning things have been browsed down, including any seedlings that were left out of the electric fence, and little droppings are scattered around. As we came home right at dusk one night, we saw at least 6 jumping things bouncing out of the way of the Ute.
All pickups (including el camino-type cars, which are quite popular here) are 'Ute's' and semi's are trucks
Coming up the driveway there were even more of them – probably 25 in all. They are the main challenge to farming here, along with possums, and both of them are just about the cutest things. Down at the farm Aunty Bev caught a mama and a baby possum in a trap – I saw them curled up in the corner, mama protecting her baby and looking at me with unblinking filbert-shaped black eyes. I think I saw what was left of one alongside the road. The first thing that struck me was the hand – five fingers, just like a little kid's.
They have mixed drinks in cans here, like Jack Daniel's and Coke. They're called Alcopops. About 5% alcohol, like having a beer.
I'm not kidding. I can't believe the US doesn't have these yet!
Last note: Haven't been able to get pictures to upload very easily. Maybe when I have more time to figure it out. As it is, a trip to town is a big deal, and things need to get done!
10.11.08
Rainy Day wanderings - Day 4 of Drizzle
OK, we're on our fourth day of rain here, and the weather seems to be staying the same. Clouds and rain and wind and sometimes some sun – maybe each day is a little less rainy, but it started out being really rainy, so now it's still just...rainy. Ah, the familiarity is overwhelming to me! Gray skies, that cold, damp feeling that pervades my fingertips – it's all quite wonderful, really.
With all this time on my hands, I've gotten to spend a lot of it talking to Tyler and hanging out with Solomon. Yesterday we went on a long walk around the block, down to Abeo Gully where we're talking about digging the first Abeo House, into the hillside, and putting Della's greenhouse. I wanted to go down there to gauge how the blustering felt down there – see if it's more sheltered. It is, a little, and depending on how the wind is blowing, it's a lot more sheltered. Then we walked through the belt of native forest, over a small stream and followed wallaby trails back up to the dam at the top of the block. Along the way we picked up sticks and demolished (helped decompose, really) some rotten logs, then we walked along the dam and threw sticks into the water. On the way back we saw Tyler and Della out digging in the field – what could they be doing out there? So we swung around and brought out more shovels to help with potato planting.
And that's what we did for a lot of the day yesterday – digging a trench, dropping in potatoes at regular intervals, chopping the sod and mounding the trench. I got to hack at the inches of grass roots to break them up, and I found a lot of squirmy white grubs in little holes just under the grass roots. Luckily, I was wearing gloves, because if I hadn't, I don't think I would've picked them up and thrown them out. I'm not sure what I would've done. I might've had Solomon pick them up – he's ok swirling algae around in tanks and picking up beetles and slugs – the grubs don't bother him. Tyler found some and popped them – and I heard it! That was gross. I've still got sound in my head, and I claimed I wouldn't eat the potatoes from that part of the patch.
Seems to be, the thing about farming is that you're taking land from the natural way of things and manipulating it for your own benefit. All the creatures and plants that exist without your interference may or may not be beneficial to your plans, and could result in, for example, hacking thistles or collecting grubs out of the soil – however, these I believe, are introduced species that don't live here naturally anyway. We don't know what the grubs turn into (but I guess they make great chickenfeed) and the thistles seem to be universal. A lot of the greenery around here is familiar to me, right down to the daisies and dandelions growing in the grass. And grass! It's everywhere! You have to clear it out of the way if you want to plant anything, and the roots have made such a thick thatch it takes considerable work.
Back to potato planting – it was a family event. Tyler and Della were digging trenches, Solomon chucked in potatoes at appropriate intervals, and Elly just chucked potatoes. Oh, and I chopped up the sod and put it back in the trenches. It was such hard work I was happy to pause and pick out grubs with my gloved hands, and over the course of the afternoon, I developed a system so I wasn't wheezing all the time – using my legs more than my arms at the end.
Talk about a day's work! I can certainly feel it in my back and arms today. Part of me is grateful for more rain because it means a rest day for me – and we're going into 'town' today (which means Edith Creek, consisting of a primary school, a corner store, a Telstra phone booth and the online access center) to do laundry and internet. The thing is, we've got a pallet of potatoes to plant, and all we managed yesterday was half a bag! There are nine and a half (at least!) more bags to do. I dunno, man, but this family is going to have potatoes up the wazoo-ooo-ooo this year!
One of the familiar plants around here is bracken fern. It grows through a system of runners, and Permaculture One by Bill Mollison (The Authority on Permaculture down in these parts) says you can eat the young shoots like asparagus. So he says. There are also ants here, a particular kind called Jack Jumpers – black medium-sized ants with reddish-orange pincers and legs that look particularly scary. Apparently they are – they bite ferociously. Fortunately, crushed-up bracken rubbed on the bite relieves the pain. Just a bit of bush knowledge I thought I'd pass on to you :)
Something I'm really appreciating about Tyler and Della is the way they're always considering the environmental impact of their actions and decisions, looking to recycle where they can or just use what's there instead of buying new. This has benefits on two fronts: using less, and costing less (for the most part). In this vein, I've been doing a lot less dishwashing. We just use the same pot for dinner every night, which usually consists of something being brought to a boil, and I think of the leftovers inside as bonus flavoring. We all have our own bowls we reuse every day as well – I never thought I'd find the family that condoned bowl-licking, but this is common, accepted practice here. It took me a couple of days to get into the habit (yes, it seemed a bit weird at first, breaking such a taboo as a guest) but I've certainly gotten better at it! It also makes me wonder what else do I do out of habit that's unnecessary? Ive stopped wearing underwear (personal preference there) and bras, I use a handkerchief instead of kleenex or toilet tissue, I long ago adopted a stainless-steel travel mug and metal water bottle. I must say I'm grateful to use toilet tissue in the toilet instead of pages from the Sear's catalogue, although if we find a nice, soft, organic alternative I'm not opposed to that! If you think of anything else, let me know...
I've been making two lists of plans for Abeo: one to happen this summer, and one for sometime in the future. The first thing on the summer list is plant potatoes. Other things are: things to do with the excavator: dig ponds, a new dam, housing for wind power, and underground house. Repot bamboo seedlings, build solar oven, build wood-fired brick oven for baking and carbon sequestration, build greenhouse for Della, build shadehouse, make a hay cooker, bring electricity and internet to shed, and I'm sure there's tons I'm missing, probably in the planting area. Ah, well.
Long term plans include building a community house for teaching and housing students and visitors; build the road into a loop to make it more pedestrian-friendly and to follow the land contours; develop natural amphitheater site and plant bamboo at top as a windbreak; plant evergreens like giant Sequoia's, fir trees, monkeypuzzle trees; plant oil crop like olive trees, pecans and walnuts, pumkins and flax; inoculate stumps with shiitake mushroom spores and fence area down by the manferns to start the mushroom farm; explore hydro-power possibilities; build an astronomy observatory; start an alpaca farm so we can make our own clothes. And again, these are only some of the possibilities. Talk to Tyler and he'll fill your ear up!
A couple of last things before I go: Tasmania-wide, the soil is low in Phosphorous, selenium and iodine, and maybe copper. We don't know about these soils since they haven't been tested, and who knows what people before us have put into them. A lot of the farmers around here use super-phosphate fertilizer, which is unsustainably mined from somewhere and leaves heavy metals like cadmium behind. We're looking into seaweed pellet fertilizer, which might have phosphorous in it – I don't know. Della's the one who's researching that.
Another thing is how comfortable I feel around the Abeo family – I feel accepted for whatever I'm doing and I'm constantly thanked for whatever I'm doing, whether it's cooking dinner or planting potatoes or making hot water. It's easy to talk to Tyler and Della and it's easy for me to take that for granted – it's what I expect in a community, and it's so easy to slip into without realizing. This is definitely something I want to mindfully appreciate and take into account! It's the people that make the community, it doesn't seem to matter where you are or what the conditions. As long as the community is there, almost anything is livable.
With all this time on my hands, I've gotten to spend a lot of it talking to Tyler and hanging out with Solomon. Yesterday we went on a long walk around the block, down to Abeo Gully where we're talking about digging the first Abeo House, into the hillside, and putting Della's greenhouse. I wanted to go down there to gauge how the blustering felt down there – see if it's more sheltered. It is, a little, and depending on how the wind is blowing, it's a lot more sheltered. Then we walked through the belt of native forest, over a small stream and followed wallaby trails back up to the dam at the top of the block. Along the way we picked up sticks and demolished (helped decompose, really) some rotten logs, then we walked along the dam and threw sticks into the water. On the way back we saw Tyler and Della out digging in the field – what could they be doing out there? So we swung around and brought out more shovels to help with potato planting.
And that's what we did for a lot of the day yesterday – digging a trench, dropping in potatoes at regular intervals, chopping the sod and mounding the trench. I got to hack at the inches of grass roots to break them up, and I found a lot of squirmy white grubs in little holes just under the grass roots. Luckily, I was wearing gloves, because if I hadn't, I don't think I would've picked them up and thrown them out. I'm not sure what I would've done. I might've had Solomon pick them up – he's ok swirling algae around in tanks and picking up beetles and slugs – the grubs don't bother him. Tyler found some and popped them – and I heard it! That was gross. I've still got sound in my head, and I claimed I wouldn't eat the potatoes from that part of the patch.
Seems to be, the thing about farming is that you're taking land from the natural way of things and manipulating it for your own benefit. All the creatures and plants that exist without your interference may or may not be beneficial to your plans, and could result in, for example, hacking thistles or collecting grubs out of the soil – however, these I believe, are introduced species that don't live here naturally anyway. We don't know what the grubs turn into (but I guess they make great chickenfeed) and the thistles seem to be universal. A lot of the greenery around here is familiar to me, right down to the daisies and dandelions growing in the grass. And grass! It's everywhere! You have to clear it out of the way if you want to plant anything, and the roots have made such a thick thatch it takes considerable work.
Back to potato planting – it was a family event. Tyler and Della were digging trenches, Solomon chucked in potatoes at appropriate intervals, and Elly just chucked potatoes. Oh, and I chopped up the sod and put it back in the trenches. It was such hard work I was happy to pause and pick out grubs with my gloved hands, and over the course of the afternoon, I developed a system so I wasn't wheezing all the time – using my legs more than my arms at the end.
Talk about a day's work! I can certainly feel it in my back and arms today. Part of me is grateful for more rain because it means a rest day for me – and we're going into 'town' today (which means Edith Creek, consisting of a primary school, a corner store, a Telstra phone booth and the online access center) to do laundry and internet. The thing is, we've got a pallet of potatoes to plant, and all we managed yesterday was half a bag! There are nine and a half (at least!) more bags to do. I dunno, man, but this family is going to have potatoes up the wazoo-ooo-ooo this year!
One of the familiar plants around here is bracken fern. It grows through a system of runners, and Permaculture One by Bill Mollison (The Authority on Permaculture down in these parts) says you can eat the young shoots like asparagus. So he says. There are also ants here, a particular kind called Jack Jumpers – black medium-sized ants with reddish-orange pincers and legs that look particularly scary. Apparently they are – they bite ferociously. Fortunately, crushed-up bracken rubbed on the bite relieves the pain. Just a bit of bush knowledge I thought I'd pass on to you :)
Something I'm really appreciating about Tyler and Della is the way they're always considering the environmental impact of their actions and decisions, looking to recycle where they can or just use what's there instead of buying new. This has benefits on two fronts: using less, and costing less (for the most part). In this vein, I've been doing a lot less dishwashing. We just use the same pot for dinner every night, which usually consists of something being brought to a boil, and I think of the leftovers inside as bonus flavoring. We all have our own bowls we reuse every day as well – I never thought I'd find the family that condoned bowl-licking, but this is common, accepted practice here. It took me a couple of days to get into the habit (yes, it seemed a bit weird at first, breaking such a taboo as a guest) but I've certainly gotten better at it! It also makes me wonder what else do I do out of habit that's unnecessary? Ive stopped wearing underwear (personal preference there) and bras, I use a handkerchief instead of kleenex or toilet tissue, I long ago adopted a stainless-steel travel mug and metal water bottle. I must say I'm grateful to use toilet tissue in the toilet instead of pages from the Sear's catalogue, although if we find a nice, soft, organic alternative I'm not opposed to that! If you think of anything else, let me know...
I've been making two lists of plans for Abeo: one to happen this summer, and one for sometime in the future. The first thing on the summer list is plant potatoes. Other things are: things to do with the excavator: dig ponds, a new dam, housing for wind power, and underground house. Repot bamboo seedlings, build solar oven, build wood-fired brick oven for baking and carbon sequestration, build greenhouse for Della, build shadehouse, make a hay cooker, bring electricity and internet to shed, and I'm sure there's tons I'm missing, probably in the planting area. Ah, well.
Long term plans include building a community house for teaching and housing students and visitors; build the road into a loop to make it more pedestrian-friendly and to follow the land contours; develop natural amphitheater site and plant bamboo at top as a windbreak; plant evergreens like giant Sequoia's, fir trees, monkeypuzzle trees; plant oil crop like olive trees, pecans and walnuts, pumkins and flax; inoculate stumps with shiitake mushroom spores and fence area down by the manferns to start the mushroom farm; explore hydro-power possibilities; build an astronomy observatory; start an alpaca farm so we can make our own clothes. And again, these are only some of the possibilities. Talk to Tyler and he'll fill your ear up!
A couple of last things before I go: Tasmania-wide, the soil is low in Phosphorous, selenium and iodine, and maybe copper. We don't know about these soils since they haven't been tested, and who knows what people before us have put into them. A lot of the farmers around here use super-phosphate fertilizer, which is unsustainably mined from somewhere and leaves heavy metals like cadmium behind. We're looking into seaweed pellet fertilizer, which might have phosphorous in it – I don't know. Della's the one who's researching that.
Another thing is how comfortable I feel around the Abeo family – I feel accepted for whatever I'm doing and I'm constantly thanked for whatever I'm doing, whether it's cooking dinner or planting potatoes or making hot water. It's easy to talk to Tyler and Della and it's easy for me to take that for granted – it's what I expect in a community, and it's so easy to slip into without realizing. This is definitely something I want to mindfully appreciate and take into account! It's the people that make the community, it doesn't seem to matter where you are or what the conditions. As long as the community is there, almost anything is livable.
Rainy Day Abeo Happenings
Well, welcome to the next installment of Abeo Journal. We've had heavy rain the last two days, making actually doing anything (other than hanging out at Aunty Bev's house) pretty miserable. The shed Tyler's converted to our living quarters is wind tight and waterproof, two very important aspects to a comfortable home, but it currently lacks electricity (and thus light) and heat, another two important aspects, especially in light of the current weather conditions.
The first few days after I arrived, I searched desperately for my place, waiting to be fit into my slot like a piece in a puzzle. The thing is, things don't happen like that – anywhere, and especially not at Abeo. After some frustration, a little bit of depression, and a conversation with Tyler and Della about what they expect of me, I feel much more comfortable choosing what I want to do and doing it, taking enough time for myself and devoting time to other projects as well.
What are the projects we're working on out at the farm? Our main objectives are to get things planted, like the huge shipment of seed potatoes Della just picked up, and buckwheat, amaranth and alfalfa that are multi-purpose – to add organic matter to the soil, help stop erosion of topsoil by growing deep roots, and, provide food! It's all very exciting. Aside from that, Abeo just bought an excavator to dig a new dam to catch the water leaking from the old one, to dig ponds around the property (called 'the block') for food production and fire prevention, to dig an underground house as the beginning of the residential quarters, and lots of other things I can't remember right now. Tyler can spew off reasons for five minutes straight!
I'm learning how to interact with two children, ages 5 and 18 months, and helping to confirm my decision not to have kids – not that they're not great kids, but the reasons seem to be endless as to why I don't want to put the time into reproduction. However, the closer I get to these guys, the more I like them, understand them, and well, kids don’t seem so bad. As long as they’re not mine!
Speaking of reproduction, Tyler has been telling me about new stem cell research that has managed to create stem cells out of our regular cells, which means no more fetoeus' being used! It also has the potential (he says) for us to inject stem cells into our bodies as a way of replacing old cells (so we're constantly renewing our cellular structure and thus, being reborn) as a way of becoming immortal. Unless a bus were to run you over. But what are the chances of that, right? Anyhoo...
What a concept! What an idea! What a flipped-around way to look at the world!
If we're all immortal, we don't have to worry about reproducing, or getting things done in our lifetime, because there is no limit. We don't have to worry about or fear the future, because we are the future and what we create is what we'll live in. This takes the pressure off of 'living a full life' or 'having kids in my time window' or whatever else it is you're worried about not accomplishing. And, what a great way to look at the world – as there being all the time in the world. Why would you want to consider things any other way?
I just watched some great movies – a cartoon called Money is Debt, a documentary on Forest Gardening and one on Permaculture, starring Bill Mollison, the grandaddy of Australian (and Tasmanian!) permaculture. My favorite part was the guerilla gardening when Bill planted seeds wherever he happened to be walking – in the city, along ditches, on grassy lawns, all with a sly smile and a smug chuckle. Hmm, reminds me of some Guerilla Greenpath tactics! The first movie, Money is Debt, is about how our modern banking system came into place. Essentially it's the same as the Zeitgeist Addendum, but for some reason it was easier for me to understand – it could be I've cleared my neuro-pathways for it. What it explains is how when you sign for a loan at the bank, the money the bank gives you is imaginary, based on what you've promised to pay back. This goes on and becomes more complex in many different ways that I don't fully understand, but essentially, our banks create money and this is legal! It goes on to explain how our economy is set up to fail because you cannot pay back a loan with interest when the money for the loan was created in the first place – where does the interest come from? Someone else's loan. This is why we're all incessantly in debt. But don't let me explain this, watch the movie and understand for yourself. Why don't they put this into schools? I would suppose they don't want us to know.
One thing I've been wanting to do is document all the great ideas I keep hearing for Abeo's development. It seems to go on and on – oh, the possibilities! It's best right now, for me to keep in mind what's most pertinent and important for the upcoming seasons – having food and shelter for the winter! No doubt we'll talk about this again and it'll all come out in a grand plan to take over the world. That's what we're all working towards, right? :)
The first few days after I arrived, I searched desperately for my place, waiting to be fit into my slot like a piece in a puzzle. The thing is, things don't happen like that – anywhere, and especially not at Abeo. After some frustration, a little bit of depression, and a conversation with Tyler and Della about what they expect of me, I feel much more comfortable choosing what I want to do and doing it, taking enough time for myself and devoting time to other projects as well.
What are the projects we're working on out at the farm? Our main objectives are to get things planted, like the huge shipment of seed potatoes Della just picked up, and buckwheat, amaranth and alfalfa that are multi-purpose – to add organic matter to the soil, help stop erosion of topsoil by growing deep roots, and, provide food! It's all very exciting. Aside from that, Abeo just bought an excavator to dig a new dam to catch the water leaking from the old one, to dig ponds around the property (called 'the block') for food production and fire prevention, to dig an underground house as the beginning of the residential quarters, and lots of other things I can't remember right now. Tyler can spew off reasons for five minutes straight!
I'm learning how to interact with two children, ages 5 and 18 months, and helping to confirm my decision not to have kids – not that they're not great kids, but the reasons seem to be endless as to why I don't want to put the time into reproduction. However, the closer I get to these guys, the more I like them, understand them, and well, kids don’t seem so bad. As long as they’re not mine!
Speaking of reproduction, Tyler has been telling me about new stem cell research that has managed to create stem cells out of our regular cells, which means no more fetoeus' being used! It also has the potential (he says) for us to inject stem cells into our bodies as a way of replacing old cells (so we're constantly renewing our cellular structure and thus, being reborn) as a way of becoming immortal. Unless a bus were to run you over. But what are the chances of that, right? Anyhoo...
What a concept! What an idea! What a flipped-around way to look at the world!
If we're all immortal, we don't have to worry about reproducing, or getting things done in our lifetime, because there is no limit. We don't have to worry about or fear the future, because we are the future and what we create is what we'll live in. This takes the pressure off of 'living a full life' or 'having kids in my time window' or whatever else it is you're worried about not accomplishing. And, what a great way to look at the world – as there being all the time in the world. Why would you want to consider things any other way?
I just watched some great movies – a cartoon called Money is Debt, a documentary on Forest Gardening and one on Permaculture, starring Bill Mollison, the grandaddy of Australian (and Tasmanian!) permaculture. My favorite part was the guerilla gardening when Bill planted seeds wherever he happened to be walking – in the city, along ditches, on grassy lawns, all with a sly smile and a smug chuckle. Hmm, reminds me of some Guerilla Greenpath tactics! The first movie, Money is Debt, is about how our modern banking system came into place. Essentially it's the same as the Zeitgeist Addendum, but for some reason it was easier for me to understand – it could be I've cleared my neuro-pathways for it. What it explains is how when you sign for a loan at the bank, the money the bank gives you is imaginary, based on what you've promised to pay back. This goes on and becomes more complex in many different ways that I don't fully understand, but essentially, our banks create money and this is legal! It goes on to explain how our economy is set up to fail because you cannot pay back a loan with interest when the money for the loan was created in the first place – where does the interest come from? Someone else's loan. This is why we're all incessantly in debt. But don't let me explain this, watch the movie and understand for yourself. Why don't they put this into schools? I would suppose they don't want us to know.
One thing I've been wanting to do is document all the great ideas I keep hearing for Abeo's development. It seems to go on and on – oh, the possibilities! It's best right now, for me to keep in mind what's most pertinent and important for the upcoming seasons – having food and shelter for the winter! No doubt we'll talk about this again and it'll all come out in a grand plan to take over the world. That's what we're all working towards, right? :)
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