Craft + woodwork, Eco building, Garden, Permaculture design, Travel

the woodland way

June 8, 2014 1 Comment

Two enormous hounds sprang down the muddied track paws thudding onto my chest, tongues lolling. The house came into sight and Ben Law’s two apprentices greeted us with the hounds’ glee reflected in their faces, after a long winter alone in the woods, company was craved. Millar and Paul had been coppicing and making charcoal for the last 6 months and the Roundwood Timber Framing Course marked the beginning of a season of building and sunshine.

The man himself was a humble figure, cap on head, no wasted words. Although as the day wore on we spied a man who loved a laugh. Dylan fresh from a land free of sarcasm made the most of the English dry wit and soon there was a mock war of words Aussie vs. Brit.

We wandered the woods, the coppice so strange to Australians use to plantations, old growth, clear felling and slash and burn. Long thin trunks sprouting from a shared stump. Whenever we paused in silence there was such a symphony of birdsong it was almost overwhelming and of course those lerches bounding in and out of sight amongstvthe blue bells.

A team of 8 we began peeling round logs, something that was immensely satisfying, almost a meditation. Off cane the bark to reveal tiger stripes of white and brown, then drawknifing them clean and smooth. It wasn’t until after I finished that I realised I had perhaps taken the smooth too literally as I inspected its rougher and faster companions. There was a bit of needing out over tools lead by the trusty Millar, he perhaps had a “I” drawknife, or was it as “H” or and “S”? The makers mark letting us know exactly who the maker was worn to oblivion.

We left the newly white logs, and lead by Millar, made the trek to the Lodsworth Larder for provisions. Up a bluebell lines stair, lush green fields that cleaned our boots and then muddy trails that dirtied them again. The Larder was a Ben Law, all roundwood and lathe. As provisions were purchased, skies darkened and we returned to a glowing campfire.

It was Millar who started it all. James and I had been doing some whittling: I made a wobbly stick, he made a spiral and a captive ring. Inspired Millar ran into the woods and came back with a thick bent stick, “I’ve been saving this up, someone put a mushroom on the end and it will look like a cock”. So Sunny (reluctantly at first) took on.the task with Millar urgings “don’t f it up”, then Millar began on his own and as hijinks are catching even when not a drop of alcohol is involved soon Dylan was carving away as well. On seeing the skill of the others Millar admitted defeat and through his in the fire, so there we sat our first night in the woods watching a fallice crackle in the fire. The course was going to be entertaining then.

Garden

Conquering the hills

April 24, 2014 1 Comment

Muir Beach

Muir Beach Overlook
Nesting site of the majestic peregrine falcon.

The Breakers Cafe
Little cafe at Stinton Beach, we enjoyed outdoor seating and delicious tacos, but alas no precious WiFi.

The hill just kept going, but this wasn’t the one that broke me. A steady incline from a handful of metres above sea level to a land of falcon nests floating in clouds of fog, but not before a descent back down to a misty beach then up again.

It was this second climb that brought tears stinging to my unprepared eyes, some would call it a right sulk, but a break at the top to marvel in that fog wreathed world really brought home how amazing riding the bike can be, how much more you see than when you are tightly cocooned in a car, how much more you feel. We will never miss a lookout (and opportunity for a rest) on my watch! The falcon perched high on its nest looked at me and we both agreed we had earned our place on top of the mountain, unlike the bus load of tourists that had just been spilled onto the pathway.

Then an exhilarating descent onto California Highway One, Pride of Madeira in all its purple glory lining the road. We passed a whole herd of seals, honking their pleasure, younger ones bobbing in the still water, older ones barely batting an eyelid, too sleepy even to lift a flipper. Then we hit another climb in Eucalyptus forest, so many familiar smells, but not even they could help my burning legs.

A couple more bumps on and I was done, we pulled into Olema visitors centre where there was much excitement over some snake sightings (nothing that would phase an Aussie, all dirty mouth, but no venom). On finding the only camping spots for bikes were miles away and $30 besides we searched Airbnb.

That’s how we ended up pitching a tent in the backyard of a mini permaculture farm, that earned its money as a doggy daycare. Three elderly gentlemen dogs greeted us at the gate and we soon found that they were not the only inhabitants, Latin Americans seemed to be stowed in every room and hollow. The main girl who we spoke to had moved to America some years ago with her girlfriend and she was very studiously crafting a woodpile shelter using found timber, triangulating and Japanese jointing with intuition. We let the families be, enjoying the fading sunlight and having conquered 31 miles of undulating road.

Garden, Travel

Urban Farm, Denver

March 18, 2014 No Comments

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Denver, Colorado

when it seemed like everything was coming apart at the seams it pulled itself back together in an unexpectedly delightful new form. The night before had been perhaps our most stressful of the trip so far, half way to Denver from the Dunes Sam got a call from his girlfriend who had been at the hospital with a fever of 104F and what later she later suspected was swine flu. She was too sick to have us stay and with 4 o’clock looming in a new city we weren’t sure what to do. Dylan had a badly hurting foot from hiking the dunes and we were all rather dejected thinking his running race was over before it began.

We pulled into the local Lone Pine public library for precious internet. It was a long shot with so little notice but we thought we’d give airbnb a go before we settled for the hostel. We found the perfect one with a veggie garden as one of the photos, then after applying we just drove in that direction, hoping for an affirmative. On the highway we got it, relief. we didn’t know how lucky we were, on admittance to their sweet little home, we were greeted with such warmth by Ali and Reuben that it brought grins to our travel weary bones. They provided Dylan with an icepack and by morning even that niggle had retreated to a safe stiffness.

That morning the light shone softly, illuminating little vignettes: a happily playing baby with hair glowing red, a cuddly Australian Shepherd X that demanded attention 24/7 and got it from us, a grey cat silhouetted against the window, a smartly dressed in shades of blue and yellow.

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We realised we were amongst kindred spirits as we chatted about social and environmental sustainability and Train Running (eyes lit up all round on that one). Reuben’s work as a social worker/urban farmer lead to his passionate involvement in using school land in Denver as urban farms for education and an outlet for disadvantaged students. Ali taught primary students via correspondence and they both had a fulltime job keeping sweet little Wendall in check.

We headed off into a gorgeous pre-spring day with directions to the trendy side of town. Drawn like magnets to hipster hangouts we had brunch at Crema where we sat opposite a red headed dude dressed in basketball gear from hed to foot in that ironic way that was all too familiar. However, what would be vaguely annoying back home was comforting as the post Earthship blues began dripping into my subconscious, only to fully reveal themselves days later on top of a mountain.

We wandered into the city, then headed back down Larimer Street to meet our airbnb family sweetly met us to unlock the sustainability centre where Reuben volunteer. While we waited we spied a cute looking outdoor gear shop, it was closed, son we stickybeaked through the window Topo Designs. A face appeared and were ushered in by a pretty, athletic girl. She gave us the low down, made in Colorado with love, we didn’t escape without setting down a pretty penny, Dylan was hiking hipsterfied and I had a limited addition Woolrich/Topo designs bag, that i hugged to me like a kid with a favourite soft toy. It’s hard to find anything not made in China right? And it will last forever right? And shiny things right…

Reuben unlocked the gates to the Sustainability Park and gave us a tour. It was like seeing CERES in its early days, exciting new enviro ideas sprouting up on a vacant lot. One section was vegetable garden plots where disadvantaged kids grew produce to sell, another area was where a lady on government assistance was trying to live off for a year, there were bees and a whole array of eco building examples. So inspiring and so much fun, I wished I could stay to make a mini project happen there.

Walking home in golden dusk I felt a surge of happiness, but then a tinge of sadness that we would have to leave these new friends behind. We left them at a microbrewery and raced the clock to the vegan grocery they recommended. We got there after closing but the owner was pretty chill and actually seemed to enjoy having a chat. He said that with his niche market he wasn’t threatened by big chains like Wholefoods or Trader Joe’s and that he was actually moving his store closer to them to benefit from their spillover as there were speciality products the big names would not bother to sell. Apparently they give loans to small local food producers and only have something like a 9 month exclusive contract as well. Hmm…in Australia we could perhaps benefit from the competition as the Woolworths/Coles duopoly is out of control.

The day ended sharing in the Ali, Reuben and Wendall’s family meal. Delicious quinoa salad and homemade soup. We felt so welcomed in this foreign land, the kindness of strangers really can turn a good experience into a great one. Have little acts of kindness transformed ordinary places into special ones?

Eco building, Garden, Permaculture design, Travel

Goodbye earthships

March 16, 2014 5 Comments

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Last day in New Mexico

While Jerry and I finished off the retaining wall, at the SS3 site most of the interns didn’t bother to show up, slackers. Our work hard was paid off though in delicious gourmet pizza ordered by Judy. We sat in her living area wreathed in cigarette smoke amongst her knickknacks from the middle east and India, dog begging at the table, loom glistening in the sun, the perfect end to the adventure.

As we head off to Colorado in Sam’s truck I’ll leave you with some photos of the visitor’s centre, the most edible and well maintained garden that I saw on the site. Towering lale, capsicums and tomatoes in winter, if I get anything from this it will be the power of the greenhouse, earthship or otherwise. We’re lucky in Melbourne to be able to grow outside all year round, but with our short but stiffeling summer season dreams of eggplants and capsicums are swirling for next spring! I had a great chat with Danny in the visitor’s centre about his permaculture plans for the site and then Ron burst in all smiles that he had been put in charge of EVE where they would really get stuck into edible gardening. I was so glad to bump into these two in my last hours at earthship HQ, it felt like all the loose ends were neatly tied up and I was ready to go. I wish Ron and Danny all their best with greening the Mesa.

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