Intro to Permaculture class

I just wanted to let those following my blog that I will be teaching a FREE short Into to Permaculture class at Ace Hardware in Woodville on November 17, 2011 from 6:30-8:00 PM. I will be showing Starhawk's DVD on The Growing Edge and hope to get some local people involved.

Yesterday I took a awesome Permaculture class with Paul and Rebecca at Just Fruits, there were a lot of people there that are wanting to know and do more. The networking has only begun...

My fall garden is pretty but not very productive. I made a big batch of Bio-Brew that is going  on today. It has been so dry and watering everyday is difficult, but as we say... try and try again!
Happy Gardening
Sissy

Fall Garden and Sheet Mulching

Sorry I have been having a hard time posting due to internet issues, my post is a few days late.
October 5, 2011
　
Whoo Hooo the fall garden is PLANTED!
In the Garden
And I have been a gardening fool! I had Noah smooth out my permaculture beds and then spent two days filling the sandy soil with old hay, manure and anything of organic matter I could rake up out of the horse and chicken pens. I collected and hauled two truck loads of cardboard and striped off all the tape and labels. To me this was boring and hard work as I stood at the bed of the truck for what seemed endless hours with a huge pile of tape and plastic that was not going into my garden. I took one afternoon and layered all the cardboard into my new sheet mulched garden and wet it down, careful not to walk on it as little as I could. The next morning was our first cool day, the temperature was in the low 50’s when Noah piled the first of two flat beds trailers full of compost and we started spreading it. The first we spread with the tractor, the rest I did by hand and a wheel barrow. The cardboard had started to dry and the wind picked up on Saturday morning. I chased around getting enough compost over the cardboard to keep it from flying away into the other side of the garden. He brought the next load and I waited until Monday morning to spread it wheel barrow after wheel barrow into a spiral. Then on Tuesday morning I hauled another load on the little trailer to finish the spiral. I was getting very excited as I finished off the beautiful spiral with mulch in between the rows on the walk way and raked down the bed. The moisture in the bed is really incredible, the compost is holding the rich black soil and it really is in contrast with the sand in the rest of the garden. I set up a sprinkler in the center and wet it down several times.
I also set up two wooden boxed for my salad table and one to plant carrots. I layered the bottoms of the boxes with leaves I raked from the yard and sand. Then I filled in the compost and worm castings. I topped it off with fine compost I screened to give the seeds a strong start. These boxes too are holding the rich compost moist.. I set the boxes on the south side of the green house to catch the sun, throughout the winter this spot will stay warm and protected. I hope they will not be too hot there because they are too heavy to move. We have raised tomatoes and peppers there in planters every year and it seems to be a good spot.
This morning on my run, I saw maybe 15 deer out playing and feeding. They came closer to me than ever before and some ran in the woods along the road beside me. It was a nice morning to be out and seeing all the deer made me feel nature was calling me to plant. I left the sprinkler run on the spiral while I ran and came back to do my morning chores and then started planting. In the boxes I planted heirloom carrots and mixed salad greens. In the spiral I planted, collard greens not my buy but Noah’s, hybrids I am sure. Then two kinds of heirloom mustards greens, two kinds of heirloom broccoli and two kinds of heirloom cauliflower, heirloom snow peas and plenty of rooms for cabbage and Brussels sprouts when I find what I want.
Now I need to search out mulch from whatever source I can find and start lining the walk ways into the spiral. When my young plants start coming in and the first thinning is done I will mulch the young plants from the mulch in the walkway. I actually located a place in Bradfordville that sells oat straw for bedding.
All this seems to be a lot of work and I have worked like a dog for more than a week and the cooler weather has inspired me. What I am doing is building and amending my soil with sheet mulching. This permaculture technique has been used in gardens all around the world that has poor sandy soil and this give the garden a strong foundation. It is a lot of work but in the end it will pay off, or so Noah says "time will tell if it works". The way I look at it is that everything we do to improve the soil will pay off in the long run. It is much better than planting in dead sandy soil that has very little to support vegetables. But each season until the soil has been totally amended the process will have to be repeated again and again. Hopefully after a few seasons the rich black compost and mulch will state to give more to feeding the soil and building a micro-organic base with fungi and worms that will be healthy again. The cardboard works two ways. It creates a moisture trap to change the microclimate of the spiral, it traps both air and water, instead of running through the the sand it slows it down and it breaks down in time feeding the soil too. It also prevents the weeds from creeping through if done right. The garden spiral pattered also serves several purposes. It is beautiful for one. Everyone knows I love the symbol of life and spirit. But the areas actually gives more space than rows when it is done right, just walk it a few times and you will see how much room there is in a spiral than if the same space were in rows. Several years ago I planted my corn in a spiral and the rest of the garden in rows. My family laughed at me. But even though I didn’t plan it out well enough to give some width for the corn to set out the storm roots, it was the only time I have ever been successful in growing corn and we had plenty to eat and in the freezer. The corn I grew with Ken this year in the experimental beds grew well, but it was field corn and even though we did eat some of it, it was more for the animals and not for the table. It grew tall and produced two ears per stalk but our experiment was for the double dig and heavy trenched rows of compost. Point is I love the spiral and I have plans to do the spring garden in front of the winter garden in the same pattern but turning in the other direction. The spiral also creates a microclimate, it catches the light and air as it spins through the bed. It creates a trap for moisture as well instead of the rain just pooling up in the rows, that is when it does rain. I just love it and it feel so good to see it done. Eventually I will set up my irrigation system but for now I am just looking at it and the sprinkler does it’s job.

　
　
On the Farm..
More excitement here too. Last week we brought in 4 rescue horses. It is so sad to see what can happen to incredibly beautiful horses when someone totally loses it and starves them almost to death. It is a long and sad story I will not go into. But for the past week we have been very careful to feed and care for these neglected animals. I can see some slow results already but it is going to be a long haul. Horses that have been starved so badly can colic and die if you give them too much feed to fast to bring them back around to a state of health. There are times where horses just start losing weight and then there are old horses that just get old and poor no matter what you do. Personally I blame the feed that we are forced to feed horses. The GMO corn has effects on them as well as us but we really have very few choices. These are all very good well bred paso fino blood lines and once were top show horses. Where we go from here I do not know, but we will see, for now we are just saving their lives.
Last week we had a new foal born. She.. yes she is so cute and mom will eat you up as she let me know a few hours after she was born, she walked up and nuzzled me, mom tried to eat me. I got out of there before I could tell if it was a filly or a colt but Noah identified her. We have one of our yearlings going to a new owner in West Palm Beach this weekend and had a wild ride to the vet on Monday to pull coggins test. We haven’t been to Tom Bevis’s clinic in several years and never pulled our big horse trailer in there. We got turned around and went down a few wrong drives, but we made it. Both horses we on their first trailer ride. Coggins test have to be pulled on horse to sell them and when they travel through inspection stations.
So there was even more excitement on Monday. I was tired after a day working with horses, shoveling compost and such and I had a meeting at 7pm. Noah was working with two young fillies, we had loaded them into the trailer, lead them around to eat grass. I had put one up and Noah took the other into the back yard while I took a shower. I came out of the shower and heard dogs barking and looked out the window to see Noah in real trouble. He has three huge American bull dogs in a pen near the house. One of the puppies weighs over 100 pounds and his mother and brother not quite as big, but big. They had broken out of the pen while Noah had the filly on the lead and were trying to catch her. That is what bull dogs do. Noah was having a time trying to hold her and catch the dogs before the bite her on the legs. She was whirling and dancing on their heads but it was more than any of them could handle. I did not stop of even hesitate. I ran for the door in nothing but a towel and it was on my head. But managed to get out in the yard with Noah, the filly and the dogs. I garbed one and he tried to bite me. We went round and a round. Noah tried to tie the filly up to the plum tree so he could catch a dog and I tackled one and then grabbed another. The one that had the collar on was not the problem. I drug one over and put it in the pen but before I got back to the filly it had gotten out again. I sat on one and garbed another by the tail. About this time we were getting a upper hand on the madness and Noah was able to calm the filly down and grab a dog at the same time. It seemed like it when on for 30 minutes but I am sure it wasn’t more that 30 seconds, but in the end no one got hurt and everyone was safe. It wasn’t until the next morning I realized I had jammed my thumb and it was swollen for a few days. But if I had not been there, it could have been a serious situation. Noah now has a huge chain on the gate and the bar secured. I had told the naked dog and horse fight story to my circle on Monday night and they were just rolling in laughter. Noah really wished he had it on video, me naked chasing the huge bull dogs and tackling them in the dirt to keep them off the dancing filly, with him flying around the plum tree trying to secure her. Well one thing for sure there is never a dull moment on our farm.
Happy Gardening, feel the shifts in the earth as we turn the seasons, fall is here and things are a changin".

EMS and Heroes…. August and September 2011

EMS and Heroes…. August and September
It has been a while since I have posted because I have been really busy with commitments that I made months before I went to Canada and Earth Activist Training. But there will be a time in the near future where I move to another phase of commitment, which will be focused on Permaculture.
Here is what I have been doing…
In The garden
I finally got all the feed bags and stakes out of the permaculture beds. The sun had broken them down to a real mess because they do not have UV inhibitors to protect them. I should have thought of that or tested that before I set hundreds of them in my beds. But that is what permaculture is about test and more test. And the bags are here since we use them everyday and I am all about recycling anything I have on the farm. They did contorl some of the weeds and grass but at a huge labor intense cost to me, the farmer.
I pulled up all my summer crops and composted them. The grass has taken over so much of the garden. Noah tilled up ½ of the garden and he is still tending his peppers. I have purchased cover crops for the tilled section of the garden and have plans and materials for two box planters, one as a salad table for salad greens and another for carrots, which I hope to winter in the green house. The herb garden is about reached it’s peak and I have seeds to harvest and others that need to be covered with leaves to prepare for winter. My plans in the permaculture test beds are to use the tractor to smooth the mounds and sheet mulch with cardboard, create my winter garden with a spiral of compost and mulch once the seedlings are up. Since I pulled up all my irrigation system, I will have to redo that as well. The soil is still very dry and we are more than 20 inches below our normal rainfall. But the cooler weather and rain today is a blessing. Fall is on the way!
On the farm
We have been working very hard of Farm Management. We are down to 30 horses and have moved most of our horses around to make feeding and care more manageable. We are still waiting for one more foal to be born and have been advertising horses. Managing the horses is and has been a huge part of our work for the past few months. Let’s just say, we are doing the things we have been talking about for a while now, it is not easy when you have such a large farm with many projects going on and working jobs outside of the home too.
I have been doing a fair amount of canning. I learned to can meat, something I have wanted to do for a long time. I made jelly and jam from wild hog plums and crabapples. I strung and dried peppers. We harvested our early fall honey a few weeks back and our hives need more attention. The worm bins are full and happy, but I need to harvest soon before I set out my fall crops. I am waiting for the wild Sumac to turn red and I will harvest from the woods to store and make teas soon.
I am a better goat farmer today than I was last week. While I was in Canada Noah purchase 4 African pigmy goats. A buck, a doe and her two young kids. We did not vaccinate them when we brought them here, we did not know if they had been vaccinated by the previous owners…another lesson learned the hard way by busy farmers. Last week one of the kids came down with Tetanus. I knew the moment I saw her that I needed to act fast. 30 hours of constant care and administering anti-toxins and forcing fluids did not save her. It was very sad and as the book said, not a pretty sight to see and experience. Please vaccinate regardless of who owned goats you purchase, with as many horses as we have and knowing that tetanus lives in anaerobic soil it is only a matter of time. Lock Jaw is not curable. Vaccinations go for farmers too.
More goats..we made the trip to Marianna last Thursday to pick up our Saanen Goats from my friend Lisa’s mother. We got two does and a buck. We had gotten two does from her last fall and I had intentions of having myself a milk goat and was really looking forward to that this summer. The doe we thought was bred was not and she died suddenly in August of bloat. And I always thought goats could eat anything, isn’t that what the old folks say.. it is not true. Noah has been wanting this mean ass billy goat for a while now and I had been trying to put him off. Marie, Lisa’s mother had told stories of how mean he was and even though she called Diego, I renamed him.. in Spanish..The White Devil. Noah really, really wanted this huge muscled up Saanen goat, even as we stood at the fence with him butting it, I was asking, Are you sure? He lead him into the trailer and we loaded up a milking stand and lots of supplies she wanted to give us and then in the bargain we got a honey extractor and some hive box parts. We were all set for the next stage of our goat farming adventure and supplies to repair our bee hives too. We got home just before dark and it was almost 9:30 before we got everyone settled and the farm fed. The girls unloaded fine and so did the buck but when Noah went to release him into the round pen with the colts he tried to hook Noah several times. It took a few days to get his attention but now Noah has a halter on him and can lead him around the yard to eat grass. We just turn out the does to roam and eat when we are home. Every one seems to be happy. I will have a while before I have a goat to milk but I’ll be ready, Thanks to Marie.
Water, water every where..not a drop to spare
That Thursday night we realized we had a problem with our water pump, again. We have talk extensively about the sacred water we have on this land and how our survival and our farms survival depends on this precious water supply. This year we have been through several pumps and thank the Goddess Noah is damn good at repair and trouble shooting the old system. I can only hold the flashlight and trace the known water lines. The old system had been here for a long time and we do our best to insure that it keeps going. We can survive almost anything as long as we have water for ourselves and our animals. We put our Emergency System to the test for three days. It was Saturday before we had water again. I was very proud to set up a composting toilet in the bathroom which did not meet the approval of Noah, Leslie or the grandkids that came in on Friday. But I was happy to get a chance to use my skills. We were able to get enough water to sorta keep the horses watered until Saturday morning when we decided we needed to fill all the water containers and fix the problem which seemed to becoming a puzzling task for Noah. After hauling 6/55 gallons drums of water we figured over 700 gallons to assure everyone was going to have ample supply, he fixed the pump. The problem was a broken hose in the Oak Garden that we had checked several times but not discover till Saturday. He also replaced the new ½ horse pump with another new 1 horse pump. But we were back in business in time for me to finally get a shower and go to work on Saturday afternoon.
We had another test of the Emergency System on Saturday. As we were unloading the last drums of water we looked up to see a Jefferson County Sheriffs officer coming behind Jamie (our youngest daughter) down our drive. When we went out to see what was going on, Leslie, Trent and Summer met us in the drive. I heard Leslie tell Jamie, Trent had called 911. Our grandson Trent (7 years old) had a difficult time this summer when he was at his fathers and ended up in the hospital very ill on his return (I blogged this back in July). I insisted that Leslie teach him to call for help if he needed it. Well I guess he waited till he got to Paw Paw and Me Maw’s to try it out. He called 911 several times, Leslie which was sick and was asleep on the couch and Trent had gone into our bedroom to make the calls. We were all pretty upset but the deputy was very nice and understanding. He got down on his knees and looked Trent in the eye and asked him some very serious questions about if he needed help. And now that he knows what to do, at least stay on the line and tell the dispatcher that you were just testing the system or if someone really needed help. It is a very long way to our end of the county when there maybe someone that really needs help on the other side. It really sacred Trent and gave us a nervous moment too since he was following Jamie all the way down our road. At lease we know if we call 911 they will come. More lessons learned for us all.
Now for the Hero
We have two critters on our farm named Angus, one is our beloved 20 year old African gray parrot that lives in our house and is considered family. And the other is an old American bull dog that belonged to Noah’s father. Angus (dog) resides in his dog pen out near the goats and the new stalls we build for the horse last month. He is now considered a hero on our farm! When we went to pick up the goats last week, Marie was ready to give them to us because she had encountered a rattlesnake in her goat barn. I too have been seeing a lot of snakes around our farm but they were mostly black snakes. I do not fear snakes but have a healthy respect as long as they stay where they belong, they have a job too. This time of year the rattlers move a lot so I have been told that August and September is breeding season. In the spring I killed one in the dog pen that insisted on trying to enter despite the barking dogs. I just do not understand why a snake would want to enter a pen full of barking dogs? While Noah was feeding on Tuesday a huge rattle snake entered Angus’s pen, he didn’t just kill the rattle snake but he ate half of it before Noah got back to the pen, head and all….and lived! Noah told the story that he was protecting the goats and the horses, which I truly believe to be so. The name Angus came from Noah’s ancestors, Angus Maloy was a famous paddle boat owner that ran tours on the Wasicca River in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. You may know some of the history about and around our discussions of the closing of the Maloy Landing road by the Jefferson County commissioners and our fight with Nestle’s bottling company wanting to draw water out of the river. Last week the Commissioners voted on the aquifer protection laws for the county but Nestle’s had backed off more than a month ago. We will not let down our fight and hopefully in the near future have Maloy Landing road maybe reopened so our children and theirs may enjoy the river landing their ancestors loved so.
Into the world of magic
The Fall Equinox is only a few days away and I will be celebrating the harvest with my beloved Circle of friends in ritual on Friday night. On Saturday we will be joining our community for a public Mabon ritual at Lake Ella. A few weeks ago we taught Elements of Magic in a weekend intensive that brought 8 new students into the knowledge of Magic with Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. Our work in the community is very important as we feel the shifts in the world, the seasons, as well as in the cosmos. Life is changing fast and the world we live in, just listen to the news. Those of us that feel and embrace the connections of life on Earth are working for unity and enlightenment as we evolve through these changes. If we join together on a higher level of awareness we use our knowledge and skills to prepare the future generations to survive. Last night I watched my youngest grandson in Urgent Care as he was being treated for an ear infection. Even though he did not feel well, he charmed everyone with his crystal blue eyed gaze. Watching these children grow and seeing the natural magic in their eyes is awesome. And I am not just saying that because he is my grandson, you are seeing them too. There is a difference in the children being born today, they are our future and we need to teach and protect them, but most of all give them a world of natural balance, community and unity to grow in. I am very proud of my youngest daughter, she has developed her own skills in using cloth diapers, natural foods and alternative medicines where she can with her first born. She is a stay home mom and works hard at it, she has come a long way in sustainability for her family.
Into the future
Yesterday as I was doing my duties of irrigation in the demo gardens at the Leon County Extension Office, I finally met Will the Extension Agent that is teaching Green Gardens and Homes and who’s focus is on sustainability and permaculture. I was so excited to meet him and we had a nice chat about the programs he is working on and I showed him my mess of slides from Earth Activist Training and some of my projects. I signed up for his class but missed the first one because I was hauling goats that night. Hopefully we can share more of our interest in Permaculture and work together in the future on projects to share our knowledge with community. I know my approach and training may bring a little different flavor to permaculture than others but it will take us all to make permaculture a household word and practice in our community.
I am almost ready to get all my photos and material together to get started, just a few more commitments I need to complete. As I have said before I am passionate about Permaculture and my intent is to share it with as many people as I can.


Have a Happy Harvest as the Wheel of the Year turns,
Sissy Taylor-Maloy
Certified Permaculture Designer
(Whooo Hooo! That felt really good!)

As August coming to a powerful end

August 23, 2011
　
Mercury has been in Retrograde since August 2nd and I have been in my Mercury energy, it goes direct on the 26th. Since my zodiac sign is at the mercy of the Mercury and when he goes into retrograde I take heed, I learned years ago to take this time to RE…re-evaluate, rethink, redo, readjust and re stuff. My world has not been one of rest but of reflection of life in general, my marriage, my home and my family. Things have been stressful and I have spent a lot of time thinking and rethinking ways to redo things. I am not to say that I am not happy and my life is not full of love and joy, it is, it has just been a good time to reevaluate things.
　
The first thing has been my garden. I spent weeks ripping out grass and weeds. I pulled up all the feed bags that were totally deteriorating…. what a mess! Rethinking what I am going to do next since, I have lots of ideas and experience and now training. I resurrected my tomatoes and now the last of the eggplant that has been through a rough summer of neglect and drought. The afternoon rains have kept them alive and they are struggling but still have some poor fruit and green leaves. Time to make up some Bio-Brew!
　
The corn is drying on the stalks and the beautiful orange corn reminds me of the Indian corn that you get around the fall holidays to decorate the table. The cows love it and I find great joy in tossing it over the fence to them. The goats don’t seem to care much for it but they seem to be a picky bunch anyway. A few days ago we lined the chicken nest with pine straw. Since we moved Roger and his one hen into the goat pen we built roost and laying boxes there as well. We set them up all nice and cozy and those damn goats ate the pine straw. That is so strange, they will not even eat the hay we give them and the little bit of green vegetation that grows in their pen but they eat the pine straw?
　
My last master gardener’s class a few weeks ago gave me lots of food for thought on what I want to do next. It was my favorite class so far. We had several speakers, instead on one long lecture on something that I find.. just very boring. There was so much information coming from maybe five different speakers that I really need to go through my notes and make my own notes. One of the speakers talked about pesticides and herbicides and it really got me on my high horse once again about organic foods, what we eat and such. Yesterday I sat down and watched Food Inc. again. And after thinking about all the crap we eat and how it is all controlled. I really want more than ever to produce all my own food and meats. As I eat my fresh eggs for breakfast, I count my blessings to be so fortunate to have this life. I sat for two hours last night cutting and preparing pears from our trees. Today I made Wild Hog Plum jelly and put up six quarts of fresh pears. Noah and I are talking about what to plant next week after the new moon and what we want in our fall garden.
　
Not only that I am very concerned about what is happening on the cosmic level. I feel every shift and every turn of the days and nights of the ninth wave. We started the fifth night last Friday, August 18 and I could feel it as if someone set a key into a huge lock and it went click. I know that over the next few weeks as we move closer to the sixth day we are going to feel the effects so much more, just turn on the TV and watch the news. And personally I do not feel we are seeing and hearing it all, just the tip of what is really happening in the world. And then there are the two comets coming, Elaine and Honda the first that will be here on Sept. 23-26, right at the Fall Equinox. There is the destruction of our world tree right at our front door and many people are not seeing and knowing it, but they are feeling it on some level or at least lets hope so. Not everyone will embrace the beauty of what is happening and some will not survive it. There is too much fear in the world, and others feed off that fear for their own personal gains. If you haven’t looked at this go to www.calleman.com read back through the months since the ninth wave began in March 2011.
The energy of those that are tuned in are starting to ramp up and the energy of those trying to escape or use it for their own profit are too. The anger and hate, the destruction and breakdown is happening on all levels. I just keep telling people to get right with yourselves and hold on. Be prepared to open your mind and your heart to the changes you are about to see in the world. Take care of yourself and yours first, there will be a time to help others in the world.
　
Permaculture Design is still on the top of my list, even though I have not actually put it into action yet. I must try to fulfill obligations that are already on my plate. I keep talking and telling people about it every day but for now my lectures are on hold, even though I am itchin to get on with it. I am planning to really look at start doing some talks in the fall and winter, maybe using public library or common space. But I also want to be working on my own projects too.
　
I am so drawn to write. Writing a book will be a huge part of my next journey. I don’t know where to start and I have been in that place for a long time. For years I have had so many of my friends and sometimes just total strangers tell my I need to write a book. I don’t even know where to start, other than I know I am a great story teller and I have had so many adventures to share with others. I have ideas how I would like to share my knowledge and experiences and I am truly passionate one day doing this. And then here am I in this world of total cosmic disruption, how will I ever find the time to sit that long to make this happen? That little voice says, be careful what you wish for….
For the next month I will be focusing on my fall garden and holding on to life. We will be Elements of Magic class in early September, then a public ritual for Mabon and Pagan Pride Day. And our own Circle’s Mabon ritual where we spin the Wheel of the Elements. I don’t know where I will be by the first of October, hopefully knee deep in rich composted soil and happily tending the garden. I am looking forward to the cooler temperatures and the crisp fall air, I love that smell. We are already starting to feel the churn of the tropic air as a Tropical storm/hurricane dances through the islands and will run up the eastcoast of Florida this weekend. The fall Hurricanes are always more intense and bring lots of needed rain. We are still way below on our rainfall but you can’t tell it by the grass that is growing out of control. I noticed the huge elephant ears yesterday that by this time of year are usually two to three feet across, they look like they just got started in their growth. It has been a difficult year. It is time to harvest the last of our honey and set the bees up for the fall and winter season, we leave them plenty of honey to make it through the winter but I love the fall harvest. The deer are having a field day in orchard and in Noah’s oak garden but it is still coming along. Our other rooster Robby seems to be much better for our hens, since Roger has gotten so mean that he jumps on me when I go into the pen and his hens were so eaten up with someone constantly pecking their butts and tail feathers. I have taken to tossing sticks and things at him and he goes over to the corner and screams at me, I am contently threatening "Rooster Stew" to him, but more like I would harvest his rooster legs and feathers and feed the rest to the dogs. Do people eat roosters? I sure hate getting spurred! Since we moved him in with the goats all the hens seem much happier and yesterday we got 16 eggs.
Last weekend we did some serious rearranging and reevaluating (Mercury energy again) of the farm. It all started the weekend before with some very serious discussions of the future and making the farm something that is more sustainable in nature and business. Farm management is not our strong hold and we are really not very good at it, even though we have been running a horse farm for over 25 years. Our horses are eating us out of house and home and they are the ones suffering from the high cost of feed and poor sandy soil. We are up to 35 horses and they have got to go. We have a full geriatrics unit and have already had three babies this year. Noah and I are getting too old to deal with this many horse, and frankly it is a luxury we can no longer afford to take care of efficiently. We are down sizing and getting pretty serious about it too. Leslie our oldest daughter came from Panama City and we spent the entire day on Saturday washing, trimming, worming, photographing and identifying the horses on the first wave of our sales list. We are building a catalog and sales list that we will put on the internet and in other publications. We are also looking to give a few away and send some to auction. We are actually doing this, after many years of just talking about it. It is time. Our focus has changed too. We are more into sustainability and talking care of ourselves and our family. We will always have horse of some kind JUST not so many. We are moving more to things we can eat like chickens, cows and goats. I guess if you really needed to, you could eat a horse. The day may come again where you will have to ride one to get to where you want to go.
For now I am in the spiral of life, moving in and out of the energy, up and down as the spiral spins and turns, facing in and out as I go. Waiting for the Planets to move and the weather to change. The equinox will bring changes in all the worlds. I list to the spirits as they guide me though and hold fast and true to what I know.
My blessings go to my beloved friend Bonnie, now in Nova Scotia attending her very first witch camp in Vermont this week. It has been a long awaited adventure my friend and my thoughts have been with you since you left home last Thursday. I hope you are having a wonderful time and as we say, What we do between the worlds, changes all the worlds, So mote it be."
On my way to work I hear about the Earth Quake….wake up and feel the Element of Change in our world!

Summer time Blues and Dog Days of Summer

August 4, 2011
Posting on August 5, 2011

Oh to the Summertime Blues…. Well I won’t really call it that, but some Blues singer did or was it Rock and Roll.

Tuesday night after I recovered from being Bear Caught (heat exhaustion) I had pretty much recharged and spent the heat of the day inside. That evening I did something stupid, something we all do it from time to time, it is painful and really stupid. I accidentally kicked the door jam going into the bathroom in the dark and totally jammed my little toe. I don’t think I broke it this time, I have broken my little toes so many times that I am surprised either of them have bones. Damn don’t you hate that.. when it happens? So, I am limping around and my little toe and the whole side of my foot is black and blue. Toes are pretty important and when they are hurting, it really messes you up. Arnica and soaking in Epsom salts, my cure for the day.
Yesterday I got up early watched the sunrise, pissed I couldn’t run. Sat on the porch drinking coffee, playing my flute and watching a heard of deer in the front yard. Two bucks, one little spike and the other in a full rack of velvet. I love their fuzzy antlers. Later I went into the woods with the golf cart and picked blueberries, since the deer have eaten most of them, I used the golf cart to get to the tops of the bushes. Then I did the same for the purple scupine grapes and the wild hog plums. I came home with buckets full of fruit and berries and the rest of my day was spent in the kitchen. I made up juice to make jelly next week. Then made Skillet Eggplant Parmesan for dinner.
　
Last night I had a nice long phone conversation with my beloved friend Bonnie from Nova Scotia. Her summer visitor, family, students from Spain and houseguest have all left and the family has their house back for a while. I just loved being there with her and the family, doing all the things we did, meeting people and seeing the sights. And yes, I will go back to Nova Scotia. I want to express my gratitude again for having this experience this summer. Being able to go to Canada for a month, spending a week with Bonnie, taking the adventure of traveling and going to Earth Activist Training. All that I learned and all I did and saw, I am so grateful. I just can’t stop thinking about all the really cool people I met and energies I touched. It was just Awesome! My gratitude goes to all those here at home that made this happen for me, my friends and family that supported me and gave me money and most of all held down the fort while I was gone. Thank You all again!

This one is for you Bonnie! My Altar for Canada! Nova Scotia to Florida direct line!

One the Farm
My weeds are still taking over, the grass is out of control and the mowers broke, damn… it is too hot to do anything about it anyway. The pears are almost ready to be picked before the deer eat them all. I am antsy and want to be doing something with permaculture, as I sit in my chair with my foot in a big pot of Epsom salt, you know you can use it on your plants too. I have tons of books to read and things I could be doing in the planning department. I want to be outside! Just love eating fresh eggs for breakfast and topping ti off with a warm pear right off the tree.
Speaking of Hot, not only is it dog days but Mercury is in Retrograde and now is the time to RE>>>>things, redo, reevaluate, remodel, rethink, re..re..re…relax… Oh that is not easy for me, so the universe tosses me a black and blue toe and says…SIT!
More Permaculture

I have been looking at Fungi. Even as hot as it is there are mushrooms everywhere, all different kinds. I found a little pamphlet at Borders on common mushrooms and the poison ones too. Noah and I have had fun looking at the different ones that grow around the yard and at the barn, their spore prints, gills, stems, cap size and color. I am just too afraid to try them since most of them appear to be the poison ones… or I just would like for someone to tell me they are edible. Better to be safe than dead or really sick., I’m not taking chances. Oh, I know what your thinking, no I am not looking for the little psilocybe mushrooms….oh no, been there and done that back in the 70’s. I know what THEY look like and horse poop does not support the spores, it has to be cow poop and a certain kind. In high school I did a book report on them and did my research well. At one time I was the one that knew where they grew in this area. I have developed a whole different kind of love and respect for mushrooms. Now, I just want to grow my own to eat and use them in my garden and in my compost pile. Thanks to permacultue, I can see what beautiful benefit they have to the natural system of all growth and decay. And yes, I want to know what wild mushrooms are edible and which ones will kill you. Noah has been looking on the internet for spores to inoculate wood with, to grow your own and to add to the compost piles. I would think we would have a pretty good growing season here for them.

Oh to the life of those hot steamy summer days where we sit in a cool spot, thinking of all those things we should be doing, but then just sit there and think about them some more.
This weekend is our Grand children’s Birthday party. Trent will be 7 on August 10^th and Summer just turned 2 on July 29^th. We are going to Panama City for their party on Saturday.

I know at least two of the are going to make you really sick, but that are so pretty! DO NOT EAT WILD MUSHROOMS unless you know for sure what they are, the ones that look edible are the ones that will kill you. I want to learn!!!

You Do Not have to look at this one....it is still black and blue after three days....

Bear Caught

August 2, 2011
Bear Caught!
If you haven’t ever been Bear Caught now is your chance…..a near death experience and if you don’t have enough sense to get out of the garden that is where they will find you and you might as well just put it in your will to bury you there as well.

I may only be 11am and 87 degrees in the sunny garden but you can over heat so fast when you are pullin weeds. I had already run two miles in the warm morning air, sweated out most of my water and made myself attack the garden, still trying to reclaim what is left or at least pull up the irrigation system and the feed bags. The feed bags are totally deteriorating fast and Ken said they do not have UV inhibitors in the but I am concerned about what they are putting into the soil. What ever it is the weeds and grass love it, so I guess it can’t be too bad. But I made myself get out there stipped down to my short shorts and a sports bra and big hat and gloves. Just going to town…until I realized I was totally soaked and sweat was dripping around me where I stood, not uncommon, but then I felt the nausea and my head felt light, I headed for the garden hose and soaked myself head to toe the waves of nausea didn’t stop so I made my way inside and grabbing a wet towel and the phone and down on the kitchen floor. Oh Shit! I am Bear Caught! I grabbed a glass of water and sipped it as I wrapped the wet towel around my neck and the nausa began to let up. I checked my pulse and it began to return to normal as I cooled. Thinking that was really stupid! Next thought was I have too much to do today to be laid up with heat exhaustion. I took a cool shower and made ice tea and decided I needed to spend some time in a book or chillin on my computer until I felt a little better.

Afternoon Ramblings....

Read a cool little book about Florida Out Houses..bargan from Borders going out of business

It is too hot, I hear that King's Of Leon walked off the stage mid concert last weekend in Texas saying it was just too hot.Hear that Kat??? I also hear you will be home this week to decompress after your wild tour through Europe......

Too hot and Mercury is going into Retrograde tonight....Leo is the Hot Lion Fire Energy and Dog Days are upon us...Find some shade and stay cool!!! Take time to plan your fall garden!

Happy Lammas

August 1, 2011 Lammas is the second harvest of the season and the 10th anniversary of Magnolia Circle!

I woke this morning with the thought of Permaculture racing through my head. All the things I want to do, all the things I have learned and I want to teach others. All the things I want to share....I am passionate about this and I just feel so excited about making it happen. I had to go to the dermatologist at 7:30am for a check up. And to discuss my sun poisoning which he called....Poly Morphus Light Eruption! Whoo Hooo sounds kinda spooky!!

But I left there and did two things I don't normally do, one I sat at Bagle Heads for two hours just working on my computer, writing! then I spent two hours in Borders, almost in tears, that my most beloved book store is closing. I even said to the clerk as I checked out that I was sad. I spent money I did NOT have on important books.. all of which relate to permaculture, gardening, farming, sustainablity. So I justified my purchace when I have not paid my house payment or home owners insurance...or bought my grand children's birthday presents...Bad Mee Maw!

But I have started on my plans for what I am going to do with my Permaculture Design certificate and that I will be posting and tweeking in the near future. 

Have a wondeful harvest!!! 

Sorry I did not spell check this post

WooHooo! One for Friends of the Wacissa AGAIN**

I do not know why it will not let me post the e-mail, but Nestle's backed down. There should be media on it tomorrow. But we will never stop watching over our river. You never know when they will buy out another neighborhood. But tonight we celebrate!!!!!
Yes! and we will still support County Commissioners August 18^th to vote in the laws to protect all our springs and aquifer.

My Garden before and after GOOD TO BE HOME!

One of the things we learned in permaculture was to work with our constraints. My biggest constraint and challenge is going to be poor sandy soil. We do not have the resources to pour hundreds of gallons of water and chemical fertilizers on our soil to grow vegetables. And we wouldn’t do it if we could. But I have been thinking about this a lot and ways to change the OM or Organic Matter of our sandy soil. I thought I was doing this in the beginning of the summer when I put in my permaculture beds and drip irrigation system, but now I am armed with a permaculture design certificate, and as Starhawk said just enough to be dangerous. Oh, and when I find a way to over come the damn little tiny ticks that are eating Noah and I up I will be happy.

This weekend we picked blueberries and wild hog plums. O I loved spending several hours just walking through the trails and seeing and feeling the energy of our home. I felt like I got lost in Faery for a while there. Noah cut many trails through the woods and around the blueberries but the deer and animals have cleaned out a lot more this summer searching for food. It is good to be home!!! We CAN grow grass when it rains!

　

 ALL ABOVE ARE BEFORE I LEFT JUNE 10th

Below are this weekend July 24/25

　

Florida Summer...hot and sticky

July 23/24, 2011
I have been home for 11 days and life has yet to return to normal. I guess that is what life changing experiences are all about, which this is not the first time I have had such and will explain those experiences later. I must say I have been thinking about my trip, my experiences and my Earth Activist Training most every moment and even in my dreams. Last night I dreamed of building a community garden with children. I was giving direction and designing and we were laying cardboard on the ground and planting vegetables. I am thinking about presentations and making mental notes about how to do this, where and when. This past week I worked a lot and worked really hard with others to make it possible for Starhawk to come to Tallahassee for one night in November. We have not confirmed our plans. She has a new book coming out in late October about building community and using all her experience of years of living and working in community of diversity. It is the Empowerment Manual. I truly honor her and her work as well as her courage and experiences. Today Noah and I watched The Growing Edge, her Permaculture film which I will be using as an introduction to my presentations and we also watched Feast or Famine again the DVD I got in Nona Scotia I just love about farming and bio-diversity.

My garden is a mess and the grass has taken over the project beds. I can hardly see my drip irrigation system. The corn is 15 feet tall and the ears are not ready yet, yet some are drying up. Noah still has peppers coming in and it is hot, the sand burns my feet. But I have plans… I am working on my fall garden and my projects and just need to find the time to get them down on paper, I have them in my head….. I am charged up and ready to go, other that it feels like a sauna outside and needing to gather my thoughts. More sweet ice tea!!!!

Bonnie would have been very proud of me... I made it back home with a full box of Mr.Maple that my family inhailed the first night back, wouldn't let them open it till we were all together. I now have my Nova Scotia altar up. Below are some of my favorite photos from the Botanical Gardens and the Biodome my last day in Montreal... enjoy I have many more.

　

I made it home!!!

Just wanted to let you all know I made it home OK, Noah (husband) Jamie (youngest) and grandson Wiley met me at the airport and the flight was 30 minutes late. We laugh and played road games, had a good trip home getting there almost at midnight. Leslie (oldest) both grand children and her baby sitter were at our house. We were up till 1 am and I got up at 7 am and was in class at 9 am till 1pm. then I was held there working on the irrigation system until a huge thunderstorm rolled in and it was too dangerous to drive home because the rain was so hard I couldn't see the road. I got home about 2:30 and started working in the garden and with the animals till dark. Then I cooked a huge pot of spaghetti and salad. So this is the first moment I have had to sit down. We had a baby horse born today, a little colt. My goat did not have her babies but my husband bought three more little ones. Every one else is fine. I did have time to talk with Noah about Permaculture on the way to the feeds store and my garden is almost gone, I picked okra, egg plants, bell and hot peppers and a few tomatoes. The corn is 15 feet tall but not ready. I ate pears and figs off the tree and picked fresh brazil for dinner. Talked to Noah about making a spiral garden and sheet mulching.

 

So I have to go back to work in the morning because my boss has been working open to close for days without a break, so I will have to pay back some favorers. It will be good to be back in the store and back to some routine.

 

I still haven't gone through all 380 photos that I took in the Gardens but i will over the next few days and post the best ones here. I have a lot of catching up but I am aslo excited to start on my permaculture design.

 

July 12 Biodome and Gardens, headed HOME!!!

July 12, 2011
I slept late and Louise didn’t get up till 10:30 I didn’t run because I was tired from walking all day yesterday, Good thing too. I played with the huge cats and made myself breakfast of French bread and cheese. I lounged in the hammock and waited for someone to stir. When Louise got up she gave me my instructions for the day and directions on how to get to the Botanical Gardens, bus to bus…oh here I go again. Her son walked me down to the bus stop. And off I went. The bus was busy with mid morning commuters and I almost missed my change over but made it, then I got off at the gardens. I found the entrance, it seems that everyone seems to think that finding the entrance to things is easy, it is not as the day goes on I find this more challenging. There is no way I will be able to explain to you what I saw in the gardens, I did a full photos tour, I walked for almost four straight hours and know I did not see it all. I took a lot of photos, it was a trip all it’s self. My favorite was the Bonsai trees and that is about all I can say. For a Master Gardener to spend 4 hours in a garden was just insane….I loved it!
I made my way back to the entrance and then back to where I was to cross the street to go to the Biodome, where the 1976 Olympics Games. It seems I walked for hours because there were no directions and I couldn’t figure out how to get to the entrance. The huge concrete spaceship looking monster just loomed over my head and was a constant shadow over the beautiful gardens. But when I did find the biodome I loved it. It was a huge inside zoo with climites ranging form the rain forest to the arctic. I will have to down load photos and do a whole page or two but not today…..
It took me an hour and a half to get back to Louise’s and I walked more than half way, the bus was very late and very crowed, but I saw more of the streets and I enjoyed it, even though I spent two full days on my feet and walking.
I am on my way home! Flight arrives in Jacksonville at 7:15 so I will post the garden and biodome photos in the next few days.
　

July 11 Montreal adventure

July 11, 2011
Montreal street sounds… people moving all around. They are repairing the water main and they come by with this loud alarm truck to tell you they are turning off the water. There is a broken water main a few houses down from Louise’s. People speaking French and laughing in to all hours of the night. Cats drinking water from the bathroom sink. I put on my eye mask and earplugs and slept hard last night. Up this morning about 6am running through the streets of Montreal to the park where I watched a gray squirrel and several large pigeons eating something in the grass, thinking how much Louise hates both very much. I have made a good friend that I had to trust completely today.

After breakfast we took the bus to the metro (subway) and then the metro down to China town where she left me with specific instructions about how to get back. Yes, I trusted her and I was very nervous to be in a city where I did not speak or read the language but…I had a blast. I walked the streets in China Town, ate Lunch at a Buffet and went into several shops and talked to many people from all over. Things in China Town are very inexpensive and I bought some really cool stuff even though I had to keep in mind I have limited funds and very little room to pack stuff but it was fun. Then I made my way to old Montreal and it started raining. I ducked in and out of shops and shelter of churches. I bought a heavy waterproof bag so my stuff didn’t get wet and a cheep umbrella and continued to walk the streets. I finely found the museum that Louise circled on my map and went inside because I was tired of walking in the rain. The exhibit was about Wine and the Gaul and how wine was made and I found it pretty interesting but I also had a headache and reading all the stuff in a museum with a headache wasn’t enjoyable. I made my way into the theater and the movie was in eight languages and they got around that with headphones dialed into your language and you were set. It was all about the founding of Montreal and the museum is build on top of the foundation site of the city and I too found the history interesting. When wee left the theater we went down stairs actually to the underground city and archeological site, now that was cool but also a little stressful for me and may have been why I had a headache. After winding my way around through the site and back out on the street my headache was gone and it had stopped raining. I made my way down to Saint Paul, the main tourist drag. It reminded me of walking St. George in St. Augustine full of little shops and then I went through the art galleries and was thinking of how much Noah would have just loved that part of the city. Besides there being horse drawn carriages everywhere. I would have taken one but it just seemed stupid for me to do that. But I found the Amber Gallery, the owner was from Poland and I just drooled over a piece of cherry red amber. I have wanted one for a very long time and looked for just the one, this one was $138 and I just had to walk away from it, but it was pretty! I wandered around for a while and decided I had been out long enough and my challenge was coming. I was so proud of myself, yet very nervous, I caught the metero at a different stop, remembered which way to go back in French, had my map in hand and found the right stop, found the bus going east and got off at my stop (in French) and found my way back to Louise’s just in time for dinner. My feet were tired, she was a little worried about me but I feel great that I had such and adventurous day. I have only been on a subway once and that was in DC with people I knew and I have only ridden a city bus maybe 3 times in my life and that was in Tallahassee. So this was a big things for me.

Louise fixed a nice salad from the vegetables she bought in China Town and added real chicken!!! To show my appreciation to my host I did a reading for her and her friend Nathan. It was a good day, but she has plans for me tomorrow too. We are going to the farmers market and then she is going to test me again by having me switch busses to go to the Botanical Gardens, I just assume they are inside.

July 10 Heartroot to Montreal

July 10, 2011
I spent the last morning at Heartroot snooping around and reading books in the old barn. I walked the areas where we had worked over the past few weeks but did not run the steep hill. For some reason I was just not feeling that energetic, I guess since I had hauled all those wheel barrows of horse manure up the hill the day before, I was tired. About 8 am Shabina got up and I had found the book she had lost in the huge piles of books through out the barn, most of them on gardening or healing. I did several loads of laundry and hung them on the line and just puttered around relaxing and played my flute.

About 1:00 pm Shabina’s parents arrived and I knew I would have to catch a later bus from Sherbrook, I was hoping for the 3PM but we spent some time showing them around the farm and our projects. Our ride to Sherbrook was interesting and I found her parents very charming. He was at least half Indian and maybe Italian, she was all Quebec. But the both spoke very good English and we chatted from politics to bee keeping on our hour and a half ride while Shabina slept. I was happy to get to the bus station and the first thing after buying my ticket back to Montreal was to buy some pizza. Sherbrook is a college town so listening to rock and roll songs in the little café in French was very cool. The bus ride was much more enjoyable that the one there. I had two seats to myself and I was on and express, meaning we did not stop at every little town, which I really enjoyed. I also thought it was strange that I had the same bus driver that spoke no English or I had this odd feeling he was a clone….hum I will have to ask Louise since she rode the bus the day before. Coming into Montreal was very entertaining, there are two huge bridges that feed the island and over a million people in Montreal, outside the island over 6 million people. The bridges are massive and from what I understand very old and always in need of repair. But when we went over the bridge it didn’t feel like it was very long, the St. Lawrence river was down there somewhere but I do not think I ever saw it because there was so much to look at. I got off the bus and into a cab. Riding down town in Montreal was very interesting, every other shop was a different culture, French, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Haitian, Tai, Latino, English and of course Canadian. And graffiti in most Canadian cities is an art style all it’s own. The streets are clean and organized, they have to be with such a small space and so many people. Someone told me that in their school the spoke 48 different languages, and I think I have a hard time understanding….

I got to Louise’s about 8 PM to meet her son and his girl friend and Louise’s gay friend boy that I have heard all about for the past two weeks. They were all charming and spoke enough English dinner was not too strange. After dinner of French wine and salmon, bakery bread and cheese… oh the cheese….we walked so I would know were to run in the morning. The streets are safe and the people friendly in her neighborhood. All the houses on her block and surrounding area are one big house connected together for heat mass and conductivity. It gets 30 below here in winter and most of that time there is 6 foot or more of standing snow. So everything here and in Quebec must be made or designed around six months of winter weather, but they all seem to love it. But for now it is beautiful gardens in every little back yard, tomatoes and beans growing on balcony and porch stoop. Flowers everywhere. It is actually very charming.
Louise said it was perfect timing as most things have been for me making this trip. She starts a new job on Wednesday and has the next few days off. Her son just graduated high school and is working at a day camp for kids and his girlfriend is a house painter in summer. Her daughter is in Greece and it is full summer here and the weather is beautiful. But I will be very happy to get home in a few days. But for now I plan to see the beautiful Montreal I have heard so much about.

 Dinner with Louise's family

Nathan and Jennifer Louise's son and girlfriend

July 9 Closing Circle

July 9, 2011
Saying good–by to the class started early. I had a nice chat with Charles and Starhawk about future plans to meet and work together again. The barn was busy with early showers and everyone packing, I didn’t bother because I knew my packing was going to be a huge chore and since I wasn’t leaving till Sunday I spent my time chatting. I didn’t run, I was tired from a restless night.
I was up stairs brushing my teeth when I felt someone standing behind me. I had the door open and people we coming and going but when I turned around no one was there but the towel hanging on the wall across from the tub was suspended in the air. The towel still hung on the hook but swung back and forth as if someone held and dropped the end of it as I turned to look. The first thing I thought was "Oh, that took a lot of energy" and immediately felt a male presence. I walked out of the bathroom and Silven was standing in front of his room and I asked him if he had felt any spirit energy since he was staying right there? He said the first week he woke up to feeling something in his rooms that really scared him and he asked it to leave, and it was male energy, it did not bother him again. The room next to his is where the little boys were staying. Later Kyra told me they talked (only in French) about shadows with red eyes and things that woke them up at night, which we all witnessed during the week, they often would wake up crying durning our evening sessions. I also know their mother Iris does not allow them to watch TV and they are not exposed to the Hollywood version of ghost as some kids are. I personally do not feel there was anything to be afraid of, the spirit just wanted to be acknowledged.
Our morning circle was very powerful with less emotion that the night before. We received our certificates and our readers, which is information and such that we studied in the class. People started leaving with lots of photos, hugs and tears after closing the circle and until around 2pm when Shabina, Krya and I were left on the farm. Shabina which is 22, slept since she was up partying all night and Kyra spent a little while just letting down after the last car pulled out of the drive. Kyra is the daughter of Dawn the owner of Heartroot and the organizer of the workshop, she is 23. I spent over an hour organizing my stuff to pack, which is a real job. I moved into the Barn in the room behind the kitchen because it is right next to the only real bathroom in the place and it is cozy and secure. Later in the afternoon I spent some time cleaning and dragging laundry and garbage down stairs. The Barn is huge and odd, full of junk and just stuff, dust and spiders. Who ever build this place had strange reasons for putting this here and that there, or started something and never finished. It is creepy and old and some places are just nasty with mold or filth. And it feels completely different with everyone gone. I really feel we made a huge difference her in the physical and energy work we did. I felt the male spirit in the area of the two bedrooms and the bathroom as I was cleaning but I just felt it wanted me to know it was there, no communication.
Later in the afternoon Shabina, Krya and I built the last Spiral in the garden to complete the triple. It was very labor intense doing this with just three. We tore tons of cardboard and laid it over the grass and wild flowers, wet it and covered that in manure we hauled up the hill wheel barrow after wheel barrow. It came to shape and we cleared out the paths and laid down the straw to complete it. It is a little smaller than the other two but it can and will be expanded once it is planted and tended.
We sat and talked for a while drank Chi and ate leftovers. Telling stories and learning more about each other. These young people have such incredible energies and experiences. It was so awesome to have so many in our class. Our youngest student was Willow from New Mexico, she was 17 and just a trooper. It makes me feel good that what they learned over the past two weeks will change their lives and hopefully the world around them.
We spent our evening at the house watching a Bollywood movie on the computer. I slept like a rock and sometime during the middle of the night Shabina came in and slept in the other bed, she said the barn was creepy and she got scared, I had offered to share my room but I think she wanted to experience the creepy-ness herself. She is also the one that would take a sleeping bag out into the forest and spend the night until some critter or some strange sound would send her back to shelter, interesting person she is.
I sit in the quiet barn with the flies buzzing around the kitchen table, Shabina’s parents are coming around noon to take me to Sherbrook so I can catch the bus to Montreal. That may change according to their plans but for now I will just go for the ride. I will catch up with Louise tonight and see what other adventures are in store for me.

　

July 8 Presentation Day our class comes to an end

July 8, 2011
Presentation day! We broke up into five groups and took different areas assigned to us by the teachers. We had to interview the land owners, make a site map, fing out what the land needed as for physical improvements, for drainage or shade etc. then we had to design and use the permaculture principles we were taught with details, including a plant list, press release and group process. Each group had 12 hours to pull it off. No Stress…SURE!
But we did and the presentations were really good. May used power point but we didn’t because there were only three of us and none of us were any good at power point. We took the front of the barn area and the animal section in the barn. We added parking lots and roads, efficiency in feeding animals in winter and feed storage, improved play area and a pond to catch the run off water and tap the springs off the slope. Very detailed and very glad to accomplish. After the presentations we had a class on contacts and what we can do with our certificates in Permaculture Design. We can actually call ourselves Permaculturist!!!
And for dinner we had turkey!!!
The talent show was a lot of fun. The teachers always do a skit and theirs was a mix between Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and permaculture, they were very funny. Others sang and read poetry, some told stories and jokes. It was very entertaining. Oh and the answer is…. I watched and enjoyed, no I did not entertain, but in some ways I did.
After the talent show we could smell the cake down stairs as we closed our daily circle and sang and danced. There came to a place where we had opened the circle and no one moved, everyone was just frozen and some people were crying. That was a very odd moment for both teachers and students but it said a lot about the work we have done together and how close we have become as a community. Starhawk started another chant and we raised a cone of power and when it was over the same thing happened. Everyone just stood there and the same feeling came over us, this time it was almost like a fear of what waited outside of this place and time. We stood there looking at each other and no one said a word or moved. So I stepped into the circle and with trembling voice talked about how important our work was and how we all came here without knowing how we would be changed, but we all came because we were called. That this is powerful and important work. That we needed to not say good-by but to say until we meet again and take our passion and permaculture out into the world and use it. We sang the one song I brought to circle, "Humble yourselves in the arms of the wild" and I said, "Now, let’s eat cake!" and the spell was broken. It was powerful and later both Starhawk and Charles came to me and thanked me for my words about the moment, I spoke to them about our fear and our work in the world. They both told me they have never had a class that just froze like that before, one the last night when there was cake and a hot tub waiting. They also felt it was powerful, and I am glad I had the words to break the spell.
I did not sleep well. This was the first night I tossed and turned all night. A huge storm rolled in and my bones ached. A skunk must have been right outside our cabin and there were things moving around inside. I would have gotten up but I did not want to wake Louise and I didn’t have anywhere to go so I just tried to go to sleep. Early this morning I talked with Charles and he said I was processing and I am sure he was right, I just need to be careful not to let the it get my energy, I still have a few days before I get home.
So it is closing circle at 9 am and most everyone is on the road.
　

July 7 getting to the end of our workshop and cramming for exams

July 7, 2011
Back to school, we all feel like we are cramming for a huge exam, which we are in a way. Our final projects are due starting Friday morning and the house is a buzz with people working on projects. I will not post much till we are done. Friday Evening we have our Talent show and wrap up on Saturday morning so things will be moving pretty fast.
Thursday morning, I did my strongest run and later I fell into the ditch on the road taking photos, kinda crazy day.
The morning session was about invisible structures, meaning economy and different ways to finance projects. Then Brook gave us an hour on farm management which I took detailed notes and really thought about how we have such a difficult time managing our farm.
From after lunch till after midnight we were in and out of the house, taking photos, measuring, looking up trees and information in books and using all our resources. Our section is the front of the barn area which includes the playground, the driveway, several sitting areas, a fire pit, but I also was asked to redesign one end of the barn used for horses. They wanted tractor storage and ways to feed the animals in the winter with six feet of snow. That was what I spent most of my time doing since I had some experience with such.
All for now gota get to work for presentation…Oh…we actually had meat for dinner last night, farm grown beef. I didn’t feel it was welcomed at the table but yesterday I declared "No More Beans" even if I spent the rest of my time here eating bread and salad. WooHoo almost done!

July 6 Press releases and projects

July 6, 2011
We are diffidently moving toward the end of this course. People are getting edgy. I have had it with the food and finding myself hungry but eating less and less every meal, snacking when I can on my stash and drinking lots of coffee and less water. It is not as hot here but we are also doing class inside in a warm room and I am trying to keep from missing information by staying tanked on caffeine.

Morning session, we talked about relationships and how we communicate. I have done some of this work with Starhawk before. Active listening, witnessing and engaging in conflict with different models as we worked with partners. The we talked about story telling and writing stories and books. The about press releases, how to write them and how to communicate with the press.

All afternoon we worked on our designs for our final projects. It rained really hard and we watched the wind blow across our little cabin.

In the evening we had to listen to our host go on for 2 1/2 hours about her view of humanity and almost everyone fell asleep. So goes the last few days. We are very busy with our finals, we present tomorrow in small groups.

more photos