Sunday, June 29, 2014

Harmony!


The Várzea is feeling GOOD.

Things are the most settled they have ever felt, and there is a nice balance with a good sense of purpose about where things are going and the way to make everything work, simply and efficiently.

The pond and vegetable garden are looking beautiful...


...the land has had it's spring cut...


and everything is positive.

It's a great pleasure to have, back at the Várzea, our old friends Arturo (who lived here for nearly 2 years in the early days, way back in 2007-8) and Daphna, now with Lian, 3, and Alma, 2...


They, and all present personnel are all creative contributors to the metamorphosis of the vegetable garden. Half the size, half the work, more production!  I made a little description in the last blog - now 8 beds transformed and all looking very healthy.

Here are Lydia and little Moksha, recently turned 2....


I've been adding new features to the children's play area - here are Megan and Ella trying them out - it's "tea house" not a tree house, by the way....


Our new hen is slowly settling in....


And Kris (that's my wife) is down for a spell and has been helping out - here she in the greenhouse composting and getting stung by wasps...  it is good to have her here.


We had a fantastic thunder-storm on the day after summer solstice - and it rained over 2cm, the latest "spring" rain in the 7 summers I have witnessed here.  Great for the baby oaks on the hillside swales.  Spend the last few days tucking them all in with straw for the summer sleep - 183 survivors out of some 300 acorns planted in the autumn. Some will make it through their first summer, some not. Next autumn another 500 or so acorns, maybe 100 or so survivors through their first year. And so on - a long fight back to re-create the ecosystem that was destroyed so easily by wrong mindedness.     Not just acorns - the Manila tamarind seeds that Jade brought from India have sprouted, and some are 10cm tall already, over 100 of them...


... into bigger pots soon, then onto the swales in October.  Many thanks!

The little school had their end-of-year festa here this week....


There are exciting plans happening for the future direction of the Várzea, and nice discussions with Arturo and Daphne, who are both diploma-carrying permaculture teachers, developing the structure of Internship Permaculture Design Courses, to be launched this October.

We will continue to host our regular intensive PDC in April, but this will be a hands-on educational experience over two months, involving participants in a range of focussed activities and projects, learning by doing.      It's also, for the Várzea, a way to reach a new level of organisation, and ability to put many ideas into practice.    The evolution continues....

Finally, we shall be having our Open Day here on Sunday, 27th July - lots of activities, music, children's activities, seed-exchange, exchange market, drinks and food, etc - all welcome!