Sanks Wose

For me food has always been synonymous with people.

Ashar is Kirsten and Nick’s beautiful little boy and he LOVES Rose, infact we all love Rose as she is the amazingly talented chef who nourishes us three times a day here at Milkwood.

Ashar is amazing, he is a great little talker and addresses us all by name each time we converse. Adam is Adam, Claire, Claire, Sabina, Sabina and he even nails my name which puts him about 100 miles in front of most people as the majority mispronounce Olivier, but not Ashar. That privledge is saved for Rose, or in the articulation of a two and a half year old, Wose!

I met Rose almost 8 years ago. She was 20 years old and into the second year of her chefs apprenticeship. She was a fairly shy girl with not always a lot to say. We got along pretty much straight away and I have been fortunate enough to share a friendship with her ever since!

Rose loves food, she loves people, she loves kids and is passionate about nature, gardening and especially nutrition. Rose is very artistic and once drew a picture for me as a gift, I framed it.
She has an amazing smile and a contagious laugh, in fact she is a great candidate for bad jokes as she laughs at lots of things easily, often cracking herself up!
When Rose talks about food she gesticulates with her fingers using them as if she was picking salad or putting the final touch to a dish. She is a quiet achiever.

When you know and believe in good food you want to share it with people, in fact I would say that most of the greatest cooks I know in this world love sharing their talent. Rose is one of these people, and don’t we all feel richer and fatter for it!

I have attached a pic of Rose with her daily bake, sourdough bread! She rocked up with the “mother” on her first day here and has been nurturing it and nourishing us since.

At lunch today we ate savory pumpkin tart with a beetroot and sweet potato salad, delicious, thanks Rose, or in the words of young Ashar, Sanks Wose!

The Fox

Two geese had disappeared and many eggs as well. Foul play was suspected and affirmed when remnants of the beloved birds were found in the same spot. A fox- hunting by night and eluding us farm folk by day. Well Farmer Boss wasn’t havin’ none of that. “What are you doing, Nick?”, we asked one day as he walked by the earth dome the interns were busily rendering. “Hunting fox,” he replied.

Later that evening, as we were having supper, Farmer Boss was still out stalking the fox in to the night. Suddenly he radio-ed in on the walkie-talkie that the hunt was successful. An hour later, as I walked around the corner with my clean laundry in hand, there it was- a fully grown male fox, laying on his side, still but seemingly not lifeless. Though it was motionless, I could somehow sense the movements the fox was capable of; the leaps and bounds, the crouching, darting and pouncing his nimble legs and sly body has performed for a lifetime was still somehow expressed in that scene under the dim light of the wool shed. A few of us admired the catch as we listened to the hunters’ story of searching, waiting, honing in on the behavior of prey and seizing opportunity to go in for the kill.

I was indeed moved by the whole thing. Can I justify the death of this fox? Was this fox the perpetrator of the missing geese? How will the environment be effected by the absence of the predatory creature? Do I feel sad, happy, indifferent? What is it like to stalk and kill such a beautiful and (to me) this spiritually significant creature? What will happen to the body, bury or compost? And… what of that gorgeous fur?

I have heard stories of a previous Milkwood intern who had taught herself to tan pelts and had flipped through a book in the wool shed library pertaining to the topic. Never been interested in using animals for parts. In fact I had been slightly traumatized before by a calf slaughter demonstration and since have avoided such things. But this was very different- I was propelled by the compulsion to not waste an opportunity. As I looked at the helpless fox, a story of a beautiful wild life played out in the face and fur of the animal. Every meal that generated the growth of the coat, every rainstorm the fur protected him from, the musky smell that accompanied his prowess and defined his territory was all there still expressed in the outer layer of an endless orchestra of a life that has come to a resting place right before me. It’s almost like I had the responsibility to honor the fox by preserving what my eyes beheld as most beautiful- that fur.

Sleep was lost as the kitties and I researched how to skin and tan a fox pelt. The next morning I arose to find to my great relief Olivier in the wool shed drinking his mate and playing with his iPhone. “I’m keen to skin the fox if you are!”… I knew I could count on Olive to give me a hand. The first incision was a touch awkward for me, but the rest was easy peelin’. Then it was just a matter of scratching off as much meat and tissue from the skin as possible, grinding some rock salt and layering it on thick. The pelt now rests on a wooden plank beneath the wool shed, conveniently on an old sheep run angled just enough for any juices and condensation to run off. In a few days I’ll make a soaking solution of alum, soda, salt and water to soften and preserve the pelt.

As for the rest of the fox, lets just say the compost heap is cookin hot! No meat is left on the bones after just a few days of decomposing in the middle of lasagna layered straw, grass, ash and compost. The biology and chemistry and HEAT that happens in a compost heap is something else! Have a look at what Madame Claire has to say. Thanks and much profound respect to the fox, the geese, Mrs. and Mr. Farmer Boss, my fellow interns and Chef Rose, Milkwood and to the universe at large for this opportunity to learn and grow. The cycle doth continue.

Learn somethin’ new every day

One fine day, the sheep needed to be fed. Nick, who I amicably refer to as Farmer Boss, took a fellow intern Jurgen and I in the Ranger buggy to feed the wiltipol sheep. Stocked with sheep grub, we zoomed through the olive grove in attempt to beat the hungry flock chasing after us toward the feeder trays. No sooner than I decided to hold on for dear life did a mess of lambs dart out in front of us clumsily kicking and prancing- as aimless as they are adorable! We poured the grain and chaff and stood back and observed the ewes gather and munch lustily. Our attention was drawn to the olive trees. Farmer Boss Nick pointed out the lace wing pest that had wiped our nearly every tree of a particular variety (good thing there are several varieties in the grove!) Another problem with the olive trees is black sooty stuff. These trees are sick, and like any sick organism, these trees need a remedy. A simple remedy in particular would do a lot of good, not just in one way, nor two, not three, but at least four ways. Farmer Boss Nick prescribes simply to raise up some hardenburgia violacea. This will draw some beneficial mycelium in the soil, attract some much needed predatory insects, provide more diverse sheep fodder, fix some wonderful nitrogen in to the soil, and probably more. This exemplifies a key tenet of permaculture: stacking functions. Awesome. It’s good to be here.

Layer upon layer

With the market garden growing at a rapid rate, tree planting by the hundreds and the Bio-fertile farm workshop just around the corner, we are in desperate need of some compost. So it was off to collect all of our ingredients and make some compost lasagna.

It’s the ‘Berkley method’ of compost we are using here, also known as ‘Fast compost’. All our waste products will be converted into amazing soil full of all the nutrients and good bacteria to meet the needs of the plants, in 2-3 weeks. Yes, you did read it right, WEEKS. You have to see it to believe it.

We gathered our ingredients in no time at all. We needed high carbon content material and high nitrogen materials too. The right mix is 30:1. It’s important to break everything up into small pieces, both to increase the surface area the microbes get to sink their teeth into and to make it easier to turn with a fork.

Our ingredients we found around the farm, and from the local racetrack that gives away as much horse manure soaked wood chips as you can shovel. We had Jerusalem artichoke stems, old compost pile leftovers, hessian bags, cardboard, horse manure, wood chips, hay, blood and bone, ash from the rocket stove, green manure, kitchen waste, even a dead fox! It’s important to water in each layer also and evenly spread the materials.

We layered each in an order of carbon and nitrogen needs into a removable cage and covered it with a tarp. After one day the temperature was at 20 degrees, tomorrow it should be at 65 degrees and ready for it’s first turn. We will then fork it like peeling an onion making a donut of compost and pile it into the cage again. We will repeat this process every time the compost gets to 65 degrees, and in 2 -3 weeks we will be ready to spread the love.

Claire

Earth Dom-ain

Earth dome rendering was the theme and rubber gloves were the attire.

We have all walked past the earth dome numerous times over the past month and each had our fantasy of what it could become, or at least which one of us could possibly occupy it once finished.
I myself imagine a lead light door, a futon mattress, an old candelabra and the smoke and aromas of insence!

Situated in the wood land just east of the intern tent city, the earth dome today continued to take shape.

The objective was to finish the dome cap, eves and fire place with a cement render. (3:1 sand to cement)
Then lime render the lower part of the dome, stopping 600mm from the base where a cement ball/ fish scaly technique was used to protect the foot of the building from water and conceal cracks.

Our ambitions were great and an incredible amount was achieved. The cement rendering was a bigger job them expected and let’s just say that their were many lessons learnt in render consistency!

Here are a few pics to high light the days events and a link to a short video that I made of us all out in action today. Check it out!

All About The Rain

Yours truly

The last couple of days have been all about rain.  Nick informed us that a big storm was brewing and that we might actually get some serious amount of water falling from the sky.  We kicked into gear doing a quick design for the area around the woolshed (Milkwood’s HQ) so we better control the water and get some plants in before the magical wetting!

A days work later and there were lots of pretty pink triangles dotted about the woolshed, each with a young Acacia, Golden Elm or Kurrajong inside.  We planted along contoured rip lines, but unfortunately we had a bit of an accident with the tractor part way through which meant that we couldn’t complete our plans.

The following morning the normally dry Milkwood landscape was transformed, water was everywhere!  Our baby gabions held up, the rip lines were beautifully soaked and the plants were all looking happily damp.

Adam.

Ripper go boom!

Bridge over lower swale.

Lower creek.

Pretty!

Erosion gully

All in a row

Claire and Nick

Upper swale and Sabina

Discussion

From Melbourne to Milkwood

My name is Claire, I may be 890km from home but I have travelled less than that of my fellow interns, and boy is it worth the distance. I arrived at Milkwood just under 3 weeks ago and already I have learnt so much and am relishing in being part of such an amazing community of people. So why am I here?

I’m following my dream!

I have been nursing for the past 15 years and have seen no improvement in peoples health, we were always treating the symptoms, always in crisis management, always pushing pharmaceuticals as the way to better health. It didn’t sit right with me, I wanted a better solution, I wanted a healthier planet, healthier people, a healthier lifestyle for myself and to belong to a community. So my journey begins…

I completed my PDC in Walkamin, Far North Queensland in Sept 2010, after a chance meeting with the course convener and a chat about compost showers. After the course, I was hooked. I flew back to Melbourne, sold my house near the city, and headed off in search my my little piece of land to grow my dream. I found it in November, and at the end of January 2011 I was the proud owner of a 101 acres in Lake Fyans, at the foot of the Grampians National Park, Victoria, and declared, “I’m going to be a farmer!”

Which is why I’m here at Milkwood. To get hands on experiences, learn from the best in the business, improve my design skills, design my farm, add as many skills to my kit bag as I can and meet as many like minded people to share with as I can.

Then it’s off to my farm, Planet Claire, to implement my design and start living the dream. I want to become a leading example of regenerative, self-sustaining, chemical free, non-certified organic farming and share my knowledge with the wider community. Empowering and encouraging my community to be healthy, and ensuring myself, my family, and my friends (and our children’s, children’s, children’s children) have a paradise to enjoy that provides them with all there needs for a long, healthy, peaceful life.

I hope you enjoy the journey with me,

Claire

Making clay render for the tiny house, the locals pay us a visit, designing a water overflow management system then implementing that design, getting dirty cleaning and re-cobbing the rocket shower!

Meatloaf madness

Just a quick little group photo of the beautiful people that are the Milkwood Interns. We call this one a meatloaf hug.

Oh and that is me, enjoying my Yerba mate morning ritual.

A walk in the woods, introducing Olivier

What a glorious day, and a busy one to begin the week. This is my first post on the Milkwood intern blog, exciting!! I will be out here for the next three months so will en-devour to make contact whenever possible.

I arrived out here at the start of the month and so much has happened already. I decided to get here a little early as I was keen to sit in on the Forest garden course run by Dan Harris. There has been much learning and progress made in the forest Garden since then and last week had been particularly productive as it was the week of planting. We put in fig trees, a variety of Acacias, Hazelnuts, and a mix bag of stone fruits only to name a few. I think that there must have been around 150 trees planted in those few days, but more on that another time. One of the things which I was just so inspired by was Dan’s knowledge of flora, species names, geographical origin, characteristics, and properties wether medicinal, edible or otherwise.

This is one of the many things which I would like (or at least begin) to learn while out here and to do so, myself and fellow interns will be starting a little botanical catalog of what we are growing in our Forest Garden and just in general around the farm.

As food and nourishment are also on the agenda, I think that I will share a little news about what comes out of the kitchen here at milkwood. Rose, our resident chef is a wizzardess in the camp kitchen and passionate about paddock to plate ethical cuisine. I think that we will be the first group here to leave fatter then we arrived, thank you Rose!!!

Now to share just a few words about myself. I have been working and living the hospitality lifestyle for the past 15 years. The kitchen has been my domain although I had always understood that food, beverage and community were synonymous so sort the education and training to develop a dynamic skill set. I have been fortunate enough to travel and work with some amazing chefs in Many different cities in Europe and here in Australia.

Earlier this year I returned from Italy after a couple of years away. My main focus during my time there was in natural wine making and holistic land management. Permaculture also slowly revealed itself and on returning I decided that the kitchen needed a rest and diverted my attention to this. It feels like a very natural transition and coming to Milkwood for me is all about new learnings, natural food productions, community and land care, self nourishment and care and new beginnings.

My attraction to the kitchen started with my passion for eating and a fascination with produce. Provenance is extremely important to me and I want to re-learn the traditions of reconnecting food with family with community. Milkwood is a special place and already feels like home, I am excited to be here and am loving the opportunities that are here for me.

Ok, I will leave it here for the night as there are books waiting for me in my tent on the hill.

Views from Milkwood

Hello Everybody!

My name is Adam and I’m one of the six who was selected to be a part of Milkwood’s spring internship program. It’s an exciting time for me as my interest in permaculture came about during a period of fairly major change. Professionally my background is a mixture of management, business and hands on geekery in the high tech world. Personally, well until recently … my personal life has largely been my work. About three years ago I had a major wake up call and realised that it was time to make some changes if I wanted to actually live the way I said I did. So I sold everything I owned (well except for my books, art and laptop!), quit my job and bought a one way ticket to Bali with a deliberately vague plan of making my way overland to India. Along the way I ended up attending a PDC course in Thailand and discovered that there was a word for all of the ideas and dreams which had been jangling around in my head, “permaculture”!

So here I am, two weeks into this internship, at the beginning of gaining the skills and experience I’ll need if I decide to develop my own property once I return home to New Zealand. I don’t really know where this ride will take me, but I’m looking forward to finding out. In the mean time I’ll leave you with some pictures from an early morning walkabout Milkwood.