Just like Gev and Courtney, Laurence seems to be delivering the message to Dan:

The feast:

We recently found out that despite our beliefs, there are actually a small group of people who anxiously await our posts. So, to both of you, sorry for the lack of posts this week.

Um yeah, picking asparagus is tricky. We were in Gordonton because Judy hired Nelson for  a design project. Judy is looking to have a farmstay business, and so needed to update the area surrounding the lower level of her house. We tidied up her garden and gave her a plan to incorporate chicken tractoring into her expanding orchard. Here are the results:

Just like in Murray and Lindy’s garden in Wanganui, we dug some keyhole gardens. They are a good way to maximeze the amount of planting space in a small bed. This one uses a tree stup as the center space:

After leaving Judy’s we headed to Raglan and are back at Solscape again. Loving the beach, loving the sun, loving the good folks. 

Goodbye to our first home in New Zealand. Goodbye Quakers, goodbye wonderful saturday farmer’s markets. Goodbye music-making friends and their cute children. Goodbye environment center. Goodbye escaping chooks. Goodbye little dark house. 

Honest Opportunities in Permaculture Education

This weekend Nelson led his first workshop under a model he calls H.O.P.E. The idea is that an experienced educator holds a workshop at a landowner’s property that wants work done. The workshop benefits all involved, the educator gets paid, the property owners get work done on their land, and the participants get a cheap introduction to permaculture. Since we set the pricing, we were able to offer the course at a sliding scale and discounts for participants who chose to bike or carpool (23/24 people either carpooled or rode a bike!!). Both workshops, Saturday and Sunday, went wonderfully. We met great people, saw some familiar friendly faces, and got a lot of work done. The weather even cooperated and we had two of the most beautiful days since we arrived in Wanganui. Although, Nelson did suffer an unfortunate sunburn, revealing his true status as a “redneck”.
This workshop was held at TreeLife Organic Nursery, a farm that belongs to our friends Murray and Lindy. The workshops were divided into two sessions. The morning session was a lecture/discussion introducing participants to the ethics, principals, and working concepts behind permaculture. Then we took a break for tea (of course) with yummy goodies expertly prepared by Dani and Lindy.After the break it was into the field to excercise the concepts discussed in the morning. The participants divided into small groups and rotated through three stations. Dani ran a workshop on creating a keyhole garden, a way to maximize planting space in a small garden. Murray and Lindy shared their expertise in tree planting, pruning, and grafting. Nelson showed three ways to begin raised beds.All in all it was an awesome weekend. We got tons done and lots of good feedback. We think it is a workshop model we will take with us as we move (in only two days) away from Wanganui.

At 4:55 pm Nov. 5th we learned that Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States of America. Thus began our completely non-partisan celebration. Wearing our most patriotic outfits, we hugged, we smooched, we danced, and then we pledged allegiance to a  picture of the American flag we found on Google Image search. 

Although it’s already Nov. 4th here in NZ, we have about another 16 hours before voting begins in the US. Like you, I feel stressed, anxious, and a bit overwhelmed by all of the campaign coverage. So here is a little break from all the buzz… some pictures of what we’ve been up to the past few days.