Ok, I know that I can be different, I really do.. I live a life that most folks either think is odd or quaint or just plain strange at time but I have to admit that because I keep mainly to myself with just a few older friends/family and just a few local close friends that I forget just how ” odd person out” I really can be..
Well, I got reminded of it loud and clear yesterday, you see I headed off to the big city for a amazing day of permaculture, so let me say right up front that ottawa permacultures 3rd event was awesome! I would love to say that I am heading back in for sunday but I’m not, I am staying home and getting some needed things done on the farm itself
I will go into more detail on a number of things about the event itself, but the basic overviews would run along the lines of this.. openning circle, compost tea, animal tracking, lunch, hugelculture, and a does native culture and permiculture work together, or are they in fact a blend of the same.
The compost tea seminar was the one that I got the most working knowledge out of, the tracking was overviews of things i knew but it was done with skill and knowledge, lunch was eye opening in a number of ways, and the hugelculture was a combo of, great, good and very bad, and the last one was a mix of the same..
Now I can put that out there without a bit more info, the couple that did the hugelculture presentation are lovely folks, I mean such wonderful heartfelt, truly caring filled with life force type peaple.. loved them, and thought it was a great overview, but the fact that they could not answer simple questions about the safety of the grade of a beam, was a Huge RED FLAG that made me feel very uncomfortable that they were the ones giving advice on how to do things, when they were as they freely admitted “winging” it..
There was a even bigger issue and I am only going to lightly touch on it, because I liked them enough to not want to write it out, so let me put it this way.. they foolishly feel that its better to ask for forgiveness then to get the proper permits in place..
I will say this as clearly as I possably can, CANADA is not Europe, we have more rules in place in regards to land, water and farmers rights, Just because you can read in a book that says, Go ahead and make your own waterway or pond, does not mean that in canada you can expect to change water patterns on a peice of land, you will have issues! on this in the future.. and again I was very, very!! uncomfortable that this was being presented as a way that it could be done, what bothered me even more on this was the I appeared to be one of the only folks in the room that this was a issue for, the rest around me where nodding in agreement.
So getting back to the topic of this post, I was once again made to grasp that I am the odd duck out.. even at a gathering of “like minded folks” I am still the odd one out, its not that others around me didn’t have land, in fact I would say that I was thrilled to see that at least 50 percent of the folks there did in fact have land, and in many cases more then I do, (that’s not to hard, after all, we have a small farm) but what did surprise me was the amount of folks that have land but are waiting and learning, instead of doing..
I see the irony of that statement, i just spent time saying do it right in a way and now I am saying for heaven sakes, stop talking or reading or thinking about these idea’s and get up and getter done..
Really of course I believe in both of those statement, I think knowledge is POWER and I actively seek it out myself, however I think its in the very doing of things that you find a different kind of power, a source of power that will see you though in times of true hardship.
Book knowledge vs hands on knowledge, vs muscle memory knowledge.. these are skills that take a lifetime to excell at, and yet I saw so many folks that appeared to be there to gather knowledge, that when asked, didn’t seem to have “at least yet” had the follow though..
While i know that everyone will walk their own path but……..
Just another Day on the Farm 
Why would they be using a beam for huglekulture?
Sorry that should have read berm, not beam..
Ooooh That makes more sense 🙂
Lol hey cousin me to on the permits, but here’s a true story. I went to get permits and info on a septic field only to find out it is on highway right of way. So went to the gov,and was told and I quote” u should not have come in u should have just done it” well since I didn’t just do they were mad and it took us one and a half years to get the proper permits. So when u r told that by the people who r giving u the permits what r u supposed to think.
Fair enough chad, but in this case they were effecting something that was being built that took the space of a acre and a half
So, if I understand correctly, you’re saying that, in creating the Hugelbeet, these people aren’t considering the berm’s possible effect on existing water flow? If so, then I’d say it’s a GOOD thing that they’re just “tire kickers” and not the “git’er done” types.
This is a VERY complicated issue and there A LOT of hoops to jump through when it comes to water: Municipally, Provincially and Federally. This document was produced for the “Ecosystem Management Technologist Program” at SSFC (Fleming) by Sir Sanford Fleming College and the Peterborough County Stewardship Council…
Although this a reference for POND BUILDING, the same regulations apply for altering (or interfering with) any water course.
See pages 5-7 for list of specifics…
Click to access Pond_Guide_Ptbo_Stew_CouncilVer_3.pdf
Yes deb, between the and grade and drop, however they did get it done with a series of massive hugelculture beds, waterways and a pond, into the rebuilt around a acre an half with backhoe.
And no permits or input from anyone?
no permits that I could tell,imput from the operator of the backhoe I assume to a degree?
Wow, AWESOME):
Sure glad they’re not MY neighbours – messing around with streams and such – ’cause I can tell you, playing around with other people’s water supply is a really BAD idea… Heck, all you have to do is check out one of those old John Wayne movies like the one you just quoted from; ) throughout history, it’s ALWAYS been about the water: cattle wars in the “Old West”, Israel and Gaza…
Number One of those unwritten rules…
Totally uncool. Not done. Period.
Why don’t people ever think about the ‘golden rule’ – My rights end where yours begin and vice versa.
There are things we would have done differently but we wouldn’t realize it if we hadn’t done it the way we did in the first place. City dwellers think any idiot can farm or live off the land and when I HAVE to I will. No matter how much I advise people, they are stuck in their sanitized concrete boxes and they just can’t comprehend that there even MIGHT be a learning curve.
Yeah, farming’s so easy…
That’s why everybody does it.
Successfully.
(Right?; )
ha, ha, you are funny!
Yeah, well, you my girl, you’re just not your average bear – you seem to take the hard(est) road pretty much all the time, hey? The amount of work you two do never ceases to amaze me (and the ol’ Energizer Bunny doesn’t even come close; )
But anyway, about the humour thing? I figure most times you can either laugh or cry; so, given the choice, I’ll take laughter any day (with a healthy dose of self-deprecation and a dash of sarcasm just for spice; )