Plants Need Good Homes!!

It's time to find homes for our basement babies. They're all looking healthy and happy. Besides tomatoes and basil we have broccoli, eggplant, kale, peppers and ground cherry.  Get them while they last. 

A Love Affair

 Honestly, I think this love affair has been bubbling near the surface for a while. However, just recently it has reemerged with a vengeance.  I’m referring to an amazing passion for honeybees and pollinators in general. In part this resurrection began strangely enough a while back with the viewing of Avatar and the subsequent reading of a person’s post on some Avatar site about how they wished they could live in a world as amazing as Pandora (the world of Avatar).  I remember this left me a little stunned at the time, since when I watched the film I found that I was constantly comparing the visuals to similar things found in the natural world. After all, James Cameron must have gotten his inspiration from somewhere and what better place than the place in which we all live, Earth. In fact, where else do we base our creative energies? I’ve always loved the natural world, and one part that I find most interesting, and a part many of us miss, is the world of pollinators. This relationship between plant and animal in my opinion is simply miraculous. 

Last year I was fortunate enough to purchase my first honeybee hive and soon after a small colony of bees called a nuc (nucleus). This began what seems to be turning into a much more personal relationship than I could have ever imagined, considering I’m reffering to a lively group of thousands of stinging insects.  I now have three hives, two that are shared with a friend.  These past unseasonably warm days we have been doing spring inspections of the hives and celebrating the strength of one colony and nursing along our weaker “adopted” colonies that we purchased during the winter. To say I like my bees is a gross understatement.  There is no doubt that this is love.  My emotional attachment to these insects keeps me up at night worrying that they don’t have enough stores, that I made the wrong choice to move some frames in the hive, that I didn’t see much brood (eggs, larvae or pupae)…  My impulse to pick up a bee book and become totally engrossed denying myself sleep and food so that I get a little more time to learn about these amazing creatures is a familiar sign that I am hooked. 

Just learning about this complex community that lives in my backyard is astounding. Firstly, most of the bees that make up the colony are females, and if you happen to be a male (drone) you don’t do much of anything for the hive. The only drone's job, as far as I know, is to meet a queen bee on her maiden flight and fertilizer her. That's it. Pretty important job, I realize, but really. The females (queen and workers) make sure that things run smoothly and that all is cared for. I guess that is part of the intrigue, that girl power. Without going into much detail about this complex community, I will add that they are great pollinators for my yard and my surrounding neighbors' yards. The relationship that has evolved between animals and plants that help with pollination is quite complex and amazing. Without pollinators it's hard to imagine what we would eat. We sure would miss out on a lot of wonderful food. If you think about the food you eat and the plants they come from, most of what blooms requires pollination from animals. Some plants are dependent on wind and rain for pollination, but largely it’s some type of pollinator. 

Recently I was fortunate enough to see the attached TED talk.  It's an amazing eight minutes of time that reminds us of what we can discover in our own backyard if we would just allow ourselves to open up our senses and reconnect.  I hope you all will take the opportunity to reconnect with your world and get out this spring and find the magic.

 http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/louie_schwartzberg_the_hidden_beauty_of_pollination.html

He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing

-Cicero

Deanna

Permaculture Reading Group and Training

Hello Everyone!

After an extended absence to get hitched and hike for a while on the Long Trail through Vermont, we have been busy getting back into the swing of things around here. Even though there hasn't been much activity on the blog, we haven't been sitting idle. It's been a busy fall and winter. Guy has been busy with winter tree work and some tree climbing activities and I have been working on preparing the gardens for the spring planting, ordering seeds, preparing to start seeds in the basement and most importantly networking with other like-minded people.

This networking has led to at least one immediately exciting event. These past few not so wintery months I've been reconnecting with Jamie Haubner who owns Liberty Hill Farm in High Ridge. Jamie is working to convert her 22 acres into a Permaculture paradise and has kindly asked for my assistance. Jamie has her Permaculture design certificate and a wonderful space to work with. She also had an amazing and ambitious vision. I've also been getting to know Rachel Levi with EarthDance farm in Ferguson. Together the three of us have decided to start a Permaculture reading group. The first meeting will be held here at Adventure Farm on February 21^st.

The first book on our list is Gaia's Garden. A great introductory book to permaculture.

Please consider joining us as we get together to support each other in our permaculture journey. RSVP by commenting here to get time and directions.

Another exciting event is a four day hands-on intensive course coming in March to St. Louis. The course is taught by my permaculture teacher, Bill Wilson, from Midwest Permaculture. I am very excited that St. Louis will have the opportunity to learn from this amazing teacher.

The course will be held at the MO Botanical Garden, March 8-11. This course will go towards your design certification if you desire to continue, which I bet you will. It is a great pleasure for me to look forward to seeing Bill and his wife Becky when they are here in March. Hopefully they will put me to work and I can help with the class some. Please check out the site below for more information.

http://www.usgbc-mogateway.org/2012/01/permaculture-training-a-four-day-design-and-hands-on-intensive-class/

Overall, 2012 seems to be getting off to a great start. I hope to see some of you at the permie course or the reading group.

Best,

Deanna

Six Life Changing Weeks

Earthquakes, hurricanes, apocalyptic bird swarms – just a few of the things that Deanna and I encountered on our 6 week trip to Vermont. Perhaps the Universe was celebrating our marriage (or maybe we just got lucky), but we sure enjoyed an adventure filled trip.

We arrived in Huntington, WV coincident with a huge swarm of Purple Martins bound for South America. Groups were testing roof-top guy wires and other roosting places, until they all settled into 4 or 5 trees next to a retirement home.

On our first full day in Vermont, we finished hanging our supply caches in preparation for hiking the Long Trail. Then, although we never felt it, the eastern U.S. had the biggest earthquake since 1897. Here's Deanna enjoying lunch at almost precisely the time that the earthquake hit.

We got married in a wonderful celebration outside under apple trees with family and friends all around. Then hurricane Irene rolled in, inundating Southern Vermont, washing out roads and causing a state of emergency.

We set out on our 4 1/2 week hike, spent a few days wondering where everybody was (until we found out that the Green Mountain National Forest had been closed in the aftermath of hurricane Irene) then continued on with the trail and shelters virtually to ourselves.

Tropical storm Lee rolled through while we were out there. Thankfully it wasn't all rain and mud. We had some nice hiking days and great views.

In the end, we finished 200 of the 273 miles. There's something indescribable about looking back from whence you've come to see, fading in the distance over the horizon, the mountain peak upon which you stood just days before.

Getting off the trail, we had unbelievable car problems - my brother's transmission gave out before we got back to his house causing him to junk his van. Then our car suffered from a seized alternator and rear brakes because of the soaking from hurricane Irene. Welcome back to civilization :-|.

We made it back to St. Louis in time for Deanna to return to work, me to pursue my Adventure Educator path, and for us to begin the next stage of our lives together. Thanks for reading. More to come ...

Adventure As A Life Choice

Five months ago I quit my former career and set out to work as an adventure educator. Learning from adventure means going beyond that which is familiar, entering your “stretch zone” where you feel uncomfortable, like you may not succeed. Well … I’m there.

Just between you and me, I’m terrified! On the one hand, I know I have a lot to offer. On the other hand, I’m not at all certain that I can survive monetarily doing what I do. In my corporate engineering career I could indulge my introvert, only concern myself with technical details, and collect my paycheck. Now I’ve got to do a whole lot more including outreach to prospective clients, package and promote myself and what I offer, and find ways to make it pay well enough that I can keep doing it.

I just want what I do to be meaningful and worthwhile. I recently had the opportunity to enunciate my personal mission and it came out “to help people learn and help people grow.” That’s it, that’s what I’m committed to doing. But how, specifically, will I do that? And why should you, prospective client, trust me with your best interests and compensate me for my efforts?

Don’t get me wrong, I have answers to those questions, and I think they’re pretty compelling. But is it going to be enough? Am I going to be enough? I’m in the nascent beginnings of building my adventure education practice and I’m not at all sure how it will go. Who will I serve, where can I do the most good, and how can I keep doing it? And what will I do if I fail and my efforts come to naught? I don’t have those answers and, moreover, I don’t really know how I’m going to find those answers except to not give up and keep working at it.

So here I am, in the crux of Adventure. Michael Meade, author and teacher in the ‘90’s men’s movement, said that meaningful transformation is often accompanied by feeling that you may not survive the experience; it reaches into your core. I feel that way now. But I do feel that this is my path and I must walk it. I can only have faith that it leads me in the right direction.

Sustainable Backyard Tour a Success

This past weekend Adventure Farm was a host in the first Midwest Sustainable Backyards Tour. There were 30 backyards on this self-guided tour and 40 participants visited our yard.  It was a great day with people trickling through at just the right pace, which allowed time to talk and enjoy meeting each person.  It was a wonderful way to introduce the backyard space we call Adventure Farm. I learned a lot from my visitors and I hope they gained something from their experience here and at the other sites. I’m looking forward to next year already.

Ed, Lucy and Arlo arriving in sustainable style.

Adventure Farm was also one of the featured yards in a St Louis Public Radio station slide show produced by Madalyn Painter.  It was fun meeting Madalyn the week before the tour when she visited several of the homes that would be participating in the tour. You can see the photos of Adventure Farm at:

http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-sustainable-backyard-tour

When you watch the slide show, Adventure Farm is featured in slides 5-13.

This opportunity and the positive response we received has made me think of other ways that we can share this small oasis.  Guy and I are already talking about  giving people other opportunities to enjoy the yard and share their knowledge about greening the space in which we live. We'll be sure and keep you updated as more events begin to happen here. The next big event is the “Essential Permaculture”  weekend on July 9-10.  The workshop is being held at St Louis University, and the afternoon immediately following the training we will once again visit my yard. This time the yard will look a whole lot different than the first walkabout in April (check out the April 5th blog entry to compare). 

I hope to see some of you at the Essential Permaculutre Workshop and walkabout in a few weeks.

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. "
       J.K. Rowling

Make good choices my friends.

Deanna

Essential Permaculture Weekend Training

I am very excited to announce that Adventure Farm is Co-sponsoring a two day "Essential Permaculture" training in July.  Spend a weekend learning more about permaculture and how you can begin to apply permaculture principles in your yard and in your life. As a bonus, spend some time experiencing a walkabout at Adventure Farm immediately following the training with Bill Wilson, the Co-Founder of Midwest Permaculture.

Essential Permaculture Trainings  are regularly offered for $195.00. This first time St. Louis training will be offered for $175.00 and only $125.00 if you sign up before June 9th or if you are a student. I think this is a great opportunity to get an excellent introduction to permaculture and to meet like minded folks in the St. Louis area.  Bill is a dynamic and engaging speaker and one of my permaculture design certification course instructors. I can personally guarantee that this weekend will be well worth the money. Please consider joining us for this important event

Deanna

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

―Victor Frankl