Greetings! Thank you for arriving here and checking out this blog! This is an account of a Community Sustainability Immersion Program at Tryon Life Community Farm in Portland, OR. It occurred from August 1st to August 21st, 2009. The content is partly a scrapbook of memories and partly a storehouse of some knowledge we acquired during the program. It may be useful to read just to see what we were up to or to learn some practical ideas that you can try to implement yourself.
The entries are stacked in reverse date order, and are labeled with the "day" which corresponds with the date. You can see a full list of the entries in the right hand column by clicking "August". It may make sense to start at Day 1 as an intro to the farm and the program, or it may make sense just to jump to a subject that interests you. In any case, enjoy!
-Nick
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Day 21: Thank you and farewell
On Friday, Augusut 21 we celebrated our last day of our immersion program at Tryon Life Community Farm. How bittersweet 'twas! Bitter to have come to an ending to such a great time. Sweet to share our satisfaction for what we've done. And as we learned from Melissa, bitter and sweet and all the other flavors of life all have their purpose. There is a time for everything, and the ending is just the beginning of the next phase.
So we began the day with a morning circle and then with individual exit interviews with Brenna and Laura. In our interviews we provided helpful feedback about the program and discussed the specific steps in our personal action plans. After lunch, we gathered in the sacred maple grove to share our next steps with each other. We created a powerful, supportive space in order to give strength to our intentions.
In the evening was a celebratory pizza party and bonfire. After eating, we interrupted the party briefly to take a trek into the woods where our three weeks came to a culmination in a closing ceremony of sorts. We walked silently to a very special place and partook in a symbolic demonstration of our personal growth during this time. During this experience, the deep connection that we've developed with each other and with the Earth came alive.
At this point, I feel that words do not quite tell our story, but what more have we than words? Some photos may help, but they can not show what's in our hearts; for in our hearts, we are creating our lives and worlds anew with each beat. This newness, this transformation is personal and unique for each one of us, but for three weeks our hearts were brought together as one. I hope that this blog has given a glimpse of what that means. For us "inter-beings" - may we read these posts and remember. For all the rest - may you read, learn and be inspired to learn more.
One more thing I'll add: after our journey into the woods, we came back to the bonfire, where Jes Karper was playing some tunes on the guitar. One of the tunes he sang was "Tryon Life." You can have a listen if you scroll to the very bottom of the Tryon website - perhaps if you listen close, you just may hear us singing along...
"Tryon life, it fits like a glove and feel what it's like to be free
Try breathing and seeking to be an instrument of love and encourage one another on the journey
Give thanks to the land and the sky up above and pour your energy into building a community"
And on Saturday, we all came back into the city. Some of us will stay in Portland, to live or to visit for some time more; some of us have begun the journey back to our homes. If you notice a glimmer in our eyes, or a dance in our steps, it may be because we're remembering what we learned...
Many thanks and much love to all who have made this happen. And as you may have heard said: merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.
-Nick
So we began the day with a morning circle and then with individual exit interviews with Brenna and Laura. In our interviews we provided helpful feedback about the program and discussed the specific steps in our personal action plans. After lunch, we gathered in the sacred maple grove to share our next steps with each other. We created a powerful, supportive space in order to give strength to our intentions.
In the evening was a celebratory pizza party and bonfire. After eating, we interrupted the party briefly to take a trek into the woods where our three weeks came to a culmination in a closing ceremony of sorts. We walked silently to a very special place and partook in a symbolic demonstration of our personal growth during this time. During this experience, the deep connection that we've developed with each other and with the Earth came alive.
At this point, I feel that words do not quite tell our story, but what more have we than words? Some photos may help, but they can not show what's in our hearts; for in our hearts, we are creating our lives and worlds anew with each beat. This newness, this transformation is personal and unique for each one of us, but for three weeks our hearts were brought together as one. I hope that this blog has given a glimpse of what that means. For us "inter-beings" - may we read these posts and remember. For all the rest - may you read, learn and be inspired to learn more.
One more thing I'll add: after our journey into the woods, we came back to the bonfire, where Jes Karper was playing some tunes on the guitar. One of the tunes he sang was "Tryon Life." You can have a listen if you scroll to the very bottom of the Tryon website - perhaps if you listen close, you just may hear us singing along...
"Tryon life, it fits like a glove and feel what it's like to be free
Try breathing and seeking to be an instrument of love and encourage one another on the journey
Give thanks to the land and the sky up above and pour your energy into building a community"
And on Saturday, we all came back into the city. Some of us will stay in Portland, to live or to visit for some time more; some of us have begun the journey back to our homes. If you notice a glimmer in our eyes, or a dance in our steps, it may be because we're remembering what we learned...
Many thanks and much love to all who have made this happen. And as you may have heard said: merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.
-Nick
Friday, August 21, 2009
Sleeping in the Forest
Sleeping in the Forest
by Mary Oliver
I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts,
her pockets full of lichens and seeds.
I slept as never before,
a stone on the riverbed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.
All night I heard the small kingdoms breathing around me,
the insects, and the birds who do their work in the darkness.
All night I rose and fell,
as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom.
By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Day 20: Natural Building and Life Design
Joshua explains the process of plastering using wheat gluten as a paste.
Here's Laura playing in the sand-pile.
I'm digging sand to add to the plaster mix. A general plaster involves water, clay and sand.
We made a paste to add to the plaster so that it would be extra sticky. Here's Joshua mixing the paste.
To make wheat paste, you boil 4 cups of water. While the water is boiling you add 1 cup of glutenous flour to 1 cup of cold water. Then you add the flour into the boiling water and stir vigorously.
It smells a little like pizza dough!
Our electronic mixer broke, so Emi decided to use her feet!
A drill definitely would have come in handy, but hands come in handy too!
Mud Dancing!
Mud-Face-Painting!
Now we're plastering the dragon-stove.
Here I am using a yogurt lid as a trowel to smooth the plaster on.
The kids on the farm were anxious to help!
Add a little mud to the mix and Work is suddenly FUN!!
- Mariel
We also learned a little bit about natural paints. Joshua recommended his three favorite natural paints:
- Casein: paint made from milk. There's also a "lime casein" that's great for unfinished wood.
- Clay paint or Alis: This is what we learned to make using clay, sand, water and pigment. I can be used for many surfaces, including painting over latex paint.
- Mineral paint: Made from potassium or sodium silicus. Sodium silicate is great for concrete or similar surfaces.
We learned that pretty much anything that contain sugar or water can be mixed with pigment to create paint, i.e. eggs (tempera paint), or sugar water. Natural pigment is made with minerals, and of the minerals that can be used, Joshua explained that iron is the only one which is very safe, therefore it's pretty much the only option.
We also learned a little about plasters. Plaster is used to finish structures, i.e. on top of cob. It usually includes clay, sand, straw, pigment and water. Straw can be substituted for horse, goat or pig hair, or certain plant material like cattails. You can also add cow or horse manure, mica, crushed shells, volcanic sands, crushed glass, garnet, wheat paste, casein, or probably many other tigns.
Sealer is used if a plaster is dusting a bit and it can't simply be sprayed with water and compressed. A great sealer is linseed oil, which you can purchase at your local hardware store. You can also use a casein wash or a lime wash over clay plaster.
Here are some resources for further info:
Books: Natural Plaster Book by Cedar Rose Guelburth; Using Natural Finishes by Adam Weisman and Katie Brice; Natural Paint Book.
Joshua also recommended finding knowledgeable people through this website, or by locating the following people in our home regions:
- Maine: Amber Wigget (NE Kingdom)
- Central New York: Mary Golden in Honeoye Falls, or the Natural Building Colloquiumin the PeaceWeavers community
- Wisconsin: Deanne Bednar
-Nick
Day 19: Nutrition + Reflection
On Wednesday, 8/19, we had another fabulous session with Melissa about keeping ourselves and others healthy and strong. This time the focus was generally on nutrition. Here are a couple easy things to try:
- When you start getting sick, you can make a tea that includes yarrow, peppermint and elder flower. This will cause you to sweat and help release the sickness.
- You can make your own electrolyte, super-hydrating drink by adding a quarter to half teaspoon of of salt in your glass of water plus a little fruit juice.
Later that day we had a reflective session to begin our process of creating our personal action plans to help the transition away from TLC. We focused on three questions: Where did I come from? What am I going to remember from TLC Farm? And in a broad sense, what do our descendants need from us now, and what is my gift for the future?
We spent some time reflecting on and writing about these questions individually, then circled up in the maple grove to share our responses. Hearing everyone's individual responses was very inspiring. Though we all came from different spaces, geographically and otherwise, the reasons our paths brought us to TLC were very similar. And not only were our experiences here at TLC shared closely together, our visions for the future also had many similarities. As Brenna articulated very well, we all have a sense that the things we love in the world are in great danger, and rather than try to ignore it, we share a sense we've committed ourselves in one way or another to doing something about it. We chose to come here to become closer to our Mother Earth, and to work to heal her. We're all very excited to put those ideas into action in whatever ways we can when we get home. Here are some of the ideas that one or many of us may end up pursuing:
-Starting a tree village that will bring people of all generations together
-Starting a medicinal herb garden
-Working to improve Portland through City Repair
-Becoming involved with natural building projects
-Acquiring more skills to help people to heal naturally
-Becoming a midwife
-Participating in future efforts at TLC
-Starting an urban farm
-Bringing permaculture ideas to our hometowns
-Joining or creating nurturing communities
-Helping to create sustainable networks of exchange
-Studying sustainability in depth
Our paths may be many, but the destination is the same; a happy and healthy environment, strong and supportive communities, and a generally better world for the generations yet to come.
-Nick
- When you start getting sick, you can make a tea that includes yarrow, peppermint and elder flower. This will cause you to sweat and help release the sickness.
- You can make your own electrolyte, super-hydrating drink by adding a quarter to half teaspoon of of salt in your glass of water plus a little fruit juice.
Later that day we had a reflective session to begin our process of creating our personal action plans to help the transition away from TLC. We focused on three questions: Where did I come from? What am I going to remember from TLC Farm? And in a broad sense, what do our descendants need from us now, and what is my gift for the future?
We spent some time reflecting on and writing about these questions individually, then circled up in the maple grove to share our responses. Hearing everyone's individual responses was very inspiring. Though we all came from different spaces, geographically and otherwise, the reasons our paths brought us to TLC were very similar. And not only were our experiences here at TLC shared closely together, our visions for the future also had many similarities. As Brenna articulated very well, we all have a sense that the things we love in the world are in great danger, and rather than try to ignore it, we share a sense we've committed ourselves in one way or another to doing something about it. We chose to come here to become closer to our Mother Earth, and to work to heal her. We're all very excited to put those ideas into action in whatever ways we can when we get home. Here are some of the ideas that one or many of us may end up pursuing:
-Starting a tree village that will bring people of all generations together
-Starting a medicinal herb garden
-Working to improve Portland through City Repair
-Becoming involved with natural building projects
-Acquiring more skills to help people to heal naturally
-Becoming a midwife
-Participating in future efforts at TLC
-Starting an urban farm
-Bringing permaculture ideas to our hometowns
-Joining or creating nurturing communities
-Helping to create sustainable networks of exchange
-Studying sustainability in depth
Our paths may be many, but the destination is the same; a happy and healthy environment, strong and supportive communities, and a generally better world for the generations yet to come.
-Nick
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