Adventures in Permaculture – Settling into Koinonia

I’m a city girl born and bred but it didn’t take much to wring the city out of me.  After living in the back holler N. Georgia mountains for a couple of years, the city becomes more and more offensive to me.

On our way down here we came through Atlanta, another huge monument to concrete, ostentation and the money lords.   And I realized how I no longer have the urge to engage in  retail therapy in a mall.   My retail therapy nowadays consists of a trip to Dollar General to buy cheap plant pots and bathroom tissue.  And even that will probably phase itself out the more we return to earth..

A once in a blue moon visit to Sevenanda  one of the cities oldest co-operative stores in Atlanta’s Little 5 area, is the ultimate excitement.  

Aaaah my life is so simple, so sweet…fetching wood, making cornbread, dressing for comfort not fashion.. so what it was not!   We are living on the edge, we have far less  stuff, no TVand I’m far happier.

The back holler folk are amazing… they know how to live and many of the oldies we’ve encountered express concern that ‘these young folk gonna have a hard time cos they don’t know how to look after themselves without flickin’ a switch’. cern that ‘these   There are so many skills and knowings about the land, how to lives self-sufficiently and how to make do. 

They are literally walking Firefox encyclopedias and we’re reading them hungrily and they love sharing their knowledge.  But, I digress…

Six hours after leaving home via a leisurly wander around Wal-Mart and Target to pick up supplies, noticing the way people wander around picking up things because ‘they’re on offer’ or ‘that looks cute,we needed to stop again.

It was late, the truck was unheated and we pulled into a small town MacDonalds to get a coffee as my husband was in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.   Outside two or three ‘kids’ stood drinking liqor, the bottles hidden in brown paper bags. 

It’s still strange to me coming originally from the UK to see that phenomenon.  People in the UK drink just as much in public, they just dont cover it up in paper bags!  And it’s so sad to think that the only entertainmnent for kids like this on a Saturday night is to hang out in MacDonalds drinking booze.   

As we drove through the strip malls with signs saying ‘strippers – need we say more’ flashing between countryside lit up by fluorescent and neon adverts for motels and insurance companies cajoling you to ‘have a better year in 2010′ [by buying insurance?]I realized how much I love the earth and the rural areas where I am blessed to live. 

Even if we have to return to living in an RV in the forest, it will be far more rewarding and closer to earth-living than cooped up in a town.  I crave the earth, the countryside and the sounds and smell of fresh cut wood, firesmoke and the deep fecund experience of walking in the forest.

As we moved out of the urban sprawls of lower income Southern Georgia reeking of dying attempts to survive in this illusory world of ‘stuff’, we found ourselves in a ‘tree farming forest’ , the smoke of a local pulp mill blowing across the flat countryside.   

Nothing like the wild forests where we live. I love the area because it’s full of hollers and hills.  Round here it’s very flat which is an interesting contrast. 

Arriving last night after dark at Koinonia farm where the permaculture course is being held, was a breath of fresh air.  The prettily painted signs told us we were entering another world and in a way we were. You can smell and feel the peace here. 

Situated in over 500 acres, this Christian peace community is pretty laid back.  I’d called earlier to confirm that it would be OK for my husband to sleep over and break the 10 hr drive..and one of the ladies in the office said ‘there’s plenty of food – we had a great meal last night- so help yourself to leftovers’.

I already knew this would be a good place to hang out for 12 days, this added to the welcome and being here confirmed it.

The accommodation is basic, shared rooms and bathrooms with a kitchen and living area.. a ‘boys’ side and a ‘girls side’ and it’s sufficient – all we really need.   After meeting Isabel Crabtree, one of the teachers and chatting about ‘permaculture activism’ before we found our accommodation, we knew we were with like minded souls.

My husband says ‘this is the war we are fighting and it’s very different from how it was’. We’ll win them over with food and health and a realization that we must grow to survive and beyond that we must grow in a more ecological way’.  That’s why we’ve pulled out all the stops to enable me to do this course..

This morning we got up at cock crow, drank some herb tea and ate an avocad before driving into Americus which is about 5 miles away. Stopping at a Waffle house for coffee and a once in a blue moon wicked [and not even well cooked] breakfast we passed, on the way out a mother, daughter and son, all of whom were testament to how a regular American diet is killing people off slowly. 

Food Forest Gardens – the answer to our dietary hell

That’s why we’re so passionate about inspiring and encouraging people to start growing real food, food forests that provide fruits, berries, herbs, alongside an annual garden.  In a few years when the price of a hamburger has soared, and more people are on meds or dying from a ghastly diet, it might just be the salvation this world needs.

And talking of nuts, Kiononia is famous for its Pecans.  They grow and process lots of pecans.  So, you can imagine my delight when wandering around the grounds today, I found pecans lying on the earth.  Picking up a stone I cracked one then one more then one more open… and smiled… at the experience of tasting delicous food, fresh from the tree, knowing how good it was for me. 

Gradual Dietary Transition Works For Us

Our own dietary transition isn’t as drastic as my venture into raw foodiesm a few years back. Raw food is great, and it’s ultra healthy, but until we start growing our own and the right kind of ingredients together, it will remain exclusive to the ‘rich greenies’ who like I could way back then, can afford the greenstar juicer, the vitamix blender, the nutmilk maker, the dehydrator and all the other ‘high ticket’, grid-dependent  items such as raw chocolate, coconut oil…and agave syrup.  

We are adding more raw, especially sprouts,still picking our winter kale and mustard leaves, eating lots of veggies with every meal and saving energy by cooking everything on the woodstove/heater/cooker. 

We haven’t stopped eating meat, but our intention as soon as possible is to be able to grow our own and treat meat as just that ‘a treat’.  Naturally grazing animals provide a very different meat from their hormone stuffed factory farmed brothers and sisters.   We eat more raw nuts as snacks and juice fruit and veggies but not every day.

Gradual transition is working for us… as we embrace wellness promoting products like MMS and Colloidal Silver.   And we sense that by this time next year, we’ll be ready to plant the first permaculture style food forest garden in our area.

Permaculture Design Course – So Right for Us

This course is a milestone in our purpose… and judging by the enquires and enthusiastic support we’re receiving from people on a more frequent basis, food forest farming is gonna take off. 

And so I sit here in bright sunshine, still a morning chill in the air, writing this looking out on the tranquil grounds and cottages of this part of the complex I know even more surely that this was the right thing to do. 

We begin the course tomorrow, officially, and today most of the students will arrive for the opening circle and potluck dinner.   I found some reduced mushrooms in great condition and am gonna cook up a brown rice, mushroom, onion and jalapeno pilaff to bring along.

Birds are chirping, people walking around and it’s definitely wake-up time on Sunday morning. 

Tomorrow is the first teaching day of the course.. I can’t wait, and yet, even as we use those words so frequently, I know that life is not about waiting for what is to come, but enjoying what is.. the sound of the birds, the rural peace, light chitter chatter from community members greeting each other and mmmm brilliant,warm sunshine and fresh air.. not to mention the pecans!

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