Projecting the Future
June
possibilities
-growing lots of food with intention for sale with Wayne and or Rose and maybe Jac
-Focusing on the home garden first – the yard here – Get my zone one in order first
-I will be working with Becky still... still not sure how this could be an OP
-ordering some books “Edible Forest Gardens”, “Fungal Pharmacy”,
-researching and ordering good seeds and plants like seabuckthorn and goji berry.
-full design for Kennedy (name of apartment I live in) and the property
-getting rid of stuff in anticipation of travelling
-making travel hammock, patio shade cover for Marmen Family, perhaps some various saleable items
-possibly moving to somewhere in Nova Scotia – researching finding out options and contacting some people
-mushroom cultivation – decide what to do, order some more spawn
-will need to buy a credit card
July
if I decide to move to NS at the beginning of this month, now would be the time
The idea to move to Nova Scotia came up while I was doing the Permaculture Design Course in Blockhouse, on the south shore. I spent the first 6 years of my life in exactly that area. Going back and visiting my old house that my dad built, and all the places I remember had a powerful effect on me and I felt very at home there. Perhaps it is a love for the familiar that encourages me to return, and I question if my time might be better spent exploring unfamiliar places. It is familiar in landscape and distant memories, but really I don't know anyone there and there are lots of places to explore, also things have changed. I do feel it is ok for me to move back to where I was born, I am afraid of judging myself for not being more adventurous, travelling to very different cultures. I know that if I travelled overseas I would learn so much and see things I never imagined, and that it would be an inspirational and transformative experience.
But, for the time being I am here already, might as well go deeper here for a while, and gain some design experience so I am skilled in a trade I feel is beneficial and that I enjoy. I am not 100% sure that I want to do a lot of design work for clients, but that is probably because I don't have enough experience to feel confident in my ability to produce good quality work. For this reason I will do some free designs, try to really go through the process I was taught at the course.
If I move to Nova Scotia, I would like to find a farm that does a lot of the things I want to do and go there to learn. I am thinking give myself a month or two to make this decision and prepare for the transition. I could work with Brenna Lord in Nova Scotia making clothing for sale at markets. She knows the scene there and sounded confident that I would be able to find things to support myself there. She mentioned a possibility of working for Phillip and Kathy Guest who run Freewheeling Adventures, cycle and kayak tours of the coast as well as an organic farm. I could also bulid cob ovens at music festivals as a demonstration of using natural building materials as well as adding something to the facilities of the site.
If I do not move to Nova Scotia, and in the meantime either way, In Saint John I would be continuing with the gardening and implementing my plans around the house and hopefully getting down to the property to plant trees and do more site analysis for a site plan. I would have enough time to organize a small community project like a Pick Up Garbage Party or a wild plant walk
August
Depending on whether I decide to move to NS or not, this month would include more gardening tending as this is an ongoing project. Hopefully some good work done on the yurt and the property regarding planting food forest. I feel it is a good idea to get trees growing there as soon as possible even before we live there, the annual gardens will come when we live there all year. For now, adjusting to the reality of our relationship with the property, it makes sense to establish things that will have long-term yields and require little maintenance.
I hope to attend my friend's music festival in PEI and do some permaculture designing for the festival site, depending where it is and if they are able to buy it.
September
I had not thought this far ahead before!
I anticipate the gardening season will not be over yet, and I want to stick around for those cold-weather crops! I want to go wild mushroom harvesting with some professionals that Jac has been in contact with, and make a point to collect viable spores or culture samples for propagation of any wild species I do find. Start a Mycolibrary.
October – onwards
Hard to accurately forsee at this distance. I have been thinking about travelling south, possibly going to Mexico for 21 December 2012 because I imagine there are some cool things going on there and in Central America. I would love to visit some eco-villages that are well established and see some well-developed permaculture sites. Getting more international experience would be beneficial to me in terms of language, cultural diversity understanding and inspiration!
I need to be saving up money this whole time in anticipation of travelling.
I think winter is a good time to travel in this way because there won't be so much going on in terms of the type of work I want to be doing mostly. I feel like this is a natural rhythm of the seasons. I look forward to connecting with community and learning about what is going on in other parts of the world, see other ways of doing things, eat delicious fruits, practice my Espanol.
New Year
I look forward to another season of project work. Some ideas I have right now are applying for a program for forest gardening in Halifax.
Or, I could spend more time learning more skills such as shoemaking, more about herbal medicine, living off the land more hardcore... hunter-gatherer style.
I feel like there are many ways to go through life - I can plan carefully for specific goals, which to some extent I do. I also have a strong feeling of flow in my life, and I know that what I am doing now and the general direction I am taking will lead to more opportunities and ideas than I can imagine right now. For this reason I leave a lot of flexibility in my long-term plans.