Great people make great workshop!

Last week we enjoyed a permaculture workshop together with Josef and Richard from the Krameterhof in Austria. I would like to thank them and also every one of you who took part for your enthusiasm and energy, it was really an amazing experience, exceeding all of our expectations!

The result with 2 ponds, 3 terrace gardens, micro climate planning, grafting and building a hugelkultur (or raised bed) was terrific!

Creating the Hugelkultur

  Building a raised bed as a Hugelkultur the Krameterhof-way.

Begin by digging a hole in the ground, not too deep 20-30 cm was ok. Put the turf to the side. Sort out stones from soil. Collect material like dead wood and leaves from the forest which contains plenty of living micro-organisms. Dry grass, silage, manure, branches from earlier cut down trees, cardboard etc. 

 

Satisfying result!

Start with the branches, the ones of dead wood and the leaves from the forest, then the turf with grass down covered with cardboard. Then layer after layer with hay, silage, manure, more branches. Cover the bed with sifted soil where all stones have been taken out and hay or silage on the top. This bed will now be perfect for planting vegetables next spring!

Rowans in the fruit orchard

  We learnt that the quickest way to get fruit trees up and running, or maybe I should say up and blooming, is to graft the sorts we choose on to existing rowans (Sorbus aucuparia, Eberesche). This will work very well with pears and apples. Luckily we have plenty of rowans on the property for this experiment. 

Outlining a big pond

Our vision is a land of paradise, with little lakes that offer habitats for microscopic little creatures as well as for small fish, crayfish, frogs and other amphibians. Birds and other animals will love it too.

This will be Garden no 2 with a micro-climate stone wall

The terrace gardens will make it possible to develop rich, living soil and to grow all the vegetables we could possibly need.

Microclimates will be created with stone walls and timber walls which store warmth during the day and give it out to the earth and the air at night. Long term physical goal is to become self sufficient.

 

Old spruce in the protected forest, maybe 400 years!

 

Our overall vision is to create a loving eco-system in harmony with God's laws and God's Love. The most interesting experiment will be to continue to develop the relationship with God and healing our soul to become more and more loving - and then see what difference this makes to the land around us.

We are making great plans for the property now and we are also preparing for an upcoming seminar with the Krameterhof guys next summer! This seminar will be open for anyone who would like to participate. Registration will be possible later on from the Krameterhof website (www.krameterhof.at).