September Work Weekend Recap
We had a great work weekend last weekend! We hadn't camped all together in a while and it felt good to be there stewarding the Land in community!
The scythe and sickle demo was amazing! We are all looking forward to getting a few more scythes and continuing to learn to use this amazing tool. We learned about the differences between the American and European scythe and we also learned about the specificity of the different tools, including the sickle and even a Japanese sickle, to perform different jobs. We learned how to sharpen and take care of the tools, and we are excited to share what we have learned with others, and to continue to practice abilities.
We harvested plenty of nettles as part of our convivial conservation effort to restore the fen - also a great opportunity to practice with the scythe! Some of those nettles will be part of Natalie's foraging camp menu on Sunday!
We continued removing the canary grass in the fen, trying different methods that don't require the use of herbicides, as we do our best to protect the rich topsoil that covers the fen. We have placed cardboard in some of the areas taken by the canary grass, hoping that the lack of light will stop its growth. We tried using ground staples to hold the cardboards but the soil is so soft that they wouldn't stay in... In 2022, when we started the fen restoration, the first step was to remove some of the black walnuts that were growing there so that their roots wouldn't absorb water and also to provide more light. It felt good to use the logs of those trees as weights for the cardboard - the problem becomes the solution!
We also spend a lot of the weekend working on the kids area, which was overgrown. We mowed with the scythes and added loads of wood chips to the paths and under the tree house and playhouse - the kids immediately appreciated our work and spend big chunks of the weekend there!
We cleared around the trees we planted during the spring and thanks to a generous donation of a mower we now have the ability to mow paths again - which we also did!
We shared delicious food and laughter, went for hikes, were greeted by the beaver, did some art, had good conversations, splashed in the ponds, enjoyed the new toilet, and had a special home-warming party since one of the families in our community has set up their family plot to spend longer periods of time there - it was very special and inspiring!
We look forward to the next work weekend on Oct 12-13th!
Hope you can make it to the Foraging camp this Sunday!
