age
level of education
introversion and extroversion
experience in gardening
I found I learned a lot about people very quickly, and would definitely use this in a classroom space.
We ended off the evening by associating the four Elements with a compass direction and listening to Craig's didgeridoo music. It was very relaxing, although when I went to bed last night, I couldn't sleep. I think the excitement of being here is finally starting to sink in, which is leading to a very active mind. It reminds me to make enough time to meditate and be calm through the excitement - for there is much to be done and much to be learned.
This morning, our group went off to The Park, Findhorn's other campus.
We learned about the local climate of the Findhorn village and Forres area, which is very cold, yet still has a surprisingly high amount of sunlight, and also has plenty of water. The soil is very sandy, which means that you must add extra fibre to it and use lots of mulch.
Despite the fact of the snow covering the soil, we managed to harvest two baskets and two sacks of potatoes and artichokes, because of the way they had been planted and looked after by chickens over the winter.
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| Midwinter Harvest? Snow Problem... |
Gosh hard to believe that veggies can withstand that cold. How were they planted and what role did the chickens play-apart from the manure?
ReplyDeleteIt would seem that root crops are better at withstanding the cold. Potatoes in particular are known to be able to be grown under cold conditions. They were planted several months ago when it was warmer.
ReplyDeleteAs for the chickens, they are as much the gardeners as the humans themselves. They eat pests and weeds, scratch the mulch around and scratch their own manure into the soil, and Craig said that these particular chickens have even eaten mice on occasion (to which I said they were very brave!) They also produce eggs, which are tradeable for other commodities.