In the shed putting eggs in boxes
Being a farmer can be a very Instagramable profession, but this pic is actually what a lot of farming looks like – you in a shed, at a desk, packing eggs into boxes.
There’s also the pic of you in the van bringing eggs to drop around town, the pic of you collecting new packaging, spare tractor parts, fuel and then the pic of you getting home in time to feed, water, and then you back in the shed packing more eggs.
In the beginning everything is done by hand, everything is improvised, everything is second-hand, repurposed, held together with bits of wire and hope.
Like a new love, like a new child, a new farm is physically and mentally all-consuming
And of course there’s almost never any money; everything spare is ploughed (ho ho) back into planting trees, fencing, new stock, water and repairing the list of broken things.
Alex and Kali from Abundance Farm in Raglan are three and a half years into turning 97 acres of weathered sheep pasture into a diverse, chemical free, regenerative farm.
They have survived the early years, they’ve planted thousands of trees, set up holistic grazing systems, found their customers. Now are ready to take the next step.
Alex and Kali have always involved the community with their farm; with working bees, tree plantings and farm tours. Now they are asking for our help to make Abundance Farm more ecologically and financially secure.
Mostly what we demand of our farmers is cheaper and cheaper food and by doing so we ask them to do whatever it takes to achieve this.
And what do we gain by it? Our topsoil washed away, our bush cleared, our rivers & oceans polluted.
When we turn around and ask ourselves how we heal our broken country, the answer is staring us in the face – we care for our farmers.
You can find Alex and Kali’s Gofundme page here.
Robyn Clayfield comes to CERES
Last week I wrote about the incredible Permacultural life of Rowe Morrow and her upcoming classes at CERES. Well I’m also really excited to hear we have another Permaculture legend, Robyn Clayfield, coming to teach her unique way of working with groups.
Robyn is a Permaculture pioneer (that’s her 2nd row on the left) and is one of the forces behind Crystal Waters Permaculture Eco-Village in SE Queensland. For three decades she has taught all around the world sharing her Social Permaculture and ‘Dynamic Groups’ methodology.
It’s all beautifully thought out but one of the beautiful parts of Robyn’s teaching is that she makes working with others a lot of fun.
Robyn is coming to CERES for one day only on November 20th – don’t miss her.
Have a great week
Chris