wwoofer - Helene

Helen, a 22 year old graduate of environmental studies and playworker (animatrice) stayed for a couple of weeks.  She did some wonderful cooking with produce from the land, worked in the permaculture inspired garden, helped with collecting and cutting wood and worked with me to line the roofspace in the house.  Some images from her stay:

 

On the Land

 

Helping me with the log chopping .....

 

Harvesting marrows in the round
garden  ....

A good catch ....
 

In the Kitchen

She made a delicious pizza with
vegetables from the land ...
 

Making sourdough bread ....

 

Having harvested basil leaves
and walnuts from the land, she
made a delicious pesto .... as well
as large amounts of jam with the
harvested apples ......
 

Very happy with the result ....
 

... and we all enjoyed pesto on
sourdough bread .....
 

..... here making a vegan chocolate cake with a spaghetti
squash from the garden ......
 

We harvested fennel seeds for
replanting next year as well as
for cooking .....................
 

In the House

Helen helped me to line the roofspace with wood ....

 

In love with grey cat

Wwoofer Callum

Callum, a student of early years primary teaching in the UK, came and stayed in September and threw himself into every activity on offer with great enthusiasm.  He was keen to learn as much as he could and was a great help .....

The Greywater System Gets a Facelift


After helping with the calculations in terms of grey water
produced from the house using Art Ludwig's book 'Create a Greywater
 Oasis', we worked out the volume of wood chip needed around the pear tree
 to filter and clean it .... and he set to work to dig the hole a bit deeper and wider ....



.... always with a ready smile ...



... until the hole was wide and deep enough ....
and he was still smiling ....
 

 

... we piled up more earth around the root ball of the pear tree.
The PVC pipe that brings the grey water from the house
 can be seen here ... we decided to redesign the system so
that the greywater will pour directly out onto the woodchip
 below it...



We then took some of the three year old
humanure from the compost heap to put
around the root ball of the pear tree.  This
will help prevent nitrogen stripping from the
soil around it .....
 

Smiling with the mature poo ...

 

We collected woodchip from a nearby saw mill in exchange
for some homemade jam and started to fill the hole ...
 





.... the finishing touches ....



 

 Callum in the Kitchen and Garden

He enjoyed learning how to make sourdough
bread which is much better for the digestion ...
 

Preparing supper with vegetables harvested
from the land .............

Chopping apples from the land to make
stewed apple ......
 

Eco-construction


Making straw and slip to insulate a wall
in the house ....


Elegantly screwing the boards in place
for the straw and slip insulation ...

Masked up when dealing with lime ...

Adding lime to earth and sand for the exterior
render for the house ...

 

Helping to fill holes and cracks in the first layer of the earth floor
in preparation for the next layer ....
 

 

 

 Leisure Time

Time spent playing music .... thanks for teaching me power chords

He built a fabulous cabin in the woodland ...