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Upside-down the good newsletter

2023 – week 32

Upside down = instead of announcing what we plan to do
(& most often find out we do not need to do), we relate what we really did

The updated list of vegetables & fruit that can be harvested this week is available on our website under the heading “Current Harvest” :

https://plukrijp.be/op-dit-moment-te-oogsten

This week @ Plukrijp

We did:

We harvested the carrots on the left side of tunnel 2.

We keep harvesting fresh veggies in the morning for the shop.

We opened up the food forest again for the ducks, now with the green manure cover germinated & established, the ducks are able to graze & maintain the living cover.

We cleaned out & replaced the straw in the duck coop.

We received a huge donation of klimmop (ivy) to the chicken coop compost heap from our neighbors trimming their hedges. Thanks guys!

We are gifted with the presence of a single little chick, now discovering their world with the help of their protective & caring mother.

We seeded spinach & salad & parsley in the greenhouse with a light mix of compost.

We made delicious fresh grape juice from the overripe grapes in the closed tunnels, & there’s still more to come!

We weeded closed tunnel 2.

We harvested phacelia seed from right side of open tunnel 4.

We harvested parsnip seed from last year’s parsnip, taking note at the extended period of weeding it takes to let plants go to seed & not get overwhelmed.

We harvested the potatoes from the right side of open tunnel 5 & then seeded phacelia & scratched it in.

We noticed the lack of place to put our abundance of musical instruments in the new house & made a guitar rack, with a little help from our friends (& recycled material!). Thanks Alex & Antonio for the the technical advice!

We received from Harri this week: figs, a beautiful wood stove, & an old broken coffee machine that we tried to fix but wouldn’t budge. Thanks Harri for the generosity!

We shuffled the open short beds at the Hei.

We also made fries from our tasty fresh potatoes. Yummm…

We ate more delicious Hungarian dishes & desserts. Thank you Soushka!

Ivan helped us fix more electricity problems around the farm. Thank you Pishti!

Martine made us a wonderful courgette soup. Thanks Martine!

We held a permaculture evening with Niels to give an introduction to some themes in permaculture & share a few of our insights & lessons from mistakes along the way including gardening, social dynamics, & life in general. Thanks everyone for being there & sharing!

(As you can probably tell, we are very grateful on the farm this week. It’s been quite the blessing. Thanks for reading the newsletter & sharing this journey with us!)

A few words from our friend Niels

Introduction to the Ecological Arts and Sciences

Yesterday I gave a presentation about permaculture to the group present at Plukrijp. The power-point serves for myself as a place to collect all the abstract lessons that Ive learned being involved in permaculture over the years. I plan on presenting an up to date version of the slides every couple of months.

I see it as a form of cultural capital that offers the people of Plukrijp a common language around permaculture. It aims to help people with integrating quickly and understanding more broadly. The dream is to inspire current or future organizations to integrate practical ecological principles into their operations and social dynamics.

The title of the presentation reads post-industrial agriculture. This implies that after the industrial era humans have an opportunity to integrate ecological principles with the industrial capacities of our civilization. At best, the term industry describes our ability to efficiently mass produce and transform matter. On the other hand, industry nowadays implies also waste, pollution and disregard for human values and ecological processes.

We should never settle for modes of production that disregard the inherent value of living organisms. After all, ecological systems, if you look at them closely, are abundantly productive and transformative. Furthermore there are industries that have married profits with ecological principles.

Regardless, human beings are looking for their place in the ecosystem; I am. Despite knowledge from all our disciplines of study, human lives in general remain so so. Chronically ill, overfed, lonely or burnt out, guilt stricken by what we are doing to other species, terrified of the consequences of our own domination over nature; that’s us on average in 2023. Urban places remain crowded and messy, suburbs stagnant and barren and countrysides are scarred by monocultures. We are running out of excuses too, it’s getting embarrassing.

Our tools and energy can transform the land to catch and store water, to heal prairies and hunt or harvest abundantly from the protected forests. The rivers’ riparian zones could be teeming with species and the quality of the water and fish can be fantastic. The oceans the world over could be managed and protected in key areas. Cities could be designed to be calm and lush. I’m quite sure that is where we are going already when looking at countries in Scandinavia.

Most importantly for me is that humans are welcome in the midst of these ecosystems, provided they know how to harmonize with the earthly and cosmic forces.

Education around permaculture gives people the perspective to reverse engineer their own lives, companies and diverse communities towards that future where, collectively, we mature into our true role as guardians and representatives of this ark that is planet Earth.

Get in touch if you want to check out the presentation!

A few words from our friend Bram

Replaying family traumas

This week I’m in France spending some holiday time with Maud, visiting her mother and Enzo, the oldest son of 22.

The subject of this text came through the unexpected research from Maud’s mother Anne-Marie. Sitting at the dining table Anne-Marie was asking questions about how it was going with Maud’s kids and there, by speaking of Maxim’s illness (the illness of Crohn), the family line of belly problems was on the table and it was clear that wanted or not wanted we all recreate habits from the family.

The further the week went, the more clear it became visible that I and Maud relive the same emotional injury’s as our parents and grandparents and so on. Really crazy how all these mechanisms keep each other going but in a different jacket.

At the same time I am reading the book Iron John and the book speaks exactly over some masculine issues that I recognize in my family line and that I try to tackle, the attitude of hiding under mama’s wings… from father to son, more and more.

I presume most men in our society can relate to that one. Running away from discomfort, from responsibility. Not knowing anymore how.

Sadness came over me once more for not being more disciplined in keeping up the exercises to maintain masculine qualities or to keep a degree of clarity to not give in to emotional reactions. In my case eating discomfort a way or using excuses for not taking action. The identification with the thought and reacting on it keeps the circle of karma going. Discomfort pops up, fear knocks on the door, distraction is used disguised as reason.

I guess it’s a part of life to balance on the line of duality, to move in it but not to become it. To continue the practice, to fall and get up again with a sense of humor.

Invitation to us all to come together and make the bound again to share experiences and to take our responsibility again in the family, society and our own life’s.

Inspiring Book

Dune #1

Frank Herbert

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for…

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.