Nurf Adventure Trails: Old skills and farm life

So here we are, seventeen days since we first got to Woodcrest, and so far it has been utterly enriching. Much has happened with the farm since we got here: a sheep was slaughtered (which Elsje skinned and butchered), the pigs have gone off to the abattoir, a calf was born, the Green's plot at Breeze has mostly been cleared of the plastic mulch and is almost ready for a cover crop, Colin (once of the long-term WOOFers) had his birthday on Thursday, preserves are being made, the solar array is half-complete and we are getting ready for some upcoming events to be held here soon, so there is much cleaning and fixing of things going on. All in all a busy interesting time.

It's also getting into Autumn now. The days are a bit chillier, the leaves are turning and falling and there are pumpkins appearing outside the houses in the area. It's such a satisfying experience to be outside working and to watch the seasons change literally before your eyes. But then there is much about farm life that is satisfying and, at the risk of sounding cheesy, nourishing to the soul.

Both Elsje and I are immensely grateful to the Greens for their agreeing to take us on for three months. They are great teachers, possessors of numerous old-time skills, immensely knowledgeable about their areas of expertise and are both passionate about what they do. I feel that we are very fortunate to have met them. For instance, to learn about blacksmithing is an experience I can't quite adequately put into words. It stimulates an aspect of my being that I think is there in most modern, city dwelling people, but is never really tapped into in their daily lives. The experience of forging a piece of metal into a functional yet decorative piece is so immensely satisfying that is defies articulation. Also, to realise that this was how much of the tools and metal materials for construction were made before the industrial revolution is a fact I find endlessly intriguing. Before machines were made on a large scale and powered by steam, everything was made using hand tools, skill, muscle power and ingenuity, oh yes, and lots and lots of patience. That Allan is keeping these skills alive and even more importantly, is enthusiastic about passing them on is a great thing. I personally believe that metal and woodworking skills are ones that every man should possess to some degree. That is in fact another thing I wanted to mention here, the natural division of labour that is experienced on a farm. It is a fact that there are tasks that women simply cannot do due to the bald fact that they do not have the physical strength to do them and there are tasks that women are just so much better at due to a different, more nurturing touch. I initially thought that this statement might be construed as offensive to some, and at best an old fashioned way of viewing things, which it is in many ways, but the roles for men and women are so much more clearly defined by physical facts on a farm than in a city and it is interesting to watch how the males and females who are here and who come here naturally slot into the various roles which demand their different touches, and how much co-operation there is. There's something about this aspect of farm life which appeals to me immensely too.