I am winding my time down on Dianne's farm as I prepare to leave next week. This has been an amazing adventure, culture shock, and wake up call. I have grown soooo much spiritually, emotionally and physically. In 7 short weeks I have witnessed and participated in a farm that IS becoming the change they want to see in the world: sustainable lifestyle, forest farming and permaculture being practiced and taught. Dianne and her family are a fast growing population all through world as they gear up to the 100 mile diet and post carbon world.
I hope I can write more often as I process what I have learned to pass on. My culture shocked brain could only absorb so much as literally everything is new to me!



My first lesson has been living in a permaculture environment:  Permaculture is a design system based on ethics and principles which can be used to establish, design, manage and improve all efforts made by individuals, households and communities towards a sustainable future. How that  shows up here is we recycle almost everything.  We took the trash to the dump yesterday and for a family of 5 of us we filled one tall kitchen trash bag (cornstarch plastic) for one month!!!  There is a no new plastic rule so when you buy at the market you take your own containers and refill using the bulk bins.  We don't buy anything that's not in a 100 mile circumfrence from here.
Her organic garden grows most of the food for the year.  We have been collecting seed for next year (Heritage), canning and freezing for winter.  She barters some of her food and medicinal herbs for local organic turkey and beef.  She does buy grains and dairy.  Her garden is grown in permaculture, forest farm style.  Forest farming is an agroforestry practice characterized by the four "I's"- Intentional, Integrated, Intensive and Interactive management of an existing forested ecosystem wherein forest health is of paramount concern. It is neither forestry nor farming in the traditional sense. Forest farm management principles constitute an ecological approach to forest management through efforts to find a balance between conservation of native biodiversity and wildlife habitat within the forest.  We wild craft into the forest for many medicinal plants and roots also.
If any of you have questions please email me!
 
Fare thee Well,
Janet

more Kokanee Lake

If you plan to spend the night at one of the many lakes high in the alpine regions you must wrap your car up from the porcupines.  The come out at night and eat your brake lining and tires!!!  There is plenty of chicken wire and stakes laying around for that purpose.

Lola had it made.....she is really fitting in....everyone loves her here.  The only issue is she can't come in the house because Dianne is allergic to cats and dogs.  She has to sleep in my car at night.  It's fine right now with the weather and I'm sleeping with her in the car at night.  When the weather turns.....?????  
The last photo is Bonnie Jean...what a sweetheart!  I dropped her off at an ashram across the lake a few days ago.  She might be back to wwoof in a few weeks.

Kokanee Lake

Kokanee Lake is a 3 hour up hill climb into alpine.
I think this was one of the more strenuous and most beautiful hikes I have ever been on.  This is my new back yard!
The kids (22 year olds) back packed in to the glacier and spent a couple of nights. I didn't want to intrude on their new love affair that started here on the farm!  I'm glad I didn't go because a storm moved in and Mark was hit by lighting!!!  He was ok.

Party night

This is Dianne playing her Dolcimer.  It was the last night the Quebecqua's were with us.  The fresh baked apple pie/cake was gifted to Dianne that night.  The idea came to make every night  some ones birthday to initiate a celebration!  I was awarded the first pie!  It was accidental...Mark thought he heard Isabelle say that it was my birthday. What she really said was,  wouldn't it be fun IF it were Janet's birthday!  What a surprise it was when I came home from a meeting and was given a cake!  It was so much fun because I got to pick an age I would like to be....I picked my current age...54....I love being me.  Isn't that a gift!

Job Description as a Wwoofer

This is Mark from Quebec.  As you can see he's peeling apples.  We dried apples today.  We also weed, water, pick seeds (paper bags hanging in bags in photo below), dry herbs in one of the many driers, wild craft into the bush for many different herbs, press herbs (photo below), help with medicine making, pick fruit, pick ripe vegetables and make dinner or freeze, make AWESOME, organic fresh picked meals, sing, yack, contemplate and rub my sore muscles with arnica cream! 

The Gang

The Wwoofing crew of Laird Creek Farm my first week.  From left to right:  me, Mark from Quebec, Dianne our wwoofing host, Isabella from Quebec, Bonnie Jean from Nova Scotia, Noah- Diannes grandson

Laird Creek Farm 2

These are more photos of views from the farm.....
Laird Creek, Alpine Meadow, sub tropical meadow

Laird Creek Farm 1

Hi from Nelson, British Columbia!
I am wwoofing on this amazing medicinal herb farm in Kootney Lake Region.  The Kootney region is part of the Columbia River running south to Spokane, Washington.  On the pollution global maps this area boasts the cleanest water and air in the world!
The farm is run by Dianne Luchtan.  She has lived in the region for 40 years.  She is a true medicine woman, women's rights activist, and revolutionary.  She is on the cutting edge of sustainability and environmental issues. Her land is 30 acres, most of it still forest and Laird creek runs through it.  Her 2 sons and their families live here in their separate homes (one son lives in his converted very cool bus!) Her sisters also live here.
Her business, Laird Creek Essentials, is medicinal tinctures, creams and salves.  She also sells heritage, organic seeds.  Along with the growing of some medicinal herbs, she grows all of her own fruit and vegetables for the year.  Which means right now, being fall, we are picking for freezing and preserving for winter and harvesting seeds for spring seed sales.  She also participates in 2 local festivals at the end of the month.
Her water comes from an artisan well and they just hooked a pump to the Laird creek.  She is in the process of researching water power alternative energy to eventually live off the grid.  We recycle everything!!!!  I mean almost everything!!  She only takes 1 large trash bag to the dump once a month!  This house also practices "no new plastic" and everything she buys is local with the exception of coffee (and that is fair trade organic)! 
Fare Thee Well.....more photos to come!
Pioneer Janet

        Lola's House