Hoooooeeee!

Back home, by the fire, thinking of the permaculture hui at Riverside beside the Motueka river ... seems an age away. Mostly, it was autumn. Fungi everywhere. Yellow, orange and red leaves all over the ground, the tents, the cars. It was still warm at the top of the South and plenty of moisture in the ground. The amanitas were spectacular, the boletes tempting. We even found ink caps and those were picked by a keen forager and fried up for breakfast. Fallen acorns covered the field in which the marque stood and I collected those to grow down here. They look perfect as hen and duck food, as recommended in the weighty Permaculture One.
The workshops at the hui were various and thought-provoking. Kama Burwell's 'Terraquaculture' presentation challenged the hardcore permies and promoted the work of Haikai Tane at Twizel. French-Canadian Jacque talked tools and I learned a lot from him and his mangly Franglais. The food was good and all bar the rice, grown at Riverside. Their gardens are extensive, their corn high and their pumpkins legendary. Almost as breath-taking as George's but only if you've been to his shelly orchard will you know what I mean (fruit! I'll show you fruit!).
Waterwheel Shilo and his family were the highlight for me. So peaceful they are, so very peaceful. We climbed their giant bamboo like extras from the House of Flying Daggers! I wanted to spring from the diving board onto the eel pond but had left my speedoes at home. We ate sweet chestnuts at the table (made from the trunk of a magnolia tree by father and daughter.) I'm drifting. It was like that.

Now that I'm home, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I live where I do. It may be cooler, but it's lush here. Adam and I presented our food forest to the hui and as we talked about our orchard garden I felt homesick (orchard sick?) for our wonderful tangly, wild garden and couldn't wait (though I had to cover the hundreds of kilometres to get back here) to get back under the cover of my woodland. There were so many Nick's there! I learned something from all of them, especially from Nick! He has a shaving-horse and a wickedly sharp mind. Plus he'd just returned from Wairoa and the Baxter experience. I'd like to describe my experience with Peat's poo, but it's not appropriate I suppose. Another time.