Baltak
Baltak
It seems that when you WWOOF at a place for a good length of time, the line between host and friend dissolves. This is a lovely thing, because you end up feeling like you are helping out a mate, and it makes the work you do become even less of a chore.
The 'wagon' with our neighbours in the foreground.
Such was the case with Fabian and Antonie on their lovely little property in Baltak, Sweden.
We were the first WWOOFers hosted by this young couple,who have recently emigrated from Dresden in Germany. Our accommodation was a timber ‘wagon’ they had built when they themselves were WWOOFers (at Bossgarden funnily enough- see our last post), perched on the edge of the forest in a field with three sheep. The wagon was beautifully crafted and fitted out with an eye for detail and a flair for style.
Fabian and Antonie (Toni for short) have a beautiful baby boy called Janosch and live on two hectares on the outskirts of town. They grow lots of their own vegetables, are renovating their lovely but run-down house and have a few sheep wandering around their back paddock. The house is bordered by forests full of mushrooms, blueberries and raspberries which they like to collect and make use of in their cosy kitchen. We spent a few afternoons wandering thought the forests ‘shopping’ for the tastiest offerings. The property is also bordered by the village church, whose bell rang for about two minutes at 6.30am and two minutes at 6pm… we never really figured out why.
Toni, Zoe and Janosch hunting mushrooms.
I asked Fabian why he had moved to Sweden and he said that even though his life was pretty sorted in Dresden – nice flat, good job, friends, family, social life – he and Toni felt that something was lacking, it felt ‘hollow’. Their life now is much more challenging and with that, they feel it is also richer. Funny how difficulty can also bring happiness.
My main task at Baltak was to help build a fence for the front of their property and it quickly became clear that we were not just whacking up a fence, we were building a structure that was to last as long as the materials would allow. I once read a great saying in a hardware store, which said something along the lines of; “If you didn’t have time to do it right in the first place, how come you have time to do it again now?” and this seems to be one of Fabian’s mantras.
Fabian has started a timber mill in a nearby town with his good friend Marcus (also from Germany). They repair old furniture and timber buildings, mill timber and take on other odd jobs when time allows. The picket-style fence was to be built from off-cuts from their mill and a bunch old posts they had lying around.
Debarking hundreds of these with chisel and 'pull knife' was like meditation due to the simple skills of the task.
I will spare you the details, but to make this fence (which was about 70 meters long) the timber had to be pulled from the off-cut pile, loaded and carted to the house, cut to length, debarked, treated with an old recipe for ‘weathering’ timber, sorted, stacked and then put together. The poles had to be cut to a point and painted with concentrated pine sap to protect them from insects and rot.
The job took a long time, but the result is a fence that is sympathetic to its surrounds, made of local timber and built to last two or three times longer than timber sourced from the local hardware store.
In the end we did not want to leave and they did not want us to go, but plane tickets were booked and our next destination awaited, so we bid a tearful farewell to our newfound friends and headed down to the South of France.
Hosts and friends - from left; Vanessa, Marcus, Fabian, Toni and Janosch. If you look closely you can see some of the finished fence in the background too.
Sweden
Zoe doing some weeding in the vege garden
At the moment we are in Sweden.
The last farm we went to was called Bossgarden and it was very nice. We got to stay in a caravan, and it was big – I mean huge! We had lambs running around the caravan, it was cute.
Dad helped move Buta the pig to her new pig sty in the field.
Now we are at a farm in Baltak not too far from Bossgarden.
We are staying in a beautiful hand built wooden wagon that is next to a forest – my bed feels like sleeping on a cloud! The farm also has sheep and they are in the same field as the wagon.
You can walk to apple trees and plum trees that grow close to the road and find delicious apples and plums on the ground beneath them. Tom and I go for lots of walks with Mum and Dad in the afternoons exploring the areas around the farm.
On the weekend we went mushroom hunting and found lots of mushrooms in the forest that we could eat for dinner. We also found lots of blueberries in the forest and they were delicious.
Hunting mushrooms for dinner
The owners are called Toni and Fabian, they have a little baby called Janosch, he is very cute.
I like it here in Baltak.
Walking in the countryside
Bossgarden
If the Swedish farm of Bossgarden had a motto it would have to be somewhere between ‘give it a go’ and ‘do it yourself’. The ever-resourceful owners Jonas, Saana and their one year old son Alvin seem to have had a go at pretty much every aspect of living off the land and their passion for it is contagious.
Jonas & Saana at 'fika' time in their front yard.
They grow a wonderful diversity of crops, vegetables, fruits and berries, run a small herd of sheep, cows and pigs (well a pig) plus a flock of chickens, make their own cheeses, breads, cakes, jams and preserves, run a cafe and boutique on the property on weekends and a ‘pub’ in the 150 year old refurbished pig sty once a month. They have cut down some of the spruce forest on their land and replanted with a greater diversity of tree species. They are also involved in local politics and cultural events such as the upcoming annual film festival.
Well that is the abridged version, but you get the general idea, this is not a place to be idle.
Jonas has been working on this farm in the South midlands of Sweden for around seven years and during that time he has been managing all of the above whilst restoring the ancient thatch roofed barns and timber homestead. Oh, yeah, he likes to restore the old machinery on the farm too, not just for show either. He firmly believes that the old machines often outlast and outperform the newer versions.
The man is sharp-witted, versatile, well educated, multi-lingual and surprisingly laid back for the large amount of brain floating around in his skull. He is also a lovely WWOOF host and we totally enjoyed our stay with him.
The Bossgarden homestead.
The farm is a beautiful piece of land that’s laid out in a seemingly odd way – only around 100m wide, but almost 1.5km long. This narrow strip stretches over hills, marshes, fertile fields and streams. Apparently this sort of farm is not unusual in this part of the world, the rationale for the dimensions being that it allows the farmers to own a diversity of land and thus produce a diversity of crops.
In the summer heat with a sun that seems to rise minutes after it sets, it seems that life here is pretty easy. Speaking to Jonas and Saana though, the summers are short and the winters are long and harsh, so one should not be deceived. Life on the farm is not just thinking from day to day or even season to season, it involves planing years ahead at at time.
Fat fields almost ready for harvest.
Jonas acknowledges that an essential part of the farm’s success has been the WWOOFing workforce and he does his best to return a good day’s work with a feast of fresh food and comfy accommodation. Breakfast of homemade toasted muesli with homemade jam, bread and a type of yogurt (called ‘filmjolk’) is followed by two hours of work. Then comes the ritual of ‘fika’. Fika involves a range of amazing homemade cheeses, on the homemade bread, cakes freshly baked from flour grown on the farm and ground in the local mill, and of course great coffee, which until they find a variety that grows in a nearly arctic climate, is imported, but at least it is fair trade.
After Fika comes another couple of hours work until a hot lunch is served. Lunch is generally hearty and filling to the point of needing to get back to work so as to burn off some of the calories… So fortunately there is one more two hour shift before finishing for the day.
The farm’s atmosphere is social and everyone seems to enjoy helping it grow and prosper. Such lovely people in such a lovely part of the world.
Evening sunset in the house vegetable patch. The crazy yellow light is a result of the low angle of the setting sun at summertime in this high latitude.
Medicine Farm Magic
The Medicine Farm is a place that functions just fine without logic.
In terms of financial viability – there really isn’t any. In terms of security of labour force – no, none of that. In terms of materials and monies needed to run a farm and maintain infrastructure – you guessed it, not happening.
So how is it that nine years down the track the farm is still thriving?
The man with the plan, Doug, in post surf chill mode at Wikaninnish Beach
After a fair bit of head scratching, it seems that it works because of one man’s vision, energy and focus. Douglas Brooker has created this place and he is the one that keeps it happening.
I was fortunate to get some time with Doug, away from the constant demands on his time and I asked him about it…
Well, let me be more specific… I was driving him to the other side of the island (he doesn’t have a license) in a car that was given to him for $1, to pick up some scrap steel that someone else had decided to pay for, which would be used by a bunch of volunteers to build a cabin for him to live in. Nice.
OK, so he told me some of his secrets and I have to warn you that we’re going to venture into territory that may make some readers a bit uncomfortable… I would also like to tell you that I have seen Doug’s ‘powers’ at work first hand, and it is pretty impressive.
Basically it all boils down to meditation and manifestation. It doesn’t sound too out there I know, but when you see the level of success he has, it really makes you stop and think.
Every day Doug spends a varying amount of time meditating. I feel that to reveal the details of his meditation may not be appropriate here, but let’s just say there is time spent on being grateful, forgiveness, surrendering his will and focusing on what is needed to ensure things keep on keeping on.
What seems to happen is that Doug gets an idea of what is needed and then he somehow makes it happen. It is all very much in the vein of “The Secret” and I saw examples of it pretty much every day.
The shack, at the end of week 1 - three of the walls and the floor had been built by someone else.
Here is a little one to give you some idea…
I’m working on building Doug’s new cabin and we need a door. Now, the frame for the door was built before I got there as someone had framed up three of the four walls, and the gap for the door was much larger than any standard size. I tell Doug that we are ready for a door and so off he goes for his lunchtime meditation…
Later that afternoon he rocks back into camp after the salad deliveries (in the $1 car with someone else driving), with a door that will fit the over-sized frame almost exactly. The door was sitting under the house of some random guy that he got talking to and it seems that the guy had planned to use it for ages but then suddenly decided that it was taking up space and he will never need it, so he may as well get rid of it.
This is pretty much the normal way that Doug gets what he needs. Charisma, a big smile and serendipity.
The inside of the cabin at the time we left.
The whole building project was a study in… I don’t know what to call it… manifestation? serendipity? good fortune? Well all of those and more. Every time an unusual piece of timber or nail or bracket was needed, you would just have to have a little look around and it would be there, almost waiting to be fitted. Most of the time the timber would only need it’s ends squared and it would fit snugly. Sometimes it would not need to be cut at all.
Now to have this happen once or twice would be worth noting. To have it happen numerous times a day was uncanny to the point where it became, well… hilarious. That was my reaction anyhow. Often people would visit the site and find me smiling away as I had just found another unlikely piece of the jigsaw awaiting assembly.
We found this ladder after building the loft, and in keeping with the project, it was the exact height with pre-cut notches to rest on the supporting beam.
Now perhaps it was just me, perhaps it was the power of my subconscious mind looking at a pile of bits and brilliantly calculating how they could be most efficiently assembled. I would love to think that I am that clever. Really though, I believe there was something else going on and it is something that I am not going to try to name or explain. All I want to say is that it felt good to be in the ‘flow’ of things constructing that little cabin. It made me feel like my place in the universe was supposed to be exactly where I was, doing exactly what I was doing. It really felt more like play than work.
So, 6 weeks after we arrived (for our one week stay!), we left the sanctuary of the Medicine Farm. We leave enriched, inspired and a little bit sad, as we will miss our fellow WWOOFers, who had become like our extended family.
There are more stories to tell, and now that we once again have access to electricity and the internet, I will get around to sharing some of them.
Front view of the shack, everything you see is a salvaged, reused or recycled material.
Medicine Farm
Vancouver Island, as with many islands around the planet, is a world unto itself. The pace of life is a bit more relaxed, the landscape is spectacular and the wildlife abundant. Although if you asked our the kids, they may say that some of the wildlife is a bit too abundant – they get a bit fazed when we have to wait for the bears to move on so that we can get to our cabin.
The dog print to the left of the bear is from a dog that is the size of a Great Dane - big bear!
We are working on a property called Medicine Farm, and life here is all about chasing waves, which suits me just fine. There is, of course, work to be done before the waves are chased, and everyone seems to push towards the common goal of getting that work done quickly and joyfully.
At present there are ten fellow WWOOFers of ages that range from low 20s to low 40s and everyone has managed to get along rather harmoniously considering the diversity of backgrounds and circumstances. It is actually a tribute to human nature as some of our fellow WWOFers have been through some pretty rrough times…
So many stories to tell, but for now, let’s stick to the farm.
Medicine Farm is run by Doug. He is the man with the plan, and so far it looks like that plan is working rather well.
The property consists of around 20 acres of forest that was logged, blasted and left for dead. The fact that it is now a micro-climate of fertility and abundant water is a testament to Doug’s gardening savvy and his knowledge of the local climate and its cycles.
There is no electricity, no phone and no neighbors as the land is surrounded by a thickly forested reservation. Cooking is done by bottled gas and everything else is wood fired or non-existant. It is quite wonderful to be so cut-off from the rest of the planet.
He grows organic lettuce, kale, silver-beet, spring onions, garlic chives and other salad crops for the two local tourist towns of Tofino and Uclulet (Pronounced you-clue-let). These two towns are where Canadians come for their summer sun, because it just about leaves them for the winter months of the year.
The farm is market scale and well thought out. The land itself is covered in dams, cabins, terraces and roads, with the roads being a hangover from the logging days.
Some of the terraces and beds that Doug has created -spot our cabin in the top left
The accommodation for WWOOFers is a funky collection of cabins or trailers parked in all sorts of secluded nooks and crannies of this undulating property. Doug meanwhile lives in a moldy dark trailer where he has been for years, but things are changing.
As luck would have it, I have been able to work on the construction of Doug’s new ‘shack’ where he plans to be until he has built himself a real house. (He reckons he will have moved into his new place within two years – I give him four), but I reckon his little shack will be around for at least another forty, give or take a decade.
The whole project has involved salvage, scrap, mill ends recycled timber and driftwood, and there is still a way to go before it is livable. However it’s interesting the way that things seem to just turn up when they are needed and they seem to almost be built to order…
Jeff (my partner in construction) and I have hammered hundreds of reclaimed nails flat and forced warped and twisted wood to do our bidding. The weather has been kind and the surf good, so everyone is pretty happy.
I guess the fact that our two week stay is looking to be closer to a month says it all. More on the farm and Doug next post…
The forests here are a green I have rarely seen, and everything is dripping in moss.
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