Monthly Archive for August, 2007

blarney in Killarney

Published
by
Steve
on August 13, 2007
in Travel
. 1 Comment

Well, no blarney yet … maybe later.

While the day seemed long, with a six-hour stop between flights at Stansted airport, it seems like I got here from Norway pretty quickly as well. Both flights were on time, no problem. Bus rides were puke-free and all was well with my travels. I stayed in Bergen last night at the YMCA hostel again. I had a bit of travelers insomnia, though, probably because it was important for me to wake up at 6 am and get the right bus. I was in fact so early this morning I caught the bus before the one I was aiming for and got to the Bergen Flesland airport 2 1/2 hours early.

Then wham, boom, hurry up and wait - Now I’m in Killarney! And, it is TRULY unique. Just walking down the street to get to the hostel. Live music! I haven’t seen it advertised on any streets in any towns I can remember. I’m going to head out in a bit for a bite of traditional Irish food and try to find some traditional Irish music (or whatever I come across) as well. Yummm.

I can’t say anything exciting about leaving Erik’s farm on Ytre Lygra, other than it was tough to leave, as usual! I did get a ride most of the way to Bergen from Jacob, a neighbor on the island. It was nice to have personal contact with someone I knew for a bit longer. Jumping on an impersonal bus with strangers is always a little unsettling.

Yesterday morning we did take a tour of the other island of Ytre Lygra. Another island neighbor named Olaf took us from the dock to the other island in his boat. It was a nice hike. We saw barely-there ruins from old viking farms (at least I think I remember they were viking farms …). And, we walked farther than I thought we could on the island and farther than I thought we would. I had only one slice of bread with breakfast, so I was absolutely famished by the end. The island is bigger than I thought, but it was definitely worth the hunger pangs! Of course, we also got to see the resident wild viking sheep, too. It is truly a unique and interesting place and I’m glad we had the chance to take a little tour.

on the other island

I’m glad to be here in Killarney. I was very excited to get here! Norway was great, and it is definitely unforgetable. I think my stays on the farms were a nice length. Though I would have absolutely loved more time at both Frilund GÃ¥rd and Ytre Lygra, leaving after two weeks keeps me from falling too much in love with the place like I did with Cortijo el Cura near Granada and La Chalaguere in France. With the end of my set travel time frighteningly quickly drawing near, seeing more is cool with me. I’m not really sure yet what my stays will be like here in Ireland. The first farm sounds really interesting. And, while I’ve semi-confirmed at a second farm, I’m not sure if I’ll end up there or not! I need to re-email them now that I’m here and give them a heads up!

That’s it for now. I don’t feel like spending much time on the computer. I have more pictures, but not much more to write, so check out flickr later or tomorrow or something.

a beautiful day

Published
by
Steve
on August 9, 2007
in Lifestyle and Travel
. 0 Comments

Today was a stunner here in Norway. We’ve had some hit-and-miss weather. One day it’ll be rainy, windy and cold. The next it will be sunny and warm and beautiful. Actually the rainy days are quite beautiful too, just not as much as the sunny ones. Things are going well here. We’re getting a lot done. Erik keeps telling us (the wwoofers) that we’re doing a great job and getting a lot done. It’s good to hear and great to be helping him out!

fjord view

Erik has been telling us some of his history. He’s 31 and has done so much! Biking all over Europe, traveling all over Europe. He did essentially a hitchhiking cross North American continent trip from Toronto to Vancouver down the coast and practically all of Mexico. There’ve been television shows, farms, restaurants and cookbooks in his past. And now, he’s chosen farming and sees farming in his future for at least the next ten years. We share the desire to always live in the country from now on and live and work with nature all around us. We’ve had plenty to talk about and he’s given me some excellent pointers and recommended some excellent books. (Check my Amazon wish list for details …)

One of the things we’ve talked a lot about is appropriate technology. It’s something a lot of people don’t even consider. It’s essentially the broadening of “the right tool for the job.” I had written in a post before about having a tractor. All the tractors I’ve been exposed to so far have been the four-wheel type. I didn’t really know anything about or heard of two-wheel tractors. Erik has one and one of the books he told me about recommends one as well for the small market gardner cultivating around 2 1/2 acres or less. I used Erik’s today to cut the grass. It was quite a job, and gave me a chance to see what a two-wheeled tractor is like, how it handles and such. It was hard work, but it was probably easier than it would have been with a four-wheeled tractor. Mainly because of the size of his land. Some places the four-wheeled tractor wouldn’t fit. And, there are places where the ground is still a bit wet where a heavy machine would have gotten stuck. His tractor fits his land. And, it fits his budget, too. As much as I want a little tractor like the Fiat at Frilund Gård, affording one in the near future is really not gonna happen. So, it has been a great experience to see a different perspective. I think it is probably the perfect solution for the kind of operation I hope to have.

Making breakfast in the morning has been fun. I wake up before everyone else, make myself a cup of coffee (though the coffee supply is dwindling) and take my time preparing things. Granted, I am only making porridge. Last night I gathered wild raspberries to enjoy with the porridge, and last night while socializing, I cracked hazelnuts as well. This morning I pan-toasted the hazelnuts and served them along with the raspberries, oats, kefir and peppermint tea. I don’t exactly see the sun rise, but is a nice hour to be awake. Things are very peaceful and quiet!

amazed at where I am

I’ve really enjoyed Ytre Lygra, and as always wish I planned a longer stay. At sunset I walked out the front door and lingered a few moment watching the sunset. I feel so alive and have never enjoyed life more than I have in the last year (I quit my job just over one year ago). It is quite a place here. I’ve been sleeping extremely well, the food has been great, the working enjoyable, everyone has been excellent and the experience incredibly worth it, like all the farms I’ve been on.

I leave for Ireland Monday morning and should be at the next farm on the 14th. Right now I’m very tired, and my eyelids are very heavy! I need a shower after working hard and we all have one more day of work until we’re off for the weekend!

Ytre Lygra

Published
by
Steve
on August 6, 2007
in Lifestyle and Travel
. 0 Comments

Farming in Norway on an island in a fjord - I remember looking at the wwoof description and thinking, wow, that must be cool. And it is! I’m quite enjoying it. It is a small place, and if they didn’t have 50 or so chickens here and sheep grazing on pasture, I wouldn’t call it a farm (yet). Although, it does look like a farm!

farm house and barn

They just aren’t doing a ton of farming as Erik and Annette are really just getting started here. Erik has been here for about a year, he said, so they are still working on a lot of things like fencing, barn organizing, working out systems for this and that. We’re doing some varied work. Friday, the first day I was here, I helped Simon and Hannah, who are also wwoofing here, clean out the remnants of the old stables in the bottom of the barn. Later I emptied dried calendula and corn flowers out of the herb drier and helped put a new batch in. Saturday they usually take off, but we all worked anyway and did some sorting and organizing in the barn. It’s one of those jobs that will never be finished, and we didn’t really make all that much progress. Today we worked together to run a top wire along two stretches of fence and finished another section of fencing. I also accepted the responsibility for the task of caring for the chickens. It’s one of the things I’ve wanted to experience and now I get to have a taste of it.

Tending the chickens is quite easy, really. Making sure they have food and water and cleaning their poop out from under their roosts and giving them new straw. Right now we’re getting three eggs a day. There’s only a few chickens mature enough to lay. They’ve got quite a few more chickens growing up for the task, though. And one of these days they will have quite a few eggs to keep track of!

chicken toddlers

The veg garden is a decent size. They have a small diversity of stuff growing, the usual potatoes and carrots, beans, peas, beetroot, etc. There is a small greenhouse Erik constructed out of salvaged materials. They’ve got tomatoes and peppers growing well inside. It’s all well weeded and organized. The main thing they are doing differently, due to the size mainly, is mulching. Mulching with straw and seaweed! I definitely haven’t seen it before, but I had read about doing it. So it is neat to see it, and it makes sense being this close to water.

Which brings me to the beauty of the island and the area. It is one of the most unique and beautiful areas I’ve ever been. I haven’t taken that many photos, and I’m not sure I can really capture the extraordinary scenery and landscape. I must admit that I had this image of a farm on an island in a fjord in my head and this isn’t what I imagined, but I really had no idea. My image was much more steep, mountainous and rocky. I think I had that in my head because they have a herd of around 100 sheep of ancient viking breed roaming around the island that they only tend twice a year. I think the image of viking and untended sheep made me think mountains. I dunno why. On the bus ride here I also passed by some fjords that have huge mountains shooting up on either side of them. But anyway, now that I’m here the island makes way more sense as a farm island.

from the highest point

Not mountainous, but nicely and slightly undulating. Combined with the water all around, it is more than enough to be highly beautiful and interesting. There are trails on this end of the island. They essentially live on the northeast end of the island and are one of the last houses. The rest of the island from their house to the tip is all conservation area and sheep pasture. There’s walking trails that begin just a few meters from the house and wind through the heathlands, passing trickling streams, rocky outcroppings, old stone-wall stables, lots and lots of lush green grasses and ferns, and groups of sheep munching away. Walking around there reminds me of some scenes in the game Myst, from the first of second version. A bit surreal, but beautiful.

looking north

I’ll have to try and take more photos showing the area, as this one doesn’t do it anything near photographic justice.

It’s the first place I’ve been that have a composting toilet in the house, in place of the usual water closet toilet. It is really great to see, because it’s the way to go. They’re composting the humanure in a separate pile and using “The Humanure Handbook” for guidance. It definitely has made my mind up to have a composting toilet IN the house, not in an “outhouse.” Other than that, and absolutely no TV, the house is pretty typical. Hot water, refrigerator, electric stove, etc.

That’s about all I have to post right now. It’s getting late and I’m tired! Also, the other chore I signed up for was breakfast. So, I get up every morning to have breakfast ready at 8 am. It’s just porridge and tea, so not a big deal, I just have to get up on time and do it! Nite nite …