The 3 Sisters

Along the right side of the photo you can see wire cages. These are for the 3 Sisters. People familar with gardening know that the 3 sisters are the complimenatry beans, corn, and squash. You plant the corn first, and after it's about 4 inches tall, you plant the beans nearby and the squash just along the outer rim of the cage (plantings I did yesterday morning). The beans provide nitrogen for the soil. The corn act as stalks for the beans to climb, and the squash provide ground shade to preserve moisture in the soil and to inhibit weed growth. Here's a very well-done website on the 3 sisters: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/north-south-east-west/Iroquois/three_sisters.html

The Hawk

After about two weeks, the hawk kite no longer has any efffect on keeping the geese away from the yard and garden. Thus it has been relegated to the cabin as merely a decorative ornament.

Mulberry Trumps Grape Leaves

The photo shows grape vines growing over a metal trellis. As you can see, the mulberry tree is overshadowing them, but Clark likes the mulberries, so the branches will be spared cutting at the expense of the grape vines.

A Vanished Solitude

The thing about taking care of other people's land is you're often not sure who's going to be around. Sometimes you're alone for days on end, and other times there are numerous visitors. I'd been alone here at the LSC for three full days when, on Saturday evening as I was sitting out on the cabin's front porch, two cars pulled up. The next thing I knew Star and her relatives were starting a fire out by the lake and settling in for a family vacation in the country.

Muskrat Mishap

I was just writing about muskrats (see photo below) on the blog, then went outside to do some mowing near the lake with the tractor. As I was cutting grass along the lake's edge, a muskrat came running from the other side of the tractor toward the lake. He ran around the mower toward the safety of the lake, paused, and then, as if ducking for cover, darted under the mower. Big mistake.

Water Rats

There's no shortage of creatures living in and around the lakes here. The muskrat are plentiful, and often come out of the water to forage in the yard near the cabin I live in. I see how they got their name, as they clearly resemble large wet rats.

Swimming the LSC Channel

One reason I was looking forward to living at the Land Stewardship Center again was because I planned to swim in the lake during the dog days of summer. As it turns out, the seaweed is thick enough in the lake to prohibit doing laps. A morning spent collecting the seaweed provided a decent supply of garden mulch, and also opened up a channel starting at the dock. Thus I can now swim laps in the channel, which is sort of like following a road, with thick tangles of seaweed bordering both sides of it.

Seamulch

The yearly harvest of seaweed from the lake makes a rich mulch for the garden plants.

My Favorite Things

The local library doesn't look like much, and it's only open three days out of the week, but from there I can access MelCat. This means not only can I borrow books from numerous Michigan libraries, but also a wide assortment of CDs.

Gathering Seaweed

At least once a year at the Land Stewardship Center seaweed is gathered from the lake. This not only clears the lake for swimming, but also is a great mulch for the garden plants.

Sandal Diving

My deluxe plastic beach sandals accidentally got kicked into the lake and, surprisingly, they sunk straight to the bottom. With the help of my swim goggles I was able to fish them out of the lake.

Woodland Creatures

As I only recently moved out here to the woods from Abu Dhabi, I'm still sometimes slightly taken aback when I suddenly encounter the raccoons, possum, squirrel, deer, and other animals. In Abu Dhabi I generally only come across people (thousands every day), stray cats that loiter around the dumpsters, cockroaches, and the occasional dead alley rat (killed, I believe, by paid city workers who scatter poison around the city's nooks and crannies).

Going to Town

I don't have a car so mostly I stay put at the LSC. Thus when someone is driving into Lapeer, the nearest big town, I try to jump on that bandwagon in order to pick up some supplies. When you go into town only once every two or three weeks it's generally a pretty big deal, even if it's to someplace like Lapeer, a town most would agree isn't that exciting.

Lapeer Shopping

I'm getting a lot of greens (kale, spinach, chard) and lettuce from the garden, but am still waiting for other vegetables that can be harvested later in the summer. In the meantime, I still buy some fruit and other food items at the grocery store (including special treats like almond butter, hummous, and rice milk).

Solar Shower Project

There will be a permaculture workshop here in August, and some of the participants will be camping on the grounds, so a recent project is a solar-heated basement shower for them. Here's the design: a large tank in an insulated box with a glass cover sits on top of three black 50-gallon drums filled with water (in the basement behind very large glass panels facing south). The idea is the sun heats the barrels and the tank that sits on top of them. As water runs through the tank it is solar heated for the shower.

Preparations for the Storm

More storms were supposed to move in last night, so I took the precaution of snapping on the vinyl screen covers before going to sleep. Clark told me that the couple who lived in the cabin last summer used to leave the covers on much of the time because they liked to sleep in.

Geese B-Gone

The hawk kite worked well at first keeping the geese at bay (and out of the garden). They seem to have gotten used to it, however, and are right back up in the yard once again.

Star Abode

There's Star's home, nestled away in the willow trees. Eight years ago, John, an LSC intern, also lived here in a camper. His was hidden away back in the woods behind the main house, however.

Storm Alarm Clock

I went out in the canoe the other day and took a few photos from that perspective. There's a view of the cabin as seen from the lake. This morning at about 5 am the wind was howling and rain was blowing into the cabin from the direction of the lake. I reluctantly got out of bed, put on my headlamp, and went outside and fumbled with the vinyl snap-on covers that go over the screens. Needless to say, it's better to do this before you go to sleep rather than wait until the storm hits.

One thing that has changed from 8 years ago when I lived here is Clark now tries harder to keep the geese away from the garden area. There's good reason for this, as once they eat their way through the garden's comfrey border they could well start on the chard and other succulent plants within the garden.

This hawk kite that Clark put up in the lakeside pavilion the other day actually seems like it keeps the geese away. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but since the kite has been up the geese have been staying on the far side of the lake.

Permaculture in Madagascar

The Land Stewardship Center is all about permaculture. Here's one definition of that concept:

"The word "permaculture" was coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and one of his students, David Holmgren. It is a contraction of "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture." Permaculture is about designing ecological human habitats and food production systems. It is a land use and community building movement which strives for the harmonious integration of human dwellings, microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, and water into stable, productive communities."

After I'd lived and worked here at the LSC twice before, I applied some of what I learned to a permaculture project in a remote part of western Madagascar. Here's the blog for that Peace Corps project if you want to learn more about the concept of permaculture as applied to a less-developed region:

http://www.qani.blogspot.com/

A Squatter's View

As long as I have known him, Clark (the owner of the LSC) has always had a great sense of aesthetics. Even the small details, for example the view from the cabin's outhouse, are taken into consideration.

The New LSC Composting Toilet

On rainy days like today I really appreciate the new composting toilet at the LSC. It has a roof of clear plexiglass, which provides ample natural light. The outhouse is clean and spacious, and Star did a fine job with the decorative paintings. Also, there several large screened windows with brown wicker coverings. These screens provide good air circulation, while the wicker gives one a sense of privacy.

Squatter

Eight years ago when I lived at the LSC this is the composting toilet I used. It works fine, and the view is great, but on rainy days I had to wear a rain jacket, or fumble with an umbrella.

LSC Cabin

Here's a pretty good photo of the LSC cabin . Dawn (my wife) and I lived in it about 8 years ago, but this time I'm solo. Ironically, she's the one who first wanted to come visit this part of Michigan, now I'm back here alone as she opted to spend the summer in Abu Dhabi.

Inside the Cabin ...

Here's a view of the inside of the cabin. On warm sunny days it's great. There are numerous large screened windows, and views out to the lake and to the woods. I use a 2-burner propane stove for cooking. Since I don't have a car, I order most of my bulk foods on the Internet, and UPS then delivers them. These foods include organic brown and wild rice, oats, raisins, cashews, walnuts, falafel mix, etc. Here's the site I use to order my foods. Many of these online health food stores are in California, but I found this one, Organic Provisions, in Pennsylvania: http://www.orgfood.com/

Rainy Wednesday Morning ...

This shot was taken from inside my cabin early this morning. You can't really tell from the picture, but it's pouring outside. These are the hardest days for me as the cabin is only screened so it becomes damp and cold inside. When it's not raining, I spend my mornings out working in the large garden, then in the afternoons I'm free to do as I please.

A Little about the LSC

There's a shot from my cabin I took early yesterday morning before the mist had lifted. If you'd like to know more about the Land Stewardship Center, here's their website: http://www.tibbitsstewardshipcenter.com/index.html

As stated in that website, the LSC is "a place where the interests of all creation are given equal consideration, and humans can learn to live more in harmony with the rest of nature."
This is my third time living here so obviously I like it or I wouldn't keep coming back. There's a large wetland area, the lake, island, dock & pavilion, a gorgeous country house, cedar cabin, geese, deer, and, a recent addition, two swans (who currently prefer the privacy of the wetland area to the lake). I really like living in Abu Dhabi, while at the same time I feel very fortunate to be able to spend my summer living here in the LSC lakeside cabin and working in the large organic garden each morning,.

View from our Abu Dhabi Apartment

Many people living out in the country seem to have a deep-seated hatred for cities. I'm not one of those. Actually, I like both rural and urban areas and find it works out well to try to divide my time between the two. There are times, however, when the city seems overbearing, and I must admit I then feel a craving for the peace of rural life.

LSC Dock

Conversely, I love the tranquility of living in the country, but there are days I crave the vibrant buzz of the city.

That's Clark and Star in the Land Stewardship garden. Today I have the place to myself as he's working in Flint and she's visiting family in Detroit. That teepee in the background is for the climbing morning glory, which Clark planted the other day.

Cedar Cabin

That's the cedar cabin (my current residence) in the background. I lived here 8 years ago and it's pretty much the same, though the chiminea is a new addition. I really like the raised deck as I get wonderful views of the lake from there. The cabin has no inside heat source and is just screened, no glass. Thus it's wonderful on a sunny, breezy, 70F day, but not so great on a cold rainy day. Also, the windmill is currently not working. In the past when Dawn (my wife) and I lived here we'd rush to fill our buckets on windy days when the windmill was spiining like crazy and pumping water to the cabin.

That's a photo of Star. During the winters (in the US) she lives in New Zealand. Just the opposite of me, she's spending the summer at the Land Stewardship Center to escape the cold. That makes 3 of us here, and come to think of it, we all migrate during the winters -- me to the United Arab Emirates, Star to New Zealand, and Clark to North Carolina and Costa Rica (though this year he's considering Florida instead).

I've been living here for almost exactly 2 weeks now. The deal is I get to live in the lakeside cabin in exchange for working each morning. That leaves afternoons free to blog, study French and Arabic, do yoga, wander around the property, bicycle into town, etc. Here's a photo of me from yesterday. If you look closely you can see "Abu Dhabi" on my t-shirt (or maybe not), along with yellow camels. Behind me are pepper plants with plastic coverings. It's been a cold spring here so Clark (the manager/owner) asked me to cut the bottoms out of empty water containers and then use the containers to warm up the pepper plants. Evenings I put the caps on the containers, and each morning I take them off so the plants don't get too hot during the day. This has become a sort of daily ritual for me.

Abu Dhabi is a great city to live in from about late October through April. After that it really starts to heat up (sometimes above 125F). For the past 5 years, I've lived elsewhere during that hot period. This year I've been fortunate to have gotten an offer to live in a lakeside cabin at the Land Stewardhsip Center, north of Flint Michigan. Here's a photo of the view I have when I'm not staring at the computer screen while working on this blog.

From Abu Dhabi to Michigan

Hello and welcome to my blog about the Land Stewardship Center. No, that's not a picture of it on the right. That is a photo of the area I live in the United Arab Emirates. Summers it gets very hot there (sometimes above 120F) so I leave the city, which is, by the way, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE.