‘Viriditas – Inscape Projects’

‘Viriditas – Inscape Projects’

March 26^th, 2013

It is an early morning in late March, the mountains ridges cut out sharply against the sky, the air is crisp and cool. Deciduous trees are starting to colour, it feels like Autumn. There is some trick of vision here, I have trained myself to ‘see’ in a Goethean^§ way, the blues through purple out of dark to light and the yellows through red from light to dark. My eyes are deceiving me in this early morning light for the prism tells me the opposite. (See Resources for reference to this way of seeing).

 

To the south where the new ‘Viriditas’ land is, it is sunny already. I can’t wait.

 

This ‘Viriditas – Inscape Projects’ Blog will be an account of the journey with this land as my teacher, the earth inspired building and combination vegetable and food forest. I have had many amazing human teachers but now I am listening to a different voice and rhythm.

 

It will include the process as it evolves, the people, the information, the plants, the recipes, the resources. I know there are many out there who are working on similar projects, please add your experiences and information – especially as I make big decisions such as what energy systems to use.

 

The Process

First visit- immersion

“I am on the edge of a precipice, it is a long way down, dark, unknown, scary, awe inspiring, whisperings, a quiet that is both wild and still, calming and energising at the same time, rocky tors that are older than life, a presence powerful, seductive.”

 

I see rosehips ripe from a hot sun, vast areas of St John’s Wort, mullein, horehound, burdock, – yellow dock, bush lawyer, the native bidi bidi, mature Kanuka, fathen, mignonette, and moth mullein. Nearby I find Roman chamomile and a wild lettuce species. (Botanical names are in the resources). I see tufts of a rounded spongy plant and prickly, thorny coprosmas. Dry earth, rabbits holes and pellets, a NZ Falcon circles.

 

Water is running on both streams that almost define the boundaries of this approx. 14

Hectares. The pond on the 1 hectare of flat is almost dry. Thistle down fills the air they will be the biggest challenge here on this flat disturbed part of the land.”

 

Notes to self

1. I      make a mental note to ask the guys at the Luggate pub when to plant Lucerne – Alfalfa. I      read in Martin Crawfords book^♣ that it is a beneficial way to      begin a forest garden. It can be left to grow, doesn’t need to be mown,      nourishes the soil as a nitrogen fixer and reduces unwanted plants. The      locals say it can be sown at the end of March if it rains but best to wait      until October. I should prepare the ground now though they say.
2. How      come the pond is nearly dry when its neighbour through the fence is full?
3. What      about those apricots that are falling on the ground next orchard?

 

The iconic stone Luggate Pub is a welcoming place, always someone who wants to talk and I have so many questions.  The local extract of Vitis vinifera  as Pinot Noir is great also.

 

Plants

St John’s wort – Hypericum perforatum        Mullein – Verbascum thapsus

Horehound – Marrubium vulgare                  Burdock – Arctium lappa

Yellow dock – Rumex crispus                                    Fathen – Chenopodium alba

Tataramoa – Bush lawyer – Rubus cissoides  

Piripiri -Native bidi bid- Acena novae-zelandiae

Kanuka – Kunzea ericoides

Roman chamomile – Anthemis nobilis          Wild lettuce – Lactuca ssp                            

 *Moth mullein * – Verbascum blattaria

Mignonette

 

*I read a well referenced piece in Wikipedia that;

 “… a study conducted in 1974 reported that when a number of mosquito larvae were exposed to a methanol extract of moth mullein, at least 53% of the larvae were killed. V. blattaria has also long been known to be an effective cockroach repellent, and the name blattaria is actually derived from the Latin word for cockroach, ‘blatta’”.

I wish I had known that when I lived in Gisborne IB

 

Resources

Books

§ J W von Goethe (1749-1832) combined the “…intuitive awareness of art with the rigorous observation and thinking of science.”

Seamon D., and Zajonc A. Goethe’s Way of Science. A
Phenomenology of Nature.StateUniversity of New   York Press 1998.

Bortoft H., The Wholeness of Nature. Goethe’s Way of Science. Floris Books, 2007.

♣ Crawford M. Creating a Forest Garden Working with Nature to grow Edible Crops. Green Books, 2012