Jess and the team have been hard at work on a range of Lexi-supported projects. As South African winter approaches, here's the latest update from Lynedoch Village....
MAY 2010 UPDATE
Autumn is gently turning into Winter here at Lynedoch and the first rains are bringing some exciting changes. The Living at Lynedoch theme supported by Lexi Cinema has many new projects underway and some short updates are provided below. Other small projects are growing, including the ever changing A Green Café that now has delicious winter soups with veggies from Eric’s farm, homemade bread and farm fresh eggs! The Farm House is lined up for some loving and the Guest House is growing into a space for retreat and reflection. Some new houses are in the pipeline to be built as showcases for ecological design and sustainability principles, as well as homes to families much in need of the space. For the first time, we will be metering and monitoring all energy and water flows within the ecovillage and using the research as a foundation for more informed decision making in the future – in Lynedoch and beyond.
WATER FLOWS
Stanley Siphondo and Elijah Skosana, our onsite building team who worked last year on the first phase of storm water channels and building the crèche, are well into the second phase of storm water channels aimed at capturing as much of the rainfall runoff as possible for storage in our dam. This water will be reused across the Lynedoch Ecovillage during the dry summer months and is an important part of a series of steps towards becoming water secure in an increasingly water scarce region. Other projects that are currently being planned out include the construction of a retention wetland at the top of the ecovillage and redesign of the dam at the bottom for increased storage capacity. Stanley and Elijah are also receiving support from the Sustainability Institute to register their business as a company and grow themselves into a leading local sustainable construction company.
GARDENS AND GROUNDS
The autumnal dews are now heavy, but there have been no rains yet. The summer vegetable harvests are over. The last basil bed will be cropped today. We have again successfully grown miellies, carrots, beetroot, spinach, bell peppers, chillies, potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, spring onions and basil. The vegetables have gone to those in the village and to the kitchen, in particular to the Farm to Fork programme. Makka has made pesto, chutney and pickles from the garden, which are for sale in the Green Cafe and also sold to the local Community Supported Agriculture scheme. More flowers have been grown than before, and Kiepie’s sunflowers have excelled. More vegetable plots have been opened up by Villagers. “Changes” are also active gardeners.
Winter crops of cabbage, broccoli, kale, leeks and more spinach are now waiting as seedlings to be planted. The first vegetable beds of the Community Food Garden are being rested with a winter cover crop of lupin and oats which will replenish the soil richly. A new batch of indigenous spring bulbs have been bought and will soon be planted along more of the paths in the Woodland when the rains finally arrive, the Woodland will breathe again and flush green, the seasonal wetland be revived with ponds, water lilies and wetland flowers, and the new indigenous willows (salix mucronata) begin to provide architecture for birds and leafy textures not before seen in these parts. As soon as the rains return, tree-planting will be resumed in all the appropriate places.
The latest addition to the Garden is the construction of a shade-clothed wormery which will consume (separately) all kitchen vegetable and cooked food waste, thus completing all waste food recycling, and boosting the breeding of worms and the production of seedling vermi-compost.
SUSTAINABILITY SKILLS FOR YOUTH
Unemployment, poor education and a dire lack of real skills are some of the greatest challenges for our country, and very much a reality for the youth of Lynedoch. The Sustainability Institute, through its partnership with Lexi Cinemas, is growing a new programme with local youth to develop real skills towards meaningful employment and sustainable livelihoods in our community. We have a starting group of teenagers from the Changes Youth Programme who are starting to identify their needs, goals and aspirations for themselves going forward. We have started with career visits to identify the types of careers available, mentoring and personal skills development as well as journaling sessions and nature experiences for building connections to themselves, each other and the living environment. The process is helping us to understand both the challenges and opportunities available, and where we should be focussing our energies to provide young people with real opportunities to realise their dreams.
Dedrei (16) comes from a local farm worker family and would like to become a journalist, this is her dream:
“I love reading and writing. I want to give somehow, and something back to my community. And if writing is the way to express my feelings, so be it! I want people to take note of me - I want people to say Dedrei wrote an article and it helped me a lot, it made me realise I want to change my life. Or what a good writer she is. I want to give to people inspiration for a better community. I want to encourage them to be stronger. I want to be useful.”
At the moment we are in the phase of dreaming big and learning the practical steps to in making real achievements, however small. For Dedrei, this means starting with interning during her school holidays with a local media firm and for others, we are taking the steps towards understanding what real jobs might mean in each of their own unique realities. Watch this space as personal journeys unfold..."
Jess Schulschenk, May 2010
