Stelle Permaculture Course July 2004

Pictures assembled and captioned by Bill Wilson (long time Stelle resident, CSC director, and student during the course). Pictures taken by Mark Hoffman , Paula Suda, Ed Chen and Bill Wilson .

Most of our 32 students arrived Friday evening and pitched their tents in the old park area near the entrance to Stelle.  A couple of the students brought their families along to enjoy the community while they were in class, one of the students being a nursing mom.

With only an occasional evening or early morning thunder storm, requiring nailing down the hatches (Rael B. of Chicago), the weather was ideal for July.

Most of the classroom work was done in the Learning Center where the air conditioner was a welcomed relief on a couple of warm days.

Each day three organically prepared meals were served buffet style.

Some ate on the screened in porch.

Some chose to eat outside.

David Blume (flowered shirt) lived up to his reputation of being an excellent teacher of the theory and art of permaculture.

Several walks were taken on and around the property.

We must have been an unusual sight to local folks driving by.

Walking the land was not only instructive, but also inspiring to most.

James Cohea of Arkansas (one of 10 supplementary instructors that David invited to share their expertise) led an evening class on how to build an herb spiral.

Everyone assisted in the project from preparing the soil, to moving the stones…

…to laying the stones and planting the herbs.

Here is what the herb spirallooked like just 3 weeks later.

Mark Hoffman (long time resident of Stelle and CSC Board member) raises his own honey, so he shared his love for it with the class.

We enjoyed learning how to melt the wax away from the honey comb…

…and extract the golden reward.

Joel Salatin (from Virginia) did a fabulous job during his all day presentation on the humane use of animals in a permaculture based farming operation.

Joel’s seminar was held in the neighboring town of Kempton, in order to accommodate a larger group.

Kankakee Natural Foods, Wild Oats and Whole Foods donated a generous amount of the organic food necessary to feed everyone at this event as well as for the entire 2 week course. Helfter Feeds of Osco, IL and The Fertrell Company of Bainbridge, PA also helped to support this event. Both sell a wonderful assortment of organic supplements for animals and the soil.

Students came from all over the U.S.
Saskia and Matt (left) live in Alaska and Michele (at right) came from Alabama.

Cliff, with his wife Jen and their two children, joined us from Florida.

Suzanne (seated) joined us from the Davenport, IA area and Myra hails from Arkansas.

Both Ed (left) and Andrew, along with about eight others, joined us from Ohio.

Yuki (native of Japan) joined us from her long time home of Carbondale, IL.

Although we spent long days in class we did find some time to relax.

Jo (St. Louis, MO) brought her own bicycle and enjoyed riding to the orchard through the willows.

Justin sawing logs.

We cranked up the cider press one afternoon and a couple of students even made a little ‘apple jack’ to go with our closing celebration on the last evening of the course. Apples from the Stelle orchard were available for snacking throughout the course.

The final 3 days of the course were spent in small groups working on different aspects of a permaculture design for the community of Stelle. Most of the work was done in the classroom.

Some of the final design required taking accurate measurements around the community.
Julie (left) and Myra.

After three days of research and discussion, the students presented their findings, recommendations, and design to the community. Here Michelle (Stevens Point, WI) explains a good way to deal with the low lying areas that tend to stay wet. If they want to be wet, make them wet by putting in a “chinampas” system.

On our last night we enjoy an evening of sharing and fun. Here a group of students are doing a delightful job of imitating nature at work. The bubbles you see are from my camera but the cause or origin are unknown. Joyful spirits possibly? Art Bell, where are you???

Jeff of Plainfield, IL (you can’t see him here but will find him in the previous picture, in the middle, flapping his elbows) shared his love and ability of ‘fire starting’ with a stick, two chucks of wood and a bow. It was magical in the evening light…!!

Bruce (Ohio) did some wonderful story telling.

Michele (Alabama), Jen (Florida), and Suellyn (Ohio) enjoy each others company (and a little apple jack?).

Jen’s daughter, Rayna, enjoying a chocolate dessert.

As a thank-you gift to CSC and the Stelle community, the students surprised us with a couple of items. The first was a handmade basket woven from our very own willows growing by the orchard and pond. It was crafted by Lea K. of Winona, MN and just about everyone from the class wove at least one reed into it. Several of our Ohio friends gifted us with a ceremonial ‘talking stick’ which was autographed or marked in some way by everyone in the class. David Blume left us with a handful of polonia seeds as a symbol of what permaculture, and we, can do over time. A polonia will drop it’s own runners to spread it’s coverage and a single tree has been known to cover acres. The love, friendship and community we experienced during this 15 day period was as special and meaningful to me as all the insightful and inspiring information about permaculture. Our love and gratitude goes out to all our new friends, David Blume and all the other instructors. May our time together be a genuine gift to the future.

Bill Wilson