For my first two weeks my work in the garden was mainly focused on preparing the beds by weeding, adding compost, "finessing" the irrigation system or any number of other important tasks that need to be done before our desired plants even make it into the ground.  This week was my first chance to focus on harvesting the fruits of our labor.

Later in the day, Brent took Kai and I out to inspect the beehives.  The first hive we inspected had been purchased- so we were able to locate the Queen by a blue dot painted on her back by the supplier.  The other two hives involved a bit of detective work.  After inspecting the comb, we found evidence of recent egg-laying activity in both hives- indicating they both had active Queens.  This was especially great news because both these hives were free additions to the community- the first was a swarm captured near New Earth Song, and the second just showed up in the empty hive one day.  With such a bounty of bees- we might be seeing some honey in the future.

Tuesday brought more irrigation work, but set the stage for free time on Wednesday to help Susie with harvesting some roses for jam and syrup. You'd have to ask Susie for the specific recipe, but it involved a copious amount of sugar, water, some lemons, and a dash of pectin to get it to the right consistency.  While putting our newly created jam in jars, we had a chance to put some of the stuff fresh on toast. Yum!

 On Monday I had the chance to help Helen harvest greens for dinner. Our targets were kale, a few handfuls of lambs quarters, and a rather paltry serving of the lettuce that had survived the weeds and slugs in the southeastern hoop house.

 On the topic of harvests, the strawberries are popping like popcorn all over Songaia- every day a few more turn a brilliant red and appear to leap out of the foliage.  I also had a chance to tie up some raspberry bushes this week in the southwest part of the keyhole garden.  The path now takes you around freshly planted tomatoes. It should be a great harvest later in the season!

In addition to my work in the garden, I’ve also had the pleasure to help with Fox in the Forest. With Susie, I’ve learned about foraging and cooking with plants outside our usual scope of fruits and vegetables. This has included souffle, syrup, chai tea, and creamy soup all made from dandelions, as well as a plethora of rose petal jam. Plus, who knew the little yellow flowers from collard greens are so tasty? It’s been great broadening my horizons of harvestable plants.

Lately more of my focus in the garden has been helping transplant squash and other vegetables. Though it may sound simple, transplanting involves digging up jungles of weeds to prepare beds, followed by digging holes, adding fertilizer and lime, and then finally adding the plant with a nice mound of soil and compost. Following the planting, the plants have had their trials through slugs and sunburns (caused by insufficient “hardening” before the transplant), but I’m sure by the end of the summer we’ll have a magnificent crop to enjoy.

The last month has been a great experience not just in nutrition, but also gardening, permaculture, and community. Thank you Songaia for having me, and for the many lessons I can take with me for future adventures.

Dana

I said farewell and biked back home. The community had a lasting impact on me. I hope to come back again, whether it be weekly visits or to apply to be an intern. I want to learn more about community housing and permaculture while I contribute my labor and knowledge.

Next week I start school again. I am reflecting on my experience at school and at Songaia. This
spring break I spent considering what kind of life I want to live and how I will be able to contribute to
the environment. My involvement with Songaia will be a big leap forward in living sustainability. I
appreciate all of the mentors in this community who have taught me so much about the gardens.

Peace out,
Kai

I recently found Songaia through a northwest directory of intentional communities. I biked an
hour to get to this place. It was a beautiful area in a great location. On my first day, I had a communal breakfast, toured the community, and volunteered in the gardens, and had lunch. I learned more about the communities passion principle: doing things based on interest. I removed blackberry bushes with two other members, a WOOFing intern one of the members of Songaia. I was invited for a community
lunch. I worked in the afternoon to do further weeding. It was a educational experience for me. 

When I got here I realized how much I had to learn and live at this place, about things that weren´t really in my plans when I started wwoofing. As an Engineer, I wanted to see big productions and systems, but soon I got amazed by the beauty of living in community. And it has been a wonderful experience! In the course of time I started to understand more about a theme that has been changing my professional perspectives: Permaculture. 

After several meetings and activities with the Piglets, I could see that there´s no more space for the traditional agriculture in the world and some of the things I´d been studying.