Hugelkultur and pond digging workshops/workbees near Peterborough this spring!

Good day, folk! I'm entering my first year of market gardening and production of various fruits and am on the lookout for folks who'd love to swap some sweat and muscle for a bit of experience and knowhow (plus, I'll house you and feed you-how can you beat that??). It should go without saying, but my interests are centred around permaculture techniques, in particular those which address water conservation and storage (because irrigation is for CHUMPS!).

But, as far as the business at hand:
I aim to have four workbees lasting three or four days each focused on hugelkultur building in the coming months, then two or three similar workshops on pond and dam construction.

For now, the hugelkultur:
I'm planning on installing a heap of hills on my young farm near the Trent River in Northumberland Co., Ontario. The work will begin as soon as the snow subsides (maybe early april...it just keeps a-dumping down!) and will continue until everything's planted (May 2-4) or until we drop from exhaustion (perhaps late April?).

At my disposal are:
-a tractor with bucket
-rototiller
-a bunch o' shovels
-a few pairs of wellies (size 11 men's, insulated and non-)
-a forest full of old deadfall
-manure of all sorts in various stages of rot
-old straw and brush ad infinitum
-buckets of coffee grounds

...and the stubborn iron will of a dozen mules. All I need is a crew of strong backs and cheery faces to make it happen. Maybe a few more shovels wouldn't hurt.

I can pick folks up from Oshawa GO station or the Peterborough Greyhound terminal, especially if you're in a group of 2 or more.

Alternatively, you can reach our area easily by bike. 79 hilly kilometres from Newcastle Go bus' stop (12 bucks or so from Union Stn):
https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Warkworth,+Trent+Hills,+ON,+Canada&daddr=Newcastle,+Clarington,+ON,+Canada&hl=en&ll=44.063907,-78.239136&spn=0.600955,1.234589&sll=44.055278,-78.228649&sspn=0.601045,1.234589&geocode=Fe9togIddHhb-ymTTyMjFOLViTFZS1Tek1Girw%3BFc0hngIdo9lQ-yl1x4wNQ6nViTFf9JFfw5gG_A&oq=newcastle&dirflg=b&mra=ltm&t=m&z=10&lci=bike

The area's a lovely spot and there's plenty of river and quarry scenes nearby for swimming and fishing. We'll work about 8 hours each day.
So let me know if you'd like to be a part! Fire off an e-mail or IM to me and I can start to firm up some dates and jobs. Thank ye too much!

Derick

Hello Derick

How's the digging going? I am currently living in Europe and actively preparing my PR application for Canada. Applications are accepted again from the 4th of May onwards and have to be done from outside Canada. After that started processing, I intend to come to Canada on a visitor visum and scout out the permaculture scene in Southern Ontario, probably Wwoof-ing my way around until I find an area I like so much a want to settle there. I am interested to come and take a look at your place and lend a hand if there is still stuff to do around the time I can get in Canada. I will be reliant on public transport for this trip as buying and insuring a car requires a PR card but I have quite some experience back packing.

I have theoretical knowledge of permaculture and basic hands on gardening / composting experience in my own garden in the house I sold recently. I'm reading up on Sepp Holzer and visiting local examples of permaculture gardens and farms to learn more.

I do need a reliable internet connection because my livelihood is an internet business right now and I require a few hours a week, sometimes a few days, to maintain and grow that...

Let me know how it is going, I'm very interested!

Kind Regards
Stijn