After Ariane Burgess had showed me round the Edible Woodland Garden, I’d been invited to lunch by Craig Gibsone, one of the elders of Findhorn having been involved with the Findhorn Foundation for well over 40 years! He had also been at my talk the night before at the Tiny Weeny Farm, and he seemed familiar as I’d seen a Youtube interview with him (see the link above) some time ago! Craig was born in Australia but considers Findhorn to be his spiritual home. He is a multi-talented teacher, potter, painter, musician, gardener and permaculturist….and it was a real pleasure too to be in his company for a couple of hours! For more, see the picture gallery below!
At my talk at Tiny Weeny Farm, Craig is on the left!
Pots for sale with honesty box at the entrance to Craig’s place
Craig lives in one of the wonderful barrel house, made from recycled Douglas Fir whisky barrels built in the 1920s and used in local distilleries until the 1980s!
Tour of Craig’s garden…
His garden is a fantastic ecological oasis in the middle of Findhorn which otherwise struck me as mostly rather sterile…Craig is aware of this and said that he wished they could turn back the clock and replant Findhorn with useful and edible trees etc.
He told me that most people that visit consider his garden as a bit of a mess and that he’s lost control! However, he had created the garden for himself and wildlife. He told me that he enjoyed my visit as I could SEE! Yacon on either side of the path with sweet cicely , fennel , Jerusalem artichokes, sweet cirn and various edible bushes and trees!
Yacon!
Horseradish and much more
Wonderful!
A bay tree!
Diversity
Greater celandine (Chelidonium majus) sap is a powerful medicinal plant
Pond for wildlife
I even left with a new Allium…this one (Allium senescens?) was rather nice!
Jerusalem artichoke in full flower
Yes, I really loved Craig’s garden, permaculture in action!!
In Craig’s studio, the basil plantation…
Poppy seed
I was invited to have a look around as Craig finished cooking the lunch!
…and a fantastic lunch too with cheese and wine!! I think I was in paradise….
…and there were Norway connections in Craig’s house, here a greeting from Hurdal Ecovillage in 2003…I believe they came to Findhorn to get inspiration!
…and Craig had written a book together with our very own Permaculture guru Jan Bang: Permaculture – A Spiritual Approach book release….and opening at a random page, my friend Helene tells her story!
After lunch, Craig took me for a quick wander through the community
Finally, Cullerne Gardens is where the vegetales are grown communally. This was a bit disappointing, too much reliance on plastic and too little permaculture in my opinion…https://www.findhorn.org/cullerne-garden/
…and here Craig left me…I carried on into Findhorn village and sand dunes before cycling back to Dyke. Thanks, mate!
Apart from being a well known singer / songwriter over the last 40 years, Neil Young is also an environmental activist and through his 2015 album “The Monsanto Years” with its obvious anti-GMO, pro organics theme, he reached out to many. From 2015, he has invited the permaculture movement to man a stand in a tent called ‘News You Can Trust’ in his Global Ecovillage which follows his tours! Permaculture magazine in the UK had been entrusted to organise local people to take part and I was offered two free tickets to take part. Having never seen Young live and seeing the opportunity to promote both permaculture and my book to a new audience, I jumped at the chance. Helene Bøhler joined me on behalf of the Norwegian Permaculture Association for a memorable day in Stavern!
Here is a selection of pictures from my visit to the Stavern Festival and Stavern :)
Luan Van Le from GMO Free USA has been travelling around Europe and the US with the Neil Young tour and was the coordinator of our News You Can Trust stand :)
Luan Van Le with Helene C. Bohler of the Norwegian Permaculture Association!
Freebies on our stand including Permaculture Magazine special number with Neil Young, Norsk Permakultur Forening, Nordic Tidlskrift on Permakultur, Ren Mat (Oikos) and the LAND project and Planteklubben for Grønnsaker !
The neighbour stand was run by the Center for Biological Diversity
We tried different techniques to attract attention…the issue of Permaculture Magazine with Neil Young on the cover was being used here as bait to haul in the punters… Maddy Harland and Tim Harland: Mission accomplished…all the PMs went to good homes :)
Neil Young’s global ecovillage
Neil Young’s global ecovillage
Helene C. Bohler talking to one of the visitors interested in Permaculture!
Helene C. Bohler fell for this chap from the Center for Biological Diversity stand!!
Threatened species… During the visit I spotted only one :(
Neil Young intro
Breakfast in the BnB…it’s always nice that AirBnBers plant for the guests :)
Alliums follow me around on tour it seems! The BnB had both Allium senescens (Siberian chives / sibirsk kantløk) and Egyptian onions (luftløk)
Bunias orientalis (Turkish Rocket / russekål) en masse at Stavern…nam nam
Bunias orientalis (Turkish Rocket / russekål) en masse at Stavern…nam nam
Memorial for the fallen at sea during the two world wars!
Memorial for the fallen at sea during the two world wars!
