Berg en Dal

The name, for those of you unfamiliar with Afrikaans, means mountain and dale (valley). It is where I spent most of September volunteering as a WOOFer (willing worker on organic farm). Berg en Dal is near the small town of Ladismith in the Little Karoo, a semi arid mountainous region famous for its surprising diverstity. Four people stay on the farm, developing a living system to sustain themselves based on the principles of Permaculture (permanent agriculture) developed by Bill Mollison.

All drinking water comes from the sky and all electricity comes from the sun. Flourishing gardens provide residents with fresh vegetables year round, as well as supporting an organic seed business. I spent my time weeding and clearing plant beds, doing building repairs and cooking for the students of a Permaculture Design Course held there. I rose with the sun most mornings to spend the day preparing for and later helping to sustain the PDC. I was fortunate enough to sit in on a few classes and came away inspired to learn more about living sustainably within one's chosen environment, feeding into and drawing energy from a cyclic, dynamic, fractal system. Life at Berg en Dal brought me back to nature in a way that made me realise how far away I had drifted from it in Japan. Being on the farm brought me round to remembering that I am a part of an eternal interplay of energy, my self does not stop at my skin, it fuses with and is a part of my community, what feeds me, what houses me and sustains me on the multitude of dimensions that shape human experience. I create and live within and among my creations, and they shape me in turn.