Telling Tales

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Category: Art in nature

by Ronella from Telling Tales
Posted on January 20, 2019August 7, 2019

Little creature polka dots

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Proudly standing in front of the first of three nesting boxes I screwed together in an afternoon spent with friends at @veryediblegardens. It all started when Brendon from VEG told us he and Adam had been up defending a family property from the fires at Clifton Creek in East Gippsland. . Many of the habitat trees with hollows were lost as the fire got inside them. The property he was on now has the last remaining unburnt section of forest on the Nicholson River north of Sarsfield and is home to Koalas, Sugar Gliders and other possums, lyrebirds and so much more and they are now all squished into a small area. . Life creates the conditions conducive to life. Animals are great gardeners. If we nurture them, they will regenerate the land that all life needs. . So Brendon researched the specs for nesting boxes and recruited a bunch of us who were itching to help. . Dan Agius of 1423 Builders reached out to @provans_timber_hardware and they generously donated 20 sheets of structural ply! Dan spent a day and a half helping to cut the sheets. It felt great to be included in helping beyond giving money. It felt good to do it with friends. The process of regeneration is really important. . Collectively we have built 34 of 60 nesting boxes we have timber for. We will then take them to areas around Clifton Creek, Sarsfield, Bruthen and beyond and install them with the assistance of local groups and landowners. . . . . @danielagiusbuilder #vicfires2019 #vicfires2019 #eastgippslandfires #nestingboxes #regenerativeculture #habitat #regeneration #volunteering #woodworking #woodworkingwomen

The rain came bringing with it grains of hope and sadness. Along the way, the restless winds stripped dust from inland and rolled a red cloud ahead of the blue one. The blue cloud opened its mouth and fat raindrops fell hard, trapping the red dust. They bounced off leaves, ground cover and mulch, shattered into tiny drips and slowly soaked into carbon sequestered in the soil. Or maybe ran into a few tanks and birdbaths. But so much fell heavy and relentlessly onto cement and tar or further compacted bare and already compacted soil. Such smooth surfaces allowed the rain to gush into storm drains, bursting their banks, a highway out to sea. Goodbye gallons and gallons of much needed water and any loose soil and nutrients you took with you. Next time the wind brings you raincloud, we will have more leaves to break your bullet droplets. We would have built more soil, and covered it. Next time, more rain will get soaked up in our carbon sponges and tanks and we will have goofy raindances together. Watch this space. . . . . #raindance #reddust #rain #storm #carbon #soilbuilding #buildingsoil #flood #carbonsponge #carbonsequestration #soilcarbon #hope #gardening #organic #urbangarden #permaculture #productivegarden #sustainable #urbanfarming #ediblegarden #organicgardening #regenerativeculture

Each piece of fair trade @handepharuei #wearableart has a tag with a picture and story of the Dayak artisan who wove it bringing supply chain transparency to a new level. The pieces are made from rattan harvested and dyed by remote Dayak communities using traditional tools. . The name Handep is borrowed from the Dayak Ngaju dialect, meaning spirit of working together and helping each other as a family or community. Handep puts their profit into local communities in the form of capacity building and village infrastructure development. . Got plans for this April? Ceres Global is travelling to #Borneo to meet local and indigenous communities regenerating their way of life and the land they live on. Link in my bio 👆 . Don’t forget to follow Handep’s work on Instagram. . . @ceres_global @permakulturkalimantan #permakulturkalimantan #ceresglobal #permaculture #ceresglobalindonesia #kalimantan #ceresglobalborneoregeneration #wwoofing #wwoofingwithkids #travelwithkids #conscioustravel #immersivetravel #experientialtravel #travel #localculture #traditionalculture #dayak #dayakkalimantan #dayakculture #permaculture #weaving #basketweaving #handmade #rattan #rattanbags #rattanweaving #traditionalweaving #fairtrade #fairtradefashion #handepharuei

Two kids with lots of energy helping me crush up charcoal donated from a generous friend with a fireplace. Sometimes I forget how much I can achieve in a little suburban townhouse with a tiny deck. Then I was inspired when I watched @moraggamble’s visit to Natalie Topa’s productive balcony garden and apartment in Nairobi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlEuMJFDn0M). Natalie is experimenting with growing plants, chooks, worms, beetles, fungi and more so that she can share the cuttings and seeds, produce, compost and techniques with the refugee camps that she works with. You cannot become what you cannot see or imagine. Thank you Morag and Natalie for role modelling something my imagination was struggling to conjure. 🙏 . We mixed the crushed charcoal with seaweed solution, compost, deep litter from the quail aviary, worms from our worm farm and potting mix. The charcoal and organic matter provide habitat for the fungi and microorganisms in the soil that can then cycle nutrients and make them available to the plants we planted. . Please share any helpful suggestions you might have for our experiment. We are still learning. We’ve got plenty to keep us out of trouble for the rest of the school holidays! . . . . #meaningfulwork #experientiallearning #schoolholidayfun #ediblegardens #urbanediblegarden #growingfood #urbanfarming #foodsecurity #charcoal #biochar #balconygarden #sharingresources #soilbuilding #buildingsoil #terrapreta #regenerativeculture #organicmatter #organicgardening #soillife #livingsoil #regenerativeed

What role can traditional crafts play in our lives today? While in Borneo I met Liza, one of the @handepharuei team. Randi, the founder, and Liza are young Dayaks who grew up in remote villages, had the opportunity to go to uni and decided to return and grow together with their community. They grew up surrounded by mining and logging and have witnessed the exclusion and eviction of Dayak people from their own lands. Handep is a social enterprise that was born to reconnect the Dayak people to their rich lands and forests, to build capacity for them to sustain their local resources and add value to what they have through #ecofashion. . I will be leading a Ceres Global trip to #Borneo this April to meet Liza and other local and indigenous communities regenerating their way of life and the land they live on. Link in my bio 👆 . Don’t forget to follow Handep’s work on Instagram. . . @ceres_global @permakulturkalimantan #permakulturkalimantan #ceresglobal #permaculture #ceresglobalindonesia #kalimantan #ceresglobalborneoregeneration #wwoofing #conscioustravel #immersivetravel #experientialtravel #travel #localculture #traditionalculture #dayak #dayakkalimantan #dayakculture #permaculture #weaving #basketweaving #handmade #rattan #rattanbags #rattanweaving #traditionalweaving #fairtrade #fairtradefashion #handepharuei

These are the Dayaks who are breathing new life into their culture in Putat Durei. When they ran out of space in the first community garden plot, the farmer’s group started another one uphill. The Borneo Institute who have been advocating for Dayak land rights collaborated with @permakulturkalimantan to empower the community to improve their livelihoods. They obtained funding for the farmers group to establish multi-species agroforestry systems. Pak Jagau from the Borneo Institute is in the white t-shirt. Meanwhile, Permakultur Kalimantan provides ecological understanding on regenerative farming. On degraded land, the farmers plant Albasia (sengon) trees - a fast-growing valuable timber, fruit trees and nutritious plants such as cassava, peanuts or vegetables. The replanting halts erosion, restores water and nutrient cycles and the growing trees absorb carbon from the air. At the same time, farmers are able to produce food their for their own consumption and timber and other cash crops for sale. Ibu Ria, the matriarch, is second from the left and her husband is on the far right. . . . . @ceres_global #permakulturkalimantan #ceresglobal #permaculture #ceresglobalindonesia #kalimantan #borneo #ceresglobalborneoregeneration #wwoofing #wwoofingwithkids #travelwithkids #travelingwithkids #conscioustravel #immersivetravel #experientialtravel #travel #localculture #traditionalculture #dayak #dayakkalimantan #dayakculture #kitchengarden #ediblegarden #permaculture #intercropping #agroforestry #nursery #foodsovereignty #communitygarden #buildingsoil #soilbuilding #sustainabletimber

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Puppets & Tales

Explore my shadow puppets, marionettes, sets and tales of the mysterious Borneo rainforest and its quirky characters.

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My name is Ronella Gomez and I’d like to tell you stories about the regeneration of nature, community and local economy. Some are my own, others I’ve found.

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