1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.BZ 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.BZ 3 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,630 What I guess we came to realize step by step was 4 00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:43,290 being in relationship with our energy, 5 00:00:46,922 --> 00:00:48,456 being in relationship with our food, 6 00:00:48,457 --> 00:00:51,385 that we can grow ourselves or tend or husband 7 00:00:53,262 --> 00:00:55,893 being in relationship with our medicine, 8 00:00:56,765 --> 00:00:59,476 which is through a love 9 00:00:59,477 --> 00:01:01,290 of communing with plants. 10 00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:07,767 Then we can move from that aggression 11 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,695 and domination ideology 12 00:01:10,696 --> 00:01:12,656 into something very beautiful 13 00:01:12,750 --> 00:01:15,327 and very human and very ancient. 14 00:01:29,881 --> 00:01:32,793 There are many examples in my ancestry 15 00:01:32,794 --> 00:01:37,592 where my peasant folk lived time-rich, 16 00:01:38,181 --> 00:01:39,975 culture-rich existences. 17 00:01:54,740 --> 00:01:58,560 My old people are Norse, they're Vikings and Celts and Gaelics. 18 00:02:00,203 --> 00:02:03,123 The Druidic churches were oak forests 19 00:02:03,999 --> 00:02:05,959 and so that gives me a clue 20 00:02:08,785 --> 00:02:10,506 that I come from people 21 00:02:10,507 --> 00:02:14,160 who worshiped the divine in the natural world. 22 00:03:07,559 --> 00:03:10,150 Neo peasantry describes 23 00:03:11,233 --> 00:03:12,902 how we live 24 00:03:13,250 --> 00:03:16,405 and our connection to our peasant ancestors. 25 00:03:19,157 --> 00:03:22,272 My great-grandparents I would describe as peasants. 26 00:03:22,744 --> 00:03:25,165 Thank you for your summer productions. 27 00:03:25,497 --> 00:03:28,108 I mean no harm by disturbing you 28 00:03:29,334 --> 00:03:31,545 and I aim to take the top box 29 00:03:33,250 --> 00:03:35,665 and leave you three to pack down for the winter. 30 00:03:45,559 --> 00:03:50,104 I think about peasants as living in harmony 31 00:03:50,105 --> 00:03:53,837 with the seasons and with the the wildness 32 00:03:53,838 --> 00:03:55,540 and the richness of the world. 33 00:04:05,162 --> 00:04:06,804 Whoa. 34 00:04:08,212 --> 00:04:10,701 It has 15 kilos of honey in there. 35 00:04:11,918 --> 00:04:12,938 Wow. 36 00:04:14,786 --> 00:04:17,883 Neo peasantry just simply means new peasantry 37 00:04:19,134 --> 00:04:22,428 and recognizing that word peasantry has 38 00:04:22,429 --> 00:04:25,349 often a pejorative usage. 39 00:04:25,614 --> 00:04:29,227 So reinstating that word gallantly 40 00:04:29,228 --> 00:04:33,270 and the Neo is locating the privilege that we have to choose 41 00:04:33,271 --> 00:04:34,359 to live like this. 42 00:04:35,358 --> 00:04:38,403 Yeah, they'd normally put the honey at the top of the hive 43 00:04:38,404 --> 00:04:39,666 at this time of year. 44 00:04:39,667 --> 00:04:41,284 When they're... -Was this at the top? 45 00:04:41,285 --> 00:04:43,463 Getting ready? Yeah, this is the top box. 46 00:04:44,326 --> 00:04:45,946 So that's what we're gonna see. 47 00:04:45,947 --> 00:04:48,957 We can always put it back if it's just brewed. 48 00:04:50,540 --> 00:04:51,667 Oh goodness. 49 00:04:53,713 --> 00:04:55,544 Oh, lemme get you something. 50 00:04:55,545 --> 00:04:56,704 Just hold it there. 51 00:04:58,924 --> 00:05:00,845 I mean there's a fair bit of honey in there. 52 00:05:01,299 --> 00:05:03,253 - Some brewed? - Or it's quite... 53 00:05:05,861 --> 00:05:07,021 We need to get the honey... 54 00:05:07,022 --> 00:05:08,713 Do you want me to open the door? 55 00:05:08,714 --> 00:05:11,060 Yep. There's a few bees here. -Okay. 56 00:05:11,061 --> 00:05:13,814 So if we just open those doors, sweety? 57 00:05:15,857 --> 00:05:16,899 No, no, we... 58 00:05:16,900 --> 00:05:19,316 There we go. Out, both out. Yay. 59 00:05:19,403 --> 00:05:20,408 Perfect. 60 00:05:22,239 --> 00:05:25,597 This is my favorite part. 61 00:05:25,911 --> 00:05:27,537 - 62 00:05:31,456 --> 00:05:34,208 Two decades ago when 63 00:05:34,209 --> 00:05:37,003 Meg and I first got together and we started watching 64 00:05:37,004 --> 00:05:39,444 a whole range of documentaries 65 00:05:39,445 --> 00:05:41,650 and came across Vandana Shiva's work, 66 00:05:43,252 --> 00:05:46,304 what I was reading or what I was being so repulsed by 67 00:05:46,305 --> 00:05:48,181 in my own culture of birth, 68 00:05:48,182 --> 00:05:51,225 I started to see people acting in different ways 69 00:05:51,226 --> 00:05:53,101 and that was incredibly inspiring. 70 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,520 I grew up in Melbourne, the closest big city to here. 71 00:06:02,946 --> 00:06:06,699 I thought the aim of my life was to 72 00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:11,075 have a really good job where I could earn lots of money. 73 00:06:13,739 --> 00:06:15,485 One of my big motivations 74 00:06:15,486 --> 00:06:20,963 that was propelling me away from the values of the culture 75 00:06:20,964 --> 00:06:22,082 that I was born in 76 00:06:22,083 --> 00:06:23,694 were the values. 77 00:06:24,334 --> 00:06:25,705 Amazing! 78 00:06:28,015 --> 00:06:30,014 They just didn't feel right 79 00:06:30,015 --> 00:06:32,407 and I didn't really question them 80 00:06:33,351 --> 00:06:36,518 during my first three decades of life. 81 00:06:37,230 --> 00:06:39,353 They were just what I was told to do. 82 00:06:39,354 --> 00:06:42,830 They were just what I was told was the right way to live. 83 00:06:44,186 --> 00:06:47,270 There was lots of questioning that went on at that time. 84 00:06:48,693 --> 00:06:51,213 We saw these great trifectas 85 00:06:51,846 --> 00:06:55,557 of the super petrol station, 86 00:06:55,558 --> 00:06:58,624 the supermarket and the super pharmacy 87 00:06:58,625 --> 00:07:01,190 being this conglomerate. 88 00:07:05,634 --> 00:07:08,990 What is a way of living that 89 00:07:09,679 --> 00:07:12,710 actually reflects my own personal values? 90 00:07:15,185 --> 00:07:18,929 Not the values of my parents, of the culture at large, 91 00:07:18,930 --> 00:07:21,482 of the billboards, of the government, 92 00:07:21,483 --> 00:07:23,028 of the corporations, 93 00:07:23,029 --> 00:07:26,406 of the education system, my grandparents nor any of that. 94 00:07:28,323 --> 00:07:31,201 What actually is important to me? 95 00:07:33,601 --> 00:07:37,957 Meg had some savings from previous years working in Melbourne 96 00:07:37,958 --> 00:07:42,253 and we cobbled together enough for a deposit to buy 97 00:07:42,254 --> 00:07:44,402 what was very cheap back then, 98 00:07:44,403 --> 00:07:47,164 nearly 20 years ago, this quarter acre, 99 00:07:47,165 --> 00:07:49,490 it was perceived as an ugly duckling. 100 00:07:50,387 --> 00:07:52,847 People said, "Oh, that-you wouldn't want 101 00:07:52,848 --> 00:07:54,305 to build on that swamp." 102 00:08:05,959 --> 00:08:06,968 Oh, good. 103 00:08:06,969 --> 00:08:09,198 Hi PJ. -Hi guys. 104 00:08:20,886 --> 00:08:22,294 Zephy's room. 105 00:08:23,426 --> 00:08:26,844 The list of things we had to buy from Ikea; Zephy's drawings. 106 00:08:27,716 --> 00:08:30,574 The first two or three years were actually quite difficult, 107 00:08:30,575 --> 00:08:33,473 like we're trying to do so much, so quickly. 108 00:08:34,764 --> 00:08:36,432 It wasn't a part-time thing. 109 00:08:36,433 --> 00:08:38,351 It soon became a... 110 00:08:38,352 --> 00:08:40,478 Like obviously we were working 111 00:08:40,479 --> 00:08:42,605 and we had a lot of things to do. 112 00:08:42,606 --> 00:08:44,816 We were also dancing a lot, and we were having fun. 113 00:08:44,817 --> 00:08:47,234 We weren't this couple that came together - 114 00:08:47,235 --> 00:08:48,502 and were very serious. 115 00:08:50,322 --> 00:08:53,572 Did someone say party? Oh yeah. 116 00:08:54,826 --> 00:08:57,872 The time Zeph came to us 117 00:08:57,873 --> 00:09:00,792 for half the week, we were parents. 118 00:09:07,410 --> 00:09:09,882 Zeph is my first son. 119 00:09:10,917 --> 00:09:11,927 Named Zephyr 120 00:09:11,928 --> 00:09:15,472 after the Greek god of the west wind, Zephyrus. 121 00:09:16,556 --> 00:09:19,101 Perfect. -You'll often hear farmers, 122 00:09:20,185 --> 00:09:22,158 like old-school farmers say, 123 00:09:22,159 --> 00:09:24,082 "Ah, there was a bit of a zephyr this morning." 124 00:09:24,564 --> 00:09:26,064 I love that. I love hearing that. 125 00:09:27,246 --> 00:09:29,040 A gentle warm breeze. 126 00:09:32,397 --> 00:09:35,780 Pretty much from day one, I would take him down 127 00:09:35,781 --> 00:09:39,459 into the forest and into that sedge swamplands 128 00:09:39,460 --> 00:09:41,664 and introduce him to country. 129 00:09:44,793 --> 00:09:47,712 We would go on big bush walks together, 130 00:09:47,713 --> 00:09:51,340 end up making things out of stone in the forest 131 00:09:51,341 --> 00:09:54,990 and we were one week on, one week off with him 132 00:09:55,762 --> 00:09:58,597 and sharing the parenting with his mom. 133 00:09:58,598 --> 00:10:01,233 Hi Zephy, hope you're having a fantastic time. 134 00:10:01,234 --> 00:10:03,990 We are missing you so much. All three of us. 135 00:10:30,425 --> 00:10:32,311 And finally putting some things together 136 00:10:32,312 --> 00:10:34,094 and it's making more sense as we go. 137 00:10:35,301 --> 00:10:39,293 So what you are about to come into is just one 138 00:10:39,666 --> 00:10:42,760 response to the predicament of our age. 139 00:10:42,761 --> 00:10:46,236 It's not the solution to the problem, 140 00:10:46,237 --> 00:10:48,540 it is a response to the predicament. 141 00:10:53,365 --> 00:10:56,614 Being able to build with very little money 142 00:10:56,615 --> 00:10:58,562 has been a big part of our story 143 00:10:58,563 --> 00:11:01,530 so that I retired from building 144 00:11:02,430 --> 00:11:04,833 so I could be seven days in the household 145 00:11:04,834 --> 00:11:06,665 and community economy. 146 00:11:06,666 --> 00:11:09,708 Meg is five days in that economy. 147 00:11:10,124 --> 00:11:14,676 Switching time wealth for cash poorness 148 00:11:14,677 --> 00:11:17,275 has been wonderful and it's made a... 149 00:11:17,405 --> 00:11:18,971 enabled a very rich life. 150 00:11:21,431 --> 00:11:24,514 For good composting, you need a misting event to happen, 151 00:11:25,296 --> 00:11:28,326 and the way you get a misting event to happen is to be able 152 00:11:28,980 --> 00:11:30,774 to constantly mist as you're... 153 00:11:31,917 --> 00:11:35,070 -as you're throwing material in. 154 00:11:35,945 --> 00:11:38,863 It's getting wet, so each layer is getting wet. 155 00:11:40,116 --> 00:11:43,931 One of the things that we like to do is to create potash. 156 00:11:43,932 --> 00:11:47,592 We like to take our volunteers and also the bush school kids 157 00:11:47,593 --> 00:11:51,486 to go through with a scoop and a dust mask 158 00:11:51,487 --> 00:11:54,047 and just broadcast it through the forest 159 00:11:54,048 --> 00:11:57,160 mimicking what an indigenous cool burn 160 00:11:58,301 --> 00:12:01,280 would be like if it could take place there. 161 00:12:04,266 --> 00:12:08,310 A cultivated garden is like a relationship with the wild 162 00:12:08,311 --> 00:12:09,852 and the domestic 163 00:12:09,853 --> 00:12:12,709 and I think that's what permaculture is too. 164 00:12:14,067 --> 00:12:17,647 I think what we're doing is like an emerging mythology. 165 00:12:17,648 --> 00:12:19,156 An emerging story 166 00:12:19,965 --> 00:12:23,035 just like many folk around the world. 167 00:12:23,751 --> 00:12:24,995 A new old story, 168 00:12:26,788 --> 00:12:31,229 and I like to say old too because there's always hubris around, 169 00:12:31,230 --> 00:12:32,596 "Oh, what we're doing is new." 170 00:12:32,597 --> 00:12:35,016 Whereas actually it's often a leaning back 171 00:12:35,672 --> 00:12:38,423 as much as a leaning forward. 172 00:12:41,963 --> 00:12:44,638 I had no skills, no practical skills. 173 00:12:44,639 --> 00:12:46,726 I knew how to write emails and press releases 174 00:12:46,727 --> 00:12:48,457 and fill out spreadsheets, 175 00:12:48,458 --> 00:12:50,356 but I had no practical skills. 176 00:12:50,357 --> 00:12:53,929 So these last 20 years has really been a process 177 00:12:53,930 --> 00:12:57,422 of me unlearning a whole lot of stuff 178 00:12:57,423 --> 00:13:01,340 and really deciding for myself how I wanna spend my time 179 00:13:01,341 --> 00:13:03,960 and you know, I have one life. 180 00:13:03,961 --> 00:13:06,376 Do I wanna be just chasing the dollar 181 00:13:06,377 --> 00:13:09,358 and always feeling like I don't have enough time 182 00:13:09,359 --> 00:13:13,396 or do I want to be present to every single apple that I pick 183 00:13:13,397 --> 00:13:15,901 and every single cucumber that I slice. 184 00:13:15,902 --> 00:13:19,786 Imagine a life like that where you can really be present 185 00:13:19,787 --> 00:13:22,690 to every living thing and every relationship 186 00:13:39,027 --> 00:13:44,482 Instead of going to work to earn the money to buy the thing, we're just 187 00:13:45,366 --> 00:13:46,570 doing the thing ourselves. 188 00:13:54,686 --> 00:13:57,020 It's very important for our family to eat a diet 189 00:13:57,021 --> 00:13:59,356 that is as local as possible 190 00:13:59,357 --> 00:14:03,070 and with as few industrial inputs as possible, 191 00:14:05,511 --> 00:14:09,379 there's no way that you can look at the industrial system 192 00:14:09,380 --> 00:14:12,706 and think that that works at all because it doesn't work. 193 00:14:12,707 --> 00:14:13,870 It is a broken system. 194 00:14:15,522 --> 00:14:20,859 I feel like one of the great learnings that we all received from the pandemic 195 00:14:20,860 --> 00:14:25,614 was the instability of our centralized systems. 196 00:14:25,615 --> 00:14:28,126 Whether that was the medical system 197 00:14:28,127 --> 00:14:30,910 or that was the our food systems. 198 00:14:30,911 --> 00:14:33,070 Just the disruption of supply chains. 199 00:14:35,249 --> 00:14:39,466 To rely solely on those, doesn't feel resilient to me. 200 00:14:39,467 --> 00:14:42,040 So I am living my life 201 00:14:42,041 --> 00:14:46,336 and helping prepare Woody to live in a way 202 00:14:46,337 --> 00:14:50,376 that is much more independent of those centralized systems. 203 00:14:55,228 --> 00:14:56,833 When we started living like this, 204 00:14:56,834 --> 00:14:59,566 we didn't know where we were heading, 205 00:15:01,484 --> 00:15:03,483 we just knew what we were turning away from, 206 00:15:04,573 --> 00:15:07,575 but we didn't know that it would lead 207 00:15:08,317 --> 00:15:09,588 to such richness. 208 00:15:19,437 --> 00:15:21,927 See you in a couple of months when you're vinegar. 209 00:15:34,308 --> 00:15:36,372 Having been a vegetarian for so long, 210 00:15:36,373 --> 00:15:40,064 I totally understand why somebody would decide 211 00:15:40,065 --> 00:15:42,050 to be a vegan or vegetarian. 212 00:15:43,025 --> 00:15:45,362 It comes from a really important place. 213 00:15:47,113 --> 00:15:49,857 If you live in a way where you can't access 214 00:15:49,858 --> 00:15:52,158 food outside of the industrial system, 215 00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:56,245 it makes sense to participate in the industrialism-ness 216 00:15:56,246 --> 00:15:58,010 as little as possible. 217 00:16:07,826 --> 00:16:08,825 When I was 10, 218 00:16:08,826 --> 00:16:11,947 our primary school went on an excursion to an abattoir 219 00:16:13,431 --> 00:16:18,602 and I was the only kid in my class who seemed affected or appalled at all. 220 00:16:18,603 --> 00:16:20,854 And I came home from school that day and said, 221 00:16:20,855 --> 00:16:22,773 "I am never eating meat again." 222 00:16:22,774 --> 00:16:24,673 - 223 00:16:31,536 --> 00:16:32,554 When I was 30, 224 00:16:32,555 --> 00:16:35,035 I decided that I wanted to start eating meat again. 225 00:16:35,036 --> 00:16:36,583 So I did a short course, 226 00:16:36,584 --> 00:16:39,042 it was called Kill and Dress Small Livestock, 227 00:16:39,043 --> 00:16:43,580 and we learned how to lovingly take an animal's life 228 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,340 and all of us were crying at the end. 229 00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:49,610 It was really emotional but incredibly empowering 230 00:16:49,611 --> 00:16:53,459 and it taught me that you can eat an animal 231 00:16:53,460 --> 00:16:55,226 and that you don't have to hate the animal. 232 00:16:55,227 --> 00:16:57,978 That you don't have to hate an animal to take its life, 233 00:16:57,979 --> 00:17:00,559 that you can do it in an honoring way. 234 00:17:02,396 --> 00:17:08,278 I feel very embedded in the cycle of life when I am eating meat. 235 00:17:10,350 --> 00:17:13,948 This feels like a really important process 236 00:17:13,949 --> 00:17:16,451 that I want to do myself. 237 00:17:18,722 --> 00:17:21,481 I want to live an accountable life 238 00:17:21,482 --> 00:17:25,256 and for me that means taking personal responsibility 239 00:17:25,257 --> 00:17:28,821 for all of the actions that I take. 240 00:17:33,087 --> 00:17:35,207 We eat roadkill, 241 00:17:35,208 --> 00:17:37,466 we take the lives of our own animals 242 00:17:37,467 --> 00:17:40,976 and these are animals that we name and that we tend 243 00:17:40,977 --> 00:17:43,249 and that we help birth and that we... 244 00:17:43,250 --> 00:17:44,696 We love these animals. 245 00:17:44,697 --> 00:17:49,689 They're a big part of our family dynamic and our family system. 246 00:17:50,356 --> 00:17:53,370 I just feel like I'm channeling 247 00:17:54,490 --> 00:17:57,744 my foremothers. Feel very connected. 248 00:17:59,161 --> 00:18:01,876 Yeah, just to my peasant ancestors 249 00:18:08,462 --> 00:18:12,634 We're saying this level of violence at this scale 250 00:18:13,175 --> 00:18:16,560 is an ordinary part of ecological life 251 00:18:17,522 --> 00:18:22,842 and we wanna say no to the systemic, manmade mass death 252 00:18:23,642 --> 00:18:24,662 of the food system, 253 00:18:24,663 --> 00:18:27,321 whether you be a vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore. 254 00:19:06,340 --> 00:19:07,686 - 255 00:19:21,835 --> 00:19:23,052 Thank you little rabbit. 256 00:19:25,258 --> 00:19:27,710 Thank you for your life. 257 00:19:57,029 --> 00:19:58,156 Acorn beer. 258 00:19:59,225 --> 00:20:03,745 Remember the acorn and feijoa cake recipe? 259 00:20:06,751 --> 00:20:08,945 Yeah. -[Meg] I also got so many flowers 260 00:20:08,946 --> 00:20:10,615 coming on a whole lot from... 261 00:20:11,627 --> 00:20:14,919 I know the acorn... the feijoa flowers. 262 00:20:21,555 --> 00:20:24,121 - 263 00:20:25,566 --> 00:20:28,026 Both Meg and I, we're really just watching 264 00:20:28,027 --> 00:20:31,789 and observing how kids, through play, 265 00:20:31,790 --> 00:20:36,426 like human mammalian play, is just loaded with creativity 266 00:20:36,427 --> 00:20:38,506 and that's, that's how we learn. 267 00:20:39,483 --> 00:20:43,900 This is Zephyr's and my dad's drawing 268 00:20:44,070 --> 00:20:46,251 and we're gonna rub this out 269 00:20:46,252 --> 00:20:48,670 and then we're gonna do another drawing. 270 00:20:53,410 --> 00:20:55,210 Can we put some music to this? 271 00:20:57,882 --> 00:21:01,157 He was born with one ear that wasn't formed, 272 00:21:01,158 --> 00:21:03,118 one ear that was closed over. 273 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,506 Often kids that have hearing deficits 274 00:21:07,683 --> 00:21:08,683 mask that. 275 00:21:08,684 --> 00:21:10,006 They don't want anyone to know 276 00:21:10,007 --> 00:21:12,886 that they've got a hearing disability at all. 277 00:21:12,887 --> 00:21:18,319 So they act in ways that make sure that people forget that. 278 00:21:20,321 --> 00:21:22,639 Because of his physical prowess 279 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:25,996 and his incredible athleticism, he would be the kid 280 00:21:25,997 --> 00:21:28,916 that was scaling the 40 foot tree 281 00:21:30,749 --> 00:21:34,540 running across the roof of some three-storey building. 282 00:21:40,634 --> 00:21:42,966 He was always hurting himself. 283 00:21:43,052 --> 00:21:45,676 You know, if there's a dam there and it's a party, 284 00:21:45,677 --> 00:21:47,536 he was always the kid to fall in the water. 285 00:21:47,537 --> 00:21:50,356 So wherever we went, I had to take first aid kit 286 00:21:50,357 --> 00:21:52,445 and change of clothes. 287 00:22:04,030 --> 00:22:07,785 So here's a lively active, a very physical kid. 288 00:22:08,536 --> 00:22:10,823 Hi cousins, I love you very much. 289 00:22:10,824 --> 00:22:16,047 I play... I play Auskick and soccer and I do rugby. 290 00:22:16,048 --> 00:22:17,128 Thank you. 291 00:22:18,422 --> 00:22:20,438 Zephyr was three when I came along 292 00:22:20,439 --> 00:22:24,407 and every step of the way of being a stepmom 293 00:22:24,408 --> 00:22:25,916 I struggled with, 294 00:22:25,917 --> 00:22:28,036 is this the right thing to do? 295 00:22:28,037 --> 00:22:30,376 If Zephyr's mom was here, what would she say? 296 00:22:30,377 --> 00:22:32,449 Am I being a wicked stepmother? 297 00:22:33,102 --> 00:22:36,688 When I was telling him off, I really was so unsure of myself 298 00:22:36,689 --> 00:22:38,064 the whole time. 299 00:22:38,065 --> 00:22:40,696 And as soon as I became pregnant with Woody 300 00:22:40,697 --> 00:22:43,207 and definitely when he was born, 301 00:22:43,208 --> 00:22:45,530 this knowing came into me. - 302 00:22:45,531 --> 00:22:48,312 -It's like I know exactly what to do here 303 00:22:48,742 --> 00:22:52,413 and I have followed that strong thread. 304 00:22:56,083 --> 00:22:57,291 When you grow up, 305 00:22:57,292 --> 00:22:59,588 are you gonna kick a football with me? 306 00:23:01,338 --> 00:23:02,422 Yes? Okay. 307 00:23:02,423 --> 00:23:05,342 - I think that was a yes. - Deal. Deal. 308 00:23:05,343 --> 00:23:07,219 That strong knowing said, 309 00:23:07,220 --> 00:23:08,973 "Don't send him to school. 310 00:23:08,974 --> 00:23:12,096 What you are doing here is important." 311 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,295 Yes, he can learn to read and write, 312 00:23:20,296 --> 00:23:23,186 but ecological literacy needs to come first. 313 00:23:23,187 --> 00:23:26,124 And because I was brought up in the suburbs 314 00:23:26,125 --> 00:23:30,826 in a very loving home, but very nature disconnected, 315 00:23:30,827 --> 00:23:33,415 -I knew that I didn't want that for him. 316 00:23:44,856 --> 00:23:48,536 Woody learns through a path 317 00:23:48,537 --> 00:23:52,370 of his own inquiry, his own curiosity. 318 00:23:56,185 --> 00:23:58,647 This is a big piece of spotted gum that I've got 319 00:23:59,355 --> 00:24:01,440 that a friend gave to me 320 00:24:01,441 --> 00:24:03,716 and I've already got one chopping board out of it, 321 00:24:03,717 --> 00:24:05,516 but I should get another three. 322 00:24:05,517 --> 00:24:07,328 So it's a really nice wood there. 323 00:24:12,660 --> 00:24:14,705 We've learned a lot through Zeph. 324 00:24:15,512 --> 00:24:19,407 Admittedly Zeph was in a school environment 325 00:24:19,408 --> 00:24:20,750 and peers 326 00:24:22,586 --> 00:24:24,922 were, you know, replace parents 327 00:24:24,923 --> 00:24:30,356 and peers are manipulated by big systems, 328 00:24:30,357 --> 00:24:31,842 particularly industries. 329 00:24:34,682 --> 00:24:38,145 Whereas with Woody being fully community schooled, 330 00:24:38,146 --> 00:24:40,023 unschooled, home schooled, 331 00:24:40,024 --> 00:24:41,813 combination of all those things, 332 00:24:41,814 --> 00:24:47,209 it's this dance between not being too warrior-like 333 00:24:47,736 --> 00:24:50,364 while also in context 334 00:24:50,365 --> 00:24:53,307 allowing him to understand the dominant culture 335 00:24:53,409 --> 00:24:54,993 that he's also born into. 336 00:24:54,994 --> 00:24:57,283 Flood. Spade. 337 00:24:57,396 --> 00:24:58,655 If I saw kids, 338 00:24:58,656 --> 00:25:01,878 high school kids for example, thriving and helping, 339 00:25:01,879 --> 00:25:05,294 healthy and happy and like in their own sovereignty, 340 00:25:05,295 --> 00:25:08,509 then I would say, "Wow, I want Woody to be part of that." 341 00:25:08,510 --> 00:25:10,008 But that's not what I'm seeing. 342 00:25:10,009 --> 00:25:14,667 I'm seeing a lot of kids looking like this a lot of the time and... 343 00:25:14,763 --> 00:25:17,057 A lot of anxiety. -...depressed, anxiety. 344 00:25:17,058 --> 00:25:20,055 It's not an environment that promotes 345 00:25:20,056 --> 00:25:22,140 thriving of our young people 346 00:25:23,248 --> 00:25:24,544 See you, Woods. -Bye. 347 00:25:37,995 --> 00:25:39,413 And that happened before. 348 00:25:40,456 --> 00:25:45,584 My hopes for Woody when he's older are none of my business. 349 00:25:47,212 --> 00:25:51,721 He is free to do what he wants and to be who he wants. 350 00:25:51,722 --> 00:25:54,890 And that feels really important for me to know that. 351 00:25:54,891 --> 00:26:00,680 And I believe it in my guts, like the whole of me believes that. 352 00:26:06,964 --> 00:26:11,656 I would like him to have inner resources 353 00:26:11,657 --> 00:26:14,656 where he can cope with whatever comes his way. 354 00:26:14,657 --> 00:26:18,950 So I would like him to trust his own intuition, 355 00:26:19,953 --> 00:26:23,753 to work out in his own way what his gifts are 356 00:26:23,754 --> 00:26:26,150 that he can then give back to the world. 357 00:26:27,211 --> 00:26:29,031 Forty. Exactly. 358 00:26:29,032 --> 00:26:30,156 That was a good guess. 359 00:26:30,157 --> 00:26:31,631 There's exactly 40. 360 00:26:33,383 --> 00:26:36,677 Whatever future he's going to inherit, 361 00:26:36,678 --> 00:26:39,890 I want him to be able to find 362 00:26:40,516 --> 00:26:43,477 a good balance of being appalled 363 00:26:43,478 --> 00:26:48,336 and being in love with what, with whatever comes. 364 00:26:48,337 --> 00:26:52,195 Because we can focus on the brokenness of the world 365 00:26:52,196 --> 00:26:55,771 and it can break us as well 366 00:26:55,772 --> 00:27:00,172 or we can notice it and be appalled 367 00:27:00,173 --> 00:27:03,496 and notice the beauty and have that in balance. 368 00:27:03,497 --> 00:27:05,597 Have a look at that grain. 369 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:07,750 Such beautiful wood. 370 00:27:12,589 --> 00:27:14,176 - 371 00:27:31,752 --> 00:27:35,760 So these are parasol mushrooms and they're really good eating. 372 00:27:36,572 --> 00:27:39,908 They're often found in eucalyptus forest. 373 00:27:40,590 --> 00:27:42,276 So that's the umbo there. 374 00:27:42,277 --> 00:27:46,623 And then these little lines here 375 00:27:46,624 --> 00:27:49,866 in the mushroom are the gills and the spores are in the gills 376 00:27:49,867 --> 00:27:52,674 and then they fall down onto the forest floor 377 00:27:52,675 --> 00:27:55,297 when you put them like that in your basket. 378 00:28:09,228 --> 00:28:10,607 Now these are saffron milk caps. 379 00:28:11,154 --> 00:28:13,091 Can do that, 380 00:28:13,567 --> 00:28:17,238 and no other mushroom that look like this, do that. 381 00:28:17,721 --> 00:28:19,885 See that orange on your finger? 382 00:28:19,886 --> 00:28:21,690 That means it's a saffron milk cap. 383 00:28:33,837 --> 00:28:38,174 I feel like in the future I'll be pretty set, my skills 384 00:28:38,175 --> 00:28:42,397 and I can teach like a lot of my friends all that stuff too. 385 00:29:21,718 --> 00:29:23,011 Thank you, girls. 386 00:29:32,854 --> 00:29:36,416 So we have a volunteer program, it's called SWAPS 387 00:29:36,417 --> 00:29:40,342 and that stands for Social Warming Artists and Permaculturists. 388 00:29:40,821 --> 00:29:42,139 It's an immersive experience. 389 00:29:42,140 --> 00:29:44,536 They really become part of our household 390 00:29:44,537 --> 00:29:47,869 and get a taste of what our daily rhythms are like. 391 00:29:49,871 --> 00:29:52,246 I really love to have the volunteers 392 00:29:52,332 --> 00:29:56,173 it's a really special part of what has built this place. 393 00:29:56,174 --> 00:29:59,066 And as we always say to the volunteers who come, 394 00:29:59,067 --> 00:30:02,503 you know they're eating the preserves and the ferments 395 00:30:02,504 --> 00:30:04,853 and they're warming themselves with the wood 396 00:30:04,854 --> 00:30:06,846 that the previous volunteers helped to get. 397 00:30:06,847 --> 00:30:09,893 So it's like a pay it forward to the next lot of volunteers. 398 00:30:11,430 --> 00:30:12,470 - 399 00:30:14,271 --> 00:30:15,751 Yeah, really well. 400 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:18,352 Yep. 401 00:30:21,445 --> 00:30:25,616 Twenty minutes of sweating a day keeps the doctor away. 402 00:30:27,161 --> 00:30:29,474 My health ambition. 403 00:30:30,607 --> 00:30:31,894 I want to die chopping wood, 404 00:30:32,622 --> 00:30:35,558 in my nineties, preferably. 405 00:30:37,985 --> 00:30:39,297 What about your hundreds? 406 00:30:39,725 --> 00:30:41,213 Oh yeah, I'd take that. 407 00:30:41,214 --> 00:30:43,245 As long as I'm chopping wood, I don't care. 408 00:30:58,933 --> 00:31:01,818 Layer by layer, season by season, year by year, 409 00:31:01,819 --> 00:31:04,180 gleaning the necessary skills, 410 00:31:05,141 --> 00:31:07,271 building the necessary relationships 411 00:31:08,582 --> 00:31:10,287 and also having a lot of fun. 412 00:31:10,288 --> 00:31:13,746 So moving from anger and defiance and warriorness 413 00:31:13,747 --> 00:31:19,189 to play and fun and a big fuck you to the system. 414 00:31:19,190 --> 00:31:21,490 As we're starting to find our confidence. 415 00:31:26,222 --> 00:31:28,501 When I'm going for a walk in the forest, 416 00:31:28,502 --> 00:31:30,880 I'll bring back some kindling 417 00:31:31,723 --> 00:31:35,746 and it makes sense that we get most of our wood from this forest 418 00:31:35,747 --> 00:31:38,923 because it's so close to our home. 419 00:31:38,924 --> 00:31:43,401 And we with many others that who live around here 420 00:31:43,402 --> 00:31:45,242 are stewards of this forest. 421 00:31:46,363 --> 00:31:49,522 We're in relationship with this forest 422 00:31:49,523 --> 00:31:55,346 so we understand what's happening seasonally, ecologically. 423 00:31:55,883 --> 00:31:57,048 And... 424 00:31:57,785 --> 00:31:59,633 we love being in this forest. 425 00:31:59,634 --> 00:32:02,931 We love this forest, we tend this forest 426 00:32:02,932 --> 00:32:07,291 and we want this forest to flourish 427 00:32:07,511 --> 00:32:08,792 as we flourish. 428 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:16,642 Hey Eric. 429 00:32:17,477 --> 00:32:18,530 Hi sheep. 430 00:32:31,660 --> 00:32:33,659 That should keep us going for a while. 431 00:32:34,536 --> 00:32:36,832 We basically don't have electricity bills. 432 00:32:37,474 --> 00:32:40,020 The key to it is our firewood. 433 00:32:44,671 --> 00:32:46,463 The heart of our home. 434 00:32:47,231 --> 00:32:51,351 So this is our stove top, it is our oven. 435 00:32:51,352 --> 00:32:54,590 It heats our house, it heats our hot water. 436 00:32:54,591 --> 00:32:58,430 It is our dehydrator, toaster, kettle, 437 00:32:59,229 --> 00:33:00,674 and our clothes dryer. 438 00:33:01,438 --> 00:33:03,648 And we also like to say it's our TV, 439 00:33:04,149 --> 00:33:07,131 so we just sit and watch the logs burn. 440 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:22,560 This little building is a building 441 00:34:22,561 --> 00:34:26,390 Zeph and James, a volunteer here, built. 442 00:34:27,274 --> 00:34:31,530 Made almost entirely from recycled materials. 443 00:34:34,656 --> 00:34:36,777 At the time of building the kumquat, 444 00:34:37,165 --> 00:34:40,044 there was a major exhibition of Banksy, 445 00:34:40,045 --> 00:34:42,664 the graffiti artist, that came to Melbourne. 446 00:34:43,331 --> 00:34:45,791 Zeph was sort of struggling between, like, 447 00:34:45,792 --> 00:34:48,199 on the one hand this is illegal 448 00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,516 and risky and he was excited by graffiti, 449 00:34:50,517 --> 00:34:54,092 but on the other hand he, it's been culturally celebrated. 450 00:34:54,586 --> 00:34:57,626 I said, "Well, why don't you do the history of graffiti 451 00:34:57,627 --> 00:34:59,486 as a homeschool project? 452 00:34:59,487 --> 00:35:01,542 Why don't you really go into that?" 453 00:35:02,350 --> 00:35:03,368 And he did. 454 00:35:03,369 --> 00:35:06,977 And that was quite a beautiful time. 455 00:35:10,066 --> 00:35:13,946 He was doing that project as more a formal education 456 00:35:13,947 --> 00:35:17,082 or a research-based project, 457 00:35:17,083 --> 00:35:18,699 but more and more going out 458 00:35:18,700 --> 00:35:21,626 and then practicing his own graffiti in the town. 459 00:35:21,627 --> 00:35:23,275 So much so that one night 460 00:35:23,276 --> 00:35:25,737 he completely bombed the town 461 00:35:25,738 --> 00:35:28,339 with like 30 huge pieces. 462 00:35:29,610 --> 00:35:32,366 He was caught 463 00:35:32,367 --> 00:35:35,912 and ended up in the local police station. 464 00:35:35,913 --> 00:35:37,337 - 465 00:35:37,338 --> 00:35:40,590 I was trying to guide him on this careful, 466 00:35:40,591 --> 00:35:45,447 nuanced path of contributing culturally 467 00:35:45,852 --> 00:35:50,394 as a graffiti-ist or a stencil artist 468 00:35:50,899 --> 00:35:55,822 and you know, the problems of offensive destruction 469 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:57,900 to other people's things. 470 00:35:59,032 --> 00:36:01,838 So after six months of community schooling, 471 00:36:01,839 --> 00:36:05,527 he started to talk about going back to school 472 00:36:05,622 --> 00:36:07,540 and to go to the local high school. 473 00:36:07,541 --> 00:36:09,130 Onto ah... to brighter things. 474 00:36:09,131 --> 00:36:11,436 If your idea of a holiday is packing up the kids 475 00:36:11,437 --> 00:36:14,586 and heading to the beach, then you need to meet this next family. 476 00:36:14,587 --> 00:36:18,166 They have taken the idea of a road trip to a whole new level, 477 00:36:18,167 --> 00:36:19,717 spending more than a year traveling 478 00:36:19,718 --> 00:36:22,337 up and down Australia's east coast by bike. 479 00:36:22,338 --> 00:36:23,520 But that's not all. 480 00:36:23,521 --> 00:36:26,851 The family also ate for free along the way, 481 00:36:26,852 --> 00:36:31,560 foraging for wild food and even cooking up road kill. 482 00:36:32,357 --> 00:36:36,414 Some parents got to know that this kid Zephyr 483 00:36:36,415 --> 00:36:38,301 with this unusual name. 484 00:36:38,302 --> 00:36:41,406 Oh that sounds like that family from Daylesford. 485 00:36:41,407 --> 00:36:45,061 So he became quickly known as that dirty hippie 486 00:36:45,062 --> 00:36:47,141 that eats roadkill, from Daylesford. 487 00:36:47,831 --> 00:36:51,544 He started his high school years with that story 488 00:36:51,545 --> 00:36:53,167 and couldn't throw it off. 489 00:37:06,208 --> 00:37:07,894 - 490 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,591 - 491 00:37:30,292 --> 00:37:34,722 We are now mostly not living in the monetary economy, 492 00:37:34,723 --> 00:37:37,056 but we still have rates to pay. 493 00:37:37,057 --> 00:37:40,716 We still have some bills, we still buy in some food 494 00:37:40,717 --> 00:37:42,619 and you know, secondhand clothes. 495 00:37:42,620 --> 00:37:46,380 So we, we have very low overheads and low costs, 496 00:37:46,381 --> 00:37:49,979 but we still do participate in the monetary economy. 497 00:37:49,980 --> 00:37:54,391 So I work two days a week for David Holmgren and Su Dennett. 498 00:37:54,392 --> 00:37:57,136 So David is the co-originator of Permaculture 499 00:37:57,137 --> 00:37:59,370 and I work in David's office. 500 00:38:03,448 --> 00:38:08,372 We live below the poverty line, very happily and very easily. 501 00:38:11,570 --> 00:38:15,508 How we're able to live like this is because we rely 502 00:38:15,509 --> 00:38:17,627 and live mostly in the gift economy, 503 00:38:17,628 --> 00:38:19,087 not the monetary economy. 504 00:38:24,562 --> 00:38:26,038 Thanks, guys. 505 00:38:28,014 --> 00:38:31,598 The flow of gifts is really about trust, 506 00:38:32,477 --> 00:38:35,075 living with a knowing that 507 00:38:35,076 --> 00:38:37,636 what we put out comes back. 508 00:38:38,233 --> 00:38:42,316 It's being generous, knowing that generosity is contagious. 509 00:38:43,655 --> 00:38:45,990 Things like our bush school, Forest and Free, 510 00:38:45,991 --> 00:38:47,826 we operate in the gift economy. 511 00:38:48,409 --> 00:38:53,190 So we take 20 kids out every Monday from 10 till 4. 512 00:38:53,191 --> 00:38:58,997 In exchange, parents gift us produce from their garden, 513 00:38:58,998 --> 00:39:00,376 hand-me-downs. 514 00:39:00,377 --> 00:39:02,650 So we get meals made for us. 515 00:39:09,556 --> 00:39:13,755 When I was working in an office, I had money so I could buy those things, 516 00:39:13,756 --> 00:39:18,271 but it was, it's an economy of meaninglessness, of disconnection 517 00:39:18,272 --> 00:39:22,274 and I choose hard work and connection any day. 518 00:39:30,245 --> 00:39:33,644 Okay. Do you remember how to play neo peasant with villaging? 519 00:39:33,645 --> 00:39:34,763 Yes. 520 00:39:34,764 --> 00:39:40,387 What we do is work together to get all the money out of the bank. 521 00:39:40,660 --> 00:39:44,213 So we bankrupt the bank so they no longer are a part of the game. 522 00:39:46,005 --> 00:39:47,047 Three. 523 00:39:48,136 --> 00:39:50,269 One, two, three. 524 00:39:51,556 --> 00:39:53,307 Market Garden? Three dollars. 525 00:39:53,308 --> 00:39:54,491 Look at this. 526 00:39:57,020 --> 00:39:58,040 Small goods. 527 00:39:58,498 --> 00:40:00,316 See if I can... -Oh, yum. 528 00:40:00,317 --> 00:40:01,649 That's really good. That one. 529 00:40:01,650 --> 00:40:03,346 Anyone wanna lend me a dollar? 530 00:40:03,347 --> 00:40:04,513 Yeah. -Sure. 531 00:40:04,833 --> 00:40:07,568 I need some new beans. -Sure. 532 00:40:07,569 --> 00:40:09,542 One, two, three, four. 533 00:40:10,283 --> 00:40:11,284 Chance. 534 00:40:12,329 --> 00:40:15,305 Fraudulent banking services. 535 00:40:15,306 --> 00:40:18,790 Pay each player ten dollars each. 536 00:40:18,791 --> 00:40:20,375 That's good. I did do that. 537 00:40:20,376 --> 00:40:21,481 Ten dollars each? 538 00:40:21,482 --> 00:40:23,546 No, that's actually not what it says. 539 00:40:23,547 --> 00:40:25,791 Daddy, you can't just do that. 540 00:40:25,792 --> 00:40:27,571 Yes, you can. -That's not good. 541 00:40:27,572 --> 00:40:30,916 - This is our reality. - You have to earn your money. 542 00:41:06,172 --> 00:41:10,151 Yeah, and around the back here, isn't it? 543 00:41:10,152 --> 00:41:11,326 Yeah. 544 00:41:11,327 --> 00:41:13,816 We rarely get sick 545 00:41:13,817 --> 00:41:18,340 and we certainly only get a cold and sometimes a flu. 546 00:41:25,983 --> 00:41:28,498 About a year ago I was knocked off my bike 547 00:41:28,499 --> 00:41:31,856 and I still have residual shoulder pain. 548 00:41:32,228 --> 00:41:33,990 So this is some stinging nettle, 549 00:41:34,659 --> 00:41:38,390 which is like acupuncture. 550 00:41:39,435 --> 00:41:43,106 Yeah. So yeah, it's really stinging. I want that. 551 00:41:43,107 --> 00:41:47,300 It gets all the blood there and yeah, medicine. 552 00:41:51,676 --> 00:41:53,682 You know, a lot of people at our age 553 00:41:53,683 --> 00:41:57,766 are very unwell and have many different diseases 554 00:41:58,056 --> 00:42:01,835 and it's not because we're somehow biologically superior. 555 00:42:02,078 --> 00:42:05,756 It's because I think we trust, and our economy, 556 00:42:05,757 --> 00:42:08,006 and way of relating is based on relationships 557 00:42:08,007 --> 00:42:11,210 with things, we touch things, we absorb things. 558 00:42:13,653 --> 00:42:17,726 We only ever seem to think of parasites as negative in our culture 559 00:42:17,727 --> 00:42:20,570 because we're in this ideology of germ theory 560 00:42:20,571 --> 00:42:23,787 that the world is dangerous and we should fear it. 561 00:42:23,875 --> 00:42:26,735 It's full of viruses and bacteria and terrible things. 562 00:42:26,736 --> 00:42:31,466 But of course we are walking forests of many different 563 00:42:31,467 --> 00:42:33,358 more-than-human participants. 564 00:42:33,359 --> 00:42:37,851 So if we think of ourselves as a relating body, 565 00:42:38,078 --> 00:42:43,087 then it's possible to then trust all those relations. 566 00:44:10,135 --> 00:44:13,236 Gives me great satisfaction straightening these, 567 00:44:13,237 --> 00:44:15,215 which I get for about ten cents. 568 00:44:15,820 --> 00:44:18,575 'Cause to buy a new one off the shelf is about ten dollars. 569 00:44:41,554 --> 00:44:44,328 Probably the first ten years we had come 570 00:44:44,329 --> 00:44:47,436 to the neighborhood, we just were walking in the forest 571 00:44:47,437 --> 00:44:51,156 and observing it and learning about the edible mushrooms 572 00:44:51,157 --> 00:44:53,640 and falling in love with this area. 573 00:44:54,990 --> 00:44:58,904 The CFA did a big burn all the way around 574 00:44:58,905 --> 00:45:00,742 this edge of the forest 575 00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:04,357 and it was a really destructive and fast and furious burn. 576 00:45:04,452 --> 00:45:07,702 It wasn't nuanced, it wasn't like indigenous burning. 577 00:45:08,493 --> 00:45:10,476 The forest didn't feel good for a while. 578 00:45:10,477 --> 00:45:13,293 And I remember saying to myself then, 579 00:45:13,294 --> 00:45:16,386 "I want to start working in this forest 580 00:45:16,387 --> 00:45:18,551 and give them no reason to come back." 581 00:45:18,552 --> 00:45:21,425 And so that was a nearly decade ago. 582 00:45:23,429 --> 00:45:25,959 I talked to neighbors about introducing goats 583 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:27,306 and then sheep. 584 00:45:27,307 --> 00:45:31,410 So farming it with no legal tenure to land. 585 00:45:33,648 --> 00:45:37,484 The sheep and the goats are particularly interested in the newcomer species. 586 00:45:37,485 --> 00:45:40,986 That's their main thing. With an elder or a hawthorn 587 00:45:40,987 --> 00:45:42,406 or a blackberry or gorse. 588 00:45:42,407 --> 00:45:44,536 They'll absolutely go it. 589 00:45:47,286 --> 00:45:52,550 You've got this nuanced and relationship-based land management 590 00:45:52,551 --> 00:45:55,410 versus pesticides and bulldozers. 591 00:45:56,754 --> 00:46:01,266 We eat the surplus goats and sheep and that's our payment 592 00:46:01,267 --> 00:46:05,796 for working in, in public land in Djarra people's land 593 00:46:05,797 --> 00:46:07,365 in real terms. 594 00:46:07,366 --> 00:46:09,878 And also doing that with relationship 595 00:46:09,879 --> 00:46:12,345 with Uncle Rick, who's one of the Djarra elders 596 00:46:12,346 --> 00:46:15,720 and an emerging elder called Beck Phillips, who's a friend. 597 00:46:16,482 --> 00:46:20,280 There is this beautiful indigenous renewal in Djarra country 598 00:46:21,490 --> 00:46:23,016 and alongside that 599 00:46:23,017 --> 00:46:26,450 there's what I call permaculture subsistence, 600 00:46:27,118 --> 00:46:30,901 which is we white fellas reclaiming our indigenous soul 601 00:46:30,902 --> 00:46:32,790 in how we work with land. 602 00:46:35,790 --> 00:46:39,079 Subsistence permaculture is a way back 603 00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:44,026 in to how we as second people, our ancestors performed life 604 00:46:44,027 --> 00:46:46,050 as land-bonded people. 605 00:46:51,365 --> 00:46:52,980 Look out. Look out. 606 00:46:56,459 --> 00:46:57,490 Hang on. 607 00:46:57,491 --> 00:47:01,546 This is Alice and she is about five years old. 608 00:47:03,279 --> 00:47:06,095 They're really good fire mitigators 609 00:47:06,096 --> 00:47:09,330 and they're also 610 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:13,166 putting all this lovely poo on the ground, 611 00:47:13,167 --> 00:47:16,098 which is really good for the soil. 612 00:47:25,357 --> 00:47:27,667 - Thanks, chookies. - Thanks, bunnies. 613 00:47:27,755 --> 00:47:29,880 Thanks, bunnies. -Thanks to the forest. 614 00:47:31,900 --> 00:47:33,100 Sunshine. 615 00:47:33,101 --> 00:47:36,557 I'm gonna take her through bottling the cider. 616 00:47:36,558 --> 00:47:39,100 - You are. - And we're gonna process the conk, 617 00:47:39,815 --> 00:47:40,958 the tinder fungus, 618 00:47:42,182 --> 00:47:43,474 for medicine to take with us. 619 00:47:44,236 --> 00:47:47,817 I want to write an email to Zeph 620 00:47:48,783 --> 00:47:50,701 and send some photos. 621 00:47:50,702 --> 00:47:54,065 I'd like to send a photo of you hitting 622 00:47:54,747 --> 00:47:59,612 your handmade cricket bat, practice bat. 623 00:47:59,613 --> 00:48:01,294 The one I made yesterday? -Yeah. 624 00:48:07,384 --> 00:48:09,802 I'm making a project 625 00:48:09,803 --> 00:48:13,546 on Australia's cricket captain Pat Cummins. 626 00:48:13,547 --> 00:48:14,668 I'm really into cricket, 627 00:48:14,669 --> 00:48:16,947 so it's a good homeschool project for me. 628 00:48:16,948 --> 00:48:21,656 I'm sticking in photos of him winning us the Ashes. 629 00:48:29,073 --> 00:48:30,527 Do you know the fungus, 630 00:48:30,528 --> 00:48:33,294 the tinder fungus that was over here? The big white one. 631 00:48:33,295 --> 00:48:36,347 - Oh yeah, yeah. - Put some of that in there. 632 00:48:36,348 --> 00:48:38,176 Because this is cool. 633 00:48:39,875 --> 00:48:43,003 In June, we are going to hitchhike 634 00:48:43,004 --> 00:48:44,200 to India 635 00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:47,618 and we'll see how far we get. 636 00:48:47,619 --> 00:48:52,247 We can be neo peasant permies in situ, 637 00:48:52,346 --> 00:48:57,433 but to take that then onto the road, like how do we live a radically frugal way 638 00:48:57,434 --> 00:48:59,435 without our wood stores, 639 00:48:59,436 --> 00:49:03,005 without our seed bank and without our cellar bank? 640 00:49:03,006 --> 00:49:04,936 What does it look like in a different context? 641 00:49:04,937 --> 00:49:06,316 And I do love that. 642 00:49:06,317 --> 00:49:10,115 I feel like in the past we've found great rhythms 643 00:49:10,116 --> 00:49:13,367 and I look forward to seeing what that looks like this time. 644 00:49:14,535 --> 00:49:17,214 -[Meg] Woody being crazy about cricket, 645 00:49:17,872 --> 00:49:19,835 India is crazy about cricket. 646 00:49:21,098 --> 00:49:23,395 So I made this... 647 00:49:23,627 --> 00:49:26,158 supposed to be like a baseball bat sort of thing... yesterday 648 00:49:26,505 --> 00:49:28,450 and I put one of my cricket bat grips on it, 649 00:49:29,216 --> 00:49:31,427 and I've already got a few cherries, 650 00:49:31,972 --> 00:49:33,142 as you can see, 651 00:49:33,515 --> 00:49:35,016 and I'm pretty happy with it. 652 00:49:35,017 --> 00:49:39,019 It's good for my defense to practice. 653 00:49:43,486 --> 00:49:44,651 Shot. - 654 00:49:44,652 --> 00:49:45,738 Ups. 655 00:49:45,831 --> 00:49:51,751 He will turn 12 on this trip and to introduce him to the cultural Other 656 00:49:51,752 --> 00:49:55,784 through something that he loves, and through a shared passion. 657 00:49:57,292 --> 00:50:00,590 Just that invitation to... "I'm from somewhere else, 658 00:50:01,415 --> 00:50:05,339 but I connect with you through a game of cricket." 659 00:50:05,745 --> 00:50:06,845 - 660 00:50:07,032 --> 00:50:08,056 - 661 00:50:08,057 --> 00:50:09,843 Sorry! -[Patrick laughing] Geez! 662 00:50:12,051 --> 00:50:15,430 - It got stuck with your phone. - That's funny. 663 00:50:17,476 --> 00:50:18,612 That's a good one. 664 00:50:19,705 --> 00:50:22,551 - Is it good? - Yeah, it just shows the... 665 00:50:22,552 --> 00:50:23,914 Let's send that to Zeph. 666 00:50:23,915 --> 00:50:25,966 Yeah, the craft of it. 667 00:50:39,401 --> 00:50:40,590 "Dear Zeph", 668 00:50:43,103 --> 00:50:49,124 "looking forward to our next visit." 669 00:50:54,005 --> 00:50:57,682 He fell in with a bunch of very vulnerable boys 670 00:50:58,555 --> 00:51:01,734 and they all egged each other on to do - 671 00:51:01,735 --> 00:51:04,468 more and more crazy things in the town. 672 00:51:04,469 --> 00:51:06,124 Petty theft - 673 00:51:06,125 --> 00:51:09,326 and then eventually moving into stealing cars 674 00:51:09,327 --> 00:51:12,446 -and running drugs for older boys. 675 00:51:12,447 --> 00:51:16,789 And it just became a nightmare. 676 00:51:18,242 --> 00:51:24,029 And at one stage he was in a high-speed police chase 677 00:51:24,030 --> 00:51:26,738 -and he nearly killed a police officer. 678 00:51:26,739 --> 00:51:28,585 - 679 00:51:28,586 --> 00:51:30,920 "It is subject to monitoring and recording." 680 00:51:30,921 --> 00:51:33,011 It is unlawful for this call to be redirected 681 00:51:33,012 --> 00:51:34,380 or be part of a conference call. 682 00:51:34,381 --> 00:51:36,956 If you do not wish to accept this call, hang up now. 683 00:51:36,957 --> 00:51:39,899 "If you understand the conditions of this call, please continue." 684 00:51:42,474 --> 00:51:45,272 Hey, Zeph. How you going mate? -[Zeph] Hi. 685 00:51:46,794 --> 00:51:47,985 Zeph went into... 686 00:51:49,996 --> 00:51:51,170 prison. 687 00:51:51,775 --> 00:51:56,157 First, youth prison and then adults at 15 688 00:51:56,158 --> 00:52:00,380 and pretty much has been in there since. He's now 22. 689 00:52:01,368 --> 00:52:03,000 And there's the two brothers. 690 00:52:04,747 --> 00:52:09,320 Yeah, Zeph had just got out of juvie 691 00:52:10,294 --> 00:52:12,841 the first time, and things were going really well 692 00:52:13,964 --> 00:52:17,036 and then lockdown happened and he couldn't see his mates 693 00:52:17,037 --> 00:52:18,625 and he broke curfew 694 00:52:19,809 --> 00:52:22,132 and he was back in. 695 00:52:23,994 --> 00:52:27,386 And that's just before he was then went into weeks 696 00:52:27,387 --> 00:52:29,420 of lockdown in juvie. 697 00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:33,296 And that's when he tried to escape for the third time 698 00:52:33,297 --> 00:52:35,630 and they took him to adults. 699 00:52:36,490 --> 00:52:38,490 - 700 00:52:48,980 --> 00:52:52,160 For about a year, I slept in the forest. 701 00:52:53,296 --> 00:52:54,813 That was a... 702 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:57,713 That was a big, big time. 703 00:53:02,805 --> 00:53:07,938 His story has been a great gift to my life, as painful 704 00:53:08,602 --> 00:53:09,690 and unwanted 705 00:53:13,995 --> 00:53:15,333 as it has been. 706 00:53:16,625 --> 00:53:20,363 But I have so much joy and gratitude 707 00:53:20,364 --> 00:53:23,328 for the work that I do because of his story. 708 00:53:25,539 --> 00:53:32,506 Another gift is understanding how to better raise Woody. 709 00:53:33,669 --> 00:53:35,007 How Zeph's story 710 00:53:35,100 --> 00:53:40,086 and my failings as a father has informed me. 711 00:53:40,087 --> 00:53:43,094 Doesn't make me 712 00:53:43,095 --> 00:53:44,863 a great father, 713 00:53:44,864 --> 00:53:48,422 but a much more aware and conscious father. 714 00:53:51,482 --> 00:53:54,095 The real gift of Zeph is 715 00:53:55,062 --> 00:53:59,295 understanding how me as a father and other men 716 00:53:59,296 --> 00:54:03,906 who love Zeph in the community didn't have the skills 717 00:54:03,907 --> 00:54:08,642 or the craft of bringing him up. 718 00:54:08,643 --> 00:54:10,086 Not raising him, 719 00:54:10,087 --> 00:54:14,520 but like elevating him where he needed to be elevated. 720 00:54:15,642 --> 00:54:18,699 And that is a nuanced thing 721 00:54:18,700 --> 00:54:22,302 and it requires a village, not a nuclear family. 722 00:54:23,260 --> 00:54:27,756 And I think that the village rebuilding 723 00:54:27,757 --> 00:54:30,558 that Meg and I have been doing 724 00:54:30,559 --> 00:54:36,846 over the past several years is because of that. 725 00:54:36,847 --> 00:54:38,070 Because of his story. 726 00:54:40,736 --> 00:54:43,861 Moving what needs to be moved, for the flow. 727 00:55:25,078 --> 00:55:29,812 Okay, we're gonna do a thing we call "blackberry surfing." 728 00:55:32,041 --> 00:55:33,267 Climbing to a tree! 729 00:55:37,278 --> 00:55:39,165 - 730 00:55:46,552 --> 00:55:50,700 Forest and Free is a weekly bush school. 731 00:55:51,974 --> 00:55:53,896 We have a whole day with the kids. 732 00:55:56,186 --> 00:56:00,484 It's an opportunity for kids to be outside in the forest 733 00:56:00,485 --> 00:56:02,910 to reconnect to the forest. 734 00:56:04,570 --> 00:56:07,479 There's loads of different cubbies that we're making, 735 00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:09,023 different shelters 736 00:56:09,024 --> 00:56:13,991 and some of the kids have been working on their shelters for a year or so. 737 00:56:15,289 --> 00:56:17,999 I decided that it needs some work so I added a lot 738 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:19,436 of insulation around it 739 00:56:20,092 --> 00:56:23,967 and it could fit up to, I don't know, six people, I reckon. 740 00:56:27,738 --> 00:56:29,260 This is my cubby. 741 00:56:29,261 --> 00:56:31,432 Here we have a rock bed. 742 00:56:31,433 --> 00:56:35,650 Hopefully next time we come, I'll put some broom. 743 00:56:35,651 --> 00:56:37,186 Here, we have, like, curtains. 744 00:56:41,328 --> 00:56:44,979 When you're in the forest, it just makes you feel more, like, relaxed. 745 00:56:45,485 --> 00:56:48,248 It's really fun because when I'm at home, 746 00:56:48,249 --> 00:56:50,490 it's kind of boring, but when I'm at Forest and Free, 747 00:56:50,491 --> 00:56:52,788 I get to express my energy. 748 00:56:54,661 --> 00:56:57,246 When they're building cubbies, they're learning about 749 00:56:57,247 --> 00:57:00,736 natural building and architecture and where to position it. 750 00:57:00,737 --> 00:57:02,146 Where's the sun coming from? 751 00:57:02,147 --> 00:57:03,802 And if we have an opening to the south, 752 00:57:03,803 --> 00:57:05,622 which is usually where the rain comes from, 753 00:57:05,623 --> 00:57:08,956 then maybe we need to weave a door and have that as our opening. 754 00:57:08,957 --> 00:57:11,116 And they're learning what materials are around, 755 00:57:11,117 --> 00:57:13,984 what flowers, what birds, what insects. 756 00:57:13,985 --> 00:57:18,929 They're just, they're embedding. They're learning how to be in place. 757 00:57:40,776 --> 00:57:43,680 I facilitate a monthly women's circle, 758 00:57:44,027 --> 00:57:45,891 it's called For Crying Out Loud. 759 00:57:45,892 --> 00:57:50,717 And Patrick facilitates the men's circle, which is called Fire Choir. 760 00:57:51,468 --> 00:57:55,889 We started these circles maybe five and a half years ago. 761 00:57:55,890 --> 00:57:58,432 We gather here at the fire circle 762 00:57:58,433 --> 00:58:02,977 and Patrick or Woody comes down earlier 763 00:58:02,978 --> 00:58:04,751 and lights a really big fire for us. 764 00:58:06,775 --> 00:58:10,282 We live in a culture that doesn't do grief very well. 765 00:58:11,071 --> 00:58:14,405 The circle is a way to acknowledge our grief, 766 00:58:14,406 --> 00:58:15,738 to share the grief. 767 00:58:15,739 --> 00:58:17,473 And it's a witnessing circle. 768 00:58:17,474 --> 00:58:21,000 It's a deep listening, a deep sharing. 769 00:58:21,001 --> 00:58:24,626 And we speak from the heart and we listen with our hearts 770 00:58:24,627 --> 00:58:28,750 and to really practice listening in a nonjudgmental way. 771 00:58:34,984 --> 00:58:40,465 This circle is just medicine and it's something that I crave. 772 00:58:41,393 --> 00:58:44,837 It was a deep remembering of something that 773 00:58:45,464 --> 00:58:47,482 is ancient in our bones. 774 00:58:47,483 --> 00:58:50,743 Sitting around a fire, sharing stories. 775 00:58:51,611 --> 00:58:56,565 To sit in circle with women who I've known for many, many years, 776 00:58:56,566 --> 00:59:00,256 but to witness them at their most vulnerable, 777 00:59:00,257 --> 00:59:01,966 at their most honest 778 00:59:01,967 --> 00:59:06,076 and open expressions of themselves or their pain 779 00:59:06,077 --> 00:59:09,550 or their grief or whatever it is that they're most alive to, 780 00:59:10,515 --> 00:59:13,600 to really witness women in that rawness 781 00:59:14,385 --> 00:59:16,030 is just incredible. 782 00:59:18,092 --> 00:59:20,584 I used to cry with shame 783 00:59:21,183 --> 00:59:22,558 whenever I would cry. 784 00:59:22,559 --> 00:59:25,826 You know, I was sort of embarrassed of my emotionality. 785 00:59:25,827 --> 00:59:30,170 And now, I'm a proud crier. 786 00:59:31,735 --> 00:59:34,798 I feel like that's what happens around this circle. 787 00:59:34,799 --> 00:59:39,629 Our moments are witnessed so our lives don't just speed by 788 00:59:39,630 --> 00:59:42,353 that we are in the grief. 789 00:59:42,583 --> 00:59:46,637 We recognize and we air the grief. 790 00:59:46,638 --> 00:59:52,790 So we have room in us for the beauty to come out, for the beauty to go in. 791 01:00:09,282 --> 01:00:12,291 We planted this little kumquat 792 01:00:12,292 --> 01:00:14,227 when Zeph 793 01:00:15,445 --> 01:00:17,737 and James finished this building 794 01:00:17,826 --> 01:00:22,288 and this is the first year it's fully fruited 795 01:00:22,289 --> 01:00:25,191 and it has pretty much grown 796 01:00:26,748 --> 01:00:30,547 over the period of time that Zeph has been inside 797 01:00:31,381 --> 01:00:32,626 in the prison system. 798 01:00:33,299 --> 01:00:35,624 And when we get back from India 799 01:00:35,625 --> 01:00:37,254 in four months' time, 800 01:00:37,255 --> 01:00:38,760 Zeph is coming out. 801 01:00:39,416 --> 01:00:41,150 And these fruits, 802 01:00:42,116 --> 01:00:45,440 which are in abundance, look like they'll be ready. 803 01:00:46,226 --> 01:00:49,478 So that feels like a cycle. 804 01:01:04,828 --> 01:01:07,993 I've been noticing since moving towards 805 01:01:07,994 --> 01:01:11,025 the departure, a real groundedness. 806 01:01:11,334 --> 01:01:16,289 I'm so in love with the processes 807 01:01:16,290 --> 01:01:18,896 of packing down the house 808 01:01:18,897 --> 01:01:21,266 and filling the cellar and the wood store 809 01:01:21,267 --> 01:01:26,092 and moving the goats and sheep to a friend's farm. 810 01:01:31,468 --> 01:01:34,676 Thinking through what sort of meals we can have on the road 811 01:01:34,677 --> 01:01:38,246 to keep out of the industrial food system 812 01:01:38,247 --> 01:01:39,681 as much as possible. 813 01:01:41,698 --> 01:01:44,580 I have so much excitement about going, 814 01:01:45,201 --> 01:01:49,850 but the excitement only really extends to closing the door 815 01:01:49,851 --> 01:01:52,226 and walking out to the A300 with our sign. 816 01:01:52,227 --> 01:01:54,460 - I can't really think beyond there, but... - Me too. 817 01:01:54,461 --> 01:01:56,999 ...even just to get to that stage, it's just like, 818 01:01:57,000 --> 01:02:00,427 oh my God, it's just gonna be the most liberating feeling 819 01:02:00,428 --> 01:02:01,802 and I'm looking forward to that. 820 01:02:01,803 --> 01:02:04,759 Two kilos. -Kilo and half. 821 01:02:05,436 --> 01:02:07,468 Yeah. -Yeah, yeah. 822 01:02:07,563 --> 01:02:09,519 That's good because we have backpacking. 823 01:02:24,616 --> 01:02:27,519 Officially welcome to Tree Elbow. 824 01:02:27,520 --> 01:02:31,236 Really great to see everybody. We're very lucky. 825 01:02:31,237 --> 01:02:33,973 Feeling very lucky to be part of this community 826 01:02:34,326 --> 01:02:37,710 and very lucky to live where we do. 827 01:02:37,711 --> 01:02:39,422 I had my first pangs 828 01:02:39,423 --> 01:02:42,545 of unsettlement last night for this trip. 829 01:02:42,546 --> 01:02:46,194 I felt anxiety for the first time, which is good. 830 01:02:46,694 --> 01:02:51,690 Just helping my body to step into unknown things. 831 01:05:11,991 --> 01:05:18,963 ♪ Do not try to save the whole world Or do anything grandiose ♪ 832 01:05:21,501 --> 01:05:28,486 ♪ Instead find a clearing In the dance forest of your life ♪ 833 01:05:31,261 --> 01:05:38,258 ♪ And wait there patiently Until the song that is your life ♪ 834 01:05:40,103 --> 01:05:47,095 ♪ Falls into your own cupped hands And you recognize and greet it ♪ 835 01:05:49,253 --> 01:05:53,578 ♪ Falls into your own cupped hands ♪ 836 01:05:53,579 --> 01:05:57,959 ♪ And you recognize and greet it ♪ 837 01:06:00,665 --> 01:06:06,619 ♪ Only then will you know How to give yourself to this world ♪ 838 01:06:06,620 --> 01:06:08,973 ♪ So worthy of rescue ♪ 839 01:06:09,465 --> 01:06:15,636 ♪ Only then will you know How to give yourself to this world ♪ 840 01:06:15,845 --> 01:06:18,126 ♪ So worthy of rescue ♪ 841 01:06:18,127 --> 01:06:25,142 ♪ Only then will you know How to give yourself to this world 842 01:06:25,542 --> 01:06:28,234 ♪ So worthy of rescue ♪