The Meadow in the Sky

Posting is thin of late because my laptop has been in the shop for a week getting some repair work done. Hopefully I'll have it back soon!

I thought I would feel much more set adrift without a constant and steady internet connection at home in the evening, and though there have been times when I wanted to do a search for something online and I am getting behind in my botany course and favourite podcasts on herbalism and permaculture, I haven't missed my computer as much as I imagined I would.

I've been doing a little cursory reading on agroforesty, the art of coppicing, the polewood economy and the potential for developing these practices in a modern, permaculture context. One article I read talked about the use of pollarded, or high coppiced trees for livestock fodder. It was a common technique once used to provide high protein food to animals, especially through the winter. It was sometimes referred to as 'cultivating the meadow in the sky'.

I read that line and just about died and went to heaven. I mean how lovely is that? Cultivating the meadow in the sky. It's poetry. And from what little I know, it sounds like an incredibly elegant and regenerative approach to woodlot management.

Anyway, I just wanted to leave that wonderful visual here for you all to imagine, while I wait for my laptop to be fixed.

Oh and speaking of wonderful visuals, I've also been drooling over master woodsman Ben Law's home. Have a look!