Extensions of Practical Green Majik

    I possess discontent for many aspects of industrialization and rarely invest energy & finance into mechanization beyond travel, demolition & lite entertainments.  While we do use bone, wood & stone to achieve as much of our labor as possible, the era of our reality & primary understanding is dominated by spoils of the Iron Age.  As such, many of the tools we use for our projections of White & Green Majik are simple and some sort of steel origin.  Many of them are second-hand from various auction & dirt mall origins and typically need deep cleaning.  A verse in The Hovamal suggests acquiring rusty blades as it relates to learning about their trade(s) and how to maintain them; such is the plight of many undervalued & derelict nobodies.

    This first set is among our most used and well-cared for.  They are all for the more delicate aspects of farming & gardening, requiring a more regular cleaning & oiling, and demanded secure protection from any of the elements we may subject them to.  Tomahawks are great for simple bark stripping & branch splitting when stakes or borders are necessary, as well as some larger harvests & cleanups like brussels sprouts or epazote.  Pruners best used for thinning berries & nightshades and harvesting okra, curcubits & kohlrabi.  Kitchen knives, preferably a scimitar type, make great harvest knives for excellently clean slicing chops on bunches of greens and root tops.  Nejiri-kama is hands-down the most versatile tool for crop maintenance, aiding almost any job necessary; specifically a massive technological triumph toward cultivation in it's ability to breeze thru clearing weeds.  Hori Hori also easily garnishes high praise for how accessible & easy it makes transplanting & medicinal root harvesting.  All sheaths are fashioned with belt straps to fit alongside a general purpose utility pouch, usually serving various cordage and towels.  Another belt fitted with a traditional crust-punk ass-flag (or butt-flap, depending on your region or sensitivity), reinforced with PVC fabric & steel grommets, allows for necessary protection when sitting in unsavory conditions.  As we choose to perceive our work in farms & gardens for the rise of an ancient matriarch, the reinforced canvas bag used to hold these tools is mostly just for fun kitsch.

    Heavier work asks for bigger tools; many times done less often, leaving them with a regular need for cleaning.  Double-bit Falling Axe for harvesting & barking timber & logs.  Grass Whip and Brush Axe (easily my favorite two-handed cutter) makes leveling thick overgrowth an absolute breeze when clearing paths & borders.  Good ol' fashioned heavy Mattock is another easy favorite and completely essential when breaking ground on new plots.  Short-handled Flat Shovel to transfer loose medium churned up by a common Hand Cultivator when sheet-mulching.  8lb Maul almost exclusively for splitting firewood.  Hand Scythe to clear overgrowth closer to crops & Sickle for harvesting grasses.

    Some tasks at hand may not directly impact an interaction with soil or crops, but instead help support then to allow for easier growth.  A simple collection of pliers & compound cutters to work with soft metals like wires & tin can erect structures to help trellis or shade, with hide gloves to avoid cutting or tearing skin.  Mallet (usually rubber or dead blow) for driving posts or stakes and Measuring Tape for appropriate spacing.  Since this set has a direct purpose, it was suitable to give it an exclusive belt system to help separate jobs & avoid overwhelming one's self with too many tasks at once or wasting time scouring through a grande cache.

    With the temperate weather upon us, all of these tools will receive some level of cleaning & maintenance before a ceremonial Smoke Bath & their subsequent uses.

    All Hail The Rabbit & Their Gift of Spring.

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Wabii-Sabii Carpentry: Scrap Woodshed

Fig. 1

    44" square pallet foundation studded along the sides & ribbed across with extra support slats.

Fig. 2

    Tarp stapled across the roof with excess folded taught.  Fixed slats for a back wall and started the sides before running out of material & fixers.

Fig. 3

    Wonderful & huge donation of old bridge planks made a very fortified (and heavy) roof.  Re-positioned the side wall slats higher to fit heavier planks toward the foundation.  Didn't do very well measuring & trimming the angle. 

Fig. 4

    Covered over the bad side wall cut then screwed up the door cuts & covered it up down the middle seam.  Has a slight Beetlejuice vibe to it's lack of square, which no one is mad at.  Handles from Red Yew & American Persimmon.

 

Fig. 5

 

    A chair more comfortable & fairy garden more productive than either seem join the scene.    

    We're utilitarian in practice, so the cost could certainly change depending on what grade of quality one sought after.

    No more than $30US on tarp, hinges & fixers.  1H salvage/scrap & 2.5H build.

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Winter Solstice: Fire Among Ice

 

Seiþberendr.

    A small bed of garlic stalks was laid upon with a pile of lemon verbena stems and bordered with xa'xakw shoots.  A small piece of usnea empowered into aquavit was placed into an intentional southern ignition point then covered with a handful of sweet incense.  Pichimin & shatoot branches were laid as a runic inscription to ask for the balanced insight around justice that stabilizes our protection.  Laid with more incense and the finality of our garden's basil, it was lit upon 9 matches.

Endr danza.

    The wind spoke that the flame turn, where Hyrrokin could speak into it, and we watched our message climb on the thermals.  The runes fell into one another & collaborated to steady a solid fire that bathed us in sweet musk.  A frame drum of maple, goat & elk was beat counter-clockwise against a rhythm set to empower our perseverance.

Gift of Promeþeus, a fennel torch.

    We are troubled to see the extent of collapse capable by human hands and more so to see honest & hard-working people be hypnotized by it's psychology.  We are also honored to see nature responding to it, in any capacity and for whatever purpose it deems most suitable for it's own survival.  By Þursian Will, we lit this torch to carry such burden & respect into anyone who may walk with or parallel to us until Aii Surtr flattens all that we know and Ama Gullueig's fertility may start anew.

Ek kueþjaupp þeira uaettr.

     There is no way to expect what we will actually see, but historical prophecies reveal themselves in an era tangible to us and reflect the reverberation of a chaotic tachyon older than time & bigger than verse.  Listen to the echoes more than you create them.

    Fara fram, knatta þin þeinn uell.

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