EVS PROJECT REPORT – Filippo Ceschi

Title: “Gaining Knowledge on Permaculture and Craft”

Location: Spolek Hvozd, Merboltice – Czech Republic

Duration: 1st of March - 30th of November 2018

March

I arrived in Merboltice the 1st of March in the evening after 20 hours traveling from Padova (Italy).

The weather was very cold. The main house where I have lived these months is an old traditional

farm, very big, made of bricks and wood. The environment which I have found was open and

friendly. The first days I have slept in the big common room as we had to fix a few things in one of

the bedrooms.

As the weather was very cold, during this month we mostly worked inside, fixing the other bedroom

that it would have become my own. The works to be done were: installing the electric plant,

brushing the clay plaster on the walls, applying a Moroccan withe stucco around the windows and

the doors in order to make the room more luminous and building a wooden wall to better isolate the

room from sounds.

The work was interesting and I am glad to have improved these kind of skills, even if sometimes a

bit repetitive and long.

April

In April the weather started to be more mild and sunny. Moreover, the other EVS volunteer, Cristina

from Barcelona, arrived. We made a fire party that day.

Gardening: we started to prepare the soil and the beds for planting as well as started to cut the grass,

both with the scythe and with the electric trimmer. Afterwords we racked up the grass on the

compost or on the beds for plants. We prepared the soil where to plants the tomatoes indoor and we

planted the potatoes in the beds. We were also planting trees.

The main project consisted on building stone walls around the house. Therefore, a big digging

machine came to remove big quantities of soil and shape the terrain. There was quite a lot of stones

moving and collection of rubbish. After that we started to build the wall itself using stones and

concrete.

I learned how to make a stone wall and more about gardening, scything and how to plant trees.

In the middle of the month I participated to the EVS on-arrival training in Ash.

May

The first week-end of May I went to Prague to be a volunteer during the “Children in Permaculture

Conference”. It has been a very inspiring and pleasurable experience as I met many like-minded

people and also some old friends.

In this month I also got the infection from ticks, Lyme's disease, and I had to take antibiotics for 20

days which affected a bit my mood and my energy.

Regarding work, we continued with the stone walls, we planted beans, peas and onions and we

transplanted pumpkins and tomatoes as well as scything the grass.

During one of the week-ends I took part to a work-shop about making clothes with felted wool.

June

This month has been very busy. First we started with the work-camp. Six young guys from different

countries came to help us building a fence out of branches with the purpose of defending the

orchard from deer. Me and Cristina helped in the organization and in the tasks. From 15th to 17th we

organized the “Hvozdeni Festival”, third edition, about experimental-ethnic music, yoga, comedians

and acrobats. Very nice atmosphere and many interesting people. My parents came to visit me also

in those days.

In this month we were also helping the goat farmer with some fencing and moving manure. We

were also gardening, planting trees, sharpening tools and starting to make some didgeridoos.

At the end of the month I went to Zdar Nad Sazavou for the second EVS mid-term training.

July

This month has been mostly about building fences for the garden against deer in order to plant the

cabbages, water management of the garden due to the dry season, chopping and storing wood,

didgeridoo making, collecting vegetables, flowers and seeds, cutting the grass, planting trees and

drying fruits.

August

The dry season continued so we had to regularly water all the plants. We were seeding some salad

but it was too warm so they dried out. We continued with the same activities of the previous month.

One week-end we went for a trip to a glass factory, to a small glass laboratory, to an independent

glass and art cooperative and to visit another small work-shop of a friend.

The second part of the month I went on holiday.

September

The first 12 days of the month we hosted here another work-camp. This time me and Cristina had

the role of camp-leaders so we took a more active part in organizing and managing the activities

together with the Hvozd team. We managed to build a stone wall to sustain the terraces where

bushes and shrubs will be planted. We had a very good time and met many nice people.

The second part of the month has been mostly about chopping and piling wood, planting trees and

collecting and transforming fruits.

For Cristina's birthday we went to Dèčin and to the factory for making apple juice.

October

This has been the month of collecting apples and chopping wood as well as workshops. Every

week-end a different one: glass/Tiffany technique. pottery/ceramic, community orchard planting.

We also had the visit of some friends from an Eco-village in Slovakia and some very good

musicians and concerts. Moreover, we went to visit an old homestead of the 16th Centuries, full of

tools, paintings and interesting historical objects.

I started to make my own didgeridoo and we went to burn the pottery and to apply the glaze on

them.

November

The first week-end, me and Lukas participated to a volleyball tournament organized in the village

next to our. We arrived third out of five. It was good fun.

Other tasks: planting trees, chopping wood, finishing the stone wall, maintenance of the wooden

fence, pottery making, wool felting, carpentry, didgeridoo making, video making, wooden planks

making, cutting herbs.

Final Considerations

I am very happy of this experience. I feel that I have grown up a lot during these months, especially

due to the difficulties that I found. I have learnt to trust myself and to rely on my feelings, needs and

observations. I managed to set some boundaries and to communicate them to the others in order to

create more honest, trust and authentic relationships. In addition, I am glad that I have been able to

give my contribution to the project. I learned many new skills and accomplished many different

tasks.

My suggestion is to have a more structured project with tasks and objectives and to stick to it and to

give more space to the volunteers to create their own self-led learning. This means a bit more time

dedicated to planning and organization of the weeks.

Thank you to the Hvozd team and good luck!

Na shledanou

Filippo Ceschi

Merboltice, November 26th 2018