Be nurtured and appreciated, help with gardening and food preservation in southern Indiana, USA

Details

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  Description

  [Update posted 08/01/25] The place announces a change, a seed planted four years ago. For the past four years, the land belongs, as is fair and good, to a Tribal University and Land Grant University located on the Rosebud Reservation, home of the Sicangu Oyate, in South Dakota. Our donation of the property was formally accepted by Sinte Gleska University during September of 2020. Since then, the seed has sprouted and pushed roots of beginnings down into the soil and the sprout and it's cotyledons have come out into the sun. Last August, with an amazing gathering here of a group of people from The University, inipis (sweat lodge, in Lakota) were poured and prayers sent up to Creator, and the transition from private ownership to the establishment of Sinte Gleska University's welcomed and growing presence is forever engaged – the first true leaf has opened to the sunlight. Helen and I will share more about the future of the place and the direction by Sinte Gleska University when you get here, sharing for now that food sovereignty and herbal medicine, in the context of acceptance and maintenance of an indigenous way of life are what you will experience.
  
  After reviewing the introduction to the place presented here, if your passion and experience fit the need just described, please get in touch and explore the possibilities with us. The following three titled paragraphs describe typical activities during the coming season. The titles are from the Lakota names for the Moons associated with the coming season.
  
  Wasutun Wi - Moon When Things Ripen (mid-August to early-September)
  
  Tomato processing comes to an end as pepper harvest comes into full strength. Asian radishes, beets, turnips and rutabagas are thinned. The potato plants have died back and potatoes are dug up, the dirt is brushed off and they are laid out to cure in warm temperatures where there is little light. Melon harvest is coming to an end. But, winter squash is beginning to ripen and the first ones are for the table. Weeding and mowing never stop. If time allows, picking up fallen sticks and branches leads to more chips to be made for mulching.
  
  
  Canapegi Wi - Moon When Leaves Turn Brown (September to early-October)
  
  We can begin eating early sweet potatoes, but the full harvest waits. Potatoes have cured and are stored in bags and moved to cooler, dark storage. With thoughts of garlic planting around Halloween, the hanging bundles start being taken down and about two-thirds of them are separated into cloves and sorted and bagged by variety as small, medium and large. The large ones will be chosen for planting and the small and mediums will be stored for winter enjoyment and shared. The remaining bundles of garlic are moved to winter storage with the expectation that they will keep longer and better than the small and medium ones that have been broken into cloves. When soil conditions are right, 1000 bed feet of raised beds are made for the garlic cloves to be planted soon and for the onions to be planted next spring. Many of the winter squash have ripened and are cut from the vine, laid in the sun to harden, then put on shelves in a warm area to cure for a couple of weeks. The final wave of winter squash will ripen soon and follow along. All will end up being placed in burlap bags and stored in a cool dark place for the winter.
  
  
  Canapekasna Wi - Moon When Leaves Fall (October to early-November)
  
  Persimmons ripen, fall to the ground and are picked up, processed into pulp and frozen. The final mowings are done, but the weeding continues. Asian radishes are the first of the August-planted root crops to be ready for table and gifted to the market and to friends. Before the first frost, sweet potatoes are dug up and placed in a warm area to harden the skins. The 50% first frost date is about October 9th. Tomato cages and trellises are removed and stored for the winter. Lots of peppers are still ripening and being processed into sauces. The raised beds for the garlic are rototilled in anticipation of the coming day of garlic planting. Forty bales of wheat straw for mulch are purchased locally and stored under a tarp near the raised beds. Fish bone meal is purchased to be placed in the dibble holes when the cloves of garlic are planted. A date near Halloween is picked based on the weather and 6 to 8 community folks are invited for the day of planting and the celebration that follows. The remaining winter squash are brought in. Beets, turnips and rutabagas have plumped up and are ready for the table and to be gifted.
  
  
  Waniyetu Wi - Winter Moon (November)
  
  The equinox has come and gone and days are shortening and getting cooler. Scouting in the forest usually locates trees that have fallen during the past year. These are cut into 18 inch pieces, split and stacked for next winter. Firewood gathered the year before is staged near the buildings, making way for the new firewood coming in. Wood stoves, there are eight of them, are cleaned and inspected and their chimneys are swept. Mamie's Garden is winterized and hoops and row cover are placed over the beds. Thoughts are beginning to turn to the holiday season, the upcoming mapling season in January/February and next years growing season. The outside gardens are winterized and debris is removed and either destroyed or composted. This is a good time to make chips from all those sticks and branches collected and piled up. Equipment is cleaned, inspected, winterized and stored for the winter. Planning has been done for winter maintenance, repair and building projects. Reflection about the past season brings thoughts of what to do again and what to do differently. All the summer's produce that has been stored is gone through monthly to cull out any items that have gone bad.
  
  We are a wife and husband who grow vegetables for personal consumption, and we freeze, dehydrate, sun dry and can for our own use and donate the excess. We do mapling during the season and manage our forest without timbering. For 10 years we have been planting crops specifically to feed the wildlife, with a mindset as a wildlife sanctuary for all who want to come and partake. There are no fences, cages, pens or chains/ropes for the creatures, except fences around the vegetable gardens to keep hungry critters out.  A 3.5 acre plot along the river is a pollinator plot with 16 different types of native wildflowers. 
  
  "There's always something to do on the farm." That's what my parents were frequently heard saying, when I was a boy. And that is true here today.
  
  Another of our larger scale harvestings is maple sap, about 3000 gallons of maple sap. Anytime after the middle of January, we'll be asking permission of the trees, one by one, as a tobacco blessing is placed at the base of each maple trunk that is tapped. From then through February, or most of it, the weather dictates sap flow and we follow the weather and collect sap for a few days. It is delightful and one of our very favorite seasons here. It is hard work, but invigorating and refreshing, as we watch and feel the early beginnings of spring while walking around in the sugarbush whenever the weather dictates, after it has warmed following a cold period.
  
  So, there's a lot of good things going on and we are waiting for your help and enthusiasm to keep things flourishing here. We love creating and enjoying abundance. The more experience with gardening, among vegetable, fruit and flower, the more satisfaction you will enjoy. But, if you are new to these practices and want to learn and gain experience, that's great, too! We are really hopeful of finding farming and project help right away and for the coming seasons. Eager to hear from you. Larry and Helen

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  The description above includes much. In addition, we are deeply involved with several folks and organizations on reservations in South Dakota. We have been very supportive of the Indigenous ways and our brothers and sisters who are maintaining the old ways. Check out our FaceBook page: ask us for the link

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  Help

  Growing and foraging vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants and herbs are the focus, along with processing and preserving. Building and maintaining structures that support these activities are going on simultaneously. We eat a lot of our own more-than-organic veggies.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Lodging is on the second floor of a passive solar, 70'x20' building. There is a complete kitchen (separate from that of our own residence), a basic bathroom that is clean and tidy, a sleeping room with 2 twin beds, and a community area with a futon and another twin bed. The kitchen is included in a large open community area for dining and relaxing. The is a large deck outside with clotheslines. A washing machine is in the rooms/shop below. There is a beautiful swimming pond, with a deck, located a few hundred feet up the hill.

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  What else ...

  Great if you have your own transportation. But, we have picked people up who travel by other modes. We love seeing the wildlife up close, so pets are discouraged.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  All have access to the large and comfy community area. There are two private rooms in the same building with the community area. The entire building has unlimited optic fiber with 50 mb up and down. There's a house phone available using VOIP through the optic fiber. Extended calls require scheduling in advance. If your personal communication devices allow, you may VOIP via WiFi.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

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