We again felt the joy of seeing each other at planting this spring in the new orchard in Batoș. Volunteers from the “Petru Maior” College of Reghin and the “Traian Vuia” Technological High School of Târgu Mureș joined us at the planting. They discovered information about sustainable, ecological agriculture and permaculture. In this endeavor, we had a guide who for many years has been helping to develop gardens and orchards based on the principles of permaculture, namely Radu Crăciun, a permaculture teacher, gardener and designer, founding member of the Romanian Permaculture Association.

Participating students discovered theoretical information but especially practical aspects related to the ethics and principles of permaculture, ecological gardening, living biomass, mulch, compost – an alternative to synthetic fertilizer and so on. Together we planted walnut saplings, we formed teams that motivated each other and at the end they asked us to call them again because the energy they receive from such actions is special and hard to describe in words. This is the true connection with nature, which we have forgotten living in urban agglomerations.

But what is permaculture?

The term permaculture comes from the combination of the two words permanent and culture. It can also be called “permanent agriculture” and refers to the creation of an ecological habitat, an integrated food production system in which plants support each other, imitating natural ecosystems. It is the type of agriculture that puts man-nature coexistence in the foreground, with the main concern being the protection of the environment, and the provision of clean food, without polluting, and with minimal human intervention.

When starting the project in Batoș, we really wanted to obtain both ecological certifications and try to rehabilitate the orchard using the principles of permaculture. In addition to the planting and design work this spring, we have had a lot of cleaning up of the orchard as it has not been looked after for over 20 years. All of these maintenance activities took place between March and May 2023. In the video below, you can see the two stages of the spring works.

In the fall the fruits are gathered and they will find us again in the orchard preparing the ground for spring 2024 and enjoying the orchard with new educational and recreational events. We will share more details on our social networks. To continue developing these projects we need your support, DONATE NOW! → https://cleanwood.org/doneaza/

Big hug,

CleanWood CO2 Team