Community
It is not possible to give credit to all of the colleagues, friends, friends of friends or even strangers in this website: Kevin, for example, who had lived in a permaculture community in Australia for 2 years gathering knowledge he readily shared with me; groups gathering to “eat lunch” and dig up a lake or gather someone’s olives; or even a German girl that happened to pass outside a field the moment I was trying to tie a lemon tree and offered an extra pair of hands. It is no wonder we all want to extend this care to the environment around us, contemplating plans of organic agriculture, regeneration and dreaming of rewilding the island.
– Kalliopi Dikaiou
Seedbombs Seminar
During a festival organized to support an animal organization on Aegina, we hosted a seminar for children focused on making seedbombs. This method of planting seeds is well-suited for dry climates and natural agriculture. It encourages children to engage with materials like mud, seeds, and hay. The goal was to spark their curiosity about growing plants and addressing the climate crisis in a fun, hands-on way. After the seminar, the children could take their seedbombs home to plant in dry areas, giving them the opportunity to observe the land greening and nurturing a deeper connection to nature.
The Three Sisters Seminar
In Native North American culture, three plants - corn, beans and squash - have been grown together for so long that they are known as 'The Three Sisters.' In this seminar, we explored how these plants work in harmony. The tall corn serves as a natural trellis for the nitrogen-fixing peas, while the fast-growing squash provides ground cover, protecting the soil for all of them. We also discussed various planting techniques and shared examples of other plants that thrive when grown together, encouraging participants to explore the benefits of companion planting.
Art Project: Harvest
During the research stages of my project on the pistachio trees of Aegina, I worked closely with Kalliopi Dikaiou to understand the ways that agroforestry is practised in Greece. Audio recordings of our conversations featured in the sound installation and became the entry point for a foreign audience to understand the wider social and ecological landscape of the island. The final installation presented a multichannel soundscape projected over a circular structure of wood, metal and stone. The windows of the room were tinted red, altering the temporal and geographic location of the room, and invoking the disrupted weather cycles of a climate-changed mediterranean.
– Luca Vincentelli