NEWS on Hugh's health. He is rapidly recovering from Atrial Frib. Shabari is also regulalting her health challenges. We have moved back to our home and teaching center BirdsNest in Blairsville, Ga. After wearing a heart monitor for 24 hours Shabari discovered that the heavy frieght trains which passed four times in the middle of the night just 1/8 mile from our cottage in Wiangaree, New South Wales caused severe Atrial Fribulation. This revelation was not a surprise. It is well known that electromagnetic radiation levels from trains can adversely affect heart rhythms. Huge wisely decided that we would locate to our quiet home in north Georgia, USA for a few years. We miss our pastoral village Wiangaree and the many friends there, However we have many years of work ahead and reluctantly at great expense and stress, we moved back.
Hugh will continue his consulting and teaching work for Dairy Business center in Tasmania and Victoria, and teaching an Advanced Course in August in Western Australia and Tasmania. Shabari will stay in Georgia and tend our gardens and animals.
Hugh and Shabari Lovel are so lucky to visit farms around the globe. This Newsletter is for the enjoyment of our farmer friends , sharing our travels to areas you may never have the good fortune to visit. 2017 has us traveling to Colorado, England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, Western Australia, New South Wales, California wine country, Birdsnest in north Georgia mountains.
Of course visiting farms is our favorite passing of time, however along the way we meet some of the most inspring, innovative folks on the planet. And for myself (Shabari Bird Lovel) meeting animals around the globe. I have decided to track our travels through the animals we have seen and most importantly encountered along the way.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of how animals perception of life is through everything and everybody they perceive. Therefore when encountering large herds of
"wild animals" acutally "Free Animals" one becomes silent and still as to become part of the the animals life force without startling. With this attidude our South African Umlani guide Big Amos was able to bring us right into a large herd of elephants without fear of attack.
Shabari and Hugh;s Encounters with animals around the globe 2017
We visited with Luke and Emily Frey at Frey Vineyards. Inspired conversations around the kitchen table of this homesteading family eating goat cheese from their goat herd. Here is Luke with his lovely pregnant cow who forgages in the forest. Sadly this lovely homestead and all those in a 4 mile area were destroyed by fire. This sweet cow was pastrued near the gardens and was safe and birthed a beautiful calf two days after the fire. Steiner noted that animals feel their well being when digesting. A contened loved cow. Blessings upon Luke, Emily, Daniel and their family for a rising up a new home, To support America's First Orgnaic/Biodynamic Vineyard order some of their Biodynamic Wine http://www.freywine.com/
Driving through mountain towns of western Colorado, look who stopped traffic. Wild Elk.
Fairford is a small town in Gloucestershire, England. Walking with my friend from London, Sylvia von Hohnberg, we spotted a family of swans. The town lies in the Cotswold hills on the River Coln, My first up close and personal with swans. We also experienced bell ringing from St Mary's Church. ... Without doubt one of the best 'wool churches' in England, St Mary's,Fairford, is a testament to the wealth of the medieval wool trade in the Cotswolds region. ... St Mary's possesses the only complete set of medieval stained glass in England.
Video of walking on Coln River and hearing the bell ringers practicing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o04QRwPYlow
Throughout Ireland, England and Netherlands we often see these magnificent red foxes by the road sides and hundreds of thier favorite food Pheasants
we had a wonderful lunch in Amsterdam which served us
local Pheasant.
I actually found buck shot in my first bite.
Just like the pheasants my parents Ray and Christine Boland used to shoot and roast.
Scotland Free Roaming Highland Cow We could only see these at a distance as we traveled for Hugh's Consulting to the largest Strawberry growers in the UK near Perth. http://stewartsoftayside.co.uk/
The meat of Highland cattle tends to be leaner than most beef because Highlands are largely insulated by their thick, shaggy hair rather than by subcutaneous fat. Highland cattle can produce beef at a reasonable profit from land that would otherwise normally be unsuitable for agriculture. From stock photo, my phone camera is not this good.
Shire Farm Zwartbles sheep May 2017.
We congratulate Mike Booth of Aura Soma for has vigourous support of Biodynamic and Quantum Agriculture farming systems. HHugh has consulted for tShire farms numerous times. This year we had the pleasure of spending the day with Mike also. to relocated the Quantum Agriculture Fiield Broadcaster.
Mike has a suit made from this fine breed.Farm Estates Co-ordinator Kate Urry
has attended European Advanced Course. She is one of our favorite farmers.
After three glorious days in Amsterdam on Spring equinox we traveled to Freesland for a workshop. We were on the only organic tulip bulb farm in Holland. These folks sell all their bulbs to a local Vodka company who makes delicious tulip Vodka.https://dutchtulipvodka.com/
We were deep in the farm region of Holland and came across this park. https://www.hogeveluwe.nl/en/discover-the-park/nature-and-landscape/red-deer
Scroll Down for the South African animals.
2017 US ADVANCED Course
Biologically Dynamic Four Day Course
Join Shabari Bird and Hugh Lovel for our newly designed Four Day Course. Biologically Dynamic Farms Join farmers, consultants, farm managers from around the globe to discover how easy and elegant farming can be with our Quantum Ag System. Enjoy Hugh and Shabari's wisdom, stories, powerpoints; field walks, wonderful meals and laughs with new friends.
US COURSE Jan. 24-28
$600 tuition includes 3 meals a day.
Call Shabari Bird 706-745-8202
BirdsNest Retreat Blaisville, GA 30512
2017 European Quantum Agriculture Advanced Course
Coolanwole Country House and Organic Farm near Dublin, Ireland
South Africa and Namibia March 24-May 2017
Thank You Jonathan and Suze Grieve of Avondale Estate Vineyard, Biodynamic Association of South Africa, Angus McGregor, Liz Eglington of Blue Sky Organic Olives;Dan Schrieber and Lila Liberman of Starseed Eco-Gardens, Dr. Stephen Barrow; Michele Schiess; Thomas Linders; Dr. Saskia Von Diest; Dr. Ibo Zimmerman; Marco Schiess of Umlani Bush Camp.
Hugh Loel looking down at Cape Point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans Meet
African Penguins – formerly known as jackass penguins because of their distinctive braying – are the only penguins found on the continent. Colonies can be found from southern Namibia all the way around the South African coast to Port Elizabeth.
I was so fortunate to be 2 feet from the guy in the bottom photo. If you want to know what they sound like:
Throughout Africa you seen signs warning about Baboons; farmers bemoan the attack of a troupe of Baboons who destroy 90% of their crops and fruit.. For four weeks we traveled South Africa and finally on our last day their a troupe of over 50 traveled on the dirt road of Umlani Bush Camp only 20 feet from me.
Chilling and Thrilling.
The Timbavati Game Reserve
The reserve was established in 1956 by like-minded game farmers with the creation of the Timbavati Association. The association has 50 members and covers 53,392 hectares We stay with the owners of Umlani Bush Camp. The following pictures are about the animals spotted on our daily game drives. Many photos are from Umlani Camp and some from my cell phone camera.
The hightlight of my life; a week at Umlani Bush Farm, Tavavati Game Preserve; Kruger National Park.
Our stay was a gift from Marco and Michele Schiess, above is our Rondvelle bedroom with adjoining bath. Kerosene lamps, candles, solar lamps. No internet, no electricity. .
Below are photos of the daily morning or evening game drives. Our guide was Big Amos who has been there over 30 years. He knows every animal in the preserve.
This is Umlani stock photo. The hippo was too far for our phone camera, He was our first animal siting.
Cape Buffalo is the main food for the bi cats. The lions in the Park all have Bovine tuberculosis transmitted from local cows.
This Zebra herrd was our first siting on day one. We also spotted one lone giraffe towering in the distance.
Big Amos Our private Ranger, has been a ranger for over 30 years. knows every animal in Timbavati Game preserve.
As dark fell that first night, Big Amos guided us to two sister lions waking up for their evening hunt. the Guide put spot light onto the two lions. The first sister is waking up. The Second sister wakes up roling over with four legs in the sky. So moving to see such "wild" animals. Because of the protection
of The Timbavati group of 50, the animals are actually FREE. Very moving. My phone cameral took these.
Each day at Umlani, we went on animal drives. My heart grew more and more in love with this FREE country where these animals are allowed to roam without fearof man. Therefore with the right ranger and driver, we were able to go right into a herd of elephants, be 50 feet from a 100 giraffes. Hear the thundering hooves as the majestic Cape Buffalo chase white lions in pursuit of the evening meal.
One evening Amos drove us 20 feet from a tree where a Leopard was hoisting up an antelope for a feast. Around the range rover were half dozen hyena circling the rover and the tree. This is the only time I actually was afraid. They were so close we dare not put our hands out of the vehicle.
I apologize for the stock photos, best efforts with phone camera not always the best.
Big Amos so knows the animals that he drove us right into the herd we sat there for ten minutes while they strolled by.
On our final day on Umlani, Big Amos took us to some very secret places.
Information on Rhinos stay hidden to prevent poaching. the top photo is from my phone. As we watched them Amos said watch as the little brother is going to take a nap. Indeed the fellow, all 2000 lbs of him lowered his snout slowly to the ground and then he lay over and fell asleep. Five minutes later his older larger brother also lay down and slept. I felt so honored to witness this surrender by these animals. This is sacred. Pray for the Rhinos. Every day I think of them.
Input caption text here. Use the block's Settings tab to change the caption position and set other styles.
Hugh and Shabari are on their second Round the World speaking tour. Meet Aloha and Samurai who wave from my overnight case on all the planes. Aloha has crossed the Pacific 14 times in the past seven years. Hugh named Samurai because he is Aloha's protector.
Minerals, Soil Biology and Patterns
Hugh Lovel
If we built a building we would need materials, labour and a plan. Similarly, building soils and crops requires minerals, biology and patterns. Clearly, in agriculture we must work with all three—of which the most costly tends to be adding minerals, at least when these must be mined, processed and transported. Nevertheless, supplying missing or deficient minerals can be an essential part of getting soil biology to thrive, especially when carbon is needed to kick-start the soil biology.
In the case of compost we may be able to add biology and minerals together by mixing the raw materials up and applying the finished product after the microbial activity has reached the point where populations of silica and calcium releasing fungi are high along with phosphorous releasing and nitrogen fixing bacteria. If one does not have this option another option is to use microbial cultures, such as effective microbe brews (EMs), compost teas and inoculants along with food sources such as humic and fulvic acids and molasses. As soil biology builds numbers and diversity it can maintain and reproduce itself, recycling, scavenging and conserving nutrients to build reserves. Since soil biology can self-correct and reproduce, the key to making biology successful is to find patterns of cultivation and cropping that feed the biology and nurture it. Then we can reduce mineral inputs and save money.
In the case of low rainfall soils where too much of something, such as salt, builds up, increasing soil carbon and cation exchange capacity—perhaps with humates, a high grade clay and soil biology—can buffer these excesses and improve the quantity and diversity of what we grow. This may involve growing a vegetative mix that nature shows us is adapted to the conditions rather than trying to dictate to nature what we want. Establishing good vegetation at our borders, headlands, roads and waterways is especially important as these are all boundary zones, and the rule is that life arises at boundaries. When we increase organic matter and nutrient holding capacity and when we grow appropriate vegetation, conditions tend to self-correct and improve.
Keep in mind that every activity we perform is part of an overall pattern. Sometimes patterns can be destructive. Cultivation particularly is destructive when poorly done. Burning and grazing can also be destructive on occasion, though done skilfully with good timing both practices can improve the land. Managed wisely, grazing can be particularly beneficial.
Also we should realize that each kind of plant has its own pattern of growth and its own mix of root exudates and community of organisms. Each sort of plant fills an ecological niche, and several of these bases are covered and working together they produce synergy—that is, they yield more in combination with each other than their sums taken separately. Without pattern density and diversity there can be no synergy.
Since a good part of the patterns that work into the landscape flow from the minds of the farmer, it should be clear that these cost the least to alter and yield the most profound results. Often nature helps out if given some encouragement. Though this is the least understood option, it is here that quantum agriculture shows its worth.
The hippo was too far for our phone camera, He was our first animal siting. 
Each day at Umlani, we went on animal drives. My heart grew more and more in love with this FREE country where these animals are allowed to roam without fearof man. Therefore with the right ranger and driver, we were able to go right into a herd of elephants, be 50 feet from a 100 giraffes. Hear the thundering hooves as the majestic Cape Buffalo chase white lions in pursuit of the evening meal. 
