Joe Polaischer R.I.P. March 3, 2008
Posted by Graham in : Permaculture , trackbackI only just noticed on David Holmgren’s website the sad passing on Feb 14th of Permaculture Elder Joe Polaischer.
Originally from Austria, Joe was founder, with his partner Trish Allen, of Rainbow Valley farm in New Zealand. I had the pleasure of meeting Joe at the International Permaculture Convergence in Croatia in 2005. I was struck by his charisma and breadth of knowledge which was infectious and inspiring.
Right: Joe and Trish (on right of picture) Ljubljana 2005
After the conference he traveled with some of us back to Ljubljana. He regaled us with tales of his very colorful life and expressed amazement at the extensively wooded countryside in Slovenia. The last time he had been in this part of the world was over 40 years earlier when he had run away from home at the age of 18 over the Alps into what was then Yugoslavia. Seemingly in those days there were many goats and few trees. The story goes that the then dictator, Tito, had ordered the removal of effectively all the goats from the countryside, allowing the impressive regeneration of the woods- a story I often recount to express the rapid ability of the trees to come back.
He also had stories from the war time in Austria when he was a young boy on his father’s farm. Previously wealthy people from the city would come begging for food. His father would let them stay for a day- but no longer. On one occasion he saw the visitors throw jewels onto the table offered as a fee to let them stay where there was food a while longer. the young Joe, not having seen such shiny things before reached out to take them but was told sharply by his father, “No! Don’t touch them! They are filthy!” The lesson was, anything that hadnt been earned by the sweat of the brow on the land was not to be trusted, a lesson that Joe embodied in his permaculture life.
You can read David Holmgren’s obituary here
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?