Quiet times to see more clearly 
     
    
   
   
    
     Two of our members, Pat and Ann Wootton, spend much of their time 
     
     at their Gladstone home, which overlooks Murray Harbour and the Fox 
     
     River. They are creating a centre for alternative energy, using wind— . 
     
     mills for lighting and solar panels for spring and summer hot water; 
     
     organic growing, all their vegetables and fruit; and quiet days and 
     
     peaeful meditation for spiritual advancement. Two of the Murray Islands — 
     
     Thomas and Herring - which lie a mile offshore from their home - play 
     
     an active part in their enterprising project. 
     
    

    
     The three windmills give plenty of electric lighting for most 
     
     requirements, whilst the solar panels give boiling hot water during the 
     
     warmer months. During winter they have a British 'Raeburn' cook—an- 
     
     heat wood stove for cooking and hot water. The greenhouse is similarly 
     
     heated with a wood stove, backed up by a pro- 
     
     pane heater to keep the temperature high enough 
     
     to protect tropical and semi-tropical plants 
     
     such as pineapple, cotton, coffee, banana, pome- 
     
     granate, tree tomatoes, guava and a cross-section 
     
     of citrus. In this climate, this is certainly a 
     
     challenge which Pat thoroughly enjoys, having 
     
     served in the tropics in the army, and having 
     
     written a book on the subject with the title 
     
     "Having fun with Tropical Plants". 
     
    

    
     Their land consists of about one hundred 
     
     acres which was farmed until the beginning of 
     
     the century by the Sharam family, who moved the 
     
     farmhouse across the ice to Murray Harbour. 
     
     Being a mixed farm at that time, the land had 
     
     been well manured and at no time were chemical 
     
     fertilizers or pesticides used. Consequently, . 
     
     the land is ideal for organic growing and the 
     
     Wootton's produce a wide range of vegetables, 
     
     fruit and free-range eggs. 
     
    

    
     The method of farming they have adopted 
     
     is known as 'Permaculture', which, in simple 
     
     language, implies Forest Farming. This is a 
     
     process of growing crops and maintaining live- 
     
     stock within the shelter belt of existing trees. 
     
     Pat views with particular concern the policy of clearcutting in Canada, 
     
     which can often lead to excessive moisture, flooded land and erosion of 
     
     the soil. "Unless we control widespread destruction of woodlands, and 
     
     for that matter the rain forests, not only will we adversely affect the 
     
     water table in places and continue to lose coastal land to erosion, but 
     
     increase the dangers from the thinning of the ozone layer," he says. To 
     
     improve their forest areas they are interplanting with a cross—section 
     
     of hardwood trees. 
     
    

    
     Another aspect of their project, Spiritual advancement, develops by 
     
     way of what has become known as their "Quiet Saturdays" when people are 
     
     welcome to join them for a period of complete relaxation, when one can 
     
     choose to spend the morning in individual solitude by painting a harbour 
     
     scene, studying the wildlife, reading a book one hasn't had time for or 
     
     by quietly meditating in a peaceful setting. After this, the group comes 
     
     together for a bag lunch followed by a discussion or workshop on selected 
     
     subjects connected with the needs for silence in our lives today. 
     
    

    
     "We are endeavouring," Pat says, "to present a practical and con- 
     
     structive example of how to survive quite comfortably without causing 
     
     undue harm to the environment and producing good healthy food without 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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