|
Come on, let’s spend a day in Sammatz with Mark from the Ukraine!
Follow him on Instagram or YouTube
|
|
|
Want to see more videos of Michaelshof? Follow us on Instagram at sammatzmichaelshof or volunteer_sammatz_community or check out our YouTube-Channel!
|
|
Concerning love and the
language of animals
Love is a strange thing. It wonderfully awakens you to the qualities of your lover and envelops you with a kind of magical sleep that makes you forget all the cares, worries, and pettiness of life, and makes the one who loves look up to something higher than himself. It is as if, through love, we can finally connect with something that has been dormant in our soul for a long time. Love makes the lover forget all procrastination and struggling and opens the soul to life. Those who truly love will realize that love never excludes – but is the gateway to freedom and universality. Love is the most pleasant means of cognition, since in love the soul feels free and independent and therefore performs cognition gladly and effortlessly. A special secret of love is that it takes the lovers by the hand and carries them off into unknown countries and areas and lets them understand languages which would be incomprehensible gibberish without love.
|
|
There are many people who, because of this quality of love, found it possible to build relationships with animals that are simply unimaginable to outsiders and in the realm of the miraculous. One example is Jane Goddall, who built a close relationship with chimpanzees in the Gobe Stream National Park, gaining worldwide attention and recognition. Another is Dean Schneider, a Swiss banker who, at the age of 27, gave up his business, sold everything and settled in Africa to work with wildlife. His videos on social media platforms have touched millions of people worldwide, and he managed to rise to become a recognized animal rights activist in just a few years. Both individuals describe that they learned the language of animals and that through their love for animals they found access to a world that is closed to others.
If only communication in all areas of life were so borne by love …
|
|
Good things from Sammatz
Elderflower syrup
Discover the many talents of our elderflower syrup! It’s delicious as a refreshing summer juice, but also works well in yogurt, dessert or in sauces. We recommend a mixing ratio of 1:7.
With loving handwork and the best Demeter principles, we process the flowers into this delicious syrup that sings of summer and warmth.
|
|
|
Strawberry fruit spread
Here you get summer in a jar! To be enjoyed everywhere, whenever your day needs to be sweetened. It’s perfect in yogurt, for breakfast or with grandma’s delicious cookies. All our fruits are grown organically, and come sun-ripened straight from the field.
|
|
|
Discover also many other varieties – strawberry, raspberry, quince or currant – all organic, all delicious!
Also freshly arrived: new chutneys from Christian’s preserving kitchen and delicious Demeter sausage. Exclusively in the farm store at Michaelshof!
|
|
|
Michaelshof up-to-date – at a glance!
Opening hours:
Arche-Hof:
Mo-So 9.00 a.m. – 06.00 p.m.
Farm shop:
Mo-So 10.00 a.m. – 12.00 p.m.
03.00 p.m. – 06.00 p.m.
Café am Michaelshof:
The café is on winter break.
Der WAGEN:
Wochenmarkt, Lüneburg:
Mi & Sa 08.00 a.m. – 02.00 p.m.
EDEKA Hartmann, Barendorf:
Do 08.00 a.m. – 08.00 p.m.
Please follow the Covid 19-regulations of Lower Saxony.
|
|
|
Winter is the time for planning and preparation. For our farmers Sven and Jakob, it is not until March that they go out into the fields again. For the time being – in compliance with crop rotation and other principles of Demeter agriculture – we plan which seeds we will plant over the coming year.
For example, there’s the early potatoes, another delicious tuber in our collection. This year we’re also growing cereals for the second time: barley and oats for the animals; wheat, spelt and rye for the bakery. We’ve long dreamed of using our own flour for our bread – now both we and you can enjoy it in our delicious bread from the wood-fired oven at home!
|
|
|
Right now, our new vegetable field is still freshly turned over. The gardeners are already excited to see how medicinal plants and vegetables will do in the new soil – among other things, we’ll have sweet potatoes for the first time. Daniel, Nadja and the team are currently preparing the seed order – all organic, of course. And then it’s off to the greenhouses for cultivation!
|
|
|
Hannah and her garden team are also ordering their seeds now, looking over bed plans and reviewing photos from last summer. What’s next for the work of art that is the “Sammatz Gardens”? The goal for next year is to further develop the special features of each individual garden. We’d love that walking through each garden becomes an immersion in a different world, each of which speaks to us with its own unique language – an experience that only emerges from the successful composition of many details!
|
|
If that sounds a lot like cozy winter hours now: You know us – we are all multitaskers, here in our crazy little big village. So we are usually with a lot of enthusiasm, but too little time at the thing – but always busy with beautiful and exciting things … Everything else would be almost boring again!
Dear greetings to all of you from rubber boots, garden glove & Co.
|
|
|
The stars of the winter hexagon
|
|
|
It is midwinter and with it the time of clear winter nights, in which the stars sparkle, and shine particularly brightly, and tell us many stories. Come with me on a nocturnal voyage of discovery to the southern sky, where we can see the magnificent winter hexagon, with its brightly shining stars: Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, Prokyon and Pollux, each belonging to six different, legendary constellations. The first star of the hexagon, the brilliant Capella in the constellation of Fuhrmann, lies high above our heads. The Fuhrmann, a charioteer, of whom numerous old legends tell, has already risen in the sky with his chariot in autumn and now stands in the winter sky in the zenith.
|
|
|
Moving southwest starting from Capella, we find Aldebaran in the constellation of Taurus. Aldebaran, the red shining eye of the bull, forms the beginning of a lying “V”. This is a group of stars called the “Hyades”, which represent the head of Taurus. South of the bull the mighty celestial hunter Orion appears with his two shoulder stars, his two brightly shining foot stars and the three prominent belt stars in the centre. Rigel, the right foot star, is the brightest star of both Orion and the winter hexagon.
|
|
|
New year, new happiness! It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life – for me, and I’m feeling good. Right?!
The radio plays the same songs and the health department continues to tweet its Coronavirus numbers. Also the newly believed ‹traffic light› of German politics shows after the latest decision in the European Parliament already again ‘red’, one shakes the head and the Wendland heart bleeds. Nuclear power (– no thanks!) becoming a ‘green’ energy source? What doesn’t one do for the climate change!!! Others afford cockfights over the heads of innocent people. Everything as always.
When the glitter of New Year’s Eve has been swept away, what remains are the sober four walls and the even more sober news. We sit soberly in the corner and wait. But what are we waiting for? Hey! It’s a new year! And all of us, including you and me, have the future in our hands – so let’s actually take it in our hands! Maybe this will be the year when we all open our mouths and fight for what moves us. And maybe this will also be a year in which we all pull together, regardless of whether we think we are more right than the others. It doesn’t matter! And who thinks that would be a contradiction – far from it. We have great ideas, but we also love to have even more great ideas than anyone else. If we were to look a little more to the left and right, we would realize that we are all not so different.
Maybe 2022 will even be the year of community and good ideas, so let’s go!
|
|
Hallo zusammen!
Hamish aus Neuseeland hier – nice to stop by this section of your newsletter. I last saw you all in November 2020, since then I’ve been back in my native country, working a variety of jobs including an office worker in my hometown Dunedin for six or so months (during the cold and long winter), landscape laboring for a construction site in Christchurch.
|
|
|
|
Most recently I work on kiwi fruit orchards. I am currently writing this from a working hostel in the north of New Zealand, in a small town called Keri Keri, which has a large amount of kiwi fruit, blueberry and orange orchards – plus the odd winery or two. It’s almost like Sammatz as I’m still living amongst international people who are working on the orchards, except without the community. Also, Keri Keri is a historic part of New Zealand, close to where the treaty was first signed between the Queen and the indigenous Maori people in 1840 which signifies the birth of our country sort of. Plus, there’s lots of cool bush walks and waterfalls in this area.
|
|
Other than working while I’ve been back, New Zealand has been in and out of a few lock downs, but we haven’t had nearly the amount of Covid Europe has had. It is still difficult for citizens and international people to enter the country, which makes New Zealand one of the last countries to be adopting a fortress mentality. I hope this ends soon, as it would be good to see international travel back to normal. On less of a political note, I’ve worked on some music the last year, and have released a debut indie rock album which collected ten of the songs I wrote while at Sammatz – including two music videos filmed in the community (maybe one of these is linked in the newsletter below). Also, the band I formed at Sammatz with other volunteers Felix and Lisa, called Pony Schnecke finally releases a few new songs, which will be out of Spotify by the time this newsletter goes out, so have a search. I also managed to complete part of a German course while in New Zealand – though I’m pretty sure my Deutsch is still (excuse the bad language) wirklich scheiße.
It will be nice to see you all when I manage to board a flight (getting back from NZ to the other side of the world is difficult enough in these times let alone normal times). I hope everyone other there in Sammatz and the extended Sammatz family is doing good and thriving in any way that you can.
Stay safe, healthy and look after yourselves!
Hamish
|
|
WE LOVE TO ENTERTAIN YOU
Things we’ve found on the web & ️…
|
|
|
Alles gesagt?! – in one of our favorite ZEIT podcasts, Tagesthemen anchorwoman Aline Abbout recently fielded questions from Jochen Wegner and Christoph Amend for a whopping 5 hours and 33 minutes. We love it – listen yourself!
Movie-tips for the cold winter evenings: We are in the mood for animated films and could cry with laughter at the movie with the little yellow helpers – die Minions!
|
|
GOOSE-WINTER-QUARTERS – If you are looking for our geese these days, you will find them in the new warm goose quarters at the compost along with a big bale of hay.
WELCOME AIESEC – This winter we again welcome exchange students from all over the world from the organization AIESEC. 10 young people will deal with the topics of construction, community and agriculture.
CONSTRUCTION-NEWS – At the Flachsenberg a new house will be ready for occupancy in just a few weeks. Be curious about our new project – no spoilers before newsletter 19!
And thank you, Team Bau!
|
|
Job of the month: caretaker
|
|
“Caretaker” is a relative term in a community with 40 houses … In any case, there’s plenty to do, and variety is guaranteed! Bruno and others from the construction team, who have filled in for many emergency jobs so far, might sing you a song about it later!
If you’re good at repairs, have always seen yourself as an all-rounder and enjoy the right mix between “spontaneous” and “perfectionist”, get in touch with us! |
|
|
|
For our team we are looking for dynamic and proacitve people who like to take responsibility and have a zest for life. Is a meaningful activity more important to you than a “9 to 5 job”? Then you’ve come to the right place!
|
|
|
We’re looking for help in the following areas:
For screen lovers:
- Accounting
- Photo editing / Archive
Hands-on:
- Gardening
- Construction
- Electricity
- Janitorial Service
Production
- Management Market Trailor
- Management Café
- Farm Shop
Humans & Healing
- Doctor
- Pharmacy
- Pedagogy/Home education
Lacking the qualifications but still interested?
Just give it a try!
Send your application with a picture to claudia.brady@sammatz.de – we’ll contact you!
|
|
Hello, is my food ready?!
We know that, on a long car ride with the kids there is no more frequent phrase than: ‘I need to go to the toilet’ and ‘Are we there yet?!’ Pig Friederike’s mouth also got all juicy at the thought of delicious whey or stale bread. Without further ado, she decided to just have a look. The food is in sight!
|
|
|
|
|
