estwärts

Little has happened at the main house in the last two days, as we have our hands full with the preparations for our halfway party on Saturday. Since yesterday, Tobias, Luise, Jo and David have been building tables and benches from lefrover wood from the demolished shed so that all guests can be seated at the long coffee table at the party. The aim is to have 10m of tables and benches ready for our 20 or so guests and us by Saturday lunchtime.

Right next to it, “Team Green”, consisting of Rüdiger, Lukas, Hans, Anne, David, Jo, David and Anna, is working on tidying up and polishing the central space between the main house and the barn. First of all, the deadwood hedge continues to grow until we run out of branches. It’s a shame, we actually wanted to build a second one. The mown gras is taken to another pile of green cuttings. We then arrange together a few pieces of the large fallen oak to form seating groups. Rüdiger works on one of them by peeling off the old, weathered wood. This part of the trunk now stands as a bench next to a large lime tree and Rüdiger is already dreaming of spending his retirement here. In any case, it’s a great place to take a break and will also serve as a festival site tomorrow.

In addition to preparing for the festival, Team Grün also keeps an eye on the works that need to be done to secure the buildings. Some spruce trees have to be cut next to the barn, which could otherwise get too close to the roof and provide too much shade, making it difficult for the barn wall to dry. Jo takes over the felling, but the spruces are so intertwined that it takes a few attempts to finally bring them down (very slowly). The rest of us take over the blocking and securing of paths and streets, today a little more complicated than usual: some spruces have to fall towards the road, others towards the main paths on the farm.

The party is also one of two major topics in the kitchen. Janne and Anne do the food planning and go to Rakvere for a big shopping trip, Lola contributes a cake from the home office. To make cooking for the party quicker, Sören builds a table that will be placed next to the gas stoves.

The second big topic in the kitchen is the 4½ kg of chanterelles that we collect in the forest with Marju and Jaan on Thursday afternoon. To do this, we drive with them to Jaan’s secret mushroom spots deep in the forest. The last section of the route leads along a small “forest road”, which in Germany would probably be called a logging trail. Nevertheless, we manage to get in and out safely with all three cars.

Afterwards, Marju and Jaan show us a place where a drainage ditch was closed about two years ago in order to renaturalize the former moorland. Now it becomes clear why the two of them are wearing rubber boots. Before heading back home, we take a look at an old hideout of the Forest Brothers. The Forest Brothers were Estonian guerrilla fighters at the beginning of the Soviet era who lived in the forest and carried out attacks on the Red Army. They were supported by parts of the Estonian population and supplied with e.g. food. Covering for them was seen as an expression of loyalty to the Estonian Republic.

Back at the farm, we have to solve the issue of wood storage, as the party guests’ cars are to be parked where our timber is still lying. We decide to store the remaining planks, boards and beams in the barn. Klaas, Tobias and Sören build a shelf construction on the side wall. This means that the barn can still be used for the cinema or other events.

However, there is still one important element missing from the preparations for the party. Janne and Anna still have to write a speech. They are about to sit down on the now finished romantic bench by the river, which is certainly a good place for inspiration.