Nina (Katharina) Schodnicki - D

….Und umzuschaffen das Geschaffne,
Damit sich's nicht zum Starren waffne,
Wirkt ewiges lebend'ges Tun.
Und was nicht war, nun will es werden
Zu reinen Sonnen, farbigen Erden,
In keinem Falle darf es ruhn.

Es soll sich regen, schaffend handeln,
Erst sich gestalten, dann verwandeln;
Nur scheinbar steht's Momente still.
Das Ewige regt sich fort in allen:
Denn alles muss in Nichts zerfallen,
Wenn es im Sein beharren will. 

Goethe aus „Eins und Alles“

I put this verse in the beginning of my story about being an apprentice with Tyll because this quote was inside a book Tyll gave to me for Christmas  I also put it in the beginning because it tells us something about how Tyll was. He created and re created, like in the poem, he was never still, always in the move. Camphill was a great experience for me, I can say it was a new life experience and it shaped my understanding of life, my points of view profoundly. It was until that time the BEST experience and a great learning pool. 

Before I came I was looking for a place to do an organic gardening training and got a recommendation to answer to an announcement for an apprenticeship in Oaklands Park. Tyll told me later that he wasn't sure at the time if he should take me on because I had looked so fragile like a thin piece of cloth (ein dünnes Hemd) but later he found that I got on allright and didn`t regret his decision. So it was in the years of 1987 – 1989. In those days, we learned the practical work on the land and for the certificate once a week we went to a horticultural training centre. 

We had the introductory course for the young Co-workers with very interesting anthroposophical topics which we really enjoyed and soaked up. All of the Co workers from the land were really engaged in the work and also in the passing on of knowledge. Uwe studied with us the agricultural course by Rudolf Steiner before breakfast! Talking about it, we must have been very keen, too. 

Tim, Uwe, Tyll, Ab formed the landgroup, that was really an exclusive group in which all the most important things on the land question were discussed, and towards the end of my training I (and Ingrid) were  allowed to take part. Tyll made sure, we got to understand the whole process of gardening, from the greenhouse, the sowing, propagating, the planting out, later composting (which is essential in bio-dynamics) the preparations, making of preparations and bringing them out. The fieldwork, the crop rotation, the sowing calendar, working with the stars. Tyll was very aware of the cosmic forces, the cosmos was as real and important to him, it seemed, as the physical world around us, and his question was very urgent when he said that mankind does not know yet what he does to the cosmic Archetypes when we use genetic engineering. 

So we did all that and we also had some days in the orchard, and the hay making on the farm. I loved hay making, everyone from the village came together, it was warm, we worked until we were tired, we had lunch break and once Rosie came with a big ice cake because it was Tim´s birthday. The villagers were the team, we were the team together. 

Tyll gave out the daily work and made sure everyone had to do just the things he loved best. Some were team leaders and went into the carrots with their team and David was always doing the watering The greenhouse had figs, in the summer we ate ripe fresh figs. In early spring it had stacked potatoes to pre germinate before planting out. Potato planting was always on good Friday, they were put into the earth on Friday, laid until Saturday and took the rising forces of Easter Sunday to grow well. The festivals were another aspect of Camphill which I loved. It was beautiful, the fetching of easter water in complete silence at Easter Morning, the big bon fires at midsummer, the song of the bell, Michelmas,”the time to show both courage and form”, And Christmas with candle light taken to each of the houses and the singing to the cows at midnight. 

We performed plays sometimes in the hall for everybody and everyone who wanted could take part in acting. Tyll did a play with us. It was a scene out of Goethes Faust: “The easter Morning”. I liked being in a play. Another one of the cultural attractions was going to the movies with the villagers, but not any movie, it was James Bond, Tyll called it the modern day fairy tale. This was especially fun for one of our villagers whose name was likewise James. He felt great having such a hero as his name buddy 

I had a great respect for Tyll. He was always so engaged, he had so many ideas and plans and he made them come real. Like in the above poem, he was always working on something. He was a very honest and sincere person, he shared his beliefs, his questions and he had a good way with people. He took everyone seriously, and he was very much loved by the villagers because they felt that here was someone that took good care and made them feel seen and respected. 

After my training with Tyll I stayed on and worked in the garden in the Grange, I did not stay in Camphill for good, I returned to Germany afterwards, worked in a bio-dynamic market garden, where I met my husband, worked and lived in a community like place in the Eifel, with autistic people, and finally joined my husband in Poland. Although in Poland I did not have the opportunity to continue as a professional gardener, I always looked for possibilities to garden. 

When I came to Camphill I wanted to learn to be a gardener, But I learned so much more: I learned about Community life, how to live together, how to communicate with each other, how to live and work with people with special needs, how to see through their handicap into their real being, and so much more, how to bake bread, make custard, enjoy the togetherness of haymaking, laugh with the young Co-Workers, be serious, struggle, pray before meals, feel stuck sometimes, feel well cared for .. I can certainly say that life in Camphill has shaped me and has in some ways become part of who I am today. I am so very grateful for this time in my life and I am grateful to have met Tyll who by having posted an announcement in a german newsletter introduced me into this very different and magic world of Camphill. Thank you.