Who We Are

Who We Are

People ~ Land ~ Fauna ~ Flora ~ Philosophy

People

The happy people at Catchtail Gardens—Deborah & Djubaya!

Since 2002, Djubaya and Deborah have been working on these beautiful acres to revitalize the land, rebuild habitat, and reinspire others about what is possible.

Djubaya is a designer and permaculture teacher and brings his love of all life into harmony with the built enironment. He delights in the Catchtail experiment for the opportunity it offers him to combine the deep knowledge he has gathered over 28 years of gardening, 26 years of building and his love of Architecture.

For Deborah, building and gardening at this level is a more recent engagement. Growing up with a desire for all things "green", she serves as the perfect example of how even a European city dweller can tune in to nature's pulse.

Together they share their experiences with their friends, family and community through gardening and building events which inevitably involve a high level of fun, learning and sense of satisfaction. Since 2006 they have also been hosting WWOOFers. If you are interestied in WOOFing (or curious what it is!) , visit our WWOOFing page.

On October 28th 2006 at 3:29am a new addition to the Catchtail tribe joined us in the grand adventure... a healthy little girl.

click for more on Talise Ella Kraft...

Land

To get a feel for the land here at Catchtail we must go back to the day we found it. A wet & cold November morning we walked onto a 3 acre field of mowed grass, a funky red 'house' a couple sheds and an old creaky barn. We saw nothing but potential…

For those of you with a fast internet connection here is a PANORAMA of the land taken in February 2004.

Fauna

Catchtail Gardens is also a little farm. Current domestic creatures living here are Dobby and Winky the cats, named aptly after the house elves in the Harry Potter series, eight cheerful hens plus the recent addition of 8 little chicks, Rosa the puppy, and our sweet Bees and their hives. I would include our 'Worm Bins' but these are kind of ugly old sinks which are not very photogenic.

Click here to read a little story about Winky and Rosa!

Wildlife is slowly returning to Catchtail Gardens. 50 years of sheep and mowed grass had reduced habitat and flow of most native species which would have naturally found refuge here.
Given its proximity to Blucher Creek, a range of species were passing through —deer, wild turkey, red tail hawk, red & gray fox, and as we create an increasing variety of niches for them to inhabit, this will only increase.

Flora

Oak trees and redwoods, Cal. poppies, red clover,
Veggies, and fruit trees, we plant them all over,
Cheerful bee buzzing and humming of wings,
These are a few of our favorite things...

Philosophy

So what does "Catchtail" mean, anyway?

Catch•tail (definition)

The genesis of "Catchtail":
Imagine a garden full of flowers, dragonflies dancing in the air. The sun is shining brightly, and rays of sunlight are streaming through the leaves and branches of an apple tree laden with crisp fruit. A kitten is sitting under the tree enjoying the warm rays. The buzz of life all around is contagious—the kitten bursts into delighted frolicking activity...batting at invisible butterflies...and begins an endless chase of its own tail... alive and in love with life...

This is a moment Djubaya experienced on a day long ago... at that perfect moment the name of the garden emerged...

"Catchtail" .... fluid motion • spirals • balance • love • delight..

History

To be added soon...