Our Garden is coming to life!

When you consider that our yard looked like this only a few short years ago:

And last year grew into this:

It is not so surprising that this 2nd year we have started to see some changes - like toads and chipmunks. It makes me so happy to see this little toad (below) living in the herb spiral. There were two of them there the other night and a really big one near the dry river bed.

Permaculture - to me - is the process of restoring an area to function again. I didn't have to put toads in the garden.  Because of these small changes we have made - creating a garden that attracts slugs and other bugs, creating a place with shelter and moisture - it really was just a matter of time before the predator arrived...

 The cute little guys that will save our vegetables. 

They do the work naturally, and we don't have to.

It's magical.

Still, though, We Should Dance

A thousand times I have ascertained

and found it to be true:

The affairs of this world are really nothing into nothing.

Still, though, we should dance.

~Hafiz

I find myself wishing for Spring, planning the garden, looking at the fruit trees in the yard - even though they won't do anything for months...still I look. Observation is the greatest part of this. What worked last year, what didn't, what we will be changing. It seemed as though winter would last forever, and yet on my walk to the bus this morning, I heard the singing of the birds of spring. It all happens, and we participate in whatever way we can, but we don't do this. We can repair the process, change the way we interact and reduce the waste and footprint we leave on this world, but the miracle of the process - when all of the pieces are in order, we can only observe and be amazed.

What I  look forward to most, is finding out how much of our little ecosystem in our yard was repaired by the work we did last year and how many plants, insects and animals return. And then my mind turns to new plants, and moving toward a yard full of perennial plants and trees, adding a medicinal as well as culinary herb garden, maybe a little water garden for some water plants? I am sure that as long as room remains, ideas will come and we will continue to fill our little yard full of beautiful and delicious things!

How perfect winter is - time given to rest and dream so that when the sun appears, we are revived and eager to play outside again...

NOFA Winter Conference 2013

The Northeast Organic Farmers Association (Massachusetts) met January 12th for the annual meeting and workshops. This was our second year attending and it was really great. We went to two workshops, one on planning a garden for small spaces and one on herbalism.  There were booths set up of different sponsors and vendors and a truly amazing organic lunch for everyone.

I am not a farmer, but this day gave me access to ideas and vendors that farmers have access to. It gave me a glimpse into the fight to keep GMO seeds and food out of our gardens and homes. It showed me that extraordinary people like Karen Washington , the keynote speaker for the conference, can make a difference - one day at a time, one action at a time, one person at a time.

It gives me hope that each small action I take will stand together and make a difference. Most people don't start off extraordinary...ordinary people do small things (and sometimes big things) and end up changing the world around them.

One of the most important things for me, was the workshop on herbalism.  We learned that so many plants that we consider weeds and a nuisance around us, are plants that have healing properties and can help us to have a better balance of nutrition and health. It seems to me that we have all but lost our connection to the earth, and to nature. We eat chemicals and plastic tasting, food colored, sugar and starch with no nutritional value at all. Emotionally we think we're full, but physically we are killing ourselves with our choices. We are drowsy, malnourished and dying quicker than we should.

What I hold in my mind is the sun on my face, and the golden hairs on a tomato plant glistening in the sun. The smell as the tomato is picked and the taste of the freshness of summer. This reminds me of the garden of our childhood, as large as the lot I live on now, that I sometimes resentfully weeded or tended, but I never complained about the amazing vegetables and fruit we ate from that garden. I knew the food was good, but I didn't appreciate the work.

Now I understand better that the work, the journey of life is the best part. If I plant seeds and tend them, and they grow, but never produce anything...I am still changed. If the food grows, it is a lovely reward, but it is not the goal. The goal is the work, the doing of it all.

There are good and bad years farming and we have had some things grow, and some things die, but what matters most is that we are trying. More than ever, this effort is needed, and I believe it will yield something greater than we understand. Not just vegetables or fruit, but a return to the land, and a return to a connection to the world around us. A connection to each other and the building of community.

NOFA is a tool and a place of education and fellowship with people who share the vision of being connected to the land, and to other people. I'm grateful we were able to attend and participate in our little way on the path of change.