So.. we wrapped up our permaculture class on Weds night which was very lovely - it was sweet to all be sitting in the same space together and breaking down the huge amount of experiences and learning we'd gained over the two months.
My room-mates were doing lots of coughing on Weds night and one chose to turn the light on at 2am to read. Apparently, the headaches and nausea I'd been experiencing (alongside insomnia) are all signs of deprivation of good oxygen.
I knew with absolute certainty on Thurs, that I needed to leave temporarily to be able to breathe properly. It all worked out with amazing synchronicity. I awoke to an e-mail saying come stay from a friend (far more preferable than the Red Cross shelter!) - I then had to figure out how to get there and was panicky no cars would be heading that direction - but my co-worker who was heading to LA offered me a ride to my doorstep. He has no generator where he lives, so is minus fridge, air con, freezer etc while the electricity is out (estimated another 2 months before it's repaired). He had most of his possesions in the car - incase his home burnt in the interim - but we got all my luggage in, too.
It was a crazy goodbye as it was so quick - i trust the folks I never got a chance to say farewell to will forgive me and I hope we get the chance to meet again. I left feeling wrapped up in hugs and good wishes and with the sense of a community that will now exist on the web.
Around 1 hour south of Esalen, my headache lifted and I could see clear blue, sky. I knew I'd made the right decision!
My friend, Karen has been a darling - I'm sleeping in her 3 year-old daughter's princess-theme bedroom. It's been lovely and girly and relaxing - painting toenails, patting the fluffy pets, checking out all the cute stores in San Luis Obispo, hiking, reading books in the sunshine, nattering over salsa and chips and so forth.
I'm feeling very grateful for the way this has all worked out. Karen's boyfriend (ex-fireman) is still at Esalen being a hero - so we're getting regular updates. Around 90 people are left on the property. They've been clearing brush around the site to make it as fireproof as possible, just incase.
Esalen is closed to guests all this coming week (a good idea, methinks) and I understand that it is still likely to be safe from the flames.. So hold it and all the other businesses and homes in Big Sur in your prayers ...
Anyway, there's still plenty of permaculture to update y'all on. That will come in time!! Wanted to let everyone know I'm safe, well and in good hands xoxo
Saturday 28 June 2008
Wednesday 25 June 2008
Preparing for refugee status ...
So - the road blockade (which was once 3 miles south of us) has now been moved to our front door. Rumour has it that all guests are being evacuated this afternoon. There's an official meeting at 1.30pm to see what's going on .. I went to the hot tubs this morning, sensing it could be the last time, if the whole property gets evacuated. My room mates say they were told to pack their bags to be ready to leave. I've checked with two people in our emergency response team who say this is unnecessary right now. Every cell in my muscles wants to be heading south towards sunshine and life (it feels eerily dead here with most of the guests gone). I have sent out a couple of e-mails to people I know who live that way to see if I can apply for refugee status on their couch for a night or two.
It's funny how you get out of bed with one plan for the day and life can pull the carpet out from under your feet. It was my first day off in what felt like eons and I was excited about hiking, dance classes, chilling out and being on vacation. Instead, I'm pulling ash flakes out of my hair and feeling a sense of imminent dispersal of my village and "community" with people on my program making plans to get the heck out of here.
A lady wants to use this computer so I'll say no more for now .... curious to see where this adventure will lead and eager for some hard news about what is really going on ....
It's funny how you get out of bed with one plan for the day and life can pull the carpet out from under your feet. It was my first day off in what felt like eons and I was excited about hiking, dance classes, chilling out and being on vacation. Instead, I'm pulling ash flakes out of my hair and feeling a sense of imminent dispersal of my village and "community" with people on my program making plans to get the heck out of here.
A lady wants to use this computer so I'll say no more for now .... curious to see where this adventure will lead and eager for some hard news about what is really going on ....
Tuesday 24 June 2008
the heat goes on ..
The ash is still falling from the sky, the light is still eerily orange, the sky grey ... still being powered by a generator, no laundry is being done as there are water shortages, phone lines are going down, news is trickling in of people in the extended community who have lost their homes, the road north is still inaccessible - and it is business as normal - the food yesterday was delicious - tonight my study group is giving a presentation and we're about to open the office for the day .. all is surprisingly calm and relaxed despite the ash and inferno around us -
Monday 23 June 2008
Ashtray
Ashtray - Pompeii - Crematorium are some of the words that came to mind this morning as I stepped out my room and saw the smog in the sky and layer of ash on the car roof parked right outside. Suddenly the fire seemed more real and I got an image of petrified animals running for their lives and it made me think of nameless ancestors of mine who had to pick up their belongings and run. The human need for snugness and safety is so paramount.
Apparently, Saturday's lightening sparked 12 forest fires and there are 100 fires going on in this state right now. As someone said, "California is burning" - despite most of our guests having to add 3-4 hours to their drive time (as there is no access to here from anywhere north) we are still full and most guests persevered with the journey. When there is a will, there's a way !
Apparently, Saturday's lightening sparked 12 forest fires and there are 100 fires going on in this state right now. As someone said, "California is burning" - despite most of our guests having to add 3-4 hours to their drive time (as there is no access to here from anywhere north) we are still full and most guests persevered with the journey. When there is a will, there's a way !
Sunday 22 June 2008
Tinderbox
This part of the world is on fire. Yesterday at lunch there was some thunder and lightening going on and I thought this was a natural break to the heatwave we'd had the past few days. Apparently, the lightening started forest fires in two places. The road going north of here is closed. I believe the fire is affecting places 6 or 7 miles away. I feel snug and safe although there is an eery silence and stillness in the air. Last night, one of my group members arrived here at 9pm with his wife and dog as they had been evacuated from their nearby home. Esalen was providing floorspace and blankets for folks needing a bed for the night. Possibly linked to the fire, our electricty got cut off - so the whirr of the generator put me to sleep last night. I'm curious to see what Highway 1 looks like without cars on it. It will take people heading north approx 5 hours longer to drive home. I trust what i heard that Esalen will be fairly OK in a fire as it has a ring of succulent plants strategically placed at its edges - we also have the highway separating us from what might happen. I'm feeling somewhat optimistic that the blaze will be controlled. It must be awful to be someone who has left their home behind - unsure of what they may have to go back to ......
Saturday 14 June 2008
Permaculture - if you ever want to build a house in the tropics ..
If you ever want to build a house in the tropics .. make sure it's raised a long way off the ground so it won't be affected by monsoons and flooding (think tree house or house on stilts). All this space under the house also helps with ventilation. Have an overhanging roof with eaves to help the rainfall run off easily and to provide shade. Don't let the jungle come right up to your home, otherwise you'll find that the rats and snakes will be joining you in your home. Instead, scorch a large area of earth around your property and keep it barren. Have chickens and pigs in this area to gobble up unwanted animal/ insect visitors heading towards your home.
After listening to our guest speaker John talking about his life in the tropics and hearing tales of dyssentry and 250 mosquito bites in one evening from classmates who'd lived for extended periods of time in South America - I came to the conclusion that the tropics are a romantic and atmospheric holiday destination, but a tough place to live.
John said that there is so much sun and rain in the tropics that life (including bacteria) can only teem and reproduce itself at a crazy speed - which is somewhat overwhelming. 'Get off the plane," he said "and the sweaty heat and strong odours of both flowers and things more noxious will put you under a spell."
I tend to do best in drier Mediterranean climates. With the overcast weather we've had here this weekend I am feeling sorely sun deprived!
For the record, places I've visited that are officially "tropical" - falling between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn 23.5 degrees above and below the equator are .. Fiji, Queensland, Tanzania, Thailand and Hawaii.
After listening to our guest speaker John talking about his life in the tropics and hearing tales of dyssentry and 250 mosquito bites in one evening from classmates who'd lived for extended periods of time in South America - I came to the conclusion that the tropics are a romantic and atmospheric holiday destination, but a tough place to live.
John said that there is so much sun and rain in the tropics that life (including bacteria) can only teem and reproduce itself at a crazy speed - which is somewhat overwhelming. 'Get off the plane," he said "and the sweaty heat and strong odours of both flowers and things more noxious will put you under a spell."
I tend to do best in drier Mediterranean climates. With the overcast weather we've had here this weekend I am feeling sorely sun deprived!
For the record, places I've visited that are officially "tropical" - falling between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn 23.5 degrees above and below the equator are .. Fiji, Queensland, Tanzania, Thailand and Hawaii.
permaculture - natural home decor
Another inspiring class! Kate Lundquist spoke to us about using natural materials to decorate homes with. Her definition of "natural materials' are materials that will return easily to the earth (rather than toxic materials that may not decompose). There are plenty of advantages in using natural materials - aesthetically they're great, they're better for our health and they are breathable.
With kitchen ingredients such as egg yolks and milk, alongside colourings taken from the earth - natural paints can be created. I painted in a dark brown colour - there was no yukky paint smell and i can only compare the experience to painting with liquid chocolate! In "The Natural Paints Book" by Edwards and Lawless, I saw how the juice from boiled beetroots can be used to stain wooden picture frames a gorgeous reddy brown (different vegetable preparations can be used to create different coloured stains for the wood).
We were also given recipes for creating our own natural plaster.
Kate reminded us that it's not a good use of resources to tear down a conventional building to replace it with an earth-friendly one - however there is much we can do with natural materials when creating the inside of our homes and offices.
With kitchen ingredients such as egg yolks and milk, alongside colourings taken from the earth - natural paints can be created. I painted in a dark brown colour - there was no yukky paint smell and i can only compare the experience to painting with liquid chocolate! In "The Natural Paints Book" by Edwards and Lawless, I saw how the juice from boiled beetroots can be used to stain wooden picture frames a gorgeous reddy brown (different vegetable preparations can be used to create different coloured stains for the wood).
We were also given recipes for creating our own natural plaster.
Kate reminded us that it's not a good use of resources to tear down a conventional building to replace it with an earth-friendly one - however there is much we can do with natural materials when creating the inside of our homes and offices.
nice permaculture quotes
"Stability in a community/ organisation is created by having as many mutually beneficial relationships as possible."
"See problems as a shake up out of which new life will grow."
"See problems as a shake up out of which new life will grow."
Yoga and Permaculture
At the end of the day permaculture, like yoga, or religion or vegetarianism is a way of being in the world - it's a lifestyle and a philosophy system - a way of being. Our very lovely teacher, who has both deep yoga and permaculture practices did a session where she interwove the two to show us how yoga could be connected to nature things and how permaculture can live in our bodies. As the holistic person, I am, the whole class really resonated with me.
We brainstormed on the following: "What I know to be true about life is .."
Here are the answers that rung true for me (my own included!)
"We are designed to thrive. Life is expansive, it has a pulse, it is intelligent, it's always changing, yet patterns repeat."
Taking the idea that everything starts from within, we can look at every thought we have and every act we do as gardening. What kind of gardens are we creating in our lives? The teacher mentioned that our hearts are designed to beat a certain number of times in our lives - so the slower the beats, the longer we'll live! That's a good incentive for slowing down!
Some other yogi like quotes that have come up (as we've just had yoga week here):
'Enlightenment is having intimacy with everything and no preference."
"Be happy for someone in their happiness, even if it doesn't resonate with you - unhappy people don't want advice, just compassion - when we see people doing good, support them, delight in them and be inspired by them (our culture has a tendency to tear them down) - if people are doing something bad, don't focus too much of your energy on them."
We brainstormed on the following: "What I know to be true about life is .."
Here are the answers that rung true for me (my own included!)
"We are designed to thrive. Life is expansive, it has a pulse, it is intelligent, it's always changing, yet patterns repeat."
Taking the idea that everything starts from within, we can look at every thought we have and every act we do as gardening. What kind of gardens are we creating in our lives? The teacher mentioned that our hearts are designed to beat a certain number of times in our lives - so the slower the beats, the longer we'll live! That's a good incentive for slowing down!
Some other yogi like quotes that have come up (as we've just had yoga week here):
'Enlightenment is having intimacy with everything and no preference."
"Be happy for someone in their happiness, even if it doesn't resonate with you - unhappy people don't want advice, just compassion - when we see people doing good, support them, delight in them and be inspired by them (our culture has a tendency to tear them down) - if people are doing something bad, don't focus too much of your energy on them."
Permaculture - emergency response
We had a rather bleak class, looking at everything that could go wrong in both the world and then at Esalen. The idea behind this was to have a crisis management plan to cope with worst case scenarios before they happened.
In the case of Esalen, we were introduced to scenarios where:
1) Forest fires in the area were raging out of control. Spookily, the next day a fire broke out just 20 miles away, which made the light go strangely orange before the smog set in. As I ate my dinner al fresco, I noticed the ash falling onto my hair and sweater like grey dandruff flakes.
2) Petrol went up to such a crazy price that only locals and the super-wealthy could afford to come stay here. The thought of a world in which travel outside of your country or hometown is a financial impossibility is a very scary one for me. It made me think I need to be in a place I absolutely adore before we run out of fossil fuels. My room-mate who dislikes her current town of residence, felt equally depressed at this prospect!
3) The recession in the US got so bad that local people couldn't afford to come to Esalen and refugees from outside were trying to get in for food/ shelter etc.
Many people in the group seemed to think that scenarios 2 and 3 were certainties. Maybe, I'm an optimist, maybe I'm burying my head in the sand - but I can not live in a world without hope, possibilities and solutions.
We learnt that making Esalen as sustainable as possible from the inside and making the structures here more resilient are the keys to be prepared for a possible crisis. I'm part of a group of 8 who are going to make a presentation in 2 weeks time about just how to do this vis a vis the management structures here. Other groups will be researching other areas such as energy production, food production, etc. My one classmate, has found out about some kind of sustainable energy solution - that would require 100 miles square in the desert to provide enough energy for all the world's needs from sun. That has restored my optimism !
Our leader, Benjamin, who has volunteered in various emergency scenarios had the following to say about being a leader in times of crisis.
It's important to spread calm in emergencies, so watch your energy. "The slower we do things, the faster they get done." Start calmly, as it allows momentum to build naturally. If you start with high energy, it will be impossible to sustain this and you can only go down.
He also spoke of the importance of standing up even when you don't know all the answers. I know that too often I don't do this and wait for others to stand up who I feel know more than me or are better equipped to lead than me.
In the case of Esalen, we were introduced to scenarios where:
1) Forest fires in the area were raging out of control. Spookily, the next day a fire broke out just 20 miles away, which made the light go strangely orange before the smog set in. As I ate my dinner al fresco, I noticed the ash falling onto my hair and sweater like grey dandruff flakes.
2) Petrol went up to such a crazy price that only locals and the super-wealthy could afford to come stay here. The thought of a world in which travel outside of your country or hometown is a financial impossibility is a very scary one for me. It made me think I need to be in a place I absolutely adore before we run out of fossil fuels. My room-mate who dislikes her current town of residence, felt equally depressed at this prospect!
3) The recession in the US got so bad that local people couldn't afford to come to Esalen and refugees from outside were trying to get in for food/ shelter etc.
Many people in the group seemed to think that scenarios 2 and 3 were certainties. Maybe, I'm an optimist, maybe I'm burying my head in the sand - but I can not live in a world without hope, possibilities and solutions.
We learnt that making Esalen as sustainable as possible from the inside and making the structures here more resilient are the keys to be prepared for a possible crisis. I'm part of a group of 8 who are going to make a presentation in 2 weeks time about just how to do this vis a vis the management structures here. Other groups will be researching other areas such as energy production, food production, etc. My one classmate, has found out about some kind of sustainable energy solution - that would require 100 miles square in the desert to provide enough energy for all the world's needs from sun. That has restored my optimism !
Our leader, Benjamin, who has volunteered in various emergency scenarios had the following to say about being a leader in times of crisis.
It's important to spread calm in emergencies, so watch your energy. "The slower we do things, the faster they get done." Start calmly, as it allows momentum to build naturally. If you start with high energy, it will be impossible to sustain this and you can only go down.
He also spoke of the importance of standing up even when you don't know all the answers. I know that too often I don't do this and wait for others to stand up who I feel know more than me or are better equipped to lead than me.
Lar's wedding!
Gosh - I believe I forgot to write about my friend Lara's wedding at the beginning of the month in texas!! I stepped off the plane at 11pm and thought yikes as the humid air hit me - no joke, the weather there was around 100f each day and very sticky. My poor friend lar, was kept awake most of the night with me coughing - and I feel sad that i wasn't healthier for her special occasion - whatever I'd been sick with had morphed into a spluttering/ bronchitis kind of thing - thankfully there were no coughing fits during the ceremony and the lovely make up artist told me how to conceal a tissue around the bouquet incase of need for a big nose blow.
As this was lar and Paul's 2nd wedding - they'd done it all 6 weeks earlier in South Africa for lar's folks, the atmosphere was light and relaxed and fun. I got to walk lara down the aisle as her UK/ South Africa representative. The ceremony took place overlooking a lake which reminded me a lot of Sydney harbour - aqua and emerald water with little white sailboats gliding past. During the ceremony a huge bird and a water skiier glided past (I believe at the point in the ceremony when the rabbi talked about how important desire is). It all seemed like a very good omen!
I fell hugely, madly, deeply in love with the flowergirls - Chinese twins aged 4 and three-quarters who were adopted 2 years ago from an orphanage in China. Apparently, when they arrived in the US they were totally malnourished and traumatised to the extent they couldn't have visitors - would have hysterics if they saw a teddy bear etc and now they are outgoing, loving, friendly, delightful human beings. The transformative power of love and a good home is quite amazing.
I came back wanting my own outdoor wedding and Chinese babies!
As this was lar and Paul's 2nd wedding - they'd done it all 6 weeks earlier in South Africa for lar's folks, the atmosphere was light and relaxed and fun. I got to walk lara down the aisle as her UK/ South Africa representative. The ceremony took place overlooking a lake which reminded me a lot of Sydney harbour - aqua and emerald water with little white sailboats gliding past. During the ceremony a huge bird and a water skiier glided past (I believe at the point in the ceremony when the rabbi talked about how important desire is). It all seemed like a very good omen!
I fell hugely, madly, deeply in love with the flowergirls - Chinese twins aged 4 and three-quarters who were adopted 2 years ago from an orphanage in China. Apparently, when they arrived in the US they were totally malnourished and traumatised to the extent they couldn't have visitors - would have hysterics if they saw a teddy bear etc and now they are outgoing, loving, friendly, delightful human beings. The transformative power of love and a good home is quite amazing.
I came back wanting my own outdoor wedding and Chinese babies!
I'm back!
Gosh! it's been about a week! I think my lack of blogging is partly due to how difficult it is to find a free computer - but here I am nestled in the e-mail booth on a foggy saturday afternoon with tissues and ginger/lemon tea in hand - yes, I'm sick again : ( I believe i was well for about 4 days before re-catching some kind of cold-flu thing. I look on it as my body's way of cleaning out. I'm feeling fairly resolute that I'm going to be healthy for tomorrow. I notice when I'm sick, how I gravitate towards reading, writing - doing art - they're my soul medicine - and in the art barn here, I found a stash of Oprah magazines and some of the articles spoke to me in such a good way, that I almost laughed with the synchronicity! I feel that I've settled nicely into Esalen life - I'm going to stay on for a bit after my program finishes as a volunteer - which basically means that I will get food and board and a lot more free time than I do now. Looking forward!!! I put a few plants in the soil last week which was very rewarding - I love how tactile it is to work with the earth and to pat the seedlings into their dark, earthy new home.
I have new room-mates this month who are as pleasant to live with as last month's room-mates (no snorers!!!) - I am no longer the newest person in my department at work and i feel more and more like I'm living in a village as I recognise an increasing number of characters on my walk around the Esalen property.
I have new room-mates this month who are as pleasant to live with as last month's room-mates (no snorers!!!) - I am no longer the newest person in my department at work and i feel more and more like I'm living in a village as I recognise an increasing number of characters on my walk around the Esalen property.
Thursday 5 June 2008
Permaculture - Social Change Activism
Our guest lecturer Dave Henson has worked for social action NGOs in around 20 countries. Here is his lowdown on working for societal change..
Often we channel all our efforts towards the symptoms of social problems, rather than tackling the root causes. Not a very effective strategy! The analogy Dave gave is that if abandoned babies kept on appearing in baskets floating down the local river, taking the baby out the river and caring for it would be only dealing with the symptom. Someone would need to go upstream and see who is putting the babies in the river and deal with them to effectively stop the problem.
Dave highlighted 4 root causes behind most of today's social problems:
1 - ASSUMPTION OF NEVER-ENDING ECONOMIC GROWTH. The average American will need to tone down their lifestyle and consumerism 7x to get to a point where their behaviour will be limiting global warming.
2 - PRIVATISING THINGS WHICH SHOULD BE IN THE HANDS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE - eg. schools, healthcare, intellectual property, seeds, water etc. Private capital funds most non-profits, including the arts, so this private capital decides what the public can have access to/ enjoy etc and what causes are championed.
3 - OUR ECONOMIC DECISIONS ARE GUIDED BY PRICE, HOWEVER TRUE COSTS OF ITEMS ARN'T ALWAYS DISPLAYED ON THE PRICE TAG. For example, petrol really costs $9 a gallon, but sells for $4 a gallon (with the surplus coming from taxes) so car users are unaware of the true economic cost of buying fuel. If they were, there would be more demand for public transport. Supermarket strawberries from a 3rd world country may be cheaper than the organic ones sold at the local farmers' market, however the price doesn't include the transport fees, the healthcare fees for the local workers adversely affected by the pesticides, etc. Although buying conscientiously, can make a small difference, the real difference will come when the pricing structure is changed to reflect the true cost of what we are buying.
4 - BIG CORPORATIONS' SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL LOBBYING AND FUNDING MEANS THAT BUSINESSES' AGENDAS INFILTRATE POLITICS.
Dave has a few suggestions for social change:
1 - The best way to effect social change is to hold public office.
2 - Wait until the moment is ripe before lunging forwards with action. The world needs to be ready for you!
3 - Social change does not happen without organising.
4 - As well as spending time addressing current problems (fire fighting), have equal amounts of time devoted to building alternatives and dismantling the structures causing the problem
Often we channel all our efforts towards the symptoms of social problems, rather than tackling the root causes. Not a very effective strategy! The analogy Dave gave is that if abandoned babies kept on appearing in baskets floating down the local river, taking the baby out the river and caring for it would be only dealing with the symptom. Someone would need to go upstream and see who is putting the babies in the river and deal with them to effectively stop the problem.
Dave highlighted 4 root causes behind most of today's social problems:
1 - ASSUMPTION OF NEVER-ENDING ECONOMIC GROWTH. The average American will need to tone down their lifestyle and consumerism 7x to get to a point where their behaviour will be limiting global warming.
2 - PRIVATISING THINGS WHICH SHOULD BE IN THE HANDS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE - eg. schools, healthcare, intellectual property, seeds, water etc. Private capital funds most non-profits, including the arts, so this private capital decides what the public can have access to/ enjoy etc and what causes are championed.
3 - OUR ECONOMIC DECISIONS ARE GUIDED BY PRICE, HOWEVER TRUE COSTS OF ITEMS ARN'T ALWAYS DISPLAYED ON THE PRICE TAG. For example, petrol really costs $9 a gallon, but sells for $4 a gallon (with the surplus coming from taxes) so car users are unaware of the true economic cost of buying fuel. If they were, there would be more demand for public transport. Supermarket strawberries from a 3rd world country may be cheaper than the organic ones sold at the local farmers' market, however the price doesn't include the transport fees, the healthcare fees for the local workers adversely affected by the pesticides, etc. Although buying conscientiously, can make a small difference, the real difference will come when the pricing structure is changed to reflect the true cost of what we are buying.
4 - BIG CORPORATIONS' SUPPORT FOR POLITICAL LOBBYING AND FUNDING MEANS THAT BUSINESSES' AGENDAS INFILTRATE POLITICS.
Dave has a few suggestions for social change:
1 - The best way to effect social change is to hold public office.
2 - Wait until the moment is ripe before lunging forwards with action. The world needs to be ready for you!
3 - Social change does not happen without organising.
4 - As well as spending time addressing current problems (fire fighting), have equal amounts of time devoted to building alternatives and dismantling the structures causing the problem
Wednesday 4 June 2008
Permaculture - In reverence of soil ..
In my city upbringing, soil-dirt-earth - the stuff in the garden and in the little square patches surrounding the trees in their concrete homes on the pavement was considered almost taboo. Stuff to stay away from, stuff of dog poo and germs and to wash off your hands and feet. So, I never had a deep relationship with the soil of England. I had a crazy love of the soil of Africa with its deep redness and wanted to crawl into it and cover myself in it - but as for the stuff in the back garden where I lived - I barely noticed its existence.
Last night, I really got to meet soil - the kind of soil that belongs to gardens - the commonplace brown earth. It was almost a spiritual experience!! Touching it in my hands it felt so soft and bringing it to my nose it smelt like the earth after rain. "Good soil," said our instructors, John and Benjamin, 'will look and feel like chocolate cake. You can roll it into little balls and then watch as it falls apart in crumbs."
The soil we touched was black and spongy. Something I never really appreciated about soil before is that this is where life begins. "If we focus on growing the soil,"said John, "the crops will take care of themselves."
Just like we, as people, need good surroundings to optimise ourselves in - good shelter, good love, good food, good community, good air, good opportunities, good mentors and so forth - plants also need to be provided with this warm, cushy environment in order to thrive.
So, by creating good soil, we are creating good food, which in turn will feed us and create healthy cells and bodies for us, which will impact who we are and how we are in our lives and on this planet. I love how everything in life is connected!!
Starting with the basics, what is this stuff we call soil? Basically it's 50 per cent space (the space being made up of air - and this space will hold the water that drains into the earth); it's 40 per cent mineral (and I've often heard it said that various nutritional supplements are needed because the soil is no longer as mineral rich as it used to be) and the final 10 per cent of soil is the living component - this is made up of earthworms who do a fabulous job of ploughing the soil, bacteria which break down decomposing plant matter, fungus, compost and so forth.
Industrialised farming has done a lot of harm to the soil due to the use of foreign chemicals (pesticides, fertilisers etc), through not giving the land time to recover between planting and not encouraging bio-diversity. It takes a forest 1,000 years to create 1 inch of soil through the gradual decomposition of materials - with bad practice, we can lose that much soil in one year through erosion.
The message to me from last night's class was a clear one - our job is to create good soil! It is no accident that in the UK one of the main organic certifying bodies is "The Soil Association" - as good soil is at the heart of the organic philosophy. So many people back home, who don't understand my passion for organic food, think it's all about spending more money than required on groceries - but it's about so much more - it's about creating a healthy planet and ultimately being nourishing, rather than harmful, to both ourselves and those involved in the growing of the food that gives us life. It's about putting the sanctity back into our relationship with our earth and with our bodies.
Ok _ off my soap box now!! And onto some practical information .. what can we do in our back gardens to create good soil?
1 - Compost, compost and more compost seems to be key!! The darker the soil is, the richer it is in organic content. When i asked what the secret was behind the chocolate cake Esalen soil (which my gardening friends Yvonne and Mike admired when they visited last week) I was told it was all in the compost. Last year, when I spent my summer at the Isabella Freedman Retreat Centre, the organic farmers there grew the most fabulous and enormous vegetables - and again composting was a way of life. I feel proud of my ma and pa as I write this, who fill up old yoghurt tubs with vegetable remains and put them outside in the council-supplied compost bin - I feel proud of our old London mayor, Ken, for his green policies and providing houses with compost bins. I think i am about to become the compost queen!! I remember feeling repelled at the idea that you needed to have worms in your compost bin - but now I understand that worms are amazing soil tilling machines. Charles Darwin said in 1881 that having oxen plough the land is something pretty modern - however earthworms have been ploughing the land on their own initiative since their inception.
2 - Keep the soil nicely aerated with tilling. John said that as well as composting this was part of the secret of good Esalen soil. He adds compost then tills the soil once a week - he will do this for 10 weeks before beginning planting.
3 - If you feel so inclined, pee on soil - your urine is nitrogen rich and plants will love that! Your pee is far more useful in the soil than in the sewage system!
My eyes were opened last night and I am in deep reverence of soil and it's life-giving properties. I hope you have the experience too, to hold good soil in your hand and recognise it for what it is. so much more than dirt. Something that we want at the heart of our lives - not something to stay away from and label as unclean. I want good, dark, chocolate-cake earth to cover our planet and I want us all to care passionately about the kind of soil our food is grown in. I feel a missionary's zeal about this issue and unabashedly want to convert you all!!!
Last night, I really got to meet soil - the kind of soil that belongs to gardens - the commonplace brown earth. It was almost a spiritual experience!! Touching it in my hands it felt so soft and bringing it to my nose it smelt like the earth after rain. "Good soil," said our instructors, John and Benjamin, 'will look and feel like chocolate cake. You can roll it into little balls and then watch as it falls apart in crumbs."
The soil we touched was black and spongy. Something I never really appreciated about soil before is that this is where life begins. "If we focus on growing the soil,"said John, "the crops will take care of themselves."
Just like we, as people, need good surroundings to optimise ourselves in - good shelter, good love, good food, good community, good air, good opportunities, good mentors and so forth - plants also need to be provided with this warm, cushy environment in order to thrive.
So, by creating good soil, we are creating good food, which in turn will feed us and create healthy cells and bodies for us, which will impact who we are and how we are in our lives and on this planet. I love how everything in life is connected!!
Starting with the basics, what is this stuff we call soil? Basically it's 50 per cent space (the space being made up of air - and this space will hold the water that drains into the earth); it's 40 per cent mineral (and I've often heard it said that various nutritional supplements are needed because the soil is no longer as mineral rich as it used to be) and the final 10 per cent of soil is the living component - this is made up of earthworms who do a fabulous job of ploughing the soil, bacteria which break down decomposing plant matter, fungus, compost and so forth.
Industrialised farming has done a lot of harm to the soil due to the use of foreign chemicals (pesticides, fertilisers etc), through not giving the land time to recover between planting and not encouraging bio-diversity. It takes a forest 1,000 years to create 1 inch of soil through the gradual decomposition of materials - with bad practice, we can lose that much soil in one year through erosion.
The message to me from last night's class was a clear one - our job is to create good soil! It is no accident that in the UK one of the main organic certifying bodies is "The Soil Association" - as good soil is at the heart of the organic philosophy. So many people back home, who don't understand my passion for organic food, think it's all about spending more money than required on groceries - but it's about so much more - it's about creating a healthy planet and ultimately being nourishing, rather than harmful, to both ourselves and those involved in the growing of the food that gives us life. It's about putting the sanctity back into our relationship with our earth and with our bodies.
Ok _ off my soap box now!! And onto some practical information .. what can we do in our back gardens to create good soil?
1 - Compost, compost and more compost seems to be key!! The darker the soil is, the richer it is in organic content. When i asked what the secret was behind the chocolate cake Esalen soil (which my gardening friends Yvonne and Mike admired when they visited last week) I was told it was all in the compost. Last year, when I spent my summer at the Isabella Freedman Retreat Centre, the organic farmers there grew the most fabulous and enormous vegetables - and again composting was a way of life. I feel proud of my ma and pa as I write this, who fill up old yoghurt tubs with vegetable remains and put them outside in the council-supplied compost bin - I feel proud of our old London mayor, Ken, for his green policies and providing houses with compost bins. I think i am about to become the compost queen!! I remember feeling repelled at the idea that you needed to have worms in your compost bin - but now I understand that worms are amazing soil tilling machines. Charles Darwin said in 1881 that having oxen plough the land is something pretty modern - however earthworms have been ploughing the land on their own initiative since their inception.
2 - Keep the soil nicely aerated with tilling. John said that as well as composting this was part of the secret of good Esalen soil. He adds compost then tills the soil once a week - he will do this for 10 weeks before beginning planting.
3 - If you feel so inclined, pee on soil - your urine is nitrogen rich and plants will love that! Your pee is far more useful in the soil than in the sewage system!
My eyes were opened last night and I am in deep reverence of soil and it's life-giving properties. I hope you have the experience too, to hold good soil in your hand and recognise it for what it is. so much more than dirt. Something that we want at the heart of our lives - not something to stay away from and label as unclean. I want good, dark, chocolate-cake earth to cover our planet and I want us all to care passionately about the kind of soil our food is grown in. I feel a missionary's zeal about this issue and unabashedly want to convert you all!!!
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