My Joy peaked when I saw the clouds arrive at 3 pm. I had been working under the sun in the lettuce field all day; weeding and planting. I noted in the morning that it was a cloudless sky. We seem to get lots of those here in the Central Valley. The entrance of faint whispy clouds in the north allowed me to exhale deeper and fully rest into my free time in the shade.
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What is Growing Plants?John's Island-Homegrown-Farmer's Market, South Carolina. The stickers on this graph represent individual opinions from new friends I met today. I hosted the Permaculture Guild booth for the first time and came up with this interactive crowd sourcing activity. So much fun! Most people knew instantly how they felt and wanted to participate. The funniest reaction I got was several people asking if I did it for a school project. I answered that it was for fun, and that brought smiles. :)
Sunshine. So easy to forget its magical powers; until it's clouded over for three days straight. After that, the feeling on unobstructed sun on the flesh of my cheek felt like the most divine pleasure. So I try to soak it in as much as I can. I take mindful breaths. I bring my awareness to my heart. Become still, and listen. Sunshine speaks to me in glitter and gold.
My Saturday was laid back, an easy path to Joy. I was spending the afternoon at the home of a friend when he had to attend to some business and left me to entertain myself. Being in unfamiliar territory, I had to improvise some pleasure. Fortunately, the backyard was lushly landscaped and open for my perusing. The garden had been neglected for some months. On my first walkthrough, I just observed the variety of plants and noticed the themes of citrus and roses. It's January and the plants need help shedding last year's baggage as much as we humans do. I found some shears and got to work deadheading flower bushes, thinning fruit tree limbs, and taming the wild vines. I unearthed gnomes and fairies from piles of leaves and gave them new stages to delight us with painted grins. The final circuit through the garden reaped what fruit could be found in the cold new year's overcast sky: 3 limes, 1 pomegranate, and one coral rose. Coastal climates are always home for me :) In barely thirty minutes of activity, I felt rejuvenated myself, and proud to be a caregiver to the garden. Cecelia can't take care of her garden any longer. In abandoning it, there is motivation to replicate it-sharing cuttings with all the friends and kin. If we can't care for our family members any longer, we can care for plants, and cultivate the same feelings of unconditional love. My own garden is a seasonal vegetable bed near the front door. After summer tomatoes, I transplanted 3 kinds of kale. I'm trying an experiment of talking to my kale plants daily. They encourage me in gentle and familiar ways like only a mother could. I look to them for serious guidance, and in return am shown respect and clarity. The kale we transplanted 3 weeks ago is ready for harvest this week. I'm starting to get the hang of it out here. Bo had some family visiting and helping us on the farm. Some of them asked me questions about how to do our tasks or identifying things, and I was able to provide answers :) I feel confident, like I could do this on my own. Although, I don't want to be solo. Dirtworks is such a great place because you are never alone out there. With five farm plots in one piece of land, you are usually guaranteed to see another face and have a conversation if you need it. I just want it ;) so I make a point to talk with everyone. I am grateful to work at one of the only farms in America to be growing Roselle for Hibiscus Tea. Bo planted this variety of fruit tea as a souvenir from his time in Thailand. Once the flower withers, a large seed pod is formed. The outer petals of the flower, or sepals, turn into the husk for a seek, or calyx. It is succulent and rich in color-quickly staining your skin. Harvest the calyx when it is largest and use in tea fresh or dried. I've been enjoying this tea often since our first harvest this Fall. I feel very vital when I drink it. In addition to the well known Vitamin C potency, Roselle also offers Iron, anti-oxidants, and reduces blood pressure. In Thailand, it's a perennial plant, we're not sure what will happen over Charleston's mild winter. Check out this video of removing the seeds before drying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtMYP2vE6TY Thai people consume a lot of this tea. Harvesting this plant was super fun :) The tall stalks look similar to okra, but grow bushier. It probably thrived better through the hot moist summer than any other crop at Sol Haven. It's taller than me and it blooms from two to five feet off the ground, so I was crouching and stretching and engulfing myself in Roselle! It's no surprise I love this plant so much, we both come from tropical climates! While we spent over an an hour clipping 10 gallons of Roselle, Bo asked me how I imagined the first human thought to make tea out of this plant. The first thought to pop into my mind was, 'The plant told them.' I literally mean that the human intuited a message from the plant through the great cosmic goo that binds us all together. See my video on meditation to see my view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtMYP2vE6TY Often when I travel, I am broadcasting my journalist hat and ask a set of the same questions to everyone I meet. Do you know any farms? Beautiful flowers? Seen any dolphins lately? Many people pointed me toward the 'Rasta Farm' run by 'the Bushman'. Sounded like something I'd like, so I made it my goal. The three hours I spent there were some of the sweetest moments in the whole Caribbean. My first encounter with the Rastas of SxM was at the Ital restaurant on Bush road. A tiny house perched on a hill with 4 tables on an open patio is run by the Bushman's son, who taught me how to identify Purslaine (pictured below) that I gathered wild. For lunch I ate a curry roti-very popular all over the islands it was veggies wrapped in flour pancake. 100% vegan; ital = vital. Fresh juices were available in ginger, beet, or grapefruit. Once I made it to the farm on the French side of the island, I was greeted by a volunteer who was running the produce stand on the property. She was finishing a plum harvest. Also for sale that day were tomatoes, herbs, and other fruit. Two kids showed up because it was their day off school. We played together among the trees and shady pavilions. From what I understand, this is the only working farm that supplies locally grown produce. Which is surprising, because the island was originally inhabited and covered with sugarcane plantations. Later in the afternoon, I met the Bushman and his wife, both crowned with ancient dreadlocks. Real Roots Rastas. A nonviolent diet is one of my favorite elements of the Rastafarian religion. I try to eat vegan meals to balance my body and pursuit what I find agreeable. I learned that we can create our freedom through responsibility to leadership of ourselves. Like more sustained energy from plants. Learning new skills to feed myself from the soil and seeds is a blessing of freedom. I found a lot of signs for exploration among the weeds. these pictures below were taken during my walk across the Dutch, French border of Saint Martin. I can't talk about the plants on Anguilla without first mentioning the goats. They are everywhere. On empty lots, in front yards, in the street, on the cliffs, little tiny baby ones on laps indoors...you get the picture. So its amazing that anything grows here and is not eaten by the goats. Even more mind-blowing is the lack of goat on dinner menus. Everything that is alive here is using every ounce of determination to grow and stay alive. So the plant diversity is low and trees rare. I'm going to show you a few of my favorite specimens. On my last full day in "The Rainbow City" (as their license plates read), I stumbled across the Department of Agriculture. Their motto says it all, "Farm Today or Starve Tomorrow." How True! I was a little surprised to see orange soil, like in Georgia, but more surprised at how small all the plants were. The 'local' produce I saw for sale in a grocery store consisted of tennis ball-sized bell peppers and chicken. What I learned is that the limiting factor is water. This tiny island has NO natural fresh water sources, so of course farming is a challenge! Fresh water is even a challenge for residential use. I was oblivious to this fact while staying in rental tourist villas. Once I moved to a local resident's spare bedroom (through the couch surfing network) I learned that buildings served only by 'government water' often run out of water between noon and 8 pm. So she stockpiled plastic buckets full of water in case she needed it in those 'ration hours.' I stopped at a fruit stand one day and purchased a pineapple, mango, and green (but ripe) bananas from a neighboring island to the south called Dominica. Next time I travel to the Caribbean, I want to go to the lush jungle paradise known as Dominica. They supply most of the produce to the island nations that is not imported from Florida or South America. |
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