Earth Gardens: Edible-Medicinal-Wild Habitats (Permaculture Network)

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Comment by Jo Ann Heydron on October 30, 2009 at 1:35pm

Hi Kate--Marrianne is my sister-in-law. She and my brother are the reasons we moved to Bellingham.

Comment by Kate Clark on October 30, 2009 at 12:15pm

Jo ann are you related to Maryanne Heydron of Bellingham?

Comment by Jo Ann Heydron on October 30, 2009 at 9:49am

I enjoyed reading David Pike's summary of Berry's book very much. I'm new in Bellingham and trying to soak up some gardening energy and skills. I read Berry when my three kids were little. We lived in Palo Alto, California in a house with a big, sunny back yard. The kids grew pumpkins and sunflowers and potatoes and helped my husband and me harvest beans and squash and tomatoes. The day we seeded the first big sunflower was exciting. Gardening was a good way to spend the summer in a town that was all about signing kids up for lessons and camps. Anyway, it was Wendell Berry remarking (in which book I'm not sure) that he loved seeing his college-age daughter come home her first summer and shovel manure while read Henry James during her breaks that got me started with the kids.

Comment by David Pike on October 29, 2009 at 8:24pm

finally I can post again! not sure what was wrong but I couldn't post for awhile here... well it gave me some time to actually write something so...



Just finished reading “The Unsettling of America, Culture and Agriculture” by Wendell Berry. His writings make so much sense as to make a complete mockery of what commercial agriculture has become in our modern age. I doubt anyone has done such a thorough job of explaining just how deep the erosive fissures run in industrial agriculture, or “agri-business” as it is known in his book. He weaves together the failed policies and practices of the “get big, or get out” era of farm consolidation during the ‘70s which caused a landslide in the numbers of small farmers and a consequential detriment to the quality of the farms and food they produce. His book is a scathing account of how farms have been forced into our cultural impression of a succesful capitalist business, to take any means necessary to gain the highest possible profit margins at the expense of all else; health of the land, health of the food, health of the people. In order to survive the pressures of the political policies and capitalism - and because farmers where advised by virtually every agricultural “authority”, farmers began using machinery to do the work of human hands and horses. They were sold these devices to “save labor” while Berry argues that these “labor saving” devices where actually just putting thousands upon thousands of people out of work, and they were not asked if they wanted their labor to be replaced by machines in the first place. The work which machines have replaced on the farm was hard work, but it was also good work, work which many people earned their living by and which some even enjoyed doing. The machines have also caused harm to the land; when tractors replaced horses and the means of cultivating a field, the incredible weight of the tractor and the type of plow used causes severe compaction of the soil. He notes interestingly that the when the Amish (who use only traditional horse-drawn chisel plows) begin farming on land which was formerly tractor plowed, their harvests increase dramatically year after year as the land is restored from the damage caused by the tractor plowing.
Of course his book also includes critical essays on the abuse of chemical fertilizers - their negative impact on the land, and the pollution they cause from runoff. Also included is the astronimical harm caused by leaving fields barren and the consequential erosion of top soil, and a chapter on the abuse of energy, specifically fossil fuels, but more interesting to me are how he ties together these problems with our inherant social and cultural ideals. For instance, he makes a point of critiquing the modern human concept of “the future” as a utopian fantasy brought true by the saving graces of technological advancement. He insists that our culture is obsessed with “the future” as a space age place of ultra convenience where no one has to work and all of our needs are met by technology. Another example is the modern human interpretation of “nature” as now being a place to “get away to” a place to “go view the scenery”, we (mass culture, not you and I!) now consider ourselves to be apart from nature and not a part of nature.
Although a bit of a stretch, he delves right into such topics as body and soul, and romance and marriage as related to agriculture, he certainly has a way of relating just about anything…his ultimate point being: Everything is connected.
I recommend this book to anyone deeply interested in how agriculture relates to American culture, but I caution also that this book is thick reading chock full of 1970’s political policies and the long drawn out raving rants of a man who cares deeply for the land and can’t stand to see it being destoyed through ignorance. His viewpoints and solutions may be highly idealized, but also insightful and best utilized as a manual to teach a new generation of farmers and re-educate our current farmers worldwide.

“The care of the earth is our most ancient and most worthy and, after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and to foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.”

-Wendell Berry

Comment by David Pike on October 29, 2009 at 8:22pm

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Comment by David Culver on October 23, 2009 at 2:52pm

Today was my first trip to collect leaves to put on our garden spot for next years garden. Judith helped me and it was a great example of teamwork. She is such a great team player. She is always thinking ahead and doing what will come next.
Our soil is pretty much clay, so I have put in sawdust, and horse manure and now I plan to cover the soil with a blanket of leaves and then sheet mulch with black plastic for the winter. In spring I will till in all of the leaves and be ready to go. I also have some compost to put on with the leaves so if I do this every year in the end I should have some pretty nice soil. At least it will be much better than if I had not added all of this organic material.
Does anyone have an opinion whether or not old sheetrock (gypsum) would be a good addition to the soil? I've heard it both ways.
If anyone has any suggestions, fire away!
Thanks in advance, David

Comment by Shannon Maris on October 19, 2009 at 10:49am

Laura Plaut sent a message to the members of Whatcom County School Garden Collective.

--------------------
Subject: School Garden Collective Launch Party Today, Come Join Us!

Hello, I hope you'll join us to celebrate the launch of the Whatcom County School Garden Collective this afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at Columbia Elementary, 2508 Utter Street in Bellingham.

Come learn more about the goals and working of the newly launched School Garden Collective (including how to have your school become a memeber!) and hear more about the garden work currently underway at our partner schools: Columbia, Birchwood, Beach, and Roosevelt Elementary Schools; Squalicum High School, and the Lummi Nation School.

See you this afternoon!

Comment by Heather K on October 17, 2009 at 9:50pm

      Gardener's Tea
This Thursday October 22th
6:45-8:45pm
(apology for any duplicate mailings & date corrected!)
  Gathering for Visioning & Sharing Ideas for:
Winter Classes – Seed-Swap – Events – Projects – Speakers – etc

Bring your Ideas, your Calender, Fingerfood, & Tea bags,
and your Seeds & Catalogues to share.

RVSP to Heather K before Tuesday
on my comment page if you plan to attend. 

Hosted by - Shannon & Heather & Friends at Morgan's Home

Location: 911 Yew St. ( 516-7055)
(Extra parking on side streets)
(South of Lakeway in Whatcom Creek watershed).


"Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond." - Rumi

Dancing the Silent Song
“. . . . . Be gentle.
The joyful subtlesong of our heart
is delicate and vulnerable.
Don't be afraid.
We are all in this together.
Hands touching as blending bridges
connecting experience of the worlds.
And remember,
we are all in this together.” - Morgan

Comment by Heather K on October 9, 2009 at 4:40pm

Re- Co-teaching Gardening & Permaculture skills. If there is an interest & time & energy to work together, it may be time for another gardeners tea & vision-sharing....(lots of encouragment & support goes far with me)
Next Thursday Oct 22 pm is a date we can gather together to envision...both classes & also our next January seed-swap event similar to what we created last year in town & at Village Books..Shannon & I & Morgan hope to send out an invite to join with us at Morgan's home on that date soon....Let us all know of your interest.
(Sorry for any duplicate emails)

Comment by Heather K on October 9, 2009 at 4:38pm

Hi Gardener Friends! Is anyone interested in joining together to teach gardening to help with our communities reskilling?
I've posted comments from our Local Food Security Group below. (Sorry for any duplicate emails)
Comment by Jean Kroll The Center for Local Self-Reliance will soon be offering classes, lectures, workshops and activities related to local food production and sustainable living. If you would be willing to offer a class, or have a suggestion for a class please contact me!

Comment by Heather K Hi Jean & all! I would love to teach ecological gardening & edible forest gardening with a permaculture design focus!
(Or rather I would love to join together with others to facililate our learning through classes and study groups- as we all have knowledge to share).
I am interested in connecting with a couple of folks to co-teach and co-share our earth wisdom.
I'm a Permaculture Designer-Consultant and trained at the Bullock Homestead with mentors of Doug Bullock & also Toby Hemenway (author of Gaia's Garden).
I used to teach at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and at numerous other non-profit agencys/schools, both locally and in the east, with a focus on organic gardening with educational & therapeutic purposes...and I've created garden volunteer programs & therapeutic/educational gardens......But that is the past and now I'm 're-inspired'...not really 'retired'.
I prefer to teach with hands on access to both a working garden with tools, & with a shelter with a whiteboard & overhead projector (powerpoint is going out of style)...

http://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/group/localfoodsecurityeventsplanningteam

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