Adventures in Permaculture – the first evening

I discovered tonight that this permaculture thing is about much much more than ecological systems of growing food. It is  really about HOPE.  It’s about hope for the future, and hope for a world that has lost it’s sense of being connected to the earth.

I have never been more humbled than in the presence of this amazing group of diverse people. 

After a feast prepared by the community including veggie casseroles, chilli and pizza with beef reared on the very grass I’d walked across earlier this afternoon, fresh organic veggies, the most delicous apple dumplings and milk straight from the cow, we adjourned to the ‘museum’ where we had our opening circle.

One by one we stood up and shared what we brought to the group, what we wanted, our roots, story and uniqueness.

A more diverse group of people would be hard to find.  I felt like a pioneer in a wagon train of strangers únited in their common burning desire to set out on the road to create a better life, not just for themselves but as a legacy to the world.    

There’s a young monk who dresses in a utility kilt because his robe gets in the way of the mucky gardening work.  He told me that his order wants to establish a monastery in the centre of Atlanta with a forest fruit garden. 

Another lady who’s a Tax CPA had tears in her eyes as she stood up and said she was obsessed with environmental issues.. with the earth and her connection to it to the point that she’s in the process of giving up her career to follow this path.

A chiropractic doctor, recently qualified said that she was passionate about health and food and that she wanted to be able to heal her patients and to have them understand the difference between an orange bought in the store and one grown in someone’s backyard.

A Southern gal who’d inherited her family’s run down farm in Georgia realized that something was going on when she turned down a generous offer for the land and decided instead that she wanted to make it come alive again.

A father and his son came learn and  to spend time with each other.. the father, an analytical engineer was looking for a way of living more sustainably while his son was searching for a new and more meaningful direction in life…

One guy said he’d been in a dark place until he discovered permaculture.   Another remarked that this was not just about learning to garden or permaculture but about family and community.   There was a farmer who teaches special needs kids by having them come to his farm, a girl who wanted to turn Decataur into a forest garden and a slip of a girl whose dream was to live in sustainable community and revive her Virginia town. 

 One guy said that he grew up knowing only that food came from Safeway and now the only time he gets close to Safeway is when he’s dumpster diving.  He told us that our poo could become part of the system and directed us to the two humanure toilets in the grounds.

A lady who’d spent most of her life pushing paper had inherited some land and decided that retirement offers her the opportunity to turn that land around.  As we walked around the permaculture gardens earlier on she said ‘my goodness they told me sheep wouldn’t do well here and yet they’re thriving’. She likes to knit!

Men had tears in their eyes as they spoke passionately about the connection to the earth, growing plants and knowing that permaculture held the key to the future..

So many inspiring stories, so many passionate people…

A Montana gal in a leather cowboy hat told us how her divorced mother had taught her 3 daughters to hunt, fish, skin a hog and more.  She’s spent the last two years living in a green bus  touring the country teaching people about permaculture and healing herbs.  She smiled as she proudly referred to her daughter who was so into permaculture.

Each one of us had a uniquely interesting story yet each one shared a common thread.. we have all come to the same awareness that the future of the world lies in applying the natural systems of nature to produce abundant and fruitful food supplies.

I realized, tonight that after 57 years of wandering in the desert, I’d come home.  I’d found my passion.  It isn’t just about growing, being in touch with the earth, or permaculture..  it is about turning the world on to what’s possible and finding solutions to the devestation that we have inherited and perpetrated from years of ignorance. 

It is about recognizing as the Natives of America did that we ARE stewards and  that this earth is a living vital organism that can offer us all the abundance we need if we’ll only treat her right.

And on a personal note it is about using whatever talents I have to shout out loud and clear to anyone who’ll listen to me that growing forest food gardens everywhere is the greatest hope we have for the future. 

Tonight confirmed for me that abundance is not a pair of gucci boots or a fancy home..or anything to do with money  It is the taste of freshly picked kale, natural healing herbs and a slice of grass fed beef… and it is the coming together of all people to realize that we are all in this mess together and that it is only as one unit that we can emerge and be fit to live on this earth.

Tonight the lights came on as we looked up at the stars in a circle holding hands I knew that we were on the edge of a new dawning…

And I go to sleep nourished by the delicous food, the loving energy and the expansive visions of those people who I am honored to share the next twelve days with and maybe a lot lot more..

I also learned something about the Koininoia communitywhich was started in 1942 and was nearly devestated in the fifties because they paid their black workers the same as the whites.. and they sat down to dinner with human beings of different color and that was illegal.   Such was the hatred and prejudice that their homes were shot at, their roadside stalls destroyed and one shop that sold them fertilizer was bombed.  

They were even offered good money to leave the land but refused.   The founder told them ‘once you’ve worked the land you realize it’s like your mother and that he could no more sell that land than sell his mother.

They refused to give up and today this community that has gone through so much has begun to grow new shoots in the last five years becoming a thriving, loving group of people.  

This place is rife with the spirit of peaceful determination to do the right thing.  They are living proof that there is another way…

And after touring the pecan plant and bakery which uses a mixer that was made in 1910 [they didn't build in obsolescence in those days!], eating home grown pecans in the darkest chocolate ever and drinking raw milk fresh from the cow, I can’t wait to savor the pecan and peanut fed hog that they slaughtered today for our dinner later this week..

Pecan trees, I discovered really are ‘feed the future’ food.. taking up to 15 years to mature…

And now it’s time for bed as I have to be up at 6 and on breakfast clearing duty.   So much to learn, so many amazing and talented souls to connect with and learn from… I think I died and went to heaven!

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