Intro to the workshops

I am offering a passle of workshops for spring 2006.
This first set is aimed at getting the garden in,
with enough thought that summer maintenance is graceful.

The learning curve with gardening tends to be steep at the beginning;
there are so many seeds and gardening styles; planning for height, water needs, yield, and aesthetics.

Gardening is really simple and really complex at the same time.
Every seed wants to grow. It does. It will do everything it can to grow.
Plants have also been cultivating us to take care of them for years. The conversation between plants and people is a long one.
In my workshops I hope to help simplify, and deepen,
the gardening experience.

Ecological gardening includes organic practices, but goes beyond just not using pesticides, and the methods condoned by certification.
Ecological gardening is basically looking at different ecosystems, -natural and ruderal, forest and grassland- and *observing* the causes and effects. Using observations from nature, the flow forms and growth patterns, natural fertility and fertility builders, etc, an ecosystem can be cultivated to the ends desired. Everything gardens: every plant cultivates its world, birds plant seeds they like to eat... Everything gardens.

There are an infinite number of ways to garden. There is no right or wrong, contrary to the idea that the gardening industry tends to sell. I think that is why so many are intimidated by gardening. The reality is that there is only cause and effect, the continual conversation between people and plants.

My gardening is based in the mimicking natural ecosystems, building soil fertility, and using biological resources. Throughout my Permaculture training *observation* of nature was key.
Observation connotes the absence of judgment or knowing, or even trying to know, thereby leaving the mind open. This concept is resonated in Ecstatic Dance, Process Painting, HellerWork, and most other healing modalities I have encountered. To simply observe, to bear witness, to others and yourself, can open the big doors of perception.

I learned most of what I know from the Linnaea Ecological Gardening Program on Cortes Island. It is an 8 month intensive, and super intense in all ways. David Buckner, who runs the program, studied at the Farrellones Institute in California, and came up to BC with the Gypsy Gardeners, which included Joel Solomon and Nori Fletcher, now of Hollyhock fame.