4.14.2007

april


I have flown Vancouver,
having finished the workshops,
and landed on Cortes Island.


the workshops:
Link
In summary, the workshops went well, with room for improvement.

The first, about soil/compost/mulch: well attended, about 20 people in the pouring rain. We sat, and I talked too much. There was so much i wanted to get through, and that was my downfall. Next time I will talk less, about less, and invite others to speak more, providing a framework for our offerings. I only got back 4 feedback loops, and they were good, but I didnt feel so great after it.

The second, Eat your Weeds!, was a nice sunny morning and about 17 people showed. I had danced until 3 am to adham shaikh the night before; i felt so clear and grounded. I talked less, everyone talked more, and it was great. I got back 11 feedback loops and they were bright. Treasure phrases include "- gardening is the new black". People connected, interconnected, and we remembered to see our surroundings.

The third, gardening with the cosmos, even got some press! I prepared this workshop more carefully, knowing it was a dense amount of material in order to really get it, and in light of the first one, i knew i had be dynamic and facilitate the emerging of the knowledge, rather than the teaching of it. I thought of it almost as a square dance through some of the patterns. I scheduled out a timeframe and trajectory, with maps for people to follow. The energy was a bit scattered that day, and I was not fully on-it. It was a bit loose through the first part, and a bit sloppy in the second, but we pulled it together and people got it. There was a group eureka moment when all the pieces fell together. In hindsight I would have given that moment of getting it more time, then done another observation sit, and then closed the directions and circled out. And the map could be tightened up a bunch. But, all in all, it was great.
I learned, others learnt. And more people met and engaged.

Some seeds planted.
I would love to hear what reverberations sound.

$35 went to Guerilla Gardeners Meetup site upkeep, of the $250 (minus printing costs) that i made.
thank you everyone for your support.

big Love.


and now!
Cortes sweet sacred island.
so gentle, so stormy.

i arrived sunday night, sweet rides with new friends all up and over. a graceful and interesting delivery.
straight to the door of the cabin claus built, with nigh a nail to be seen, on the edge of the western shoreline and the lamb-dotted fields of Joy's flock. redwinged blackbirds, deer 30 feet away jumping fences, and frogs in the pond.

if i could embed a sound file of the frogs at night,
i would. it is fun to try and pick out their particular voices.
the soundscape! eagles and hummingbirds.
eagles flirting, their high sweet notes playing above the trees,
boy hummingbirds do the zoommm-and-chir-chir divebomb in their mating dance.


it is amazing being in community here... to be recognized, remembered, seen again...

yeah, lots is amazing. conversations, politics, the shift, nudging, releasing, reconnecting...
derrick jensen is in vancouver on the 18th. new moon women's circle at linnaea on the 17th.


working again in kalaya's garden is wonderful.
i worked for her the year i took the linnaea garden program.
then all that following winter, when kili and i married,
and the following summer, up until i left.
then a summer has gone by, and now i return for another spring unpack and unferl.

it is wonderful to work in the gardens, and feel this soil!
when i began here, the soil was very warm and sandy, and a bit fine.
we began mulching, and tightened up the composting method.
kalaya gathered a lot of seaweed off their beach.
we began to sheet compost.

she has kept the gardens mulched,
and now the soil is dank!
the worms are huge,
the soil is salt and pepper, with the silver sand grains on
slick, round spheres of black soil. so rich, and infused with light the sand reflects down.

- composting is the new black .


things look better mulched i think. aren't they cute and cozy?
feel free to use this photo to sell someone on a mulched garden.
may the forest be with you!


so i started this whole blog because i wanted to post these photos.
i took them from the window of the a-frame today.
what a fantastically stormy, sexy day.