Ah...the Herbal Goodness

As dreams are the healing songs

from the wilderness of our unconsciousness-

So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes

are the healing dreams from the deep

singing mind of the Earth.  -Pendell

In preparation for our School of Earth Medicine, we have been creating an herb garden for education and use.  It has been a healing and amazing gift to work with these plants; to watch them grow, to come out at night and lie flat backed with them under the stars, to harvest them with respect and hang them to dry with reverence - anticipating the powerful and potent tinctures, salves, oils, and teas they will become.  With all the craziness going on outside in the world of humans, I find comfort and solace in the plant realm.  Sitting and being present with a single green friend or in a garden community you begin to feel time slow and eventually come to know the reality -  that time does not exist.  I marvel at the myriads of life forms on our planet, the differing ways of being, of breathing, of communicating and reproducing.  There is so much to be learned and never a dull moment!

 

 

There are a number of species I am growing this year for the first time.  Some are subtle and quiet like ashwaghanda, providing green bushy foliage for her neighbors, while others like Lion's tail (leonotis or wild dagga) take all the attention with brilliant showy orange flowers.  And perhaps my favorite newbie is evening primrose, who blooms her majestic yellow flowers at night under the moonlight.  One night I disappeared down in the garden until quite late and when I came back to the house, my husband called me a night pollinator because apparently I had yellow evening primrose pollen all over my face- I couldn't help it, the flowers smell so divine!   Sigh, so many plants to learn so little time...

 

We built an herb shed/farm stand out of recycled materials a few months back and now it has been filled to the brim with medicine, hanging to dry. 

 

 

 

 

Mullein, mints, feverfew, wormwood, lavender, sages, tulsi, rosemary, oregano, lemon thyme, Leonotis, yarrow, and many others.  Harvesting all the herbal goodness to store and create an apothecary for fall and winter. 



Bless and give thanks for Abundance, Health and Strength. 

Spread Love!



 

 

Tell your people they must learn to wake up their feelings. 

Their heart must arise from it's sleep. 

It must rise and STAND up. 

That is how you find the track to God.

-The Elders of the Kalahari Bushmen

 

 

 

 

 

Epic Travel #2...Kenya Adventures

Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.  Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.  -Roald Dahl

 

 
Epic travel adventure numero dos....Africa!  Miraculously I was invited to participate in a biodiversity conference in Thika Kenya, an hour outside of Nairobi.  My travel companions were four women, all affiliated with MESA (Multi National Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture).  The conference was attended by about thirty participants from around the globe; policy makers, researchers, educators, farmers, and NGO representatives.  The goal was to brainstorm solutions for increasing biodiversity in food systems and to discuss problems and challenges that small land holders face around the world especially in third world countries.  We spent much of the time broken into small groups talking about issues like drought, seed saving, fund raising and how to market products, as well as listening to presentations by members of the Agricultural Biodiversity Community. 

 

 

Hosted by PELUM KENYA, the conference center was beautiful, located on what felt like a mini farm with lush gardens, ponds and even hutches of rabbits.  It was such a privilege to participate in conversation with this rich, knowledgeable and diverse group of people.  Some of the organizations represented at the conference were PELUM, ILEIA, MESA, Muliru Farmer's Group, African Biodiversity Network, South Indian Federation of Fishermen Society, Earth Net Foundation, Dhan Foundation India, WESA and  South Alliance for Indigenous Resources. 

 



 

As part of the conference we went on two field trips to local farming projects.  The first was to the Thoma Wa Mukamba Community Cultural Learning Center.  This group focuses on traditional seed saving specifically ten native food crops.  They are reviving indigenous seeds and cultural foods made with these traditional crops. 

 

 



The highlight was visiting H.I.M. Negus Shiriki Community, a Rastafarian community of artists and youth from Nairobi.  This is hands down the most magical farm I have ever seen.
(click the link to learn more about this inspiring group and our visit)

 

 

These brothers and sisters are incredible artists who create mosaic murals and make clothing and sandals with an ancient style of Kemetic weaving.  They are stewarding land in the Maragua district of Kenya.  I have never seen a farm so amazing.  The diversity of vegetation grown there for food and medicine is astounding as well as the abundance and health of the plants.  I can't describe how much I felt at home there, I didn't want to leave!

 

We received a tour of the gardens from Brother herbalist and medicine man Ras Abasa and little four year old Sista Menen (who knows all the plants and can tell you their medicinal uses!)   We also helped plant fruit trees. 

 

 

  

We had the opportunity to see some of the craftsmanship handmade by Sista Njoki, beautiful sandals and many types of jewelry.   We also got to meet her two month old twins sons, Jahwise and Jahsent.

 

 

 

The biggest blessing of the visit was the nourishing, homegrown ital meal and tea made

with lemongrass, ginger root and coconut milk.  Heaven!  A piece of my soul will forever reside with the Shiriki Community.  Peace and Blessings be upon them and may their natural way of life be preserved!

 

 

 

 

 

After the conference we spent another week in Kenya and stayed with some MESA friends at the GBIAK farm.  GBIAK stands for Grow Bio intensive Agriculture Kenya.   

 

 

 

GBIAK is run by two incredible farmers who have a mission to teach bio intensive and sustainable agriculture to all those who come to learn.  The first day we arrived they were holding a workshop for indigenous farmers from the northern region who had been using synthetic fertilizers and had depleted their soils. 

 

 

Corn, sorghum, papaya, mangoes, jute, amaranth, sun hemp, nightshade, squash, okra, melons, greens, sweet potatoes, and bamboo are just a few of the crops grown here.  GBIAK uses the farming methods of John Jeavons. They are a perfect model of bio intensive agriculture, a prolific amount of food grown on a few acres.  

 

 

 

 

The most inspiring part of visiting GBIAK was their seed bank.  I fell in love with this idea and immediately wanted to build one back home.  Farmers come from all around to purchase organic seeds from this bank at one dollar per spoonful. 
 

 

I bought many varieties I am excited to try; drought resistant corn, sun hemp, jute, moringa, black amaranth, and others.  I managed to successfully smuggle them all home in my dirty pairs of socks!

 

 

During the rest of our trip we stayed in Nairobi and explored the city.  Of course we had to spend a full day at the Masai market.  So many amazing handmade goods and colors!  It was a bit of an overwhelming experience until I learned I had to bargain!

 

 

 

More adventures included visits to the elephant orphanage, lots of babies ages ranging from a few months to three years old. 

  

 

 

 

 

My friend got lots of muddy elephant love. 

 

 

This is Ed who I met at the Giraffe sanctuary.  He was surprisingly affectionate with his long neck hugs.  Toward the end of our trip we went on safari and saw all the incredible animals living in the park.  The day ended with a pride of seven lions about twenty yards from us.  So majestic!   

 

 
We ended up spending a day and a half in Ethiopia on our way home, also beautiful to tour Addis Ababa on foot.  Traveling to Africa was an opportunity of a lifetime.  There is so much more I could say about my adventures.  I left out a lot of the magical experiences.  The inspiration and expansion I experienced cannot be put into words.  In a nutshell this trip was a healing gift...life changing.  Thank you and gratitude to my supportive family and to PELUM Kenya for making it possible for me to have this experience!  I am so grateful for the new friendships I have made and we are already implementing many of the ideas I learned about here on our farm.  Give thanks for continuous growth and learning!

AMANI NA UPENDO
Peace and Love!

 

Grounding Back In...The Spiral

We are a circle within a circle with no beginning and never ending...



rooftop photo of the spiral garden at Grow Bio-intensive Agriculture Kenya

Greetings of Peace and Love!  It has been many months since I've written, so much has happened.  I have had the profound opportunity and gift to go on several life changing adventures, travel around the world, visit some AMAZING farming projects, meet many inspiring people, make life long friends, start a new business and learn a whole lot about myself and the creation.  I am excited to share so much information I have picked up along the way, much more than can be shared in a single blog post.  So the next few posts will be full of pictures, ideas, and inspiration from my journey.  I pray that you enjoy.  And that there is something new and inspiring for everyone who reads.  As always, we are sending and channeling love and healing light to you all, above and below like mycelium running through the veins of Mother Earth!  Many Blessings..

Sweet and Steady

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly but rarely admit the

 changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty."

-Maya Angelou

 



It's been awhile since I've written, almost six months actually.  Life has been both cruel and kind in it's lessons.  As an open hearted participant I can truly say I am always learning and growing, give thanks for evolution!  Much has transpired here on the farm since the last post in August.  The turkeys matured and went to their new abode in the freezer (weighing in between a whopping 30-40lbs each!).  Our Wild Feast Thanksgiving was amazing.  We successfully cooked our first enormous home grown turkey in the cob oven with an abundance of sage and rosemary.  The bird fed almost thirty people and the chef received many happy compliments. (Thank you beautiful birds for nourishing our family!)  We will definitely be raising turkeys again this year.

 

 

There is also a fairly new addition to the family.  Cinnamon (aka 2G) is our new jersey cow who we bought last August from an organic dairy up north.  We recently did pregnancy tests on both Cinnamon and Ginger and it's looking like both girls are pregnant and due in late spring.  Pretty exciting for us!  The milk has been slowing down as we get ready to dry them off for a break before calving. 

As the weather warms up, the bees are active and buzzing everywhere while the hillside has become lush and green.  The garden is getting more productive with peas, favas, cover crops and perennial kale, collards, chard, lettuce, garlic, onions and artichokes bursting.  Time to plant potatoes and start the summer squash and tomatoes in the greenhouse.   

 
We have a ton of chayote starts this year and are excited to line all the fences with these versatile squash.  I've also ordered more perennials bushes for the food forest...aronia, seaberry, gooseberry, along with more fruit trees including mulberry, hawthorn, and Asian pear. This time of year it is hard to contain myself from ordering everything, it's like having planting fever.

Classes and tours have also been going extremely well.  We have been blessed with so many wonderful students and great interest in what we are creating here. 



 
And so as we continually work on externally developing this land we are stewarding and internally developing our character, we experience the sweet and steady; the effort and the rewards.  We look forward in 2015 to implementing many new ideas, creativity, fun, travel, friendship, health and balance.  Many Blessings!

Aquaponics: Take One!

Our plans for fish farming have been in the works for a very long time now.  We've been dreaming, studying and gathering information for a couple of years.  We are really excited to be finally taking steps to bring our visions of this project into action. 

In the four years we have been working this land we have dabbled in all sorts of endeavors; natural beekeeping, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, varieties of perennials, drought tolerant edibles, the standard fruit and vegis, and our family cow.  With a little bit of experience behind us, we are refining our efforts to grow specifically what WE love to eat, which happens to include a good amount of fish!

In this set-up we used standard food grade IBC containers which had been functioning on the farm as containers for rainwater catchment. We are also using a large sump tank on the bottom as a water reservoir. There is a ton to be said about researching aquaponics set-ups. In a nutshell, our main source for a "how to" guide was Murray Hallam's Aquaponics Made Easy.   

As of this week the system we've been working on is ready. We just added about fifty fish, some babies and some breeders.  The fish are being fed a combination of what we have on hand; spent grain, garden vegis, insects and mosquito larvae.  

Tilapia are our fish of choice. They are warm water fish which grow to a large size quickly and they are adaptable and tasty.  The babies, called fry, take anywhere from six months to a year to mature.  The breeders are sexually mature and if all goes as planned, should  mate and produce more fry keeping the system functioning in a closed loop.

Adding our own fresh fish to equation feels like it might just make our homegrown diet complete. Exciting and lots of potential!  We will be reporting back to you all with the results including successes and failures, so stay tuned for more about this project.