Busy, busy, bee and Gardening with All Beings

Partially because summer has got me running and partially because I couldn't write it any better than how it has already been written, my post today will mostly be made up of snippets from Wendy Johnson's book, “Gardening at the Dragon's Gate.” Lay Zen teacher Wendy Johnson was the head gardener for twenty five years at Green Gulch garden, a branch of the San Francisco Zen Center. In her decades of experience, gardening has been a primary outlet for her Zen practice.
I admit, I sought after her book with one question in mind, which lead me to skip the first five chapters and go straight to “Chapter 6: Gardening with all Beings,” it's sub-title could be essentially “Zen Pest Management.” I wondered how would someone who dedicated their life to awareness, openness and non-violence approach the pest issue? Like most, when a squirrel insists on eating more of my strawberries then me, I am inclined to find a way to get rid of him. But I know approaching pest problems, like approaching many problems, with single-mindedness and without curiosity will do little to solve it. I have become curious how one could turn a pest from a loathed enemy to at least a relationship of mutual respect. Here I turn to Ms. Johnson:

“Has Zen practice helped me be more peaceful and closely hitched to the vast mind of this pestiferous universe? Hardly. Zen practice deepens my appreciation of paradox and relationship, especially with regard to pests and problems. In the garden Zen practice helps me hold still and look at what is right in front me without turning away. And then it helps me to look again [...] In the safe shelter of the meditation hall I even occasionally see myself as a kind of pest: I plague raccoons and deer, pursue spit bugs and flea beetles, and I plot their demise. I, too, am a kind of invasive creature, an “exotic” in California. Hailing from New England, I have replaced pristine native bogs of wild horsetail and stands of California nettles with row after row of introduced red Russian kale and clove scented stock flowers from Southern Europe.

[...] Unwanted creatures are forever arriving at the garden gate and requiring response. In order to respond to an importuning visitor you must first get out of the way and drop your notions of what your garden is[...] Pledging and promising to meet your garden and all visitors is core to every gardener's life.

[...]In responding to pests and disease in your garden, keep in mind the basic teaching of the Buddha that everything changes all the time, combining that with a reminder from the modern naturalist and conservationist John Muir that everything in the universe is hitched to everything else. Follow your affection as you garden and when you meet a pest, eye to complex eye, or shoulder to thorax, consider that this very spit bug doing the backstroke through a froth of expectorated foam may have been you mother lifetimes ago, or from a more rationalist perspective, is your cousin and you share a common parentage. Fold yourself in with the lot of all the shady and noble pests and guests that also love your healthy and diverse garden. Join the party. Your very life and good fortune as a gardener depend on this integrated relationship and on giving up a measure of control in favor of responding to your garden with a playful, observant and wide, pest-integrating mind.” (Excerpt from Gardening at the Dragon's Gate p. 206- 21, Wendy Johnson).

Originally posted on growfoodfeedspirit.blogspot.com

A Reenchanted World

There's a new post over on my blog where I discuss the first book I'm reading for this class, A Reenchanted World: The Quest for a New Kinship with Nature by James William Gibson. Here's most of it:

In the last 40 years, a movement has arisen which reclaims the sacredness of and connection to nature. Gibson writes, “The ultimate goal of this sweeping change, which I call ‘the culture of enchantment,’ is nothing less than the reinvestment of nature with spirit. Flatly rejecting modernity’s reduction of animals, plants, places, and natural forces to either matter or utilitarian resource, the culture of enchantment attempts to make nature sacred once again…. People respond to the culture of enchantment because it offers them something they need (and cannot find elsewhere in consumerist America): transcendence, a sense of mystery and meaning, glimpses of a numinous world beyond our own” (p. 11).

A Reenchanted World traces the history of this movement. The line of history that Gibson focuses on starts with the rise of Transcendentalism in the 1840s, through John Muir and the first National Parks, through Aldo Leopold and the establishment of modern ecology, and onto the post-WWII years where the use of synthetic chemicals and industry begin to change the environment in unprecedented ways, as described by Rachel Carson. Native American culture was influential in the 1960s and 1970s, as were the first pictures of the Earth taken from space.

The 1970s saw the rise of the modern environmental movement including the first Earth Day, the creation of the EPA, and the passage of major laws including the Clean Water and Air Acts and the Endangered Species Act. Gibson notes that “environmental activism could … be seen as an expression of people’s new awareness of their connections to the planet, their nascent consciousness of being intrinsic part of the Earth” (p. 99). The 1970s also saw James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis’ Gaia Hypothesis, feminist and earth-based spiritualities becoming more widespread, and the beginning of an emerging Judeo-Christian movement calling for stewardship of nature or Creation Care as biblically based and theologically driven. The greening of religion continues to gain strength, and spans across denominations and faiths. Per Gibson, “There cannot be any doubt that beliefs in the sacredness of creation of have radically increased since the culture of enchantment first emerged in the early 1970s” (p. 117).

I would say that my interest in this topic, and my study itself, are part of the culture of enchantment Gibson is writing about. As such, his conclusions make sense to me, but with a third of the book yet to read, I am not exactly sure what conclusions I will draw from the book for my inquiry. The exploration continues.

Additionally, this book has helped me see just how vast the topic of “environment and spirituality” really is. The notes/bibliography section of this book alone has provided me with a very long reading list, one I doubt I will ever find the end of. I chose to read A Reenchanted World first because of its focus on the spiritual aspects of the human/nature connection, which is the area I am trying to focus on. I am finding patterns I want to explore more – the impact of a sense of place, how food connects people to nature, and the role that photography has played in the culture of enchantment (such as Ansel Adams and Subhankar Banerjee). I also find myself wanting to broaden my study – I’m interested in learning more about the greening of religion both in specifics and in general, wanting to read more of the classics of nature writing…

As I said, the exploration continues.

A (food) chain of problems

In watching an interview with Bill Moyers following the 2008 Presidential election, it was quite apparent that author Michael Pollan feels that the state of the U.S. food industry should be a central focus for President Obama when attempting to create change in our country. This was another reminder for me in how massive this issue of food safety is. While the problems might start at the top, they definitely infiltrate across every mouth in the nation.

Within the brief 20 minute interview, the many issues with food in our country were discussed, proving that the way food is managed by our government and the few major companies involved, affects each and every individual. Because of the decisions being made in agribusiness there are now 32 million Americans who are struggling to put food on their tables. Unfortunately, a lack of food is not the only problem. The decreasing quality of the food we eat is equally detrimental to society.

The sad fact is that although cheap food is readily available in our country, according to Pollan, it is actually extremely expensive. The costs of cheap food include farm subsidies, pollution effects and quality of water, all of which lead to public health consequences of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Pollan includes costs to the atmosphere in this list, deeming agribusiness as the biggest contributor to green house gases. It seems that every way we turn, change is desperately needed.

Through this interview, Pollan urges Obama to look at the problems with the food industry through a global perspective that is interdisciplinary in nature. Without doing so, Pollan believes that he will be missing an opportunity to look at what is possibly the most important question, how do all of these dots connect?

Journey within a Journey

With kayaks weighed down with 5 weeks of food and gear, 13 of us set off to study ecology and policy of the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. One of our stops was Anan Bear Observatory operated by the U.S. Forest Service. It is accessible only by boat or float plane and requires very limited, difficult to get permits. The focal point is Anan Creek that supports the largest run of pink salmon in Southeast Alaska. It is estimated that 300,000 fish make their way up the creek to spawn and die from late June through September. And, where salmon are found, so are the bear that feed on them. Black and brown (brownies aka grizzles) in close proximity to each other with cubs, feeding on an endless bounty. This is the vantage of the observatory as we watched quietly with amazement.

The pink salmon that run here are also called Humpbacks or “Humpies” because of the pronounced hump that the males develop on their back after they begin spawning. They can weigh up to 12 pounds but more commonly weigh 3 to 5 pounds at maturity, and their two-year life cycle is the shortest of all the salmon species. Because they return to spawn after approximately 18 months at sea, each year’s pink salmon never mix with another’s, so runs in odd and even numbered years become genetically isolated and radically different in size.

Anan Creek is also an area of rich history. The Stikine Tlingit clans had summer fish camps here and used Anan Creek’s large salmon spawning run to catch and preserve salmon for their winter food supply. Anan was unique because the large amount of salmon available made it possible to have several clans sharing one fish camp.
The abundance of salmon also drew non-native people to Anan Creek. In 1901, Pilot Fish Packing Company set up a large fish trap at Anan that allowed few fish to make it up the creek. This lack of escapement was very destructive to the Anan salmon population. Commercial fish traps were outlawed shortly after Alaska became a state in 1959.

I was conflicted as I intruded into the Anan Creek ecosystem where I as a human, did not participate and only benefited anthropocentrically. However, it was there that I found a greater reverence for wilderness and an obligation to protect it. I had journeyed to Anan to observe the bear and I departed with a greater understanding of the complexity of nature that will always remain with me. Simply put, without salmon there will be no bear. Perhaps this was the inception of my personal responsibility for there to be a future for salmon.

Reflecting on local food

This class is providing us an exciting opportunity to step blindly into the unknown world of food production. The more we learn the more there is to learn.

We have read about the systemic destruction associated with agribusiness, We have meet and interviewed local farmers, agricultural economist and farmland stewards.

Through these dialogues I am beginning to understand how dire the need to save local organic farmland is. I think what is most important is educating people about where our food comes from, somehow we have begun to take our food for granted, assuming all is well we continue to eat our microwave dinners.

In reading Animal Vegetable, Miracle I am struck by how little I know about gardening. When I was growing up my family had a small vegetable garden we grew the basics, corn, tomatoes, potatoes and peas. It was hard work the soil was clay and full of rocks.

Every spring my sister and I would have the tedious chore of picking out buckets of rocks from the mucky garden that my grandfather would endlessly hoe. My favorite vegetables to forage for were potatoes. I remember the dirt under my fingernails from digging deep down in the cold ground and finally discovering my treasures and yelling “I found them!” Then always making sure that I ate the potatoes I found.

I recently asked my parents why they don’t have a garden in their new house. They laughed, “too much work” they said in unison and “you can get whatever you need at the grocery store”. For them the garden was all part of the rural living experience, my mom is from the Bronx and my dad is from the Jersey Shore. It was my grandparents that were the lifeblood of the garden. They were Irish immigrants and had a deep respect for the land and its ability to provide for its residents.

I worry about the future. My own parents the ones who made me eat my vegetables are content to eat there corn feed beef and South American grown tomatoes.

Although they did enjoy shopping at the Ballard Farmers Market and my dad just saw Food Inc, so there is hope after all.

Food is business.

Food is personal.

Food is necessary.

I can see food clearly now

The book we have been reading, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, A year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver has been incredibly enjoyable. It is such a wonderful read that I find myself looking forward to each chapter with longing titillation. She beautifully writes about the challenges and gifts of eating locally. Her daughter adds delicious recipes with each chapter and her husband contributes interesting politics and facts. This book has indeed changed the way I see food. I thought I was well informed in this area. Since starting this class I realize it is just the tip of a melting iceberg. They have a lovely website with recipes and more information at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

On July 18th Erin, Sam and I went to the CAGJ's annual fundraiser, Strengthening Local Economies Everywhere Fair & Dinner, http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/slee-dinner/. We had a great time looking at all the booths and talking to the vendors. Dinner was a local fresh treat. I just got the latest newsletter in my email, which states "The Fair was fun and festive, and the dinner was well-attended. As appetizers were served, CAGJ presented our three programs, and Steve Williamson delivered a compelling keynote pointing to the important challenges of building cross-sectoral unity for food workers' rights. We honored the food workers and farmers eating with us, broke bread together, and sung "Pastures of Plenty" as the delicious and beautiful dinner was served."

We were placed at a table with a few other nice people who we enjoyed meeting, especially Eric from Jubilee Biodynamic Farm, http://www.jubileefarm.org/index.html. He was a philosophy professor before he became a farmer. Talking with him was inspirational for me and I am now compelled to go visit his farm on August 22nd for CAGJ's upcoming Teach Out, http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2009/07/join-cagjs-teach-out-sat-aug-22-visit-jubilee-farm-local-roots-farm/. Does anyone want to join me?

The Establishment of the National Park Service

About thirty years after the historic expedition of Lewis and Clark travelers were exploring the western region of the United States. Most were seeking fur or riches but another traveler, George Catlin had another agenda. Catlin’s focus was on the studies of the native tribes that lived in the region. As Catlin proceeded throughout the Great Plains he was struck by the great beauty of the region. He knew that this area would soon change as the settlers came to claim their stake and felt that it should be safeguarded and preserved. It was George Catlin who in the early 1830’s first presented the idea that America should create “A nation’s park containing man and beast, all in the wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty!”1 At the time no one really gave much thought to Catlin’s idea but finally in 1864 Congress ceded the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Tree to the state of California protecting it from land claims and logging. Later in 1872 President Grant signed the Yellowstone Park Act reserving more than two million acres from “settlement, occupancy or sale” and reserved it “as a public pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”2

Even though national parks such as Mount Rainier, Sequoia, and Crater Lake were being established they were still not protected. Advocate, inventor, nature lover and preservationist John Muir saw the need to protect these areas and with others pushed President Woodrow Wilson to sign the National Park Service Act in 1916 creating the National Park Service that we know today. John Muir is often referred to as “the Father of the National Park Service”.

Why were our national parks established and what was the purpose behind the creation of the National Park Service? Before these questions are answered let’s explore the Antiquities Act of 1906. Many areas in the Southwest, especially native ruins, were being looted for treasure. Many saw the need to protect these places and urged Congress to pass the Antiquities Act which allowed the president to set aside these places as “national monuments” and imposed strict penalties for those who looted, disturbed or destroyed prehistoric ruins on federal land. It was this act that allowed President Theodore Roosevelt to create such places as Devils Tower and Montezuma Castle and later President William H. Taft and Woodrow Wilson proclaimed more monuments such as Mt. Olympus and Dinosaur National Monument. The Antiquities Act allowed areas of cultural and historic value to be protected just as the national parks were. Up until this time the areas set aside as parks were areas with exceptional beauty or extraordinary landscape qualities or monumental scenery. Now areas with cultural and historical value were also on the list of areas to preserve and protect. The coordination of efforts to protect these parks and monuments was set in stone, or at least on paper, with the creation of the National Park Service Act in 1916. To this day the mission statement of the National Parks Service has not changed. It states "the Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of Federal areas known as national parks, monuments and reservations . . . by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."3 The rules, policies and agenda were set for the service but providing the funds and manpower to carry it out proved to be a very challenging task.
Even today our national parks are struggling with preserving their resources and keeping up with maintenance within the parks. Policies and procedures that were made over 90 years ago have not changed to adapt to our changing world, a myriad of environmental stresses, and growing visitor use. The management plan for the parks did not take into account these changes and stresses. It is becoming clear that a static management plan cannot be effective in a dynamic environment. It is time to take a closer look at the current management plan for the parks. This does not mean that we must abandon the plan entirely but it does mean that we must develop a plan that is more effective, systemic, and dynamic for our changing world in order to meet the special needs of the preservation of the wild, scenic, historical and cultural treasures that are found in these places. It is this topic that my next post will be dedicated to. Please remember to support your National Parks by visiting them, purchasing an annual pass, and voting for increased funding…and as always please tread lightly in these most special of places.

1 George Catlin, Illustrations of the Manners, Customs and Conditions of the North American Indians, 2 vols. (London: H.G. Bohn, 1851), 1:262.
2 John Ise, Our National Park Policy: A Critical History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press 1961), 53.
3 National Park Service, The National Park System Caring for the American Legacy, www.nps.gov/legacy/mission.html

Photo credits:
National Park Service US Department of Interior Museum Management Program, John Muir, Library of Congress. LC-USZ62-52000 DLC. Digital #cph 3b00011
Wikipedia, George Catlin, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GeorgeCatlinByFisk.jpg

Here Comes the Sun

Though this summer, as I am told, is uncharacteristically sunny for Seattle, there have been some gray days. After a day or two of the sun hiding behind clouds, it's so dramatic to see how the plants respond when it is shining brightly again. It's as if someone injected them with life power. Leaves are bigger, greener and reaching higher. It seems as if they are trying to prove themselves, “Look, look what I can do!”

Different cultures through history have worshiped the power of the sun or at least celebrated it's movement throughout the year. Equinox and solstice have had powerful meanings across the world, marking the passing of the seasons, something greatly lost in our culture. Since we have been able to remove ourselves from the seasonal rhythms, working and eating the same in winter as we do in summer, the seasonal landmarks have lost their importance.

May Day, the midpoint between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, is often a fertility celebration (i.e. maidens dancing around the May “pole”) in the hopes a full summer bounty. For Beltane, the Celtic May celebration, great fires were built to purify the people, animals and the land. Especially in Eastern Europe, large bonfires were also apart of their summer solstice celebrations. As well as bringing the sun's fire to earth, it was also to ward off any wandering spirits that may damage the coming harvest.

Maureen Gilmer, a horticulturist writing in the Seattle Times, noted that that for the ancients “[p]lants harvested on this day were believed to be imbued with all sorts of special powers. Healers believed that herbs cut on this date would be better able to cure the sick.”
Gilmer wrote that this is likely true as prior to the solstice, many plants concentrate on making roots, shoots and leaves, but afterward with the days getting shorter, they will focus on reproductive growth. The medicinal oils present in certain herbs are more concentrated on solstice has they haven't yet been expended into reproduction.

Reading Rudolph Steiner's lectures on Nature Spirits, he tells how the sun (along with other elements of the sky) send the secrets of the universe into plants and the plants channel those secrets into their roots where root spirits (characterized as Gnomes) gather the secrets and then spread them through the underground as they travel.

When we eat food we eat the elements that brought it to life. The energy of the sun's firelight fuels photosynthesis and the growth of the plant. We eat the plant's response to the Sun's gift. I was taught to say thanks to God whenever I ate a meal, something I do not do enough anymore. Though when I do, I repeat a Buddhist prayer taught to me by a friend I met in Hawaii, “Earth, fire, water, air and space combine to make this food. Numberless beings gave their life and labour that I may eat. May I be nourished, that I may nourish life.”

(Orginally posted on growfoodfeedspirit.blogspot.com)

Insight into the Luiseno Diet

I have been at Tierra Miguel Farm in Pauma Valley, CA for over a year. Prior to this course, I had learned little about the natural history of the area. But I am using this opportunity to learn about the native foods that have been eaten for centuries and their significance to the native peoples of the region. The property that Tierra Miguel farms is owned by the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, one of seven bands of the Luiseno Indians. Before the times when cheap food could be quickly shipped around the world, people of all cultures had to depend upon locally available foodstuffs to make up most of their diet. Below are some traditional foods that the Luiseno have enjoyed since time immemorial.

From the Pauma Band website
( http://www.pauma-nsn.gov/pauma-tribal-culture.html ):

The Luiseño people enjoyed life in a land rich with diverse plants and animals. Our people have been described as hunters and gatherers.

The men hunted deer, antelope, rabbits, wood rats, ducks, quail, seafood and various insects. Hunters used bows and arrows, spear throwers, rabbit sticks, traps, nets, clubs and slings to catch game. Fishermen and traders used dugout canoes in the ocean and tule reed boats or rafts in the rivers and lakes. Family groups had specific hunting and gathering areas in the mountains and along the coast. Individuals from outside these groups only crossed the boundaries of these areas upon permission.

Women gathered seeds, roots, wild berries, acorns, wild grapes, strawberries, wild onions and prickly pear in finely woven baskets. The Pauma and other Luiseño peoples are world renown for their expertise in coiled baskets made from the flora of the region.

At the heart of our traditional foods is wìiwish, a tasty ground acorn mush and healthy food staple rich in protein. Evidence of acorn and seed processing and shellfish use dominates ancient sites throughout the Luiseño territory. The most visible evidence is the bedrock milling stone mortars used for processing seeds like acorns. These bedrock mortars sites are located throughout our region.

The traditional territory of the Luiseño people extends along the coast, from the north near San Juan Capistrano, south to the Encinitas/Carlsbad area and east to the valleys of the coastal mountains and Mt. Palomar. Today this area is in northern San Diego, Riverside and Orange counties.

Tierra Miguel is growing domesticated versions of the following traditional Luiseno foods; roots, wild berries, wild grapes, strawberries, and wild onions. Currently growing at the farm are carrots, beets, radishes, potatoes, grapes, raspberries, strawberries and onions among many other items.

Wiiwish is the Luiseno food that I would most like to taste. My understanding is that it was a staple of their diet. Stay tuned to read about how wiiwish and other traditional food continue to be part of the Luiseno diet.