Before I was a photographer I ran an organic blueberry farm.  I loved it.  I learned heaps considering I was a city chick before we bought it and by the end I was teaching courses in permaculture to kids.  It had to be kids because I would be farked if I could teach adults because my dirty little secret was that despite my ability to love and take care of blueberries I had a horrible case of Veggie garden ADD.  Each spring I would get excited and start one and by summer it was a crispy collection of dried out twigs because I would get so busy doing other things that I would constantly forget to water it.  Only coriander and Jerusalem artichokes thrived under my neglect.  I did learn to do haybale gardening but even that was challenging at times.

If I look at it from a Chakral stand point my base was way too diffused  at the time (running a farm, raising a son,  at one point I became a single mum, was running the farm cafe, organizing woofers,  working as a nurse at the hospital…no wonder the little things went up in smoke. ).  Despite being an earth mother I was pretty much a garden failure.

That is changing though.  Last year Craig and I joined forces and started haybale gardens on our front garden which was simply clay that was so dense and dry that you ran the risk of concussion from rebound if you tried to stick a shovel in it.   We had a consistent harvest that kept us in pretty darn good juices all year.  This spring Craig even grew some seedlings that are coming up nicely mixed in with the ones we have managed to keep alive from the shop.

Wookie is doing his part to compost the weeds into pelleted fertilizer.

We are slowing watching the soil improve with our care and attention and we are planting a wee food forest with berries and trees and veggies.  It is grounding time for me being out there and touching the soil.  I also find that my memory is clearer when I am outside.  When I am inside it is as if there is some sort of a veil on my memories of times spent inside but outside the memories are in technicolour.  Not sure why that is but I suppose I am meant to be outdoors more as that seems to resonate best.  Being stuck behind a computer seems to just piss me off now and my back is slowly rebelling too.

I have noticed that since working with the Chakras I have become a bit more “homey”.  More interested in what I have and keeping it all tidy and well taking care of what I have.  Where before I was always just looking for the next thing to keep me entertained.  Now I am finding deep fascination in the everyday.  Just looking deeper into it and having gratitude for what I do have.   even something as simple as learning to stack my vertebrae and stand properly not hunched.  I have been wrestling with a sore foot and hip for the last week.  But when I stand balanced there is no pain and when I walk balanced there is no pain.  When I get loose and relaxed in my walking the pain is coming.   It is as if my body is forcing me to learn this balanced stuff.   What a clever body.

There also is nothing better than cutting something fresh from the garden and eating it.  I know it is trite but well so true.