Gasshō,
I’ve never thought of myself as flaky. I doubt very many people have. But I can see at this juncture how it could appear to be the case. In what follows I hope to make a strong case for “just don’t know” rather than “flakiness.” Here goes.
From 1987 to 2021 we had one home for practice, the Zen Monastery Peace Center in Murphys, CA. We had sold the original Zen Center building in Mountain View in order to purchase the Monastery. ZMPC was 320 pristine acres and over the next 10 years we built it into a gorgeous home for Sangha. That “we” is thousands of people all over the world who donated the funds and the large numbers who did the hands-on work.
Then Life intervened, mostly in the form of climate change. It simply became impossible to continue as we had for so many years. Summer temperatures rarely below 90 degrees, fires, smoke…and we were off the grid. Not sustainable.
Over the course of a few years, I was guided to Sequim, WA. When I heard there was a place in Western Washington called the banana belt, my curiosity was piqued. I visited. I fell in love. We needed to go somewhere since the Monastery was selling, and this seemed the perfect spot.
This happened during a time of great real estate flux. Properties in Sequim were selling almost before they came on the market. While we knew we certainly did not want 320 acres to deal with, we did want enough acreage to build a new home for Sangha. Our realtor found 25 acres several miles out of town, bordered on two sides by large properties, at the far end by a state-owned forest leading directly into the Olympic National Forest, with magnificent views of towering mountains. What’s not to like? We said yes.
We’ve all noticed that often things are not as they seem and this property was no exception. Those of you with us through the move recall the condition we found the land in once it had been mowed. It had been used as a dump for at least the time the previous owners had it, and perhaps long before. Any area that charges to use a landfill can know that, rather than pay, available land will be used as a dump site. (We had a return to this sad state of affairs when we purchased the four acres in town that is FAZC. Almost every inch of it had been used as a dump, and even after the previous owners had hauled massive amounts off to the landfill our cleanup efforts continued.)
As we were reclaiming the land, we fenced in a large area and planted 160 native trees and shrubs for habitat. We could see all sorts of possibilities for the land, even after accepting that growing bamboo, which we thought we would be doing, wasn’t an option. Turns out bamboo is considered an invasive species in this part of the world and we wanted to honor the wishes of the folks here before we arrived.
FAZC was now taking more and more of our time and attention. It began to occur to us that perhaps the 25 acres was not our future. Yes, it had been wonderful as a place to get established and had housed a number of Sangha for various lengths of time, but maybe it was time to put it on the market. Eventually we did. Wonderful new realtor, the house and property polished and shined…and nothing. One person looked at it, decided it wouldn’t work for raising animals—not enough animal husbandry infrastructure. After many months we took it off the market. That didn’t resolve any of our issues, and when the weather turned favorable we put it back on the market. One person looked at it, feared it would be too cold in the winter for grapes, and after many months we took it off the market again.
Now, we’ve gone beyond scratching our heads and muttering, “But, what the heck…?” It all began to dawn: Maybe, we’re not meant to sell it. Maybe it’s ours to keep and to farm. Suddenly, we get an offer from a chap whose dream is regenerative farming. He’d give up a fine life in another part of the country to come to Sequim and have a chance to farm those 25 acres. He’s got ideas, plans, hopes and dreams.
Well, we said, nothing else is happening and this feels really right. Okay. Let’s do this.
First stop is truckloads of wood chippings to begin building the compost. This first part is just for us. Later we will increasingly engage local folks and some food service entities to provide us with their pre-consumer food scraps for a much larger compost operation. Inside the fenced area with the trees and habitat, we’re putting down cardboard to discourage the very strong and healthy grass and covering it with wood chips. In the spring we will pull the wood chips off and move them to mulching the trees and shrubs and plant our vegetables in the newly uncovered areas. We’re essentially covering the whole yard so that we will be able to plant as much as we can this season and the rest will slowly turn into fine planting areas for next season.
Wood Chip Delivery
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| Cardboard waiting for chips | Preparing for beans and peas |
The greenhouse has been ordered, 10 feet by 32 feet. The native trees have been ordered and will arrive for pickup on March 1. These are the same natives that were provided by Clallam County Conservation District and are now growing happily within the garden area. Fruit trees are being ordered for the orchard. We’ve been gathering seeds from native trees and taking hard cuttings that are now waiting out the cold, getting ready to go in the ground as it warms.
Pictures of fence line where 50 seeds of native tree have been planted
So, that’s where we are now. It turns out that “just don’t know” and “flakiness” can look a lot alike! Now do we feel like we know, you may wonder? Absolutely not. As Brian, our new Longview Farm farmer, has said, “We know there’s a farm here; we just have to find it.” The approach is to learn everything we can from locals, try everything we have time and strength for, and see what works. We’ve been taking photos and videos, and as soon as he’s on site fulltime he’ll get a YouTube channel set up for the farm and keep all interested up to date.
We’ve included a link to a video that inspires us as an example of what’s possible and the direction in which we want to head. The food forest we’re planning will provide food year-round. One of the items I’m particularly excited about is a tree with leaves that can serve as the lettuce in a salad. The tree can provide those leaves throughout the seasons, even when lettuce becomes difficult to grow. I’m learning that there are huge numbers of fruits and vegetables that we can grow and enjoy, ones not found in the grocery store because they don’t lend themselves to shipping. A whole new world!
The beginnings of a food forest
Finally, as many of you know, we’ve been talking about starting/contributing to a food kitchen that would support efforts to feed our local community as food insecurity increases. Those vegetables would be essential to that effort. And, changing as things do, we’ve hit upon something that might be even easier, more manageable, and possibly more popular than soup. In nearby Port Townsend there’s a little hole-in-the-wall pizza place that has become our ideal—for lunch and possibly for the future. The crust is sourdough, which we’re told is easier for digestion unless someone has a very serious issue with gluten. The shop offers 3 types of pizza out of the oven, from which customers choose the slice they prefer. Simple. Cook’s choice. I’ve yet to encounter a slice that wasn’t delicious. $5 a slice. One slice is a meal for most. It has occurred to us that this could be a very good business model as we attempt our pay-it-forward food service to assist in feeding those in need of a delicious, nutritious, organic option.
Gasshō,
ch
Compost Operation Begins Steaming Compost |
The Guide turns the Compost |
Compost pile receives food scraps |
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Composting fundamentals
Windscreening with red alders.