There is a wonderful organic farm in Murphys that for years has hosted and participated in farmers markets. One day at their market I overheard this exchange between the farmer, Eric, and a customer.
Customer: This produce is beautiful! How long have you been a vegetable farmer?
Eric: Actually, I’m a soil farmer. The vegetables grow from great soil.
More and more, as we practice in the Monastery garden, and as the drought continues, it becomes clear that gardening comes down to soil and water: nutritious soil and carefully conserved water. Given those, healthy plants will grow.
Another vignette: a marvelous gardener, Bob Canard, said in a video, “Half of what I grow is for people, half is for the soil.” That is, half of the plants are grown not for consumption, but for return to the land to feed the soil. And the result of that incredible soil: “My neighbors water their gardens one hour a day. I water mine a half hour a week.”
What an exciting goal to go for! To create soil so rich and robust that it holds every available drop of water and supports an explosion of healthy plants. What a gift to the earth, what a gift to all creatures upon it. What a gift to be among those creatures.
In the garden, as everywhere at the Monastery, everywhere in Practice, we experience the privileged environment’s cycle of nourishment. The giving and receiving, caring for and being cared for, are indivisible. And in challenging times – such as drought – the cycle simply becomes more apparent.
Gassho,
Penny