Wilderness Calls Healing Nature by Paul Berensmeier
Dirt First by Will McQuilkin
Not enough people are planting straight into the soil. With all the gopher wire and formulated soil people are tempted to buy to fill up a raised bed, I sometimes think the time
Healing . . . our nature in nature. Rest to heal. Give yourself a break. Be good to yourself. Relax your whole being. Feel what
and money would be better spent on working the soil underfoot, perhaps purchasing some extra transplants and seed to fill gaps left by pests with the leftover money. The big creatures you want to keep away are deer, which all but demand that you build a 8ft fence around your garden, but once you’ve done that I think you should usually stop and just go into the ground. The easiest thing is to use a shovel (or power harrow/rototiller) to open up a 3’x6’ bed in the sunniest spot in your garden. Cover it in a 1-3 inch layer or compost and then plant into that space. You may need to weed a little more, but your plants will have access to more water and other nutrients than they otherwise would. The temperature will also be more consistent than in a raised bed, where heated soil can damage and even kill plant roots. Poor or compacted soil sometimes stops people from digging into their native soil. In these cases I recommend a no till approach, which doesn’t ever ask you to kick a spade into tough clay. Start by laying some cardboard down on your proposed plot. Then you’ll need a healthy bit of finished compost to spread over top of the cardboard to weigh it down — about 1-3 inches over the whole plot. Then water it thoroughly, ideally with an oscillating sprinkler, until the cardboard is sopping wet. Repeat once per day for one week, or until the card- board begins to disintegrate beneath the compost. You can use a small trowel to plant transplants in the plot as soon as the card- board starts to break down. Subsequent plantings can be done via transplant or direct seed, just repeat the process of covering the plot with cardboard and compost until the weeds beneath stop pushing through. Once they’ve stopped you need only apply a layer of compost over the bedtop to refresh between plantings. This process eliminates the need to till up the earth between plant- ings to achieve workability, as water, roots and microorganisms provide enough tillage and a host of other beneficial properties that will improve soil health and quality over time. If planter boxes are more your speed, I would still be sure to add at least a few shovelfulls of native soil into the bed. Your native soil (provided it’s not toxic) contains valuable trace minerals, nutrients and microorganisms that are not present in store bought soil, which is often entirely sterile. Bagged soil needs sterility to ensure that manufacturers are not filling gardens with noxious weeds or other harmful pathogens, but that also means that garden beds filled with bagged soil are oftentimes lacking essential qualities. The same rules apply to potted gardens. Add a little bit of native soil to each pot and watch as the plants inside burst with vigor! Just be on the lookout for weeds, as they may find their way into your well watered pots and want to show off their own well-adapted qualities. No garden is without its problems, but thinking that you need to build an impermeable housing around or even beneath your plants is a trap that stops many people from gardening. The best place to start, especially for beginners, is with a simple plot planted straight into the miraculous ground beneath your feet!
you need. Go to bed early. Wake up naturally . . . in your rhythm.
I wake naturally . . . early . . . dark. Tiptoe . . . one with this time . . . one with myself. Greet the morning . . . give thanks. Thankful for what I’ve been given. I tiptoe past generations of family artwork . . . thank you. I feel my way through the dark. Open the door quietly . . . cool fresh air . . . pause . . . listen. Deer walks qui- etly, also respectful, one with the night. I slip out under a quarter moon. Step into nature . . . stay still . . . quiet. What else will appear? Patience. A raccoon walks up the driveway. He is not alert and I wonder if he will walk right into me. He stops suddenly about four feet away. There shouldn’t be a tree in the driveway. He catches my smell and runs away. I give thanks. Brush the wind chimes . . . close your eyes . . . merge with the soft lingering tones. Walk to the edge of the forest . . . listen to the babbling brook. Welcome the sound . . . the feeling . . . start the day with the waters. We can do that . . . we live here. Pay attention to your senses . . . feel where to go . . . when to move . . . where to stop. A few more steps. Swift movement! A light color flashes by. Listen . . . there . . . a fluttering sound. Look carefully . . . a bat! It flies around me again . . . and again. What does it mean? What do native people think of bat energy? Warmth all around my body. I shiver in pleasure in the cool air. Relax into the warmth . . . visualize healing . . . soreness of recent long Sierra hikes dissipating. It is a healing. Healing in nature . . . call it healing nature. Bat continues to circle me in warmth. I visual- ize healing light. Don’t think . . . just pause . . . luxuriate . . . heal. Start the day the right way. Remember the healing of nature. Bring it into the world. . . .
SGV Community Center Stone Soup Page 15
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