Cultivating people

Since Spring cannot get here fast enough and I want to be ready when it does, I've begun digging through my gardening/permie books. I found this passage that I underlined a few years ago in Edward C. Smith's book, “The Vegetable Gardener's Bible.“

“...the garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life's most basic processes. In the garden, we are participants in life. As Masanobu Fukuoka wrote in The One Straw Revolution, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and pefection of human beings.“

I like that. It did for me last year. Although I don't 'farm,' just had a 175 sq ft veg/herb garden last year (doubled in size for 2021) its success and my desire to 'just be in it,' helped to 'cultivate me as a person.' The connection with nature and participating and cooperating in the ongoing process of Creation helped me to be a better me. That it happened during a pandemic makes it all the more interesting.

(Becoming more active on Permies also helped.  )

Yes, Paul, I think the "care of people" can easily be a part of permaculture that gets overlooked with the pressure to "produce" or "get big or get out" attitude that North America seems to prize but which I think often decreases the quality of life.

I hope this year you enjoy your garden just as much!

This video from the Edible Acres YouTube Channel got me thinking about stuff like gardening is more than just planting things in hopes they grow. This video is from last year, when the gentleman offered some comments about dealing with the pandemic.  

I love this channel; the farm in question is about 90 minutes East of me. So, their general advice on things is very useful to me. They're in Zone 5b, thru intensive searching and meticulous studying of USDA maps I figured I'm 6a (I thought I was right on a 6a/5b border. So, 6a, close to 5b )

Paul Sofranko wrote:Since Spring cannot get here fast enough and I want to be ready when it does, I've begun digging through my gardening/permie books. I found this passage that I underlined a few years ago in Edward C. Smith's book, “The Vegetable Gardener's Bible.“

“...the garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life's most basic processes. In the garden, we are participants in life. As Masanobu Fukuoka wrote in The One Straw Revolution, “The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and pefection of human beings.“

I like that. It did for me last year. Although I don't 'farm,' just had a 175 sq ft veg/herb garden last year (doubled in size for 2021) its success and my desire to 'just be in it,' helped to 'cultivate me as a person.' The connection with nature and participating and cooperating in the ongoing process of Creation helped me to be a better me. That it happened during a pandemic makes it all the more interesting.

(Becoming more active on Permies also helped.  )

You are completely in the zone...