My Zen of Permaculture

What better way to celebrate "meaningless drivel" than by speaking of... nothing!

This is based on a pep talk I frequently give myself, when I think I don't have enough time between all the stuff on my plate to do permaculture right, or fast enough, or awesome enough to keep up with everything I am reading and learning. There are so many choices in how to live, and raise food, in a healthy and ecologically regenerative way... endless choices, and sometimes it is agonizing to be so conscious that, there are more wrong choices than right ones available.

One of the first, and coolest, permaculture books I read is Masanobu Fukuoka's "One Straw Revolution". The following passage holds great meaning, though it speaks of nothing:

In this world there is nothing at all... I could see that all the concepts to which I had been clinging, the very notion of existence itself, were empty fabrications.

I turned this message into a sort of meditation to help me let go of control and anxiety. I do what I can do, which is sometimes nothing, knowing that my land is already perfect, and nothing I can conceive of or do will "improve" upon nature. I laugh at myself when I start to think of what I do there as "progress", AHAHAHAHA!!! It is a joke, really.

I used nothing as the beginning of my permaculture plan. I looked at what I could stop doing, rather than what I could do... I stopped "mowing the lawn", purchased a scythe. When I feel there is too much scything work, I realize - I don't need to use a mower, I just have too much grass! I stopped pulling weeds obsessively, and started eating them. What's wrong with that? NOTHING!

I sent the following message out on my daily-ish email.

The last podcast that went out seemed to generate a lot of unsubscribes. So that means that if you are still reading this, you are one of my true peeps. And of all the ways that I have to talk to people, this email thing shows that you trust me with your email address and that you like my stuff enough that you might get one or two things per day from me. I like that. So here is what I'm a-gonna do: to the first person that posts something good in the meaningless drivel forum at permies.com, I will send you one huckleberry pie. And, I will send another huckleberry pie to the person that led you to my empire (provided they are signed up for my daily-ish email). That's because I especially like people that direct people to my empire. So go post something good in meaningless drivel. Something about literature, arts, psychology, humor, science, engineering, photography, etc. Post a joke, video, picture, link to an amazing web site .... maybe share a vivid dream, life changes, or an idea that popped into your head about how to make the world a better place.

And your post is the first good post. You get that pie. Send me an email with the email address of the person that referred you to permies.com and I will send that person a pie too (provided that their email is also signed up for the daily-ish email).

Oh, and in that email, make sure you tell me your snail mail address.

Done, and done. Thank you so much, for pie, and for everything!

paul wheaton wrote:The last podcast that went out seemed to generate a lot of unsubscribes.

Really! So many people did not like the full beauty of the English language. I thought it was very informative, even though not so useful for me as a male.

Chris Lumpkin wrote:
I used nothing as the beginning of my permaculture plan. I looked at what I could stop doing, rather than what I could do... I stopped "mowing the lawn", purchased a scythe. When I feel there is too much scything work, I realize - I don't need to use a mower, I just have too much grass! I stopped pulling weeds obsessively, and started eating them. What's wrong with that? NOTHING!

Do followers of Zen practices have heroes? Probably not. Then it's probably a good thing I'm not very Zen, because your comments made you my hero, Chris.

Dog gone it. I wanted pie. I am a woman and I did not listen to the last pod. We were warned it had the scientific names for body parts and as a Nurse I get enough of that. If I haven't perfected my technique by now then I will never learn. To only be fair there should be a podcast on men peeing in the frozen wind or something. Un subscribing is silly. Yes I understand that it really has nothing to do with Permaculture, but that is the fun of this site. You just never know what will happen. So here is my meaningless drivel. Mr Rogers says its OK and we know with his green sweater he is the bomb.
I wake up in the husp area at the first break of dawn. We have three seekers in the Wipi this month. Ann who has stage IV bone cancer, Mike who is severely asthmatic and Terry who suffers severe depression. They have all tried "modern Medicine" and its has failed them. I do my morning meditation, welcoming the sun and being grateful for what I have. I am so glad we have stainless steel pots, pans, utensils, axes, tools of all kinds. I check on Ann, she is still sleeping, praise God. She usually needs comfrey tea every fours hours with the paregoric I make in the stainless steel still. I simply distill the poppy seed in the solar heater and use a few drops of that in her tea. I massaged her back with the deer tallow ( it has crushed juniper berries, mint and lavender in it) last night and she slept the whole night this time. I do want her to be mostly pain free, she needs her rest to heal. She claims that her pain is better controlled here than it ever was in the hospital. l go down to the spring ( another thing I am grateful for) and get two buckets of water, the men usually do this but they are out hunting and will not return until they have success. I take one of our wine bottles that has juice from the bear berries--we keep them down here in the cold water so they don't ferment so quickly. when they start to ferment I put St John's Wort in a bottle and that is what Terry sips on during the day. she probably doesn't need it, as I think getting away from harmful chemicals and getting enough sunshine will build her serotonin naturally. I certainly hope the men get an elk this time. Bows and arrows are all they have since Ray's crossbow broke just before they took off. . oh glorious to have real meat for a change instead of the jerky stew we have had this last month. I can feel winter coming and we will need more hides with fur for Ann. I use the stone mache to grind the corn we will have for breakfast, nothing like a fresh corn tortilla to go with our eggs. Of course hot breakfast will wait until the solar cooker is hot enough. For now we will have tortillas from yesterday with pine nuts, ground cherries and softened jerky( I love rosemary in mine, Mike gets lung-wort and cilantro in his.). I look over at the medicinal herb garden and see that the garlic is ready, will pull that today, dry for a couple of days and then braid for the winter. Everything is about preparing for winter here. ......to be continued.

---Applauds---

Is this the first Permies fiction? Great story!

I definitely agree with you Elisabeth, the surprises you get from what is brought up on Permies is what makes this forum so great! To quote someone famous "Permies is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get".

I always seem to find things when people get up and leave...how can anyone not be happy with the type of person that makes pie? I look forward to your podcasts and reading all the forum posts!

Elisabeth Van Camp wrote:Dog gone it. I wanted pie.

me too!

I am a woman and I did not listen to the last pod. We were warned it had the scientific names for body parts and as a Nurse I get enough of that. If I haven't perfected my technique by now then I will never learn. To only be fair there should be a podcast on men peeing in the frozen wind or something. Un subscribing is silly. Yes I understand that it really has nothing to do with Permaculture, but that is the fun of this site. You just never know what will happen. So here is my meaningless drivel. Mr Rogers says its OK and we know with his green sweater he is the bomb. ...

speaking of Mr. Rogers...'Garden of Your Mind'...

Dear Paul. Dog gone it I missed the pie. All is well that ends well according to the bard. Please take a moment and view Mr.Rogers at the bottom of this page, it warmed my heart. elisabeth

paul would you mind posting your recipe for pie? so the people who did not get any can make their own? I want to make a pie.

Jocelyn Campbell wrote:
Do followers of Zen practices have heroes? Probably not. Then it's probably a good thing I'm not very Zen, because your comments made you my hero, Chris.

Aw shucks, ma'am, you guys are my heroes... and if Zen Masters weren't so Zen, they would sue me for using their word! I have no formal training, and very little reading, in Zen. I did read The Tao of Pooh, but that was Tao and this is Zen (pun intended!). I do believe we would all benefit from a little nothing, a lot of simplicity, just take a break from trying to control everything in our environment, our lives, and just be grateful for what is.

Elisabeth Van Camp wrote:
I wake up in the husp area at the first break of dawn...

I love the positive visualization! I have heard of Transition groups using this sort of thing, writing future news articles and such, and I have thought how cool it would be to write the script for the revolution that needs to happen, to get humanity into harmony with the rest of terrestrial life. Maybe we need a thread, or a forum, for permaculture storytelling?

Anxiously awaiting my pie! Big Love to Paul and Jocelyn, everyone working on this site, and every one of you who is making it happen. I am educated, entertained, and inspired by so many of you!