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finally.  Opened this up again after having just begun, last week.  And not being able to put it down.  I was not expecting this.   I had said a while back that maybe i'd read a little at a time and then write about it here.  But that's impossible.  Every sentence builds upon another and to take any of them out of context is just that…taking out of context and it's CONTEXT that it's all about.  But this one small thing:

"The world under our feet, the dark kingdom of which we're astoundingly unaware;  the down under that may account for up to 95% of our planet's species diversity.  This is the world of  soil microorganisms.  Dig up a teaspoon of healthy soil from your garden or from a city park or from the weedy strip along side a highway, and you're looking at something like 1 billion to 7 billion organisms,  depending on the health of the soil.  Scientists guess that as many as 75,000 species of bacteria could be in that teaspoon, along with 25,000 species of fungi, 1,000 species of protozoa, and 100 species of tiny worms called nematodes…and the count of microorganisms keeps rising, as scientists figure out better and better ways to look for them."

It's a truly WONDER FULL book,  extremely readable Science with many many leads to follow up in the real world of farming around the planet.    So i read.  and inbetween, stitched more on the Cloth.  More microbes.  a nematode or two.   And i looked and looked at how it was important when i placed it,   that the Soul's "toes" touched this earth.   Then,  things Out Side….

 

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the Woad.  Going to seed.  How each cluster has the one single "seed?" that looks like a feather…

 

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hollyhocks.  lots,  LOTS of pollen

 

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first tomato

 

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a Chatalpa.  Cross between a Catalpa and Desert Willow.  Don't know why,  but the hummingbirds like it very much.

 

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Native Olive.  Burgeoning with fruits this year.  For birds and small seed eating beings.

 

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and this grass,  a clump grass,  as is all the Native Grasses that i love and depict on cloths…i don't know what this is.  There are two clumps.  Near where i empty the bucks water bowls.  I need to find out.  There is a grass that is Foxtail that looks like this that is very dangerous to livestock.  i hope it's not this.  It's incredibly beautiful in the wind.

and one more thought about the above.   The reason that i am so hopeful about the possibility of the Soil Saving us is…that it has already begun to be accepted by even the larger more willfully ignorant world of Agriculture as we know it.   There is interest.  There is interest because more and more thousands of acres of farmland are dead and dying due to really,  almost innocent misunderstanding about How Things Go.  More mainstream farmers are turning to no till farming, turning to "organic" farming which means no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, no herbacides,  only because they can no longer afford them because their land is DEAD and they have no money.  It takes about 5 years of the no till to begin to see great and unmistakable HEALTH and production of crops.  Livlihood.  5 years to see the return to Livlihood.  and this is Documented by farmers like Gabe Brown in North Dakota.  They are TALKING  and being invited to TALK.  and 5 years….we have 5 years.   Maybe the vast majority of citizens of the planet won't be able to take to heart what needs to be done.  But Farmers.  Farmers fill our grocery stores with food.  Farmers and Ranchers are a HUGE and POWERFUL lobby with polititians who have no personal will.   Food is a bottom line.   maybe……………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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26 responses to “a day of great happiness”

  1. Joan@CopperCreekers Avatar

    i know of a couple of farmers around here (Kentucky) that are doing the no till and organic way. one has been doing this for over 10 years and is also known for his heirloom tomatoes.
    you have nurtured a beautiFull oasis. so many exotic (for me) plants.
    it seems as if i can hear those grasses whispering in a warm breeze.
    you have gorgeous hollyhocks. i’m sure the bees will thank you for all this abundance
    the woad and the chatalpa… Ooooo ♥
    thank you for sharing your day of great happiness 🙂

    Like

  2. grace Avatar

    Joan…i just looked at the beautiful Video you share and
    said there, will say again here…
    that Phenomenon of
    Photosynthesis
    maybe not a gift of Plant People alone…maybe we share it
    somehow???
    am so glad that you know of some farmers there. when those
    giant farms in Iowa and the Dakotas try it, because of
    no other choice…THEN…but the small farmers lead the
    way.
    Love to you and thank you for your Music. it’s the kind
    i sing to the Goats….

    Like

  3. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Ah–Beauty just bursting all over the place….what great cheer for the heart…and your Catalpa is beloved for the sweetness of its nectar deep in the long cup so perfectly designed for a hummingbirds beak. It’s all inspiration and balm to see.

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  4. ² Avatar
    ²

    to see the pics
    and to knew the heart
    give me thrust
    give us a future
    oooo greatness
    i love the hollyhocks ( stokroos )
    your oase garden aswell
    and o.k.thanks for the music of joan…..
    i have listen like that also wath happens alround it
    thank you for sharing

    Like

  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Soil, the foundation of it all. Takes work, and time to nurture it and it is so readily seen here how you pay attention and honor your land by careful tending and naturally enriching it with beautiful results. From there, all else takes place, photosynthesis, the greening and growing but it takes diligence and maybe now, after all of this devastation, loss of livelihood, attention will be paid on a much larger scale to the fact that it all begins with the soil, the body of our planet. No different than our own bodies. What you put into your body in large part determines how you live each day. What we put into our soil, determines it it will live and produce…

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  6. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Last sentence should have read, What we put into our soil, determines if it will live and produce…

    Like

  7. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Just have to add that seeing that first delicious orb, your first tomato brought me great happiness…it’s always the same feeling, no matter how many times we garden, the first growing of anything but especially tomatoes, their shape, the promise of that first juicy bite of goodness, the gift of the summer season.

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  8. patricia Avatar

    Marti makes a great analogy. garbage in/garbage out. five years doesn’t seem like anything on a “big picture” scale, but five years on a human scale would feel like an eternity w/o food. i’m thinking now what if–food production as we know it suddenly halted. for five years. and although i’m fortunate in being able to have a garden, so many people across the world may not have this luxury. we’re just now reaping the bounty of an early garden planted in March. 60 days. not sure what i’m trying to say here. but if anything might start to get the attention of those driving the bus, it could be lack of food and water. for everyone.

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  9. grace Avatar

    yes. tomato. beloved tomato. there’s another, but so tiny
    it’s almost not quite there. this year i VOW to honor each
    by diligent canning.

    Like

  10. Deb G Avatar

    I’m number two on one copy at the library. Why do I have this feeling this book will go on my wish list? 🙂 And look at all those plants, food for all… Today I will be out in the garden laying cardboard and burlap sacks to mulch and create garden beds. The worms will help with this.

    Like

  11. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    ..circles overlapping..i am away ..have just been to an amazing work shop sponsored by the vermont community garden network….it was for gardens for learning…and i was there for our school garden….it was a small intense group..a wonderful day of sharing information and being given resources…full of sharing stories and working in dirt…and this morning at small house in northern vermont..full of the scents of herbs being prepared for a healing gathering…your pictures and words appear as we suddenly have the internet back..and i follow joan copper creek’s link back and hear the wonderful music of appalachia rising..who performed for us at the new england women’s herbal conference two years ago..in an amazing community …then and there ..and here and now…i need to go and be helpful….happily…but was so glad to be back here…good day to you…cynthia

    Like

  12. Joan@CopperCreekers Avatar

    thank you. i’m glad you enjoyed the music.

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  13. Joan@CopperCreekers Avatar

    WOW what a wonderful opportunity to see them perform.

    Like

  14. Linda Watson Avatar

    What a beautiful blog. I am so glad I found it (and you). It tills the soil of my heart. Thank you.

    Like

  15. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Soil saving, acceptance, teaching the younger generation. Today we visited a growers market in Corrales which is about 10 minutes, in river bottom land, from where I live. A new vendor was at the market, Camino de Paz farm. Camino de Paz means the way of Peace in Spanish. This vendor is both a farm and a school located in northern NM, in Santa Cruz. They were selling raw goats milk, cheese and goat meat. When I got back home, I looked them up and here is what gives me hope. The mission statement from their web site:
    “CAMINO de PAZ FARM is the setting in which our school is fully integrated. The farm is structured as a teaching center for our students, the local community and the broader sustainable farming community. Camino de Paz Farm has market gardens, animal husbandry and processed foods divisions. Sustainability is key to what the farm is about. It means that we are soil builders and water conservers. We use as few outside inputs as possible, especially fossil fuels.”

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  16. Cynthia Avatar
    Cynthia

    it was truly unexpected and amazing

    Like

  17. grace Avatar

    the blossoms make me think of orchids

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  18. grace Avatar

    isn’t it beautiful, the music? the Video? i like to think
    of All of Us like in the Video….it’s Hundertwasser

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  19. grace Avatar

    back and back…that old thing of You are what you Eat…
    Feed.
    Feeding.
    in so many many ways. Feeding.

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  20. grace Avatar

    tonight there are 3

    Like

  21. grace Avatar

    yes. and here is my hope. Food. production of Food.
    and in the case of Agribusiness, production of Grains.
    i will watch closely what happens from here, but was
    amazed and EDUCATED about what all is already happening
    that i had no idea about. not a word in the mainstream
    media

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  22. grace Avatar

    Deb…i think just reading it from the library will be
    enough. But a very very important Enough. I can’t say
    how much i love worms, their Promise….

    Like

  23. grace Avatar

    this is so beautiful how the circle spirals back…i look so forward to any small bits of what you are experiencing that you will have time to give here. These teaching/learnings
    are meant to put into Practice, and so. But it fills me
    with great sense of well being that you do this.

    Like

  24. grace Avatar

    Hey, Linda…i am so glad that you are here too. We need
    Us.
    Thank YOU!

    Like

  25. grace Avatar

    i wish so much that i could spend time there. There is
    SO MUCH to learn…just SO SO much and i am so hungry for it.

    Like

  26. Saskia Van Herwaarden Avatar

    looking forward to ‘my’ worms and other sguiggly beings

    Like

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