As I walk this land and work to remove trash, debris, and weeds, I think. I think about all the causes and effects that I cause or change. Some for good and some for ill. I think about how everything in our environment is connected and how everywhere on earth we remove forests, mine the mountains, frack, drill, spray chemicals, overgraze, and try to control the environment.
As I have lived, worked and spent most of my life with plants and animals it is easy for me to see the cause and affects of our daily lives and how we can, through our practices and intentions make a difference. For instance the decisions I make on how to treat the elm leaf beetle on the giant Elm trees on this property. I cannot in good conscious treat them with Imidicloprid (Neonicotinoids) There are just too many concerns connected to these chemicals and the health of the soil and pollinators.
I am going to let the Elm trees figure out what to do about the insects bothering them. They may decide to die. They may decide that it is time to go back to the earth. They may decide to overcome them or live in some kind of status where the bugs and the tree find some kind of balance. I will do all I can on my end to provide health and nutrition and remove any stress that I can.
I think of the work that was done in Yellowstone. Back in 1995 they quietly experimented re-wilding a small pack of wolves. Their impact was amazing. We saw how the overpopulation of the deer were slightly thinned, but also that the deer moved out of certain areas of the park. This allowed for the streams to repair. The banks were positively effected by the lack of deer browsing on the riparian plant life. The trees were able to grow. The birds and raptors returned. The beaver returned to parts of the streams and, as beaver do, they created pockets and pools in rivers and streams that aided a whole host of animals to live and thrive. Nature knows what to do. Through co-dependant behaviour, micromanaging we cause more harm than good. "When help isn't helping, it isn't help."
Farming and working the land is a good place for thinking. I also think about my breath. I am often breathing hard. Inhaling, exhaling. My breath connects me to the flowers, the trees, the animals in the farm next door. We are sharing and building a relationship from sharing C02 and oxygen. We share this world we are all connected. I will use these thoughts as I go forward. My intentions are to be in harmony with the garden. I have decided the animals living here will not be eaten, but allowed to work the land doing what they do- helping me to balance out this Eco system. Mindfulness. The garden will be a place of mindfulness. The garden and orchards will be tended with loving intentions. I believe this energy is perceived on some level.
This is all for today. It has been good to have a couple of days of rain. I hope it is a good space where you are this day.
