Good morning! It has been too long since I have posted anything, I apologies for my neglect of this blog! I am almost done with my stay here at Hale Akua Garden farm, and it has been an amazing, life changing experience; I’m not leaving yet though so I won’t get into all that now. Right now I am sitting in my room listening to Christmas music…….and I have been since November 1st. The other wwoofrs say I’m worse than the department stores, I just can’t resist the lights, music, and cheer (wow that sounds lame :p). Im going to be honest here, all this Christmas music makes me SUPER excited to come home!!! Plus I just really miss my dog! So I am looking forward to home, and I am also looking forward to returning to Maui in March!
I will really miss working on the farm. At first I didn’t really connect to what I was doing, and I didn’t have enough appreciation for the work and connecting to the land as I do know. So much energy has shifted in and through me, and it happens when I am connecting to mother earth. I have really embraced the work we are doing, taking care of the land (the land doesn’t need us to take care of her, she really takes care of us), and creating an ideal environment for the food that is growing. From the outside it looks like I am a farmer working on the land, growing food. In reality, I am a farmer working on the land, and she is growing me, creating an ideal environment for me to grow! The trickiness of the Universe is amazing. Yesterday I was in Mana (the grocery store we shop at, and sell to) and I was in the veggie section. I was near the eggplant and noticed that the sign in front of it said “Lady Finger Eggplant Hale Akua”, I got seriously excited about this eggplant. Every day a 2:00 I go into my garden and harvest eggplant that I have watched grow from seedling. I even spent a day sawing bamboo shafts hammering them in the ground with a rock (cave man style) and then wired the plants so they stand up right so they are happier. I spend every day with them, harvesting, maintaining, weeding, and singing to this plant that grows a beautiful food that I harvest package and send off the a store where someone will buy it prepare it and ingest it! It was so amazing to me to see this little veggie that I have developed a relationship with, and put my energy into sitting in the store waiting for someone to buy it. It feels so good to share something you have spent time and energy on, energy I am proud to share with others.
Seeing the eggplant on the shelf made me really think about all the food I buy, and what energy went into it. Was it planted with love, was it sung to, or was it just a product of mass consumption with little energy put into the plant at all. And if I buy a certain product would it be a statement of support for the demise of our world, or be a sustainable choice? This is just something to think about, because this might not even occur to anyone. A lot of time it is hard to get people to care about the nutritional content of the food they are consuming let alone the energy put into it! This is one of the many reasons to grow your own food; you know where it is from, what energy went into it and the degree to how organic it is, which in the end leads to a more sustainable lifestyle which benefits the earth and all her beings. I am extremely fortunate to live on an organic farm. We are able to eat the food we grow; it is really beautiful to eat food you have spent so much time with. During the day I have a variety of the food on the farm. I have the luxury of walking over to the tomato bush and eat fresh cherry tomatoes, pick a piece of kale and enjoy, meander under the mulberry tree looking for the most ripe berries, getting my fill on the most delicious celery. Arugula grows wild, and there are fruit trees all over the property. One of my favorite things is the edible flowers and huge amounts of herbs that are available to us. The other day Bettina and I were even eating the grass (it’s good; don’t knock it till you try it). I have also eaten dirt, which is actually a way to see what deficiencies the soil has. For example if your soil is more acidic, you need more calcium and magnesium. But honestly our soil tastes great! Well anyways connecting to the earth and getting in touch with her energies has really opened me up so I can access places of new growth. Well its Thanksgiving week and I am swimming in things to be grateful for. I hope everyone has a beautiful week and a beautiful holiday! Aloha!
