As Paleros, we give offerings to "Death" that we may have abundant and thriving "Life". In the previous article:
Ancient Wisdom, Modern Solutions!
we saw the garden in its "death and decay" phase. The raised beds were in the process of composting with all the little micro-organisms and fungi breaking down the organic matter of leaves, straw, manures and plants that we had layered to make the beds. In this post we can see the garden in the fullness of its vibrant expression of life and we can see clearly how Death gives Rise to Life in a cycle that continues to resonate through the ages. As Summer progresses to Fall we enter the season of full Harvest right before the time of "death" during the Winter. However Harvest occurs year round, from harvesting Roots in the Winter to harvesting greens all Spring, and many vegetables all summer.
Potatoes growing before their flowering stage. We mound the soil and straw up around them to allow their tubers (potatoes) to grow more abundantly. Potatoes also will store for months, providing food throughout the winter. In between the beds white clover is planted, the white clover creates a beneficial pathway, a place for water to seep into and is good for the honey bees. White clover grows only about 8" tall so it does not require mowing.
Leeks are growing here, they were planted last fall, and overwintered. We are allowing some of them to go to seed in order to collect the leek seeds for replanting.
Using locust poles cut from the Land itself, we are creating trellises for beans, peas, hops, raspberries, cucumbers, tomatoes and other plants that require something to support them or something to vine around. These locust poles are not treated with any chemicals and will last decades without decaying.
Here various vegetables are growing, including parsnips, turnips, beets, lettuces, chard and radishes. We eat all parts of the plants including the beet greens and turnip greens. Next to them are asparagus plants (which provide an early spring vegetable).
While many people like to put their vegetables in the middle of a totally sunny field or yard, we prefer to put our garden where we get at least partial shade during the day as many vegetables can tolerate partial shade easily and still produce abundant harvest. Our emphasis is on reforesting the Land to a great extent, while still having productive gardens, including forest gardens.
Here the potatoes plants are small and have just had the soil and straw mounded up around their stems, this allows more potatoes to develop and the loose mixture of soil and straw allow the potatoes to expand easily.
We are also using the posts to hang bird feeders, although in the overall garden design we are providing lots of plants specifically for the birds, such as sand cherries and other berry bushes. We have also provided abundant habitat for the birds to live in along the edge of the forest, as the edge of the forest supports far more diversity than either a field or center of the forest. We are also creating orchard plantings using a fruit tree surrounded by berries and herbs. Our first ones are figs surrounded by blueberries and currants, and clusters of sand cherries and Nankin cherries. Birds are beneficial to the garden since many prey upon insects that eat the plants, they also distribute seeds naturally and increase the diversity and fertility of the whole Land. We also love to see the various birds and study their behaviors as this gives us insight into their spiritual powers.
In the back ground the roof of some of the Munansos can be seen. This garden is close to the Munanso and also provides plants that we use in the Munansos and offerings for the Misterios.
This photo shows the beds and how they follow the contour of the hill they are on. This allows them to capture the water from the hill, store it in the beds and release it to the plants as the plants need it, instead of the water just running down the hill eroding the hillside. The clover between the beds helps stabilize the soil and adds nitrogen from the air to the soil. Mother Earth does not like to be naked, and bare soil (although popular in many conventional gardens and vegetable gardens) is not something we want to see in our garden. So we plant every little bit of soil we see, imitating Mother Earth, or we let her grow her "weeds" in the soil and study how we can use these weeds for food or medicine.
These beds here are design to be filled with perennial herbs and vegetables. Here we have Monarda (bee balm) on the right (big green plant) which can be used for tea, and also attracts bees and butterflies which are beneficial. Next to it is horse radish, rhubarb, lovage (osha) which can also be used as a perennial form of celery, and in front of monarda is oregano. In the front bed are rosemary, lavender, and multiple kinds of basil. In between the perennial vegetables we have planted annual vegetables, including chard, lettuces, collards, tomatoes, nasturtiums, kale, and broccoli. This way there is no empty space in the garden and the diversity of the plants trick the insects who usually like to eat the annual vegetables.
Here our rooster is looking for the hens. The chickens do a lot of scratching in the garden and we do have an area that we fenced to keep them out, however they do less damage than expected as they are more interested in scratching for bugs rather than eating the plants, however they do scratch up a plant from time to time so we protect seedlings if we feel they are at risk. Behind the rooster Sunchokes are growing, they have a flower like a small sunflower and give us edible roots that can be eaten raw or cooked. These roots can be dug up all winter.
This photo shows the potatoes flowering. When the potatoes flower the baby potatoes are starting to form underground, they are not ready for harvesting until the potato plant begins to die.
Here the lovage, rhubarb, horse radish and monarda can be seen. Rhubarb is a potent medicine and the stems are edible, used to make great sauces, pies and jams.
We put a bird bath in the garden for the birds to bathe in and drink from. Next to it grows chard, chives, collards, and other vegetables. This is a very attractive edible garden that would be appropriate for almost any yard. Below is a close up of the oregano and in front of the front stones is culvers root, a native medicinal plant. These stones are also from this area, they were "rescued" from a building project where they were going to be buried. We use them to retain our whole front bed. They give a beautiful expression to the Spirit of the Garden.
We always focus on the Spirit of the Garden and the Land when planting. To many farms and garden are very linear, weeds are seen as "the enemy" and gallons of water are needed for the crops to grow. We are utilizing Ancient Indigenous Principles (now used in the system of gardening and farming called "permaculture") to mimic Mother Earth's natural growing patterns. In truth it is more than imitating her patterns, we follow her lead and become her "apprentice" in cultivating our Gardens. In this way the garden is a lush, diverse space which is about abundant fertility and not about hours of drudgery. However the success is all in the initial soil creation which is all about taking death, forming it into elongated "conucos" and allowing the process of decay to take place, so that all this beautiful and nutritious and health supporting "Life" can be expressed! This comes naturally to a Palero!
