Full Moon Eclipse- September 2015

Response of the Spirit

Corn shoots spring forth from our harvest of Corn that we offered to one of the Cemis that we work with.  This Cemis we brought to our newly built greenhouse to continue to bring the blessings and the horticultural wisdom of the Taino Ancestors  to our work with our greenhouse.  All the fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the bowl we collected from our Conucos.  A couple weeks later we notice these fresh green shoots emerging from the corn.  What a beautiful response from the Cemis!  We are always excited to see these types of manifestation because this illustrates the difference between fantasy and real spiritual work!

You can see the original offering before anything grew on this post:
Walking on Conuco Hill

The seeds we planted are already emerging, and we will be following up with photos once the greenhouse is vibrantly green!

Walk on the Hill August 2015

Here we explore a grove of trees at the top of the hill which all were planted as tiny bareroot saplings.  This came out of our original garden which was known for its tomatoes and scallions!  These bareroots are already up to 20' high and have formed a magical grove.  We then walk down the hill to look at the watershed, discuss trees and water table levels, and how to care for the slope and watershed.  

Walking on Conuco Hill

As many know, our Taino Ancestors had mounded gardens called Conucos.  We also know that this was also a term utilized by our enslaved African Ancestors to refer to their personal gardens.  These personal gardens enabled them to have a small income stream in spite of their enslaved condition.  In both cases Conucos were about stability, resilience, and sustenance.  We utilize the Taino mounded Conucos to create swales that also harvest rainwater.

Here we share a walk through the Concuos that are growing corn, beans, various squash, tobacco, white sage, potatoes and black eyed peas.  We begin the walk by discussing some black walnut trees that we had cut down, which had re-sprouted.  The video, taken a few days ago, shows the subtle changes of fall approaching.  We also take a look into the greenhouse to see how we are working with the Spirit within the context of this 'mundane structure.'  We  discuss the water harvesting function of the Conucos themselves.  

We will follow this post up with some videos showing some of the Conucos lower down the hill, which are in very different stages of their cycle.  

CONUCO!

This photo journey takes you from seeding time to the full expression of the Conucos within our gardens.  The magic is in the fertility of the Conuco itself.  The seeds are the biological Ancestral line but the myriad micro-organisms plus the magical ingredients of the brujo allow these seeds to grow and thrive.  

Corn Seeds

Seed Potatos

Alpaca Manure

Time Passes, the Sun Shines, the Rain Falls, we remove weeds....

Minuscule Tobacco Seeds grow to these huge plants, sweet smelling flowers, sticky aromatic leaves!

Tobaccos include VA Smoking, Huichol, Aztec, Oneida, Flowering

White sage, tobacco, corn, potatoes and sunflowers!

Corn, Potatoes, Elderberry, Beans and Squash...

Our Greenhouse....

Corn and Potatoes

Beautiful View of a Conuco

The Ancestors are Happy!

The Elderberry, a plant we have come to LOVE, who also Loves Us!

Mammoth Sunflowers, for seed through the winter!

Elderberry Patch, the Catbird Sanctuary

TOBACO 

Somos Tabaqueros

Another Concuco forming...

And once we get our harvest, our Blackbelly Barbados sheep will enjoy the pasture!

Some people call this 'subsistence', we call it thriving!