Building Conuco Gardens- INDIGENOUS PERMACULTURE

In our working with Ntoto (Atabey), we are coming from the Essence and Memory of the Sacred Ancestors in moving within the vibrations of today towards a more sane and sustainable and spiritual way of walking upon the Earth.  Our Taino Ancestors created their Conucos to serve the needs of the Communities within our Caribbean homeland.  They utilized the raw materials, fertilizers, and techniques that they had developed over generations that resonated with the Spirit of the Land of Boriken, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and so on.  They walked with sensitivity, understanding and great wisdom within the garden of Mother Earth, and understood the wisdom of working with her natural cycles and the wisdom in observing everything that was in front of them.  They had the flexibility and ability to adapt that had enabled them to migrate over time into different environments and still be able to not only survive, but to thrive.  Through working with the Ancestors closely through the Cohoba ceremony and other Ceremonies, they were able to be in communication and resonance with the many plants around them, knowing which would heal, which would poison, which would nourish, which could be used for making tools...   They perfected the technique of researching plants without the need for test tubes and microscopes in a laboratory, without the need to dissect the plants into their smallest components to attempt to understand them.  They knew that a profound relationship and communication exists between plants and human beings.  This relationship, like so much in this modernized, industrialized society, has been badly damaged.  Many of us do not even know what the plants look like that give us our common foods such as fruit, vegetables, and grains let alone the plants that give us medicines such as Echinacea, Yarrow, Elderberry, Marshmallow, Goldenseal, Ginseng, Ginger, Tumeric, and the many, many others.  Clearly there has been a breakdown in the relationship with not only Mother Earth but also with the Ancestors.

At one point our Ancestors knew how to live within Mother Earth without the many crutches and conveniences that are made possible through the devastation and poisoning of Mother Earth.  They knew how to eat, create shelter, and heal without relying on plastics, vinyls, electricity, oil and gas.  We are not suggesting a return to living without the many modern conveniences that we are allegedly "enjoying", however we do need to honestly asses what we are doing with the resources available to us, and how that is affecting our relationship with Mother Earth and within our own Ancestral Tree.

We have the blessing of having a large amount of space to caretake, space which has had the double assault of logging and chemical farming on it, and which is surrounded by chemical farms on all sides.  We are in a place where much quarrying of stone is taking place around the clock.  Some of the quarries and cement plants never shut down, never stop, just keep tearing the stone from our Mother Earth every day and every night.  Witnessing the huge volume of stone that is being taken day in and day out from Mother Earth, we have to pause and consider what all this stone is serving, and we have to realize that a lot of the stone (and oil, coal, "so called natural" gas, minerals and metals) that are being taken from Mother Earth is being used for anything from weapons of war, to building materials.  However when new houses are being built or old ones remodeled, dumpsters get filled with good materials (even very valuable ones such as cedar boards and expensive tile) and stones that have been dug up in the excavation of these homes are simply re-buried as "trash".  The madness in the misuse of resources has reached a peak, and we are concerned that one day we collectively will profoundly regret the amount of abuse and misuse of resources that has occurred as well as our individual roles within that misuse and abuse.

We have "fallen" so far from the wisdom that our Ancestors lived that it can seem an immense journey to regain that wisdom, and more that regaining the wisdom, be able to transform our lives with that wisdom.  Wisdom that does not transform our lives in tangible ways is idle wisdom or stagnant wisdom and before long it is no longer wisdom but foolishness.  Here on our Land that we caretake with our beautiful Mother Earth, it has been a journey that continues to renew and transform year to year as the Ancestors take us deeper into the pathway of waking up to the voices of the plants and to the voices of the Ancestors whose bones we tread upon and also those Ancestors who live inside our blood and bones.

We have been working with Conucos for many years, and our work has evolved to create a Conuco that is quite different from the simple mounds of soil that we began with.  In this post we share the first steps in the creating of our latest Conucos upon the Land...

From the photos you can see that the latest Conucos are long, and much taller than our original ones.   These conucos have several important aspects which address several issues.

The Conucos are on "contour" which means that they will capture and absorb most of the water that is running down the hillside during a heavy rain.  This water will be absorbed by the Conuco, making lots of moisture available to the many plants that will be planted on the Conucos, eliminating the need for us to water the Conucos.  This water will also not be running down the hill eroding the topsoil as it creates deeper and deeper gulleys.  The Conuco in the first two photos is right below our animal pens which tend to have little grass as the animals eat it and their feet prevent it from growing.  This means that the water runs over their pens washing the manure down to the Conuco which is going to gather all that manure and put it to good use in nourishing the plants.  This way we are also not allowing the manure to simply wash all the way down the hill into the stream below.  (The washing of manure and chemical fertilizer into streams is a major issue that effects water quality, fish and plant life of the streams, rivers and bays).  

Prior to building this Conuco the water was creating gulleys through this field and washing all the top soil all the way down the hill.  In the photo below you can see the hill sloping down to the right, and how the Conuco is now absorbing the waters that come down the hill.

Another important difference in this Conuco is the way that we have built it.  Above the Conuco appears to be all soil, however, below you can see a different Conuco that we are building and what is visible is piles of woody debris.  

 

Since our objective is longer term sustainability we are using a base of woody debris from logs, branches and brush to leaves, grass clippings and even herb and flower clippings, plus old oak pallets.  This base will be covered with manures and soils and then it will look like the Conuco in the first set of photos.  The heavier branches and logs will decay slowly over a number of years, releasing their energy to the plants growing on the Conuco for many years.  The lighter twigs will decay more rapidly giving those initial added nutrients to the baby plants and seeds to establish themselves.  The wood will also create soil very high in organic matter which will be able to hold water very very well, so when it does rain, these conucos will absorb all the water, then release it to the plants as needed, without getting saturated with water and rotting the plant.  The wood also is a perfect medium for the mycelium which is essential for plant growth!

These woods are coming from all kinds of sources.  Some are logs that have been already decaying which we have cleaned up from the forest floor.  Others are old plant material that has come from the garden when we cleaned it up at the end of the growing season.  Other brush and leaves have come from other locations from homes that do not have the space or inclination to create compost piles or Conucos, in other words some of this brush comes from sources that typically would bag it into plastic bags and send it to the dump.  (And for those who have not actually been to a "landfill" or "dump", it is an experience that is important to have and one that is important for your children to have, because it raises important issues of "waste", and the shear quantity of "trash" going into the dump is mind blowing.

This second Conuco is on the edge of our vegetable garden and will become an edible hedgerow filled with edible, medicinal and culinary herbs, flowers and plants that are appreciated by birds, bees, butterflies and animals.  We approach our garden with the understanding that "everybody needs to eat" and rather than build up fences against animals, and spray against insects, we plant more than we need so that all the animals and insects can eat too.  It is our offering to the greater Community of Life itself.  We also always seek to have an abundance so that we can make abundant offerings to the Ancestors during Ceremony, and that some of the fruits and plants can also be offered to Mother Earth and re-absorbed into her.  We also think about our chickens, goats, horse and dogs, who also eat from the garden.  

Early 2011 we had a snow storm which created a phenomenon on the roads which we witnessed as we were immersed in it, which we shared in this post:

Winter Storm lack of Self Sufficiency

And now of course, we have recently had Huracan visit us in the East Coast.  Many years ago within the Taino community there was discussions concerning the "Earth Changes" which realistically we should all be able to agree are definitely upon us and gathering force.  As time passed the energies of these discussions scattered their seeds but failed to produced a sustained effort at developing stable communities that are self sustainable.  As the years passed, although individuals and families became involved in either gathering information concerning sustainability, or developed gardens, and so on, there was not  (more or less to this day) a larger community that was able to come together to thrive and create a strong foundation for sustainability.  In fact among certain circles seeking self-sustainability and seeking to walk gently on Mother Earth was mocked and degraded and depicted as a pathetic endeavor, as if being a mindless consumer is somehow a higher calling!

Among Paleros in the North, Communities are generally focused on survival in difficult conditions, and in general discussions concerning creating self-sustaining communities rooted in Mother Earth's abundance are mostly absent, although ironically the Palero (and Taino) should naturally gravitate towards these types of communities since both Spiritualities work directly with the natural forces of Mother Earth and the Cosmos!

In our garden design the Conucos and other planting areas are the "foundation" or "Fundamento" for the plants that will grow upon them.  The plants will flourish based on the power of the Conucos. There are many ingredients that we utilize to empower the Conucos, that ensure that when we plant a wide variety of plants and trees in the Conucos, they will thrive.

A vital ingredient is Mycelium, which is a magical fungal network found in all healthy soil.  It is the fungi that is the Spirit responsible for beginning the process of decaying of the Palo.  We utilize fungi to decay these poplar logs in these photos, and through the decay of the poplar logs the mycelium "fruits" and we harvest and eat those fruits, which are Mushrooms, in this case Oyster Mushrooms!

Once these logs have been "eaten" by the Mycelium, they will also go to the Conuco and will enhance the soil and plant growth.

One of Mother Earth's principles is multi-functionality and multi-dimensionality, which is something that I expect, as Tainos and Paleros, we can understand, as it is also an attribute that the Muertos and Mpungos/ Cemis have.  As we transition from dogmatic "reglas" / "rules" to understanding and embracing "Natural Principles" we embrace this multi-functionality and multi-dimensionality more and more.

The mycelium is a very mysterious organism as its vast networks are under the earth; only the fruits rise above the surface.  It is certainly a Spirit that is very much about the "Dead" and Death!

Inevitably in the process of growing, harvesting and eating plants there is a lot of plant material that does not end up on the table.   In the conventional process of agriculture, this waste ends up in trash cans from the dumpsters in supermarkets to the trash cans in homes.  When we are able to grow our own food that food travels from the garden to the table, and any "waste" ends up in the compost.  No plastic packaging, transportation etc.  We are able to utilize some of the plants as mulch, others are fed to the chickens or goats and their manures are returned to the Conucos.  In some cases we let the chickens into the garden to eat up the old plants, they particularly love kale, collard greens and broccoli.  
The Children also benefit greatly from the garden.  Our daughter learns all the plants, how to prepare them, whether as food, tea, tincture, poultice, bath, and also which plants have poisonous parts.  Our daughter can intuitively make anyone a healing bath.
Our garden in front of our house has all been built on contour like the larger Conucos.  We planted an abundance of winter squash, which thrived from the rich soil we had created through the use of our animal manures, decomposing leaves and the various additional ingredients and brujo's potions that we added to it.


Our daughter eats squash flowers that are very nutritious.  Another loss we have been subjected to as a society is the loss of connection with the whole plant.  We are accustomed to eating just one "part" of the plant, that being whatever part can be most easily marketed.  The winter squash has a great shelf life and is loved by markets as there is very little waste.  However when we live with the squash we are also able to enjoy its more subtle attributes, those attributes which draw in the bees and insects and the humming birds.  While eating the winter squash itself provides a whole meal, we loss something when we never have the opportunity to eat the flower that becomes that squash!   We also are accustomed to only eating things either "raw or cooked" depending on how we have been taught to categorize them.  Pumpkins are generally considered cooked pie items, however they are sweet and fresh and unbelievably nutritious when juiced.
One of the favorite child activities during the fall is finding all the ripe squash and seeing all the different colors, textures and shapes. Below our daughter carries a large squash she found through the garden.
This connection with the harvesting of the squash also encourages the children to want to eat the squash.  It is a well known fact that children who have the opportunity to be in the garden are much more willing to eat vegetables, especially those vegetables that can be picked and eaten immediately raw.
Below you can see the diversity that grows in our method of gardening which not only is fully edible but also looks beautiful. The little red flowers on the left in the photo below are nasturtiums which are spicy and which we add to our salads all summer and fall.  It is one of those plants which become more colorful in the colder weather, but which dies as soon as we get a frost.  So we enjoy beautiful yellow, red, salmon pink, orange, flowers which deepen in color everyday until one day they become a dead matt on the earth and our salads no longer have their beauty until the next year.  It is one of those flowers that is impossible to transport and will not last more than a couple hours from picking, which therefore means it never reaches the market, although its spiciness is a great attribute to salad and its beauty alone makes the meal more attractive.  The large basil in this photo was made into a pesto and sofrito which we have preserved in the freezer for use all winter.  
Our daughter arranged the first harvest from the winter squash.  At this point the cart is totally full, overflowing in fact, and will feed us all winter.  

We also grow many other vegetables among the squash, such as beets (see below).  Diversity is a principle that Mother Earth shows us everyday.  She always covers herself with many different plants which all contribute different energies and nutrients to the soil, and who also act as healers in places where Mother Earth has been attacked and left scarred.  

This view is the entrance to our Garden, and we do work spiritually with the garden, as it is our understanding from an Indigenous perspective that the spiritual aspect is what brings about a long term thriving.  Many people are out there "doing permaculture" but they completely lack the Spirit, and so the outcome is dry and stale; it is all theory and no Spirit.
We also spend time gathering both the herbs that we grow in the gardens and the wild herbs that grow all around us.  These herbs below we dried for winter teas and medicines.
Our potato harvests are abundant.
A mixture of nasturtium leaves, flowers, basil leaves and cherry tomatoes, all for the salad.
An heirloom tomato is sliced open to reveal its beautiful interior.
We also keep many pigeons, which no only are used for spiritual purposes, but who also feed us.  A pigeon soup is excellent for times of sickness, for winter colds, and for general nourishment.




We also have our chickens which we eat, and who lay eggs for us, keep the bug populations down and scratch up the soil, plus they transform kitchen scraps into eggs.

Our goats are for meat and dairy purposes.  We eagerly await the first kids and the first goat milk we will be able to get from them.  We will then be able to make yogurt and goat cheese.  Goats are particularly useful in that they like to eat weeds, and can be used to clear areas that have become overgrown with weeds and briars.

There is a strong permaculture movement worldwide that has been gathering momentum and it is wonderful that so many people have been coming back to ancient principles and indigenous agricultural practices, such as using Conucos.  Many within the permaculture movement do acknowledge the wisdom of the Indigenous Cultures that have given rise to the practices that are now called "permaculture" long before anybody coined that term.  However there are certain tendencies within the movement that are very euro-centric, and some who want to imply that permaculture was "discovered" or invented recently.  Of course all over the world there are those Indigenous Communities who either never stopped their indigenous (permaculture) practices or who have gone back to them, realizing that modern agriculture- monoculture- chemi-culture does not work for them financially or practically and takes tremendous health tolls on their families.  

On a personal level it saddens us that there are not more Tainos and Paleros who are reclaiming the indigenous principles that are now called "permaculture" and becoming active in creating gardens that show the Spirit of our Ancestors, be they urban gardens or rural finkas (such as ours).  We look forward to the resurgence of these wisdoms among our own peoples and the reclaiming of our Ancestral Prominence in these practices!