The Growing Season.

This morning I awoke under a canopy, light shinning down through cottonwoods and a pear tree. I stayed in the sleeping bag listening to song birds and traffic. As I write this post I am waiting for the grocer to open that I may make a breakfast and lunch. I finally feel homeless.

Though the charm of leaf filtered sunlight as my alarm is significant, I wouldn't sleep this way more that a few times a week other things being equal. It might be better if I can negotiate some camping places where I feel no need to hide. What is better than living outside scheduled around sun set and rise to be trained in the subtle timing of natural gardening?

Now I have started volunteering with several projects: Happy Hearts, Gaia Gardens, Spring Kite, Haas Gardens, The Growing Project, and Green Dog Farm. Hopefully over the next couple weeks I will be able to streamline a schedule to balance about 40 hours a week among those projects. At this point too much time is spent on scheduling itself, especially when I am trying to organize other volunteers to help the farms which have the most to gain.

It isn't as much the farmer that I try to help as the farm itself. Loyalty to the land and its own potential to participate in the wider affairs of the area, actualized by human labor. It is the land itself that deserves our highest respect. The farmer is at their best as the farm's representative and steward in the world of humanity.

Through Happy Heart I have meet with many magnanimous young folks who are also passionate about growing food and building sustainable systems. I hope to be able to keep working with them, and to together find ways to start building the sustainable systems that fill our collective dreams. At Gaia Gardens I have found a beautiful place and a high minded farmer, there is much need for manual labor to bring the place to its fullest potential, I hope to find more time to contribute my share of that labor, feel free to volunteer with Monday work parties which will hopefully become regular there. Spring Kite farm, in its second year, is on a wonderful old farm being raised to a new glory, with the loving work of a couple who found their calling in the land; I have only helped there once, but the place is filled with dreams of a bright future. Haas Gardens is the name I give for my modest garden, still only 600 square feet, on the Haas family's property, the land is wonderful, and the family loving by disposition, their support this summer has been invaluable, and hopefully the increasing fertility of their land will find good expression as time goes on. The Growing Project raises food to help the broader community under the expertise of Chad and Lou, both skilled gardeners and generally handy. Greendog farm is another place where I have so far only worked once, but its owner Karl was bright with gratitude for my small contribution, and his attitude makes me eager to work with him more again soon. Raindrop retreat has not been on my radar for a couple weeks, but Tara the owner is such a generous soul, I hope to go and help there again soon. Also the Environmental Ministry Team at Plymouth and the Church more generally has been very supportive!

Roman, Adriana, James, Matt, Dave, Whitney and Micky have all shown great interest in this growing season, growing something of a higher value and type in Fort Collins. Maybe we will be able to grow more than a sense of community but a real team able to pioneer sustainability in Fort Collins. More on that in the next post.