There are many things that I think one can learn from permaculture and more specifically, from gardening. One, is the importance of being in the present, the importance of enjoying the process. As a small-scale community gardener I have learned that, even when you plan for a great harvest, it often doesn't happen the way you plan. Last year my plot was overrun with cherry tomato plants - seeds from a previous year that were spread throughout the whole garden when the garden was plowed. I had more cherry tomatoes than I could ever eat or want. More cherry tomatoes than I could harvest. I told friends to help themselves to the tomatoes in my plot. I also had a super, crazily busy summer and, by the end, I was burnt out. I couldn't balance everything and let the gardening slip. I didn't harvest some of my plants including my lovely organic potatoes!
However, I still absolutely love gardening and will do it every year until I die. Even when I don't harvest everything, or something grows that wasn't supposed to (like the cheery tomatoes) while the things I really want to grow don't flourish. Why? The process of gardening from starting seeds inside to eating my bounty makes me incredibly happy and fills me with joy in the moment. Yes, I plan out my garden (carefully), yes I hope for a good harvest but it doesn't matter if things don't go exactly the way I plan. It is the act of gardening that makes me happy. I remember one day when I was feeling stressed about school and slightly ungrounded in my life. I went to the garden and just pulled weeds. The sun blared down on me and I got my dress completely dirty. After a while I looked at the time and realized that, in the blink of an eye, three hours had passed. I felt so much better, so grounded, so relaxed. It's like the soil/plants took my anxiety away in return for my hands working to make it/them healthier. I was completely burnt and dirty but so happy. It didn't matter if three weeks later I ate the veggies I was tending, I already had my reward.
Of course, I am not advocating wasting veggies; neglecting them come harvest time. I just think that there is so much to learn in just enjoying the process of gardening and - by extension - the process of living one's life and not worrying so much about the outcome. Gardeners know that there are no certainties: you get great seeds, nurture them, they grow into beautiful plants and than an early frost or band of raccoons destroy them. It can be controlled to a certain extent but not entirely because we are working with something much bigger than ourselves. Life is like that too. We can't/don't control everything, we can't possibly know how things are going to turn out .So, it's better to enjoy and experience just being in the present. And with that in mind I recently quit school - 2-4 years of being stressed is not worth it to me and I simply don't enjoy it. I now have much more time for gardening, parenting, loved ones, taking my dog for walks, running, yoga, and simply sitting in coffee shops daydreaming. You know, the things that really matter.
Thank the Goddess for Buddha!
Creating beautiful, organic and regenerative gardens in London, Ontario. Check out our website for more information - www.earthmagiclondon.com
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
A few of my favourite seed suppliers
As you all start thinking about starting seeds, here are some of the favorite seed suppliers. I have used them all in the past. Here's to a great growing season!!
(Although I am a little worried about the growing season because of our non-existent winter. Yes, I find winter very hard -- I don't like the gloominess or the cold -- but in the Northern Hemisphere so many plants and animals need a deep freeze. What will happen if they don't get it? I have no idea but I think there will definitely be a negative effect)
1. The Cottage Gardener -- http://cottagegardener.com/
This supplier specializes in heirloom vegetable and flower seeds. You can order online but I love getting the old-fashioned newsprint catalogue complete with quaint hand drawn pictures. A story about the seed's origins accompanies every item which I also love - seeds have histories that are intertwined with our own histories. It is so wonderful to know about them! I have ordered many of my veggie seeds from here over the past few years and have been very pleased.
2. Urban Harvest -- http://uharvest.ca/
Very cool - a seed company that is based in the Greater Toronto Area! The seeds are all 100% organic and support urban agriculture. The city is not just a place for some backyard gardening but some marketable organic farming can happen in cities as well!
3. West Coast Seeds -http://www.westcoastseeds.com/
I usually like to stick to my bio-region when ordering seeds BUT this is the company I order my potato starters from with great success. I have not found a company in Ontario that has organic potato starters and they won't ship them from the United States (Potato starters aren't seeds but little potatoes that you plant to grow lots more beautiful potatoes. AS such they qualify as a plant or food or something and can't cross the border). Try the purple potatoes especially if you have kids - delicious and so FUN! Their website is not working today but keep checking back because if you want to grow organic potatoes, you should order from them (conventional potatoes are DRENCHED in chemicals so it is important to start with organic starters). I hope to the Goddess they have not closed down (that is how much I love their potatoes!!)
4. Richters - http://www.richters.com/
Richters is a herb company and they sell seeds as well as plants (and, yes, they ship the plants). Almost any herb you can imagine is sold by them. Some of the seeds and plants are organic and they have a small but growing vegetable section as well. I have always been happy with my orders from Richters. I once ordered some gorgeous seedlings from them, however, a very bad squirrel climbed onto my balcony and ate them all. I think I'll try again this year! Richter's is located an hour or so outside of Toronto and they have a store you can visit to buy seeds and seedlings and to attend workshops.
So, there you go. I know there are many other small-scale, organic, heirloom seed suppliers. Feel free to share some of your favorites in the comment section.
Edited to add one more:
5. Hawthorn Farm http://www.hawthornfarm.ca/
The seeds this company supplies are grown on a beautiful organic farm near Palmerston, Ontario. This happens to be the exact area of the world where I was born and grew up! They grow and sell veggie, herb, flowers, and grass seeds.
(Although I am a little worried about the growing season because of our non-existent winter. Yes, I find winter very hard -- I don't like the gloominess or the cold -- but in the Northern Hemisphere so many plants and animals need a deep freeze. What will happen if they don't get it? I have no idea but I think there will definitely be a negative effect)
1. The Cottage Gardener -- http://cottagegardener.com/
This supplier specializes in heirloom vegetable and flower seeds. You can order online but I love getting the old-fashioned newsprint catalogue complete with quaint hand drawn pictures. A story about the seed's origins accompanies every item which I also love - seeds have histories that are intertwined with our own histories. It is so wonderful to know about them! I have ordered many of my veggie seeds from here over the past few years and have been very pleased.
2. Urban Harvest -- http://uharvest.ca/
Very cool - a seed company that is based in the Greater Toronto Area! The seeds are all 100% organic and support urban agriculture. The city is not just a place for some backyard gardening but some marketable organic farming can happen in cities as well!
3. West Coast Seeds -http://www.westcoastseeds.com/
I usually like to stick to my bio-region when ordering seeds BUT this is the company I order my potato starters from with great success. I have not found a company in Ontario that has organic potato starters and they won't ship them from the United States (Potato starters aren't seeds but little potatoes that you plant to grow lots more beautiful potatoes. AS such they qualify as a plant or food or something and can't cross the border). Try the purple potatoes especially if you have kids - delicious and so FUN! Their website is not working today but keep checking back because if you want to grow organic potatoes, you should order from them (conventional potatoes are DRENCHED in chemicals so it is important to start with organic starters). I hope to the Goddess they have not closed down (that is how much I love their potatoes!!)
4. Richters - http://www.richters.com/
Richters is a herb company and they sell seeds as well as plants (and, yes, they ship the plants). Almost any herb you can imagine is sold by them. Some of the seeds and plants are organic and they have a small but growing vegetable section as well. I have always been happy with my orders from Richters. I once ordered some gorgeous seedlings from them, however, a very bad squirrel climbed onto my balcony and ate them all. I think I'll try again this year! Richter's is located an hour or so outside of Toronto and they have a store you can visit to buy seeds and seedlings and to attend workshops.
So, there you go. I know there are many other small-scale, organic, heirloom seed suppliers. Feel free to share some of your favorites in the comment section.
Edited to add one more:
5. Hawthorn Farm http://www.hawthornfarm.ca/
The seeds this company supplies are grown on a beautiful organic farm near Palmerston, Ontario. This happens to be the exact area of the world where I was born and grew up! They grow and sell veggie, herb, flowers, and grass seeds.
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