A REMINDER FROM THE SOGGY EARTH

It has been extremely wet this month.  It started with a cyclone that fortunately didn't last too long which was followed by days of persistent rain.  Trees have come down and one of our gardens is still flooded, but somehow we have managed to continue working.  We have managed to provide some food for our community although some of the plants are looking somewhat moth eaten and yellow.  The wet weather encourages the growth of  slugs and snails that eat the plants as well as leaching out nutrients in the soil that weaken the plants and make them more susceptible to pests and diseases.  The grey skies mean that often we have been short of electricity which means I can't spend too much time on my computer.  It has been a challenging time when I feel that more of my energy than usual has been spent just in getting through each day.

I was walking around the garden yesterday.  Parts of it were (and still are) flooded and very muddy and other parts felt saturated with water.  Walking on this sort of earth is like walking on a blancmange.  There is a distinct sense of the ground wobbling as I walk over it.


I found it disconcerting to feel what is usually so solid to suddenly become so soft and seemingly unsubstantial.  It made me realise how even the most solid seeming things can change; mountains can explode, rocks can topple and even the earth under our feet can move if there is an earthquake.  But it is a good reminder of how even the most solid seeming things can change into something different and that what is unchanging is elsewhere.

AN UNASWERED QUESTION

Since the beginning of the year I have found myself being drawn into doing things that take me away from the work on the land. I have found myself more and more involved with Farmgroup administration, which has led to me spending a lot of my time taking and writing up meeting notes. In addition I find myself sitting on a lot of other groups, one of which takes up one whole day each week. While this can be quite interesting, a lot of the time I feel that this is not what I really want to do.

Yet it is work that needs to be done, and as quite a few people have pointed out, I have the skills for doing it. It is also work that needs to be shared amongst several people in the Farmgroup, as it is too much for one or two people to do.

Every day I see a plant in Buddha Garden that has not only managed to grow, but seemingly to flourish, even although it is set in cement.

Obviously the message is that I can grow anywhere. So why do I find it so hard to accept the work that is coming my way right now? Why do I want it to be different?