Building Great Soil

Great soil is not an accident. It is a natural process that you can encourage with a few simple steps. To build great soil, you are going to mimic the natural processes that create the rich deep soils of our Mother Earth. We are just going to speed it up a bit. This is going to be easiest if you start with soil that is not toxic. Taking care of toxic soil is beyond the scope of this article.

Great soil is a mix of mineral content (rock particles), organic matter, and living microbes. The best natural soils are created over time by the actions of plants, animals, and microbes in eroded rock material. That mineral or rock material ideally has a range of sizes form tiny clay particles to sand in a balanced blend. It is this process that you should try to mimic. On a small scale, I recommend that you start by collecting chemical free lawn clippings and fallen leaves. Small sticks and twigs in the bottomed of the bed is fine. I am a basket maker, so I add the bark and trimmings from the grape vine to the garden bed. Also compost or vermicompost your household vegetable matter for your garden or container gardens. Mix all of this with a bit of soil and sand. It takes time, but you will build exceptional soil in your garden.

So, let’s concrete and take a look at what it looks like here.

1) We create deep raised bed gardens and put the raised bed on top of organic underlayment to kill the sod.

2) In the fall, I filled the bed with sticks and twigs, fallen leaves from the maple tree, and grass clippings.

3) Over the winter, I spread the coffee grounds for nitrogen and wood ash for minerals. The amount of wood ash depends upon the acidity of the soil If you can, set up a vermicompost system to recycle your vegetable scraps.

4) In the spring, I spread a mix of composted manure and top soil over the leaves. I add just enough to plant the seeds and transplants.

5) Test the soil for the pH level and adjust the acidity with wood ash or garden lime.

It really is simple to build great soil. I do recommend that you test the acidity of the soil. Most plants like a ph of 6 to 7. Let the worms and microbes do the rest of the work.

If you have space and time, rabbits and chickens are great options for adding animals to balance the system. I compost the manure. But that aspect of soil building is beyond the scope of this article.

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Meditation Garden 11

Creating a garden is always an exercise in learning, persistence, creativity, and balance. Every garden is a work of beauty, even when it isn’t working out the way we want. It is an invitation to be flexible and work with changing conditions. The garden follows a cycle of growth and rest, push and relax. It is a balancing of energy and resources. A garden is a good lesson for balanced leadership and resiliency. As I walk through the garden of my dreams, I contemplate persistence, strength, and integrity of a gentle life.

Consider adding wild flowers to your meditation garden. Choose flowers that are native to your area. When you do this and give it time and care, it finds its own balance that shifts and evolves with time. Find the Spiral path into your own heart and center. What perspectives can you find? What unexpected beauty can you find around you? What grace can you find in the peaceful moments in your life? What is your truth? Your integrity? Where do you find strength? How can you serve your community? How can you lift others up?

Find or create your peaceful garden and a peaceful place to sit in that garden. Feel where your power lies. Where can you use your personal energy, talents, and strength for the common good? Breath deeply among the trees or flowers. Allow the energy of nature to clear your mind and spirit. Choose wisely the example that you follow. Be the example for others to follow.

Love

Love is caring about the welfare of the other

Love is taking care of yourself

Love is making sure that taking care of yourself enhances the life of the person next to you

Love is allowing the person next to you to be true to herself

Love is encouraging

Love is helping the neighbor pick up the pieces

Love is protecting the weak or unsure from those who would take advantage

Love is good stewardship

Love is sustainable

Love is making sure that what you don’t need goes to where need exists

Love is creative

Love destroys barriers

Love is a witness

Love participates in life

Love completes the cycle

And for a little bit more

Events

December 4 - Full Moon

December 5 - World Soil Day

December 6 - St. Nicholas Day

December 7 - Pearl Harbor Day

December 14 - Hanukkah

December 19 - New Moon, Next Newsletter

December 21 - Winter Solstice

Turmeric

One of the plants that is worth making space for us turmeric. This tropical plant grows rhizomes that are used for a flavorful spice, a healthy food, and a powerful medicine. If you are looking for resiliency in these times of uncertainty and chaos, turmeric checks a lot of boxes.

Turmeric gives the bite to curry and Indian cooking. I add turmeric to my home made sausage mix. It adds flavor and color to chicken soup, rice, and more. One use of turmeric is a drink called Golden Milk.

Turmeric is an herb that supports health and vitality of the body. It supports the heart and digestive system. It supports the immune system. It supports the nervous system, cognitive function, and mood. It supports and strengthens the liver as it flushes toxins from the body.

This tropical herb is a relative of ginger that has been cultivated in southern India for 4000 years. For most of us, that means growing it in containers in a bright window for part of the year. If you plant a piece of rhizome about 2 inches deep in the container in January or February, you should be able to take it outside for its most active growth.

This plant should be grown n rich soil and be kept warm for its 10 month growth cycle. Then when it matures, you have a spice, a medicine, and a dye plant that is like no other.

To find out more, check out the complete plant profile at:

For a short article about the energetic aspects of turmeric, check out the article at Manitu Okahas Studio.

The Helping Hand

As we are going into the dark time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the dark, cloudy sky here seems to be a mirror for the turbulent times that we are all experiencing. But these challenging times also bring with them opportunities. One of the opportunities it brings is the mirror through which we see leadership. And what true leadership is.

In essence, I believe true leadership can be boiled down to the helping hand. It is not the hand that does for the other. It is the hand that uplifts, encourages, and empowers others to be their best selves. It is the hand that reaches out both ahead and behind. It is the hand that brings people with instead of blocking the way.

So, who is the helping hand of true leadership? This is the person that actually does the hard work to find a way to make things better or more responsible. It is the person who finds a path forward, but does not hoard that knowledge. The leader shares what she has found, the knowledge, wisdom, and techniques. The leader teaches and motivates.

The helping hand of true leadership learns from those who have more skills. But she doesn’t stop there. Once she learns, she finds who is coming up behind them. She turns around and shares what she has just learned.

Why? Because the more people you can help, the more successful you become.

The helping hand of leadership works to support and develop community. The helping hand of leadership empowers people and connections. The helping hand builds on strengths, catalyzes networks, and finds people to work with. The helping hand knows that many hands working together is strength and resiliency.

The helping hand is the true gate keeper. She is the one that teaches what the keys through the gate are, shows how to use the keys to unlock the gate, and encourages others to keep working the lock until the gate opens.

Be The Helping Hand.

And I'm Not The Only One

Here are a couple of places to find more information.

Seed Savers Exchange is at seedsaver.org

Native Seed Search is at nativeseeds,org

Grandmothers Wisdom Project is at grandmotherswisdom.org

For lessons in leadership, read a biography of someone you respect.

Starting in December, I am hosting a Year Builder Workshop

In this workshop, we will walk through my intention and goal setting process, step by step to create a plan to get the new year off to a good start.

For more information email me at [email protected]