Gut Gardening
Ask for guidance, listen, wait, trust and watch to see what sprouts from the seeds.
Growing food in a 10X24 foot plot at the local community center is important. Learning how to produce vegetables when the soil is clay-packed and may or may not have the necessary nutrients needed for strong plants is an on-going process. Dealing with the weather, which is varied and wild in my region, includes rain, hail, high winds, and hot dry days.
Then there are the fat rabbit, who is feasting on the tiny shoots and the creeping jenny, that is hogging the ground and water. I just learned that the roots of a creeping jenny can be 20 feet underground, which means I cannot pull all the top weeds and know I have eradicated the weed. So, I have to weed hard and deep at least once a week. And we haven’t even gotten to the tiny black bugs and grasshoppers!
How do farmers do it? I understand why they resort to chemical herbicides for weeds and pesticides for insects. I can see the allure of genetically modified vegetables that might be resistant to insect pests, mold, fungi, and bacteria. However, the more they resort to chemical and man-made solutions, the more they pollute and hurt the soil, water and air. It is a vicious cycle. In fact, trying to outwit and control Mother Nature has pretty much made a mess of things.
There are farmers, gardeners, ranchers, and community activists working to produce food while improving and supporting the local ecosystems, i.e., the Nature around them. The Permaculture movement is making progress in education, outreach and implementation. It is amazing and inspiring to watch the documentary, Green Gold and see what was accomplished in the Loess plateau southeast of the Gobi Desert in China.
Much of the formal learning I undertake to build my little garden is aligned with permaculture basics. We have local Master Gardeners to answer our questions, and many of my fellow gardeners at the center have been at it for years and offer good advice and resources.
However, my most exciting partnership is with Nature itself. Yep, that’s another Something Greater to which I am, and we all can be, connected. In fact, I have been following Machaelle Wright’s Gut Gardening concept, which provides insights and mechanisms for me to co-create with Nature Intelligence. Yep, that’s me connected to something greater than myself.
Wright created and runs the Perelandra Center for Nature Research. Her work is wonderful, powerful and effective. She learned by trial and error following the guidelines set out at Findhorn in Scotland. She has written several books and sells wonderful products filled with the energy and essence of the plants grown in the Perelandra garden. She calls this first stage working with Nature Intelligence, Gut Gardening because we listen to our gut to find our way.
Yep! Very airy-fairy! However, Perelandra, Findhorn, ancient civilizations and many inspired gardeners today know what can be done when we allow Nature to lead the way. In my experience, it is true beyond dispute that a co-creative, respectful, listening relationship with Nature – yep, Nature with a capital N – yep, a Something Greater than myself, yourself, ourselves, and the materialistic considerations of this time and place – is exponentially more effective and powerful than either party on its own.
It may seem a bit out there, but I love listening to my intuition when planting and watering. Everyone has an opinion about how to grow food and flowers, and it can be overwhelming. So, I ask for guidance, listen, wait, trust and watch to see what sprouts from the seeds.
People see me talking aloud as I walk alone around my garden plot. I start each work session with a moment to engage nature in the work and end again with a moment of gratitude. I take the time to ask the devas and nature spirits for their input on what to plant when and where and if and how to fertilize. I am patient and wait for clear guidance.
I wish!
I decided to write this essay, because I realize that I am being a rather trite and superficial partner. Often forgetting to formally start or end the working session, because I want to get on with what I planned to do in the garden. Sure, I ask my partner to make the pests skip over my garden and the hail miss my plants.
However, most of the time I am giving the process lip service – doing the intuitive thing as a habit – not a conscious, intentional conversation nor listening and waiting to feel/hear/know the right next step. I don’t want the guidance to contradict the plans I made and what I want to do.
This is not acceptable, because as a society, we can no longer afford to play around and pretend we are doing the work of connecting and working with Nature /Life /God /the Divine. We/I must be present and if necessary, uncomfortable with waiting for guidance and with taking chances on the guidance I am given.
I am very intuitive and see myself checking in with my intuition as I am working. I also see the hesitation and resistance to getting information that does not fit my plan. This stymies the exponential power of the relationship with Nature. In fact, as I consider further, this controlling probably stymies most relationships.
To start, I say follow this advice. It works with every partnership you wish to forge.
“Your only way out of your doubts and fears is to act and observe. Act on what you sense you are to do and observe the differences and successes. Trust me. You cannot think your way out of self-doubt. Many have tried and they’ve all failed.”
Machaelle Wright, THE PERELANDRA GARDEN WORKBOOK
There will be more essays on my gardening experience, because it is currently my primary access to a material experience of working directly with Nature. I know I have to trust my partner to improve the soil, strengthen the plant’s ability to withstand heat, wind and drought, and create an environment that dispels pests and disease. I know I have to improve my ability to ask the right questions, listen and hear.
This is about more than my garden and yet the garden is the center of change and transformation. It’s rather exciting, because it gives me a way to strengthen my connection to all that is Life and all that is the Divine for me.
Now let’s hope I remember this after the next two- hour weeding session.
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Would love to hear about your gardening experience or any other connection to Something Greater you can share, including how you took this knowing into the world. Please comment below.