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Enchanted Garden Campaign 2008
Enchanted Garden Campaign 2008:
A Nation of Gardeners,
A shift in Consciousness:
With enough of us entering Plant Parenthood,
we have a chance to shift the consciousness
that one day, the value of locally grown organic food
and the necessity to keep it local will be seen,
felt, and heard.
Date: 3/27/2008 1:28:42 PM ( 16 y ) ... viewed 930 times
needs work!!!
10:34 AM
March 27, 08
It is essential that I spend time in the garden.
I am just in from the garden.
I feel better.
I was feeling outside myself,
stressed, distraught before I entered the garden
this morning.
I planted seeds. I am growing a new world.
That is the theme for this Enchanted Garden Growing Season.
Plant a Seed. Grow a Whole New World!
Where does a New Earth begin, if not in our backyard?
Most of us have no ground.
I do not have ground much of the time I have my eyes open.
This causes stress.
The Earth and the Soul are Soilmates.
When I touch soil, I am connecting with my soul
and the next organic Seed Dream that makes sense.
These are the Seed Dreams I see this morning after my stay
in the garden:
1. Letters to Michael.
It was Michael, my original avocado maker who first turned me
onto my spiritual path in this life. Michael introduced me to the
ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE when he had the little store in Canoga Park.
He had a beard then. He still has a beard.
Michael is now the President of the Southern Pacific Region
for Whole Foods Market.
I lost contact with Michael many years ago. It is good to be
back in contact.
When I was in the hospital for Hip Replacements back in
1975, I received a sweet note from Michael. I imagine I may have saved
it somewhere.
Michael is responsible for a number of the Green Mission Projects
that inspires me to align with Whole Foods Market.
They do a lot of composting. In our region, they turn food unsold
to compost, and bag it.
In a couple weeks, Whole Foods Market Hillcrest, my local WFM,
is going to have a Local Vendor Day. Joe the Farmer, AKA Joe Rodriguez Jr.,
will be there. It is a new season of strawberries.
There is a photo of Joe in the produce section.
I would like to send through another photo of Joe with the Strawberries.
A few years ago this was an Enchanted Garden Project, getting
Joe's locally grown strawberries into our local Whole Foods Market.
I put about five Sundays into that. The response from customers
was powerfull. Some had not tasted such berries in many years.
There was a curiious resurgence of interest in Locally Grown Whole Foods
that seemed to syncronize with that push to bring the Locally Grown
Organic Foods into our Local WFM.
It seemed to be that the whole region seemed to step up local at that time.
At the time, Wild Oats Market was not part of WFM.
I was shopping in the Long Beach store near Seal Beach.
There were enormous signs promoting Local Food outside the store.
I was pleased. I sent in and made acquaintance with the Produce Manager.
We talked. Then he pulled me aside, and ask, "Can you please explain
what locally grown means?" Their nearest produce at the time was coming
from Fresno, if I remember correctly. He told me all the signs came from
Corporate in Boulder. I guess someone in Wild Oats was shopping in
Whole Foods Market and got the idea.
That was two years ago, last year, Joe and I both went up to the Natural Product Expo West.
I stopped at the JR Organics/ Rodriguez Ranch in Valley Center/Escondido area on the way up
to gather the berries Joe had picked for me. We went into the field and I took pictures.
Some of those photos will be part of the Organic Center Push this upcoming year.
Commercial strawberries are frequently heavy laden with pesticides.
Organic strawberries are grown by a number of companies. Whole foods
orders some of these, but locally grown organic are another story.
We have B Wise down here. They do locally grown, but they are picked
a number of days early for commercial packaging. Commercial packaging
works best for the Produce Receivers at Whole Foods Market.
Then, a few years ago, this Enchanted Gardener Type, AKA me, started showing
up with cases from the Farmers' Market around 11 AM. This was a Produce Receivers
Sunday nightmare. Such what they needed! Something New a Different to Think about!
Gradually we worked out some of the bugs.
They got use to Joe Sr. or other's from the farm dropping off berries,
but the drawback: These are berries high in sugar content. They decompose
within a a few days or less!
I thought that WFM deserved an EarthFair Environmental Award for their
effort and submitted an application. Carolyn Chase, head of Earth Fair, and the team of Judges
didn't quite get it. Joe's acknowledgement came at last year's Organic Center banquet.
Walt Robb, Co-President lauded Joe's Berries that were part of the centerpiece
on every table. One of my strawberry photos was on a powerpoint in back of Walk
as everyone stood up to applaud Joe. The scene brings tears to my eyes,
just bringing it to mind.
Joe and I were flying high as a kite during last year's NPEW.
At the Organic Center Fundraiser the night before, every direction we turned
seemed an opportunity. At the time, we had nigh hopes that we could buy back
the 100 acre Rodriguez Ranch. Joe and family had to sell it a number of years
ago; now they lease the farm where Joe has been organic since 1986.
Gary Hirshberg of Stoneyfield Farm read a document I wrote
called A LOVE LETTER TO JOE THE FARMER. He said he would put it
up on his site with a link to donate. That site gets 1 million hits a week
or so.
When we finally nailed down the current owners of the farm,
they were not willing to sell at this time. They want to hold the farm
for investment, and potential development. They are good people,
but preserving local farm land is not the highest priority for land use these days.
Where do we stand now?
It is a New Spring, two years after Locally Grown Organic strawberries
came into our Local Whole Foods Market.
Joe and other farmers, including our Local Organic Farmers are in stress,
BIg Stress.
The State is regulating a 30% cutback of water.
For Joe that means growing less food, 30% less food.
Joe wakes up with the question mark each day.
If he uses the same amount of water as he did last year,
he will be met with large fines, and potential shut down of water
on the farm.
This water crisis appeared below the radar of those
I talked to at this year's NPEW. It is an local issue perhaps,
but it has national portent.
San Diego is potentially a growing capital for locally grown
organic food. It has been in the past.
My Seed Dream;
There is enough land and people growing food themselves
to feed everyone on both sides of the border for 100 miles.
Farmers I have talked to agree that this is possible.
That is my solution for the Immigration issue.
If people have enough to eat, they will be more satisfied
living were they already live.
As I see it, we are in a Food Crisis.
We are currently stepping up Organic Usage,
but we are thinking in terms of Outsourcing, in other words,
having people in other countries, including Mexico
grow our foods for us.
We would rather use our land to play the Real Estate Development game.
I see a necessary shift in consciousness,
a consciousness that will end with
A NATION OF GARDENERS.
One Plant One Person One Pot, that is all I am asking!
This is part of the Enchanted Garden Rebirth the Earth Program.
Let the Plants Teach us how to regain our awareness
of an Earth Consciousness that is Grounded and begins
in our backyard.
The second part of the Program a New Awareness:
Plant a Seed. Grow a Whole New World.
The food we grow in the pot we have,
can be grown with high intention.
As the Seed Grows, so does the Seed Dream
we write out.
As we plant, we fill out a Plant Parenthood
Adoption Paper.
The front says,
"Open in me the wisdom
contained in a tiny seed.
The back says,
"This is my Seed Dream
that will grow as this Plant Grows."
With enough of us entering Plant Parenthood,
we have a chance to shift the consciousness
that one day, the value of locally grown organic food
and the necessity to keep in local will be seen,
felt, and heard.
So Let's Go!
This is the Enchanted Garden Campaign I will launch this year,
beginning at Local Vendor's Day Saturday April 5
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