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California Small Conference and Weekend Activities
This Plant Your Dream Blog
is a review of my activities from
February 26 through Tuesday March 2.
Every day of the weekend was action packed,
and then I went right into the
California Small Farm 2010 Conference.
Date: 3/3/2010 9:26:33 PM ( 14 y ) ... viewed 950 times
7:04 PM
March 3, 2010
in The History of Peace On Earth
It has been a profound learning curve
in the last two weeks.
I attended two conferences near back to
back with a powerful weekend in between.
The first conference was the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Then the weekend came.
It was the Holiday of Purim on the Jewish calendar
when you cannot tell up from down.
It is a time to close the gap between
what some people call good and its opposite.
ESSENE SHABAT FRIDAY
NIGHT WITH GABRIEL.
I BROUGHT My MOTHER's BOWL
INSIDE WAS AL ALTAR BLESSING
the DIALOGUE on SCIENCE, ETHICS,
and FOOD.
Friday night was special.
I attended an Essene Shabbas experience
with old ally Dr. Gabriel Cousens
at my wife's place, The World Beat Center.
Makeda Dread Cheatom, who hosted Gabriel
have known each other since the early 70's.
She stopped in one time down at
Harpo's Health House by the Sea
with her entourage. That may have been
in 1976. Props to Makeda. She is one
of the honorees for Black History Month
from our local Cox station.
She calls me "husband." I call her "wife,"
although we have never officially gone the
Certificate route. I relationship likely
began about 2000 or more years ago
in Africa, when we shared a lot of time
together in the same hut. Now a days
we have the perfect relationship, I
generally was seeing her about once
a year, or at the Hillcrest Farmers' Market.
Then, on New Year's I set up a Plant Your Dream Installation
down at her Multi-Cultural Arts Center
under and around this metallic Art
of three hassids holding up another in a chair.
The art goes up about 20 feet in the air.
I placed the wooden bowl
in the center of the Altar that was
already set. People were meditating
around it.
SATURDAY
Then Saturday, I had a profound healing
day at a Purim Celebration with the
Shir Hayam Jewish Renewal Community
here in my very own hometown of San Diego.
That, my friends, is another story.
SUNDAY MORNING
AT THE FARMERS' MARKET
Sunday, it was homecoming!
Oh my God! i have not been at the
Hillcrest Farmers' Market for three weeks.
The farmer is my main church.
It is where I go for spiritual, emotional,
and physical renewal.
Hot! Hot! Hot! If you are not
connecting in with local organic farmers
and other local farmers offering fresh foods,
you are missing out on a real community opportunity.
Being a part of my Farmers' Market community
is the steady highlight of the week.
That too is another story.
I had an agenda for this week's FM.
I was concerned about the upcoming
end of the Public Comment period
for the USDA Environmental Report
that aims to deregulate GE Alfalfa.
KEEP The BEET Media Star,
The World's First Talking Beet Plant
has a project going to lessen the tension
between GMO and Organic Lovers.
She has asked me to create a Dialogue
on Science, Ethics, and Food.
At the same time, I feel it is
pre-mature to be deregulating
GE alfalfa. My take is that this
would create undue burden on
organic farmers of alfalfa.
I made video of a couple of
responses, showing the popularity
of the FM. The Natural product industry
is basically a 91 billion dollar industry.
The organic side of it would be hurt
by the passage of this bill.
I also connected with Curtis Womak
about his chicken feathers.
He raises pasture fed chickens,
but could use some Value Added products.
KEEP the BEET told me to ask about
his chicken feathers. She had something
in mind.
About 30 minutes later, during my
whirlwild at the FM, I connected with
a man in the artisan section who had
the loveliest pillows coverings from Turkey.
This was a natural fit, the feathers and the
pillow casings!!! I connected this up
before I left.
I also got some support for
Keep the Beets dialogue
idea.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
BACK TO GABRIEL'S
WORKSHOP TO DO SOME
OLD ESSENE HEALING
Sunday afternoon, I set up a Plant Your Dream
Enchanted Garden Altar back down at the
wife's place. No one knew I was coming in,
so I talked a bit gently. Gabriel was given
a wonderful class. I made video of some of it.
I mainly set up the Altar for myself under
the Hassids. The table was waiting. It already
had a bouquet of flowers on the table.
I just embellished it with more fresh foods
and an array of old Essene materials I
wanted to show Gabriel, and then some
other graphics that represented by current
projects. I let the installation "cook"
for a number of hours. During the workshop,
some people came in from the street.
I gave them something to eat that was
fresh, local, and organic. Then when
the workshop ended, I connected with a few
of my old Soul Group allies including Linda Kahn
of the Beauty Clinique La Jolla, an old friend who
also worked for Dr. Bernard Jensen.
Gabriel was out the door and had to catch a plane.
I gathered up a few foods for him, some sprouts
from Suzie's Farm, and a couple other things.
I gave him a note written on my old Essene cards
from 1978, and an invite expressing my willingness
to participate in the Essene International Gathering
he has planned for July at the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center.
That too, is another story.
The highlight of the installation was having
the wife sit down for about ten minutes at the table.
I showed here some of the things. I had a book
from the Professor there, A Guide to Biogenic Living.
That book shows photos of beets growing in pots.
That is the origin for the idea of growing
KEEP The BEET Media Star, the World's First Talking Beet Plant
in a pot. There is a photo from 1977 of a group
shot taken at a tree at the Swendenborgian Church.
The professor--Edmond Bordeaux Szekely (pronounced
Say-Kay) in in that photo. I am in the front row about
five people to the left.
THE SUNDAY EVENING OPENING
A TASTE OF SAN DIEGO
Two events down on Sunday,
I went up to the Del Mar Marriott
for the opening evening of the
California Small Farm Conference.
I had called Betsy Shea, the coordinator
Friday morning. That was our first contact.
She was welcoming.
I got to to the Marriott around 6:30 PM.
Highlights included spending some quality
time with Jennifer Joe, a food and environmental writer
from The Life Connection newspaper
(formerly The Light Connection).
I also interviewed old ally Robert Farmer,
who is a protege of Peter Dukich,
the master biodynamic compost maker
and farmer. I connected with a few of the
vendors, including Donna from Krueger's Farm
in Oregon. They had lovely baskets from
Ghana. Baskets are a treasure to me,
especially baskets from distant shores
where artisans prosper from their sale.
Donna was to become one of my allies
throughout the event.
I saw Phil Noble and Juany from
Sage Mountain Farm. I also said
hello to Ray Kau, of Whole Foods Market Hillcrest.
Carolyn, one of the big Yes allies
in my life, Ray's assistant, was also there,
but I did not say hello.
I had heard that the folks from
Seeds of Change were going to be there.
Terry was on site. I had met here
at Sage Mountain last year.
She recognized me. She gave
me some coaching about my
Hamilton High School Garden project.
I will get seeds from them for their garden.
There were some other delightful
connections to be made, including
some Native Americas with lovely
organic seeds of chia, and samples
of cactus.
[ I will be posting these photos on Facebook. ]
CONNECTIONS SUNDAY EVE
AT THE CALIFORNIA SMALL FARM CONFERENCE
I also perused the table from
Westbridge for the first time, and spent
a little time with the originator of Arch's Acres,
a wonderful farm project for veterans.
I also enjoyed spending time with the owners
of Crows Past Farm. I will I.D. them later.
I want to make mention as well that there
was a Special Angel working Valet.
He recognized and greeted me soon after
my arrival. His name was Trion.
I had been concerned about the parking fee,
$18.00 for the day.
Trion made a call to check.
He wrote me his name on my parking ticket
so I would not have to pay.
It turned out that there was no charge
throughout the event to the confenence
attendees, but this was the sweetest of gestures.
I got home around 11 AM.
Props to StayActiv, my arthritis anti-inflammatory
of helping me get through the weekend.
Monday was a full day.
I wanted to be on site by 9 AM
for the speaker Rayne Pegg from the USDA.
I made video of some of her talk.
She was followed by A.G. Kawamura,
the Secretary of Agriculture from our state
of California. Both of them were jewels.
I spent quality moments with both.
During workshop tracks, I was connecting
with old friend Patricia Hinchcliff,
a true doctor of the soil. She has wanted
me to visit her farm for many years.
Then, I touched base with some local allies
who will all be active in our upcoming
San Diego Cultivating Food Justice gathering
April 24-25, 2010.
That is a not to be missed free event!!!!
Put it on your calendar now.
I also attended a great workshop on
social media and was delighted by the
speaker from UC Davis who was speaking
on blogging. I made some video of that.
By afternoon, I was more on the scene,
and finding my bearings in this new community.
Betsy was a big yes to me throughout the event.
President Allen Foy was welcoming.
I sort of became one of the main photographers
for the event. aside from another woman.
By Saturday late afternoon, I was set up
at the registration desk, blogging.
I have not had a pay day in numbers of months
it seems. It was sweet to make two connections
one that became an sponsor for one of my projects.
Another sweet man did the Plant Your Dream work
and offered me tomatoes. His Heirloom Tomatoes,
that he grows in La Paz are sold
at O.B. People's Food store for $2.99 a pound.
Our local tomatoes are closer to $5.00 a pound.
His, through some unique growing techniques
are in season when our local organic tomatoes
are out of season.
Monday night was the Awards Banquet.
I was having trouble with the settings on
my Olympus flash. Some of these photos are O.K.
I only slept a few hours during the night after
a full day of work Sunday. I was working
on four blogs. I wanted to have materials
to give away for the final day.
I got to the Tuesday session about one hour
after I would have liked. I missed the raffle
and the talk by Josh, the president of Slow Food.
People were clapping just as I came in.
I did take some great shots of Josh with the
local Slow Food group. By this time, my camera
and I were in sync with the correct settings,
thanks to a life saving tech support help
from Olympus.
[ FYI, that is why I use Olympus.
They give outstanding Tech support that is free.
I am on my third Olympus camera
because of this, and the outstanding Macro lens. }
Tuesday was a short day at the California Small Farm 2010
Conference. I am grateful that Cheryl Wright,
from my Taylor Herb days, alerted me to the 12:30
end of conference time. I learned this early enough
to realize that I had to make hay, so to speak,
at the Awards Banquet. Most of the farmers
were seated at various tables.
I worked the tables, intuiting key people
I wanted to meet. One of the ways I would
improve this conference, would be having
more social networking on site.
I was taking photos of the Award Winners
and staging them for photos before they
got off.
I would then I.D. then for further connect
and establishing relationship.
One man I signaled out was the husband
of one of the award winners. She was
the founder of the Hollywood Farmers' Market.
I believe his name is Fred. He was dressed
in a dark color suit. He had on the most delightful
tie. I was exciting by it! He was
standing at that time. He received my enthusiasm.
The dear man asked me if I wanted the tie.
He then took if off and gave it to me.
I was deeply touched by this generous act.
He really touched me.
I was going around the room with my mother's
chicken liver wooden bowl filled with fresh
fragrant orange blossoms. I had organic beet
seeds on the bottom, but did not make a point of that.
MORE ABOUT TUESDAY,
THE LAST DAY OF THE CALIFORNIA SMALL FARM CONFERENCE
I saw Slow Foods in a new light
after connection with its president Josh.
I have had some experiences that
seemed hurtful and disrespectful
over the years, but most recently
I have had good rapport with some
of the individuals. I still have been
holding myself back a bit from the
group. All that cleared up Tuesday
morning. Josh, the president
is a Jewish man from Brooklyn.
He is very sweet. I stay around
and we connected. I also watched
him connect with another writer
on the scene.
A highlight Tuesday was being of
service spiritually to the Conference.
By Monday, mid day, Keep the Beet
wanted out of the EG Mobile
By late Sunday, she had a station
on the left side of the reg table,
where I received permission to set
up my computer.
On the right side, I had a bouquet of flowers
from Joe Rodriguez and JR Organic, my
main adopted farming family.
I also had a great squash from Phil Noble,
that he left for me after his set up Sunday eve.
I also had my mother's chopped liver wooden
bowl holding down the spiritual energy on the
altar I set up on the right side of the reg table.
The wooden bowl was a big hit throughout
the conference.
My meeting with Patricia was all about
catch up and healing, and also welcoming her
into the conference. She is a master healer
and uses many modalities including herbs.
She is an old friend from Kent Taylor Nursery days.
The herb stock she has all came from Kent.
These are the same herb stock that grow at
the Enchanted Garden Intentional Community here,
as well as Rancho La Puerta, where she works.
Now that I think of it, there are a few other plants
here that Kent bestowed on me. That is where
my alliance with Job's Tears came from. Bingo!
The society Garlic plants and the rosemary plants
on our property are also from Kent. Thank you,
dear brother in spirit!
I got an O.K. for Patricia to bring in her herbs
Tuesday. This was a major contribution to the
conference.
She had her own station and was making
Prayer Arrows with numbers of people.
She added a whole multi-dimension
to the California Small Farm Conference,
By the end of the conference, as most people
were rushing to exit, I was just settling in
to my final offering.
I had all my things on the reg table by this time,
including copies of the two blogs I had written.
I made numbers of contacts as members
of the Conference Community were leaving.
There was no formal Closing Ceremony.
Because of my allignment with Trion,
the Valet Captain, I felt comfortable
creating an Enchanted Garden Installation
outside. By this time, I had already
been walking around with the Conference
beet that I will plant tomorrow.
I asked about a dozen people to hold the beet,
close eyes, and tell the beet non-verbally
what dream they would be celebrating one year from now.
Both Patricia and I were starving.
She was screaming out in hunger.
She had not eaten all day.
I took time for our final set up on the couch
across from Trion's Valet station.
I placed everything in Feng Shui Fashion
for this photo op. I had all my props
I wanted to empower, including Patricia's
Prayer Arrow balls of yarn and abundant
herbs. Donna from Krueger's gave me
three more of the Ghana Baskets!!!!!
I could see in that moment, my lack
of organization in recent weeks,
being that I was on unknown new turf
at both the AAAS (Science) Conference,
and this California Small Food Farm 2010 Conference.
Most straglers were rushing off
going too fast to stop, but I cornered
at least one teacher and had him sit.
I spend time with a delightful 24 year old,
Steve Murray Jr., who will inherit the family
cherry orchard. I saw genius in him immediately.
He took the photos of me at this installation.
Then, I had Patricia sit. Anna for home
had made me food. Patricia and I ate
off of the Sunday night plate
from the Taste of San Diego opening.
We had Anna's delicious beet salad,
the lamb, and some steamed greens.
After the set up was established,
one of the other Marriot employees came
out excited. He wanted to announce that
two Mallard Ducks had landed in the pool.
I was very exhausted, and did not get to
see this site. Trion went out and saw them.
This communication came while Patricia and
I were sitting at the new Enchanted Garden Installation.
I remembered that at Kent Taylor's, we had a pond
and geese. I told Patricia that by the time we left,
the geese would likely arrive.
When Trion gave me notice about the ducks,
I said I was waiting for three others.
After all had left from the conference,
I slowing and carefully took down
the Enchanted Garden installation.
I moved the EG Mobile, my 68 VW to the sidewalk
where the guests arrive. Trion wanted to help me
load, but I had an order in mind. I did ask him to close
the back flap.
After all was loaded it was between 3 and 4.
I was exhausted. I had been up since 4 AM.
I took my camera and went into the Marriott.
I took some shots. I spend some time with some
lovely flowers on a table in the entry, very lovely
fragrance.
I took pictures of sites where I would landscape
and have trees.
I went to the pool area. I had imagined
the ducks landed in a nature pond in my head,
but there was only a swimming pool and upscale
little Cabanas. I was looking for the right place
to take a nap.
I feel asleep with a pillow on my chest.
When I woke up, I felt a bit better.
There was a man who had just taken a jacuzzi.
I did not recognize him at first.
He looked differently in his robe.
He was relaxed. It turned out to be a very special
meeting with a future ally who had spent many
years working for Monsanto but had retired into
the organic community. He revealed some
outstanding information about Monsanto Company.
This was quite a gift.
Then, I left.
I took a route passed the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine
where I go for acupuncture each week.
I bring Joe's flowers here.
The old flowers had not been changed for three weeks,
other than fresh water. I missed my Monday standing appointment.
I dumped the stinky flower water, washed the vase,
and refreshed it with the bouquet that had been enjoyed
at the California Small Farm Conference.
It dawned on me that there was a talk on Victory Gardens
at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
I needed to go to the O.B. People's Food first to
pick up an order of Seventh Generation Toilet Paper.
I took time to eat the organic vegetarian food.
One woman wanted to talk, but I did not feel the energy
inside. Then Julie Bergman, a sweet ally, sat with me
a bit. I gave her some coaching.
Downstairs, before I left, I reconnected with the delightful
Judy the Beauty Forman of the Big Kitchen, and a very
special woman who teaches yoga for the Fire Department.
I took her photo. We exchanged contact info.
I was sad that I did not get to the Victory Garden talk
at the museum. it was late and I wanted to get home.
Trion's last name was Victory.
9:17 PM
March 3, 2010
Finished first draft.
Upload photos and put in one from the couch
scene.
Installation
RELATED BLOGS AND LINKS
http://www.hinchliff-farms.com/
MARRIOTT DEL MAR
http://www.californiafarmconference.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&t...
The 2010 California Small Farm Conference was held in San Diego February 28-March 2, 2010. The Marriott Del Mar hotel will serve as the host facility for the conference.
All onsite events - keynote speeches, workshops, the trade show, meals and the networking reception - will occurred at the Marriott while all off-site events - tours and short courses -
departed from and returned to the Marriott
On-site fitness center
Pool and hot tub
Lounge with outdoor seating
This Marriott features 10 PURE rooms; an allergy friendly, healthy alternative for every guest.
The Arterra restaurant features award-winning food and wine program recognized by epicureans and restaurant critics as one of the premier dining destinations in San Diego. The seasonal menu features many products sourced locally from San Diego farms and farmers' markets.
About Huichol IndianS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huichol
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