GUARDIAN OF THE LAND

I heard the phrase – Guardian of the Land - while watching BBC’s series, Monarch of the Glen on Netflix. It completely caught my attention. They have 35,000 acres on the show which is based in lovely wild Scotland. It looks quite like the Pacific Northwest. We have 15 ¾ acres here on Adytum lands. The principle’s still the same, no matter if you have a city lot. That is,we have a responsibility to the land to oversee and manage it with respect, integrity and attention to detail that departs from popular ways and means of dealing with land and soil (i.e. weeds and the love affair with chemicals touted as harmless…).

Our lives and our health are tied to the soil. Being a guardian of the soil and keeping the millions of microbes and life-forms evident in good soil viable is part of the key to our health. Instead many people buy Round Up or worse - and proceed to sterilize soil and kill off earthworm populations in order to control weeds and pests.

Since when does control entail and embrace destruction? Since when is that a viable alternative to respecting life forms that are in residence? It’s hard to write about something that most people don’t give a second thought to. There are shelves of chemicals on every isle to do whatever we wish to accomplish, with complete disregard to the consequences to their lives and ours. But if we choose a different path, then we are aware that there is a better way; a way of mutual respect, concern, shepherding and care. We care for the land (mother earth) and it cares for us. We don’t end up with chemically mediated diseases like neurological diseases, Parkinson’s and breast cancer and more…Chemical use comes round to “bit us in the butt” as it were.

The land that comprises Adytum’s estate is kept with the principals stated above; no chemicals. Is it hard? Yes. Are my nails dirty despite gloves? Yes. It is time consuming? Yes? But what is that: hard and time consuming? It is exercise and it is meditation while laboring. It is joying in the sun, the earth, fresh air, the yield of integrous fruits, herbs and vegetables. Organic. Pure.

It is a moment of childhood again; being 12. Kneeling over a weed to remove it so that a beautiful garden can be born. Shoving rich soil around a root base so that the plant has all it needs to serve us. Is there meaning in that? Or is speed, results and the perfected appearance the only end? What soul work was accomplished in that path? Can we not be happy with an imperfectly appearing apple? Why is that really?

Biodynamic farming has taken hold especially in the wine community, farming grapes without chemicals but using natural plant teas and other means to create a healhier plant. A healthy plant will fend off pests. Some biodynamic preparations discourage insects. It is all based on integrity, however, and is worth looking into for those interested in becoming the best guardian of their land entrusted to them.

Our soil here is pure joy. Well, in most parts. Ancient maples and a hundred years of leaf mold makes for richness that doesn't come from commercial preparations. The Robins, excellent at leveraging the labor of others, wait til we’ve left an area and move in to take their spoil: earthworms. Sterile soil yields no worms, right? We’re impressed with their tactics… We can learn a thing or two if we’re humble enough.

The trees bear easily and naturally without help. The squirrels move in early to harvest hazelnuts that are not yet ripe; the front runners of their realm. We see the methodology of the creatures that work the land on a daily basis here. Even the lowly worms, which are the Robins’ delight, are engaged in soil that is living. Do you know that there are some that kill these worms to control the moles? In so doing, the soil is compromised.

Long story short: the land is a gift, a bequest, an inheritance of health to us or ill health due to our ignorant and arrogant depletion of it. Working it means working out things deep in our souls; not just the next meal. Each weed pulled tells a story of a thought gone astray and brought under control. Each garden planted in rich soil is a life blossoming under beneficial circumstances. Each flower a joy. A sweet success. Each vegetable pulled from the rich shelter of earth a gift from the earth itself. All ecosystems left intact, a choice for integrity and the wisdom to see the big picture.

We can work with the land, humbled to our knees in care of it. Or we can stand over it as master and Lord with our spray units full of foul chemicals we wouldn’t care to get on our own skin. We have been given this mastery, but not to the point of disrespect and blatant killing of life forms that are too small to seemingly “matter” muchless defend themselves against us.

This license is a mastery of guidance and governance. We have been misinformed lately, or just plain ignorant to accept that which appears as goods to be sold on the shelves of garden centers. Use your brain. No, use your heart first. Get some education for God’s sake. Do we know what we are doing? What power we wield? Well, we best know. Ultimately, our health depends on fertile, viable soil.

To kill the soil is to kill our selves. Why not make peace with the dandelions and a few weeds? Who set perfection in our landscaping mind anyway, those Jones’ who are now in the hospital with Parkinson’s or breast cancer with their chemical escapades? Make peace with kneeling on the earth. How blessed we are to be fed at her breast. We will return there. We are earth, we all know; just a handful of minerals in the final analysis. How humbling is that? We are far, far more connected than we know….

A certain measure of humility is appropriate here. We were given dominion, yes. But not in the “Hitler” sense with senseless genocide. A study of the soil should take place in every grade school. It is the stuff we are made of and makes us, ultimately. Good or bad.

We have chosen to be a little bit wild here with our guardianship of these lands; to be at peace with being slightly out of control. To embrace the dandelion. To actually make a point of eating its bitter greens when young, next spring. Even that dastardly stinging nettle that causes me so much pain… good for allergies and prostate issues. Prostate cancer thrives in our area….and we treat so many ocular allergies… maybe the treatment is right under our noses…

We hope to be wise always and harm not the soil. Our life. We commit to being Guardian of Adytum. And by so doing, we commit to our health, our life, our spirit’s growth and our integrity. May you consider your land your bequest and charge also, your guardianship versus a bit of real estate.