Compost- A Second Time

Hello from Snow White's Cottage!

I decided that I needed to open blogspot.com so that I would be able to start writing before my relaxation carried me away into the lands of imagination and sleep. So here I am and boy is there so much to tell.

After some very quiet "off days" here at Sirius, this morning I awoke to a bright blue sky and a crisp yellow sunlight mixed into the palate. The perfect thing to get me ready to begin my first "work day" here at the ecovillage. I was told that at 7:30 in the morning, some members of the community like to gather together in the room known as "the octagon". Can you guess why? You hit it on the spot! Because the shape of the room is, in fact, that eight-sided geometric shape. So, gently gliding out of bed after having had the luxury of hitting the snooze button twice, I laced up my sandals and headed out the door. It's such a privilege to be able to open a handcrafted, wooden door with a knob so perfectly formed just for this space, and enter out onto the stone steps and greet the day. The chickens, those silly little women, were running about freely in the orchards to the left and the wood chip path opened out in front of me, leading in so many different directions.

I went up into the octagon room and found a dear community member in the middle of her daily practice with a candle lit in the center of the room. Not having done much meditation before, I sat on a chair quietly and just let whatever was to happen, happen. I see so much benefit in taking some time each morning just to simply, "check in". We all seem to wake up, get dressed, complete our daily morning ritual in the bathroom (I won't delve into details :) and then stuff in breakfast so that we can run out the door. I do think that we need to be orderly and have a sense of time, but what about changing our schedules a bit on order to allow time to wake up and realize..."hey! I'm awake!"? I'm learning more and more that a healthy and balanced lifestyle is not something you can just decide to have one day. It does take "work" if you want to call it that. It takes planning, preparation and time.

After a short meditation or reflection, I headed downstairs in the CC (remember? That stands for community center) and found it to be pretty busy. Two members eating their morning meal and getting ready to head out into the town of Amherst to work and complete some errands and other workers getting their morning nourishment in preparation for the work of the day.

A meal that looked delicious was a blend of fruit and yogurt and another was brown rice being warmed up on the old gas stove, named Hephaestus, mixed with a healthful microalgae. I decided upon granola, rice milk and a seaweed rice cake...a delicious blend of salty and nutty sweet! It's such a miracle to be able to take my breakfast, head out into the greenhouse and look out onto the world, see the trees waking up, and slowly eat my meal. Sometimes I like to read while I eat (despite the fact that my mother tells me it's not a good digesting practice :) and it's just completely peaceful.

After attending the work circle at 9:00 my roommate and partner in the program, one of the main directors and I headed out to the central vegetable garden here, Shanti Garden. (Shanti- a very important word. In Sanskrit I believe it means, peace). And to fill you in, a "work circle" is when all the community workers gather together at the sound of a majestic bell toll and find inspiration together to complete the work of the day. In this circle, members also discuss the various jobs that are to be done that afternoon.

I must pause here to tell you that this woman I'm working with, this woman with whom we went to Shanti Garden, is a green thumb in human form. She knows everything about any plant, any medicinal property of a green specimen, all about vegetables and what they need, flowers and their characteristics, about cooking and is in deep touch and awareness with the plants in the garden. Nothing hoaxy about it. We are living and so are they and there does exist a strong connection between all living things. It's up to us to seek it out and to understand, accept it.

Today, I learned (SO MUCH!) that red clover shouldn't be seen as merely the Vermont state flower or as "another plant that's taken over Grandma's squash bed". No. Rather, if you take the flower, the red clover head itself, harvest it and dry it, you can use it as an extremely beneficial tea. Most notably used for helping to regulate women's natural cycles, including menstruation. Plantains are not just a pesky plant that look like an elephant's ear. Not even close, for if you get stung by a nettle, if you get stung by a bee and are swelling up like Uncle Earl's belly after too much Thanksgiving meal, take that Plantain that you were going to pluck and throw out, roll it between your hands to release its juices and place it over the wound. It will heal! and swelling WILL go down. And you know something else? Most of the plants that we call "weeds", are the most delicious greens out there. Give your plants a chance. Don't call something a weed without knowing what you're talking about. Every plant is there for a reason. The plants that you do remove actually create the best and most nutritious compost out there. Did you know that Yarrow, that beautiful white plant that tends to grow in overgrown fields can be harvested, dried and turned into tea as well? And rose! Snip off the heads of blossomed roses and put them in water, place the jar of water in the sun and make rose water. Or take the buds that are soon to open and put them in oil!
I was in awe of the fact that, today, I was sitting in a field of supposed "weeds" and harvesting them! As if they were strawberries or tomatoes. I also learned how to mow the lawn with...a scythe and a sickle! You think to yourself, "yea, but that takes so much time. No one would ever do that." You're right, it does take time and you sweat and you work hard. That's precisely why it's so great!
Sirius community does use a gas-powered lawn mower for some places on the land, but some places, such as Shanti garden, have a specific personality and energy that make sickles more effective tools for maintaining grass. And it's true, when you work with plants, you must do your best to be in positive energies/spirits, because they feed off of what you send to them. It sounds like witchcraft, but in fact, it is simply life.

It's also interesting to note that in the gardens here, only half of the grass is mowed at a time. The untouched half is there in order to give the displaced insects and creatures a place to go as the scythe takes away their homes in the chopped half of the field.

We harvested and ate deliciously plump sweet peas today as well as cut back the bolted centers of fruitful spinach plants. Getting rid of the center stalks helps the plant to concentrate its nutrients and energy on growing healthy surrounding leaves that are most often used for eating.

Not only did we get to get our hands dirty in the garden, but we got down to business in the beautiful kitchen here too. I learned how to cook for a large amount of people. Dinner was to be served at 6:30 and we began our preparations after lunch at 2:30! This must mean that dinner was a feast no? YES! It was. My roommate and I were coached in making homemade baguettes, garlic/basil butter, pesto, hummus, pasta with vegetables from the garden and salad with vegetables from the same wonderful place with basil dressing. After this wonderful cooking, the gong was struck which signals to the whole land that a meal is ready and waiting for hungry mouths and thankful souls. As the community members who had signed up to come and eat this evening arrived, we all held hands and closed our eyes, finding time to pause and understand the gratefulness in having this food and for the work in creating it, as well as the situations of all people around the world who may not have this luxury and the creatures in the world who must work so hard each day just to make end's meat (at least, those are the things I think of when we gather before meals. I think that's the point. The silence and time is not filled with guided speech, but instead it's just a moment to give yourself the time to think about what you find important).
I took a shower this evening for the first time in a while and you can rest assured that it was with water, not with compost or soil :)

Before heading to my room to greet the night and sleep, I went into the orchard nearby and heard the delicate sound of the little women clucking softly in their coop. I took out my violin and played a little melody just to give thanks and to remember the incredible gift that this is.
Music can go a long way.

From Shutesbury, Massachusetts,
Rebekah Gordon
(Brazil vs. North Korea, Fifa World Cup 2010, Brazil won!!)