Healing Gardens

REFLECTION ON WEEK SEVEN

This week's reflection topic is "are there good and bad gardens?" I would have to answer yes to this question. Considering what I have said in response to previous reflection topics about everything that grows could be considered a garden, than it only seems possible that there are many bad gardens. Some examples I came up with are large scale, cash-crop farming, slash-and-burn farming and so on. These techniques don't really work with the earth, and therefor seem more detrimental than productive. For some reason another example that comes to my mind is urban sprawl. Urban sprawl is definitely a growth taking place in many areas that is not condusive to the environment. I suppose that in my mind a garden or growth that is happening that does not benefit the environment or work hand-in-hand with it is bad.

REFLECTION ON WEEK SIX

Why do gardeners garden? Well, I would say ask them. I am sure there is a variety of answers. I garden because I feel as though I am giving a little back. Making space and time in my crazy life in this very fast moving society is a challenge, but as a human I feel as though I owe it to my earth. And gardening is rewarding in a different way then expected. Being more in harmony with nature is something that has completely changed my life. Instead of stumbling blindly through the woods I have found that gardening has encouraged me to take my time and really form an understanding with what is around me. When gardening you form a relationship with plants, and have the extreme pleasure of watching them grow and take shape. And what's more you can draw out that pleasure by incorporating said plants into your daily life in a number of ways. Gardening is therapeutic, and I think that many would agree.

There are of course many more reasons why gardeners garden, whether it be for an occupation, for livelihood, for keeping tradition alive, for purely recreation etc. Regardless of the reasons I can sleep better at night knowing that people take the time to focus their energy on something that connects them to nature. 

REFLECTION ON WEEK FIVE

What is a garden? This class has changed my perspective on this idea a lot thus far. Coming into this class I felt as though a garden was a small plot of land set aside for flowers or vegetables, but I have come to realize that everything is a garden. It is kind of fun to think of life that way. For instance, now I am in the library and I could look at the library as a garden...a garden of books. That sounds so appealing to me. Or I could look at this school and refer to it as a garden of people and knowledge. As I said in my previous reflection, a garden is a place where life and growth can flourish. I find that sometimes less "conventional" gardens are an even better example of that fact then the average front-yard garden. Allowing growth to take on many forms and run along different paths is very telling. So much can be gained watching people and nature grow without meddling. 

REFLECTION ON WEEK FOUR

This week's garden topic is what purpose does a garden serve. I feel as though this question has been addressed indirectly in previous weeks' discussions. A garden is essentially a place for life to flourish. Depending on perspective a garden can serve many purposes. A garden can serve as a place for meditation and relaxation, it can serve as a hub for food and medicine, or its purpose could be to create a safe habitat. I think that this question ties in with the reflection from week two on how everything and life in general is a garden. I believe one great purpose of a garden is to offer a metaphor of different species thriving and living together throughout a number of circumstances. Gardens serve an array of purposes, yet the one overall quality is that they spur and nurture growth.

REFLECTION ON WEEK THREE

This week's garden topic is traditional and ecological wisdom. I think this topic tied in with our activities in class quite a bit. Especially with the video about Bruce Miller and the field trip to the Gifts Garden. Bruce had so much traditional and ecological knowledge, and in many cases his traditions tied in with the ecological landscape around him. What I found to be the most amazing thing about Bruce was his crazy amount of knowledge and his drive to share it with those around him. He showed younger generations the importance of retaining traditions, especially those that integrate the natural world. I feel as though that is what makes traditional and ecological wisdom so important. At one time society lived with the environment much more peacefully and we have since lost the traditions that supported that relationship. Understanding the earth around you and gathering wisdom from it is the first step in calculating and truly comprehending human impact on the land. The Native People's traditions still draw from the land so much, and I feel like that wisdom is being lost. The field trip was a great way to show how much the earth has to give that the human race seems opposed to recieving.

REFLECTION ON WEEK TWO

This week's garden topic is what kind of gardens are there. We addressed this question during a workshop in week one and many ideas were brought to the table within my group. Though this question can be answered at face value, I think it has potential to be more in depth.

Gardens are used for a number of purposes. The first idea that comes to my mind is that they are pleasing to the senses. Many gardens are planted with flowers and good smelling plants just for enjoyment, or to "beautify" the landscape. Which seems a little contradictory since most natural landscapes are already beautiful within their own right. Another type of garden is a garden used for culinary purposes [i.e. culinary herbs, small edible crops etc.], which can be done on a small scale or a large scale. Farms are very much considered gardens. There are also medicinal gardens, water gardens, meidtation/spiritual gardens, rooftop gardens, window box gardens and so on.

When we look at the world through a certain perspective we can find that everything is a garden. Your backyard, the forest, the ocean and so on can all be gardens. Even urban structures can be considered a garden. It makes me think of the song "Concrete Jungle". If a garden is something that grows then urban sprawl is definitely a garden. I also liked how in class we discussed kindergarden, and how it is roughly translated to a garden of children. To continue with that metaphor people are definitely gardens, from the time they are planted as a seed and throughout life they continue to flourish and grow.

REFLECTION ON WEEK ONE

The first week of class was mainly an introduction into what the quarter will entail. We became acquainted with our longhouse garden projects and partners, dipped into some of the text, and discussed cultural perspectives on gardening.

Our in-class garden workshop brought up a number of interesting points. My partner and I talked about how gardening used to be about being with the earth and living freely with it, whereas now it seems to be more about altering the earth to suit yourself. I feel as though what is lacking is the relationship between nature and humans. Nancy J. Turner's book THE EARTH'S BLANKET refered to this lack of relationship by saying "mainstream society has lost its reverence for the natural world," [26]. I thought it really could not have been put any simpler. The cultural differences now are that a level of respect has been lost and is no longer being instilled into young people.

A cultural issue I feel passionate about is agriculture. Agriculture is much of what this country was founded on. In FIELDS THAT DREAM Jenny Kurzweil discusses how American agrarian heritage is "paradoxical" [18], and I think that is a brutal depiction of American culture. Food any many ways defines culture, or atleast it used to more strongly because populations of people all ate the food from their geographic region. Now a days food is shipped in and out from all over the world and people pay little attention to how or where their food is grown. This illustrates the same lack of relationship.

For me personally, food has been a central theme in my life for as long as I can remember. Being from the south has defined a large percentage of my diet, and also being Italian has contributed to my idea of diet and preperations of food.

I am really looking forward to our community garden projects to hopefully become a part of educating and inspiring people [myself included] to get your hands dirty a little more often and to return to our roots and rebuild what is missing with mother nature.