WeekOne: The Cultural Perspectives on Gardening

Gardens are an important element to my native Japanese culture; wether they are used for aesthetic beauty, memorials or other purposes, gardening, through being involved in the processes engages one into a benefitial relationship centered and ultimatly reaching the contentment, patience or Ohm we all strive for.

The people of the modern mainstream U.S. seems to have lost touch with the dirt and patience it takes to live harmoiously with the earth as well as having lost connection with their food and bodies. The concept that you are what you eat is no longer heeded as a reminder of perserving ones temple. The change from sustainable farming or just using and perserving ones natural resources has shifted to gardening on the specific bases of aesthetic beauty.

WeekTwo: Flowing Life- garden types

There are numerous types of gardens... It's hard to say or know where to begin. Alright, lets see; 1. The Bonsai garden- small artful trees traditionally Japanese 2. the Rock Garden- an arrangement of rocks in a calming wholistically connected fashion 3. Herb garden- a grouping of several herbs 4. Vegetable garden- a grouping of vegetables usually grown in a row. 5. flower/floral garden- a grouping of flowers that are somewhat beautamiss 6. Sculpture gardens- an area filled with sculptures and fountains certain cement and marble ornamentation 7. Manicured gardens- ones that are well kept 8. Community gardens- ones where the people that live in the community have a little patch where they can grow stuff of their own chosing. The list goes on... And in pondering a way to shorten this list I came across the thought that gardens are anywhere and everywhere you think is natural or beautiful or feels like life in this entire landscape of mother earth. She is, of course, the ultimate garden. I feel that the reading has really helped me come to this conclusion on my own terms and helped conceptualize the dire need for self sustainable agriculture and taking care of the earth. To be one with your body and one with the earth as you move through it's scenic enviroments.

WeekThree: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom

Through the reading that we have do so far, especially in , "Fields that dream", I came to the conclusion that the Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Wisdom (TEK&W) is the widespread and common knowledge among the earlier people's regarding their surrondings and it's natural resources such as the medicinal plant-life, and other uses for native plants and ect. in this modern generation that once common knowledge has diminished to being held by but a few elders. This wisdom that the world has lacked in this recent century has almost vanished almong with the wellness and prosperity of the Earth. Personally, I feel that mainstream gardening is in someways a waste of time because the foremost benefit of the popular mainstream garden is for decor and more so visual pleasure. And because the TEK&W philosophy is based on using and replenishing the natural surrondings for the use and benefit of mankind; thus a mainstream garden would be a waste in the eyes of TEK&W. A garden should not only be enjoyed through the visual beauty and the feeling of 'accomplishment' that comes with creating and working on something, but also taken in (injested) int0 the body in a show fo the cycle of life, the world, and the eco-system. To be able to sustain one's self with the wisdom of botanical nature and Ecology.

I would suppose that a TEK&W garden would be a natural growth forest with an inclusion of a small procurment of vegetablesand other such farming produce that is necessary to sustain life; including a few animals. But if one was reffering to the TEK&W method of producing and caring for a garden then I would assume it would be in a fashion that would optimally allow the most usage in the safest way possible that would promote a sort of human and nature symbiotic relationship.

WeekFour: A Garden's Purpose

A garden serves to heal... Wether it be emotional or physical. Every single intrinsic aspect of a garden serves to heal and lighen the human spirit. Wether it be from the actual process of forming a garden and the feeling of accomplishment that follows the site of the first sprout right down to the medicinal plants that grow in them. Another purpose is to beautify the concrete jungle of a community/or worldand help restore it to it's rightful landscape. It serves as a preservation of sorts in an area where those natural landscapes may have been destroyed... A garden helps us rememberwhere we came from and will help us discover where we are going if we only listen hard enough. I guess this is much attached to the "healing" aspect I mentioned earlier, as it heals the ties between the past and teh present. And of course, a garden can also serve to sustain life. And here I use the term life very broadly to symbolize all forms of life including the tiny bugs, birds and other animals (such as ourselves) right down to the beautiful palnts themselves. And lastly, a garden can teach us much about the world arounf us. to quote a great teachr Bruce Miller, "The trees were the teachers of the first peoples."

WeekFive: What is a Garden?

A garden is a place of chaotic structure. It binds us all togther and represents the ordered chaos within ourselves and our world. A garden is a place to feel at peace and comfortable. This feeling comes from being away or being detached for a moment from a society that has become detached from it's past. A garden is a plot of land where something is cultivated. This could be any of the multitudinous possibilities of which can be cultivated such as plants, minds, thoughts, ideals, motivations, and connected people. Most simply a garden is a plot of land with infinite possibilities. It is a window to a world of expression and a miniature landscape of our lives. Gardens seem to perpetuate the human emotion of love and the traditional sense of Mother Nature, Mother Nurture.

A garden is a place of inward achievements that elevate the spirit. It represents the cycles of life through the seasons and promotes spiritual wellness through positive reinforcement appropriated by the plants themselves. A garden is a place of high productivity. It allows a person to yield the benefits of thier labor and uses the necessity of that labor to gain a sense of empowerment. It is human nature to form bonds with kindred spirits and exemplifies the human condition to feel invigorated by love and the feeling of accomplishing something bigger than themselves. Gardens and overall plants themselves allow this opportunity to people. To end, a garden is a place where plants grow spiritually with people.

WeekSix: Why do Gardeners Garden?

When I ponder the notion of why gardeners garden alongside what I did this week, I feel to wnat to talk about the love of the spiritual relationship between all beings. Some people are more open to this power, or force;and it certainly does take a unique amount of spiritual awareness. This sort of awareness seems to be a characteristic of more common among women than men. Some say it has to do with a certain level of sensitivity, yet there are always exceptions. People like my grandparents worked hard their entire lives and in doing so gained a appreiciation for the Earth and her wonders. Somehow from their time to now the past generations chose, in their quest to make life better for their children they made life more convienent. This neglection of labored work led to a wasteful society who doesn't appreiciate the work put into anything. This society ignores the needs of the Earth and grows fat, clogged by fast food, while they marvel at their own brilliance. This society, or "Americanized" way of thinking... this so-called U.S. Mainstream thought is so enamored with themselves that they form schools to study the sacrifices made to make them that way.

Spiritual openness in the sense of which I am speaking of and come to synthesis is an affinity with either the Earth or the the people of the past that where more connected with the earth. It's a love of the achievements of gardening in all aspects or maybe even an unsatisfiable determination needed to be able to love something and watch it grow. I have gained this sense of satisfaction with the help of Monica my community garden contractor. We talked alot about the personality that is fit to garden and we concluded together that those characteristis are deeply burrowed in everyone. I think the plants become peoples children, and they develop a similar relationship. I find myself calling the plants I care for "my babies". It's a human condition to bond with other living things, it all just depends on how open you are to it.

WeekSeven: Are there"Good" and "Bad" Gardens?

A garden reflects thecare of the gardener. A main theme that I have come across throughout this quarter is the concept of a sort of symbiotic relationship between palnts and people, just as such relationships exist between people and any other living being. Each is dependent on the other.

If you truely care deeply for a garden, as the same as a person, you would work hard to keep it up. It would reflect the life and values of the individual. Wether it is a garden of rocks, rare algae or you are simply using this as a metaphor for relationships, if it is fulfilling to the gardener there cannot be a bad garden. There are never any bad gardens, only careless people who neglected them. For instance, people don't blame their cars when they get into an accident or hit a pedestrian, no... it is obviously the person behind the wheels fault.

May I raise a question? Can a garen be detrimental to ones' life? If so, that would be the only possible example of a "bad" garden. I cannot think of one off hand.

When i first saw this category I thought of the "gadren of good and evil" a metaphor for the earth and a symbol of an equilibrium similar to that of the Chinese Yin and Yang. It explains and is a part of all things and shows us that in bad there is always some good and in good there is always some bad and together is where the balance lies.

WeekEight: Who Gardens?

So I'd like to explore the idea of who doesn't garden... What are the reasons why people wouldn't garden. As I ponder this notion I feel that people unconciously chose not to garden because they are so lost and unconnected to the traditional ecological kowledge and wisdom that they cannot even acknowledge or think of it. The recent generations have denied their knowledge of plants and soon broke away from that craft as a rise in western corporate medicine took it's place... It was more convienent.

Society today just doesn't promote the usefulness or productivity of a garden. Even the connections between "Green Herbalism" and those Native American remedis present in Corporate Healthcare. Comming form a family that doesn't rely on western medicine a garden as a source for healing/option for healthcare is the most productive way to live sustainably and cut erroneous costs. One could provide medicines to families in need and promote biodiversity. The simple fact that the "cure to what ails you" is growing actively all around you is miraculous but indeed not a new concept. Soon people will realize again the importance of plants and the need to return to that state. This is because gardening doesn't just promote your health and wellness physically but also emotionally and mentally. Gardens and plants have a power over people once they have dedicated themselves. It brings poeople together in spirit and energy. It can improve a community through a communal garden, where they are all present and active working on the garden moving towards one goal. i've expereienced a lot of this myself as i work on my community garden, I've developed this relationship with these people working on a garden and the plants bring us closer together.

WeekNine: Gardening and Empowerment

Gardening Empowers people in many aspects of the word. I think of the article we read earlier this quarter about the gardens in prisons worked on my inmates. It talked about how being involoved in creating a gardena living thing ana a life source, the garden helped them empower themselves to nuture society, develop patience, and gain a second chance at a decent future. This therapy seem to be extremely effective. I also think of how gardens empower people to prepare their own herbal remediesw instead of resorting to and being dependent upon the manipulated medicines of corporate healthcare giants.

I feel it has the power to empower people to be an activist agaist the rising conflicts of our unsustainable culture and in that itempowers them to gain determination for that passion. You see, you are just one person gardening, trying to make a difference and you see that it does benefit the society. The more people who are convinced to start a garden the faster the world will change for the better. It seems that we have lost the last generation of people who believed and lived as the salt of the earth. It is sad to see them go as we see the decline of the rural gardener. But all this can be turned around if these people have these realizations and come to appreciate the marvels of the earth.

Gardening can also help those with chemical dependency issues. It empowers one to be able to love and care for something and keep it alive. If you are wholly healthy (not on drugs) that will reflect in your plant and when these people learn to love themselves again they will know that they are ready to love another being. It teaches one to love oneself amd extend that to other kindred spirits. To start one must always begin to care love and nurture a plant and when they are capable of caring for the plant they are ready to take on more complex adn unforgiving beings.

All in all I think gardening empowers people to sow the seeds of change... change of life, society, medicine, and mind.

WeekTen: Gardening as a Metaphor

People are active gardeners of their everyday lives. There are many metaphors that exist in our society that uses gardening as a metaphor. I'm sure you have heard, "you reap what you sow". Literally you do reap what you sow in a garden, in the sense that you reap the benefits of what you sow into the ground by the work you put in, or lack there of. Metaphorically it is sort of the negative connotations of the idea of karma and "what goes around comes around"... It has many alias' such as "do unto others as you would want other to do unto you".

Through this class I have come to realized that the process of gardening prepares you for life; it is life's ultimate metaphor. Once you have succeded in constructing your garden you may proceed to care for it and keep it up. It is a life long process of growth just as ones's life is and one's world is. This class has taught me that is just cannot be too late to go back to that ecological knowledge everyone exuded in that time before white involvment.

This class has allowed me to reflect on all the things in this class that have contributed to my understanding of the world and the Earth. I feel as though I will carry on these concepts of humans with nature, my studies of elevation habitats, the importance of the First People's and culture.

I feel I now acknowledge more of the world around me and feel attune to the spirits within them. I will no longer feel like alternative medicine is a crakpot science as those around me at times tried to persuade. After the last class together i walked to my car and reflected upon my discoveries througout hte quarter realizing more and more what I have gained and be able to take with me from this class.

Thank you Marja for affording me this experience.