SeasonS A Guide for Growing
Book 1:
Dormancy & Deep Growth A Project of Little Tree Farm & Retreat & UMAR Art oN MaiN
A Joint Project of: Little Tree Farm & Retreat www.littletreenc.org UMAR Art oN MaiN www.umarinfo.com
All visual art selections were created by UMAR participants and staff. Poetry by Amy Vaughn (AV) Reflections by Tim Moore (TM) Joanie Williams (JTW) Jason Williams (JRW) Garden Tips By Derek Dunn (DD) If you would like to promote your business in Seasons, please contact Jason Bolton at jbolton@umarinfo.com.
Introduction [Gardening] is – in addition to being the appropriate fulfillment of a practical need – a sacrament, as eating is also, by which we enact and understand our oneness with the Creation, the conviviality of one body with all bodies. Wendell Berry, writer, theologian and farmer Welcome to the first volume of “Seasons”. Little Tree Farm & Retreat has partnered with the artists from UMAR Art on Main to bring you this magazine-like publication. In this book, you will find reflections, stories, garden tips, poetry, quotes, scripture and visual art that journey through the growing season.
each month throughout the growing season with the final issue in October/November.
We encourage you to use this guide as you see fit and allow yourself to explore your own personal season of growth. You may place this magazine on your bedside table and reflect on a written piece or one of the pieces of art work In this first issue, released on the each day to see how the Spirit may Spring Equinox, we explore the be speaking to you. You may keep process of growth that happened this next to your coffee pot to ponduring the Winter and how the der over as you enjoy your cup of earth begins to emerge and get coffee and start your day. Maybe prepared for the upcoming season you will choose to place it on your of growth. This issue is presented in desk at work to pick up when you five sections: The Long Sleep, Till- need to take a deep breathe in the ing & Turning, Amending Soil, Early middle of a hectic day. However Light and Awakening. Our inten- you choose to use this material, tion is for you to spend one week we pray that you may experience with each theme. Read one poem, growth with the Creator. study one piece of artwork, think So, as we explore the seasons of through one reflection each day or growth and many aspects of agread them at your own pace. The riculture and creativity together, second issue will be released on may you experience the beauty of Earth Day and subsequent issues this “sacrament” and find glimpses will be released approximately of “our oneness with Creation.”
The Long Sleep The Long Sleep During my long sleep, My fingernails have grown. I have slept and rested, And now wake up, Sleepy, and just a little confused. What was it that I said to you, Just before I slept? Could this long sleep Have helped me to grow Courage, Depth, A way to walk on roads Previously too scary and dark? The long sleep -May I use it to gather my forces, Touch the deep inner part of myself That needs to gain strength And move out of hibernation Into a season of bursting forth, Breaking through the surface And greeting the spring sun. Waiting for Spring I plant flowers in paragraphs And sweet summer tomatoes Fresh off the vine In verse. This time of year I put a seed in every word, And hope that I can nourish it enough While I wait for spring. AV
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 “Sometimes sleep is the only way God can get into me what God needs to get into me,” said one of my seminary professors on a particular day of class devoted to looking at the spirituality of sleep This was my kind of class! Throughout 18 years of formal schooling, I was taught to “pay attention,” “focus,” “work hard,” “study more” and other lessons whereby my labor was the necessary component of productivity and success. And now in a masters level course on spirituality, I was hearing, perhaps for the first time, that the opposite is sometimes true: that there are aspects of growth that can only be accomplished when I relinquish work and allow myself to rest. I felt a deep sense of connection to this idea. Sleep is, after all, a necessary part of being human. It functions for us in ways that we do not completely understand. Sleep refreshes and rejuvenates our body. Sleep clears our mind and enables us to arise alert. Sleep is part of a cycle that gives form and structure to our daily routine. Sleep seems to be the human parallel to the natural cycle of day and night as the
earth spins on its journey around the sun. We know, intrinsically, that sleep is important and necessary. We know that we feel refreshed, we know that we function better after sleep than after long periods of sleeplessness. Yet we have never been able to say exactly why or how, only that it is so. However, scientific and medical studies released over the past few years have begun to explain exactly what happens during sleep that brings about refreshment, clarity, and energy. In a 2014 TedMed talk, Jef Iliff describes sleep as the brain’s housekeeper. During sleep, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) flushes out waste from the daily activity of our brain cells. The brain is such a complex organ that uses such a large amount of energy to function that it requires a special process of maintenance and waste management. In effect, there is no bodily process that can maintain the brain while it is hard at work. It must go into a maintenance cycle in order to be cleaned and flushed out. During sleep, channels open up along the blood vessels in our brain that al-
low large amounts of CSF to travel deep into the brain and flush out waste and byproduct from the nutrients that the blood bring to the brain throughout the day.
mation of new neurons and pathways in the brain during sleep. All this may explain part of the dreaming process which often includes portions and fragments of memoOther scientists have been look- ries and daily experiences pieced ing at the activity of the brain together in odd ways. during sleep. The have discovered At the end of the day, sleep is, quite that during sleep the brain replays literally, the brain’s “maintenance memories at a highly accelerated mode.” A wash cycle cleans, flushrate to effectively reorganize them es and rinses out all the waste from for long-term storage. Researchers a long day’s work. An organization speculate that the brain pulls apart cycle pulls apart, prioritizes, sorts and sifts through memories to pri- and stores information for long oritize important information and term use. And the end result is that discard extraneous information we wake up refreshed and primed during this process. Some scien- with everything needed for a new tists have even discovered the for- day of growth.
Our human process of sleep is much like the winter sleep of the earth. During the cold, dormant month, soil is at rest for a time of rejuvenation. Organic matter from the growing season decays and decomposes adding valuable, life-giving compounds to the soil that can be used for next year’s growth. The hardening and thawing of soil due to freezing weather helps to break soil and organic matter down into its basic parts.
rather acknowledges the presence of the earth in the beginning. The earth was formless and dark and covered in water over which God’s spirit hovered. God beckons the earth to emerge from the waters and come out of the darkness into light. The earth awakens from a period of deep dormancy. Soon after, again at the urging of God’s voice, the earth brings forth life.
Much like the brain is active in its maintenance mode, the most healthy practice for soil during the winter is to grow a cover crop. Cover crops are maintenance crops that provide nutritional benefits to the soil, allow microbials to continue their work during the cold, prevent erosion and suppress non-beneficial weeds.
Dormancy is a time of renewal and preparation. It is, perhaps, the most important time of the growth cycle as it allows for a breaking down of what was into that which can be. It offers a time of literal “re-membering”, that is pulling apart and putting back together in usable form. And this is not just optional, but central and integral. In many ways dormancy is the process which leads to resurrection!
So despite the seeming dormant sleep of winter, there are lots of vital processes happening both in the ground and within us. The soil, like the human mind, enters into a maintenance time where it is refreshed, renewed, cleansed and prepared for a new season of growth.
Whether it be cold weather or fatigue, God calls us to let go and give way to the cleansing, breaking down and reorganizing processes that only occur at rest. May we trust that in each part of life God will speak beckoning us to emerge from dormancy and enter a new season of deep growth. JRW
“In the beginning...” was not much different. Though we tend to think of God bringing forth creation ex nihilo (out of nothing), the Genesis story paints a picture of God bringing a dormant earth to life. Genesis 1:2 speaks not of nothingness but
Tilling & Turning Soil Prep 101 As dawn breaks on spring A warmth spreads over me Like honey on a hot biscuit. Coming out of this coma I see more clearly how the soil Must be tilled, Must be turned, The soil must be prepared Before seeding. My heart needs to see, To feel, How the other lives, What it is like to wonder where The next meal, The next bed, The next job will come. I need to feel the pressing in of disappointment, Rejection, Loss, Hopelessness, Despair, So that the soil of my heart is Tilled Turned, Made ready for the Seed of compassion, The planting of hope, The crop of love.
If I am to grow The best crop, The transformation of myself, The counter-cultural act of Giving not from great largess, But from a humble heart, One that knows that we work alongside Each other, Not me giving to you, Not me stepping out of the golden coach To scatter breadcrumbs, But me walking arm in arm with you, As together, We become the good plant The harvest of re-creation The new heaven The new earth. AV
There are times in my life when I feel dry as the desert sand and hard as North Carolina clay. This most often happens when I am overworked and have not taken time for life-giving practices, such as family, community, reading and reflection or just quiet. In contrast, I usually find that I am most productive and most alive when I have partaken deeply of the life-giving pieces of each day, in particular, when I have both played and prayed. I have been discovering that our garden works the same way. Growing up, our yearly gardening routine always began with our 1954 Farmall Tractor. I would sit on my dad’s lap and together we used the plow to turn the soil, the disc to chop and cultivate the soil and then hillers to make rows in the freshly tilled soil. This is, after all, the way most of us have gardened since the invention of tractor. And before tractors, we simply used mules and other animals to pull our tillers and cultivators. When I think about tilling, these childhood memories always come to mind whether I am talking to farmers in Lincoln County or reading scripture. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it,” says the creation story in the second chapter of Genesis. Humans are needed in the earth-garden to till and turn soil. It would seem that the soil needs us
in some way to provide some function that it cannot achieve on its own. Humanity appears to be the central managers of this garden from which God provided both food and companionship. Or so it would seem. Author and theologian Ched Myers offers a different reading of Genesis 2:15 based upon the Hebrew words ‘abad and shamar which are most often translated till and keep, respectively: “Outside the Eden story ‘abad connotes servitude, not management, while shamar is used for conservancy of life or observance of covenant. So the phrase is better translated “serve and preserve...” (http://sojo.net/magazine/2004/03/serve-and-preserve) ‘Abad (loosely pronounced ahvahd) is used to denote the work of slaves and servants. It describes a relationship of service and servitude. In effect, the appearance of ‘abad in Genesis 2 suggests that God put a human in the garden to be a slave to the land, ie. to work the land as a servant. Genesis 2:5 notes that “there was no one to ‘abad the ground (adamah). Later, Genesis 2:15 fills the role of ground-servant by noting that God created a human (adam) to ‘abad the ground (adamah). The relationship between human and ground could not be clearer: adam is to
serve adamah. So what does tilling have to do with serving? Well, perhaps not much if we see only through the modern lens of tilling. So let’s look deeper...literally. Within soil there exists many things, including both organic and inorganic materials. Sand and clay, for example, include mostly inorganic materials. But the topsoil of a forest floor includes both the inorganic material of clay and organic materials that have been decomposing for long periods of time. This forest floor soil did not need a human to till it to become rich and life-giving for plants and animals. Rather, a natural process of life, growth, death, decay and decomposition regularly till and turn life-giving materials into the ground. No tractor, no turning plow, no human is needed for this to happen. Our sustainable farming practices at Little Tree Farm & Retreat attempt to harness the same natural processes. We serve our soil by encouraging this natural process to occur. For example, we grow certain cover crops, chop them down intentionally to cover the ground and then allow them to decompose
over time. We cover the soil with compost and cardboard and newspaper and leaves and manures. This covering of the soil encourages bugs and worms to burrow from deep within the soil in effect tilling the soil for us without the use of tractors and turning plows. We have been encouraging these natural processes for two years now. And even when we begin growing in our main production field this year, we will continue to incorporate cover cropping, chop and drop and composting methods while we are growing fruits and vegetables. Our work is not just adding nutrients to the soil for the current growing season. It is improving the quality and condition of the soil in an ongoing way
Amending Soil The earth is made of layer upon layer of different rocks, ores, magma, and, of course, soil types. Even the very top layer of the earth’s crust are made of many layers of different soil types including sand, silt, clay and humus. And each layer is useful. Some filter, purify or store water. Some provide strength and foundation for structures. Some create and store energy in the form of oil, natural gas or heat. And of course, some layers provide a nutrient base for plant growth. We utilize this natural pattern of layering as we improve the health, or tilth, of soil. This layering process is called amending. We layer, or amend, with variety and diversity, including manures, compost, organic nutrients such as lime, bonemeal, phosphate, greensand and feather meal. Each of these help to provide nutrition as we layer them
into soil. Amending and layering are really a recycling process. The forest naturally amends the soil through layering of leaves, limbs, dead plants and trees, animal manures and so on. Each of these adds vital organic compounds to the soil as they decompose. Everything which was once living is recycled back into the ground. Nothing is wasted. Yet we live in a throw away society. Easy is better and easy usually means time-saving and that too often translates to disposable. We dispose of everything. When something breaks, we throw it away and get something new. We package and present items in materials that end up in land fills in such large quantities that they cannot decompose in a safe or sustainable way. We even flush away our own manure so that we do not
have to see it or deal with it. I have noticed over the years how this throw away culture seeps into my life. When a meaningful prayer, a sacred place, an inspiring author or a challenging sermon no longer seems useful or productive, I throw it away in favor of that which is new, fresh and energizing. Eventually I notice that close by I have a landfill of books, prayers, hobbies and rituals that, though once life-giving, are now so densely piled up that they are utterly lost upon me. I can barely make sense of how important they once were to me. And I find my life layered with disconnection emptiness and loss.
What would it mean to amend my life with the remains of the habits which I no longer find useful? Might there be value in recycling them throughout my journey? Could there be more depth to the rituals of the past than I once imagined? Is it possible that there is something sustainable in constantly layering them into the soil of which I am made? Maybe, just maybe, I can build a soil deep enough that it becomes like the layers of the earth filtering, purifying, strengthening and energizing me for years of growth to come. JRW
Gardening Tip: Soil Amendment In most cases the soil we chose to use in our gardens is less than ideal for growing vegetables. It is either too sandy which will not hold moisture or contains too much clay which will not drain properly. Soil is amended to improve its ability to sustain life. Amending soil with organic material is always the best method. Not only does it improve the draining qualities of the soil but also decomposes and feeds the micro organisms that then support the plant life. This decomposed organic matter is called humus. A great organic and sustainable way to amend soil is by using cover crops. This is typically done by planting a legume on the bed prior to planting crops. This adds much-needed nitrogen to the soil and the taproots help to aerate at the soil much like a tiller would do, but this is much less invasive. You could also add clay to sandy soils or you can add sand to clay soils. Some other amendments are wood chips, compost tea, straw, limbs, leaves and manure. DD
Passages Every crushing dead end opens up new opportunities. Each defeat clears the deck for another try Even death makes way for new life. Hard though it may be to see As something hard won and loved Screeches to a jarring halt, Endings have a way of making Dramatic beginnings happen. Even as I say goodbye to all that might have been I say hello to what may come instead. The wreckage of last year’s growth may be turned Under the surface of the soil, But it is not forgotten And it is not for nothing. Nourishing the new growth, The old plans, and goals, and striving Don’t simply disappear, They become part of what grows instead. I have loved you with the heat of A thousand suns, And I will miss your warmth on my skin, Thank you for the lessons you taught me. But now, in the deepening shadows, I must rise up and greet A different kind of light. And meet the challenge of A new moon rising. AV
Garden Tip: Composting Compost is a natural soil amendment that is produced by the decomposition of organic materials. A general rule of thumb when creating compost is to have a 30 to 1 carbon to nitrogen ratio. Too much carbon will slow decomposition and too much nitrogen will make a smelly compost pile. Examples of carbon are leaves, wood, fruit waste. Examples of nitrogen are grass clippings, manure, vegetable waste. Water can be added to help decomposition and flipping the pile every few days will ensure proper mixing. A usable compost can usually be achieved within a few weeks to a month when properly attended. This time may vary depending on temperature and content of mixture. DD
Early Light Spark Let me not try to fill my silence With words, My words with meaning, My meaning with instructions. Instead, let the silence untie the Bindings of my heart So that in my emptiness I can hear the wild ideas I might have dismissed, The dormant visions that need A dark cool place to rest To gather strength for the Coming growing season, And the idea children who Cannot be conceived and born When sounds and lights shine too Brightly. Let the silence open the door For creativity to come in and dwell, To rest a while and cast new pictures On the wall. May I not rush from quiet thought Into busy-ness, But instead stop to notice Which way the wind blows, How the grass is a different shade of gray-green this week, And how the warmth of my coffee cup Make my whole body thaw. Silence teaches patience, And patience breeds The spark of light That will soon illuminate This darkened mind. AV
When I was in college there were a couple of anonymous groups on campus that caught everyone’s attention. One such group intrigued everyone because they seemed to be a service group that looked out for folks in times of crisis and need, but no one ever knew who the students (or faculty, for all we knew) were that brought attention to important concerns. While I was a student, I remember this group holding clothing collections for folks in need, collections for the crisis pregnancy center, holding vigils during times of tragedy for the campus community and larger community of the world, and periodically taking solemn walks around the campus. Those walks…how powerful!
candles, that to me were always a symbol of hope.
Students, professors, and staff members would crowd the porches of dorms and academic buildings to watch these shadow-like figures walk pass. As folks gathered to watch, there was a quiet hum of voices until…until someone spotOn the occasion of special events ted the glimmer of candlelight in on campus, such as Founder’s Day the distance headed our way. And or Special Worship Services, or on then the hum faded to SILENCE. the occasion of another significant The campus joined together in a event such as the death of somechorus of SILENCE and the harmoone meaningful to the community ny of that silence filled every soul. or in the spirit of coming together, members of this anonymous In the moment that these shadgroup would dress in dark robes owy bodies holding the only light with hoods that covered their fac- around walked by, the nervousness es and walk through the maze of that rushed over me was calmed by sidewalks around campus. Around a spirit of community. The silence 11:00 at night, security would cut and simplicity of this walk brought out campus sidewalk lights and the campus community together porch lights and walk beside these for that brief moment. What was anonymous women (I know they it that connected all these people? were women because I went to an For me it was the light of hope that all women’s college). They walked we could all see because it was JTW slowly in a single file line holding dark and silent.
Garden Tip: HoopHouse Having the option to start seeds in a greenhouse provides a great advantage. This is a sustainable way to keep soil at a temperature that is suitable for germinating seeds. A greenhouse allows you to germinate seeds and start seedlings months before the actual planting dates. Giving plants a head start improves their chances at survival and increases their productivity. The cost that is usually associated with a greenhouse deters most people from trying them out. At Little Tree Farm and Retreat we have utilized cheap building materials to construct a hoop house/greenhouse that is extremely affordable. It is constructed using cattle panels which are sold for $20 a piece and scrap lumber as the frame. We then drape the framework with plastic which allows the heat to be trapped inside. At a cost of around $200, this greenhouse can be constructed in one day and last for years. DD
Awakening Re: Joy Oh desperate and oppressed people Stand tall and face your own Darkness. You who have been trampled Underfoot, Lift your eyes and look around* Step out from the shadows. Light reflected from your face Shines so brightly in the New day, Others come to you Your blessings, Long promised, Lie in front of you, Gifts of frankincense and gold Mingle with burial myrr, Even death becomes gloriously bright At your feet. And so I remember my own Darkness, And do not shrink from it Or seek to hide, But lift my eyes and look around* And step out With courage and faith, To see a New day dawn So bright, That all the world will gather At my feet to know
What peace, What gift, What reflected glory Could usher me through Such a deep valley. The gift so great, So abundant, Given to me to Share and multiply Bright hope. AV
Humus Spring is a messy, smelly business. In the darkness of decay, of soggy humus – organic matter breaking down under the winter’s constant dampness – the seeds of new life hibernate, waiting for the warming soil to crack them open. There in the remains of former seasons lie the nutrients that will feed seedlings, whose tender shoots crawl into rotting crevasses to draw out the stored energy of past life. Bend down and drive your hands below the layer of last fall’s leaves into the moist soil below and smell the earth as you bring hands back out with mud and mulch clinging to your fingers. For some, this is the smell of heaven. Rich soil that will bring a bounty come harvest. For others, this organic goo is filthy – worms, dead bugs and rotting debris. They cannot get their hands washed fast enough. Hope is a messy, smelly business. “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” [Isaiah 60:1-2] Speaking out of the Jewish exile in Babylon, the prophet spoke of the LORD’s light rising through the darkness that covers the earth, and a thicker darkness that covers people. This
word of hope was born out of the darkness of exile, fed from broken blessings and shattered truth. Its tender shoots crawl into the buried dreams of previous generations to draw out the stored energy of past faith. Hibernating in the darkness of suffering, hope reclaims the remains of former life. The light of hope arises from petitions for justice long denied. It appears from revised beliefs once trusted. For some, this is the smell of heaven, an ancient-future faith. For others, this organic goo of the suffering past is filthy and should be washed away as soon as possible. Resurrection is a messy, smelly business. The cornerstone of the Christian faith is that Easter resurrection came out of Good Friday crucifixion. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” [John 12:24] We cannot get to Easter without being willing to dig our hands into dirty mess of Good Friday. Promises broken. Tragedy suffered. Injustices endured. Regrets acknowledged. God resurrects life from our painful past. Not as it once was, but remade as a new creation. If we are not willing to look at the darkness inside of us, and instead wish to wash it away, we will not see the
light arising from within us. There From humus God creates human is an untapped richness in that kind. From death God resurrects which we have lost. This truth is life. TM experienced every spring we work the land.