Thoughts about design

Back to abundance. Not luxury, not wealth. Simplicity. Simple toil. Simple time. Modest action. Rooted in faith in what is being done. Faith in the system being designed.

Back from what? Back from deficiency. From inadequacy, depletion, lack.

Design. The story started from the beginning. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Chaos.  And then what? Then God organizes every element in its rightful place. God designs. God places elements according to reason. And then there is peace, creativity, abundance that never ends, always fresh.

The power of design is that it rejuvenates. It unites. The spirit of good and the elements become one and the same. Everything settles. Balance is perfected.
In a design there can be room for wildlife, for critters, birds and deer as well as humans, because there is enough for everyone to share when humans claim the power to give and be stewards of living things.

If a couple install a garden system that works and becomes naturally abundant, they cannot have chaos in their marriage, it is impossible. As your garden grows to become diverse, balanced and resilient so do you. Your life becomes a garden.

Now the Earth was formless and empty. The soil in my area is known to be hard, dense clay. It often has bad drainage and boggy conditions. Once the water does drain, the soil becomes so hard that only weeds can make their way through it. Many gardeners in my town struggle with these conditions. I had struggled with these conditions and can remember the toil and discouragement that was involved in keeping the gardens going. Looking back at those years, there was little relaxation and harmonious effect on our personal life and minds. It was not complete lack of harmony, but I’d say that the effect was in small doses and our personal progression was in small increments.

I know what we changed that resulted in a significant leap and I will share it with you right here.
This is what we did:

1. Planted a dense and diverse polyculture of perennial woody and herbaceous plants.
2. Planted for diverse nutritional and medicinal value.
3. Cleared out the lawns and sheet mulched areas overtaken by grasses and weeds.
4. Covered all the soil with a thick coat of organic materials.
5. Planted for future harvests.
6. Planted native flowers throughout the system which added resilient, self-caring natural beauty and many bees and butterflies.
7. Enjoyed the harvest and shared our surplus.

The results keep impressing us. The garden is only in its third year and works significantly more on its own. As seasons progress it will increasingly require less work. Fall leaf drop will increase, shade will increase, soil will improve and harvest become more abundant. That means more time for us to enjoy forest immersion, feel the breeze move through the branches and focus on positive and thankful thoughts.

I would suggest to humbly approach the design process with faith in the natural system that is being created and it will be so and will be very good.

---