faith in the future

the orchard

plum

name tags i made

gratitious sheep shot because i can!


this weekend we planted an orchard

mostly stone fruit (i love stone fruit and toy with the idea of being a fruitarian every summer until stone fruit season ends)

we bought heirloom trees from Koanga - i beleive that there is a powerful energy in the old fruit - not bred to look good in a supermarket but to taste good and be good producers in the soil where they have flourished for over 100 years....

as i was watering the trees this morning, in the last of the orange sunrise i felt this surge of hope

planting trees like this

trees that we will need to tend, and prune and nourish - herbal ley coming in spring, comfrey tea brewing....

trees that link me back to the ancestors who came here with hopes and dreams

i see that i have planted them with hopes and dreams

i was seeing the girls and i eating them straight off the tree

imagining making jam

imagining maybe ducks living there

i see that planting something in this way is an act of faith in the future

that i will be around to see the fruition (literally!) of my labour

that i will be doing something that creates a legacy

that by this simple act of digging a hole and planting this peice of magic (what a peice of alchemic magic it is - taking some roots, joining it with budstock, healing that wound and planting it in the soil ... all leading to deep nourishment and joy of the juiciness, in which the seed of the future life of the tree is contained again...

in taking part in this magical cycle i am honouring my life, death, life cycle

and making a gesture of faith in the future

in these times of horror and sorrow (Norway's tragic massacre, earthquakes, tsunami's) this is the most courageous thing i can think of to do...