Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:33 pm by globalturbo
Yes, We Have a Cash Crop! And Other Blessings in Disguise…
Posted May 5, 2013 by laurabruno in Uncategorized. Tagged: 5D Overlay, 5D Reality, Crisis of Faith, Dandelion, Dandelion Greens, Edible Weeds, Human Evolution, Permaculture, The Problem is the Solution. 6 Comments
I suppose it was bound to happen. I’ve seen this trend with so
many clients, friends and family members; I don’t know why I thought
that I’d remain immune. Yesterday morning, I even had a dream that
“things are not what they appear,” and not to get caught up in former
expectations. At the same time I received that dream message, my sister
got a cosmic download for me, too — in the shower of all places! I awoke
to her texts:
“Got a pretty strong message for you this am in the shower …. they
want you to remain open. God and the angels are with you and helping you
and everything WILL be not only fine but wonderful. …But it may not
come the way you think. …try to really practice mindful detachment. …
Just neutrally observe what comes up and let it go … God and the angels
totally have you covered, just be open to letting it happen. and right
now it feels like they know some key info that you/we don’t yet. Just
keep positive with your intention but let them work out the details of
how to get there. …”
We both assumed those messages related to a particularly annoying 3D
challenge I’ve been plugging away at for a long time but with which I am
finally experiencing rapid, longed for changes. Today, I realized the
messages we both received were also about …
Our Yard.
Oh, yes, I have big plans for this yard. It’s going to be an amazing
little eco-faery-permaculture-medicinal herb-food garden-wild
edibles-bird, bee and butterfly sanctuary nestled in a very unlikely
spot. Yes, indeed, and I have been harvesting wild violet salads and
dandelion greens for “beanie greenies” and dandelion smoothies like a
good little wild forager eco-chick. I’ve even got “new” grubbies from a
synchronous sale at Goodwill, so I can be the true Faery Farmer without
messing up my “real” clothes:
Yep, that’s me, sporting the very classy/totally dorked out duds on
my way out of the mudroom this morning to haul yet more wood mulch
around my precious raised beds to keep them pristine and separate from
the rest of the wild, wild yard. I’m tired. I have been hauling mulch
for weeks, and while the yard looks like it has a plan, and we have four
raised beds in various stages of assembly and soil filling, it still
looks like a giant meadow out there. Despite the fact that David just mowed the lawn two days ago!
I assessed my progress and realized I needed another three feet of
mulch around the front of the raised bed area, so out came the landscape
cloth, yard cart, pitchfork (yep, I’ve become hardcore with this wood
mulch. No more 5 gallon buckets … we’re talking wheels, here!), and more
cardboard. Out came the wind, too, blowing my freshly cut strips of
landscape cloth all over the dandelion filled yard. By the time I caught
the long panels, they were covered in fine dandelion seeds. Someone,
somewhere giggled, but it wasn’t me. Yet. I weighted down the other
landscape cloth strips while dumping mulch on the first one. Load after
heavy load. Man, my back began to hurt. I looked over at the fluttering
landscape cloth only to see even more dandelion seeds blowing into and
sticking on the cloth.
I decided to distract myself from this Sisyphean labor by stirring
the compost pile. When I looked inside, I realized that the mulched
grass clippings David had kindly added to the pile on Thursday were a)
not dried and b) filled with little white dandelion seeds. Everywhere I
looked this morning, I saw dandelion seeds or dandelion flowers.
Thousands and thousands of yellow and white heads blowing in the breeze,
scattering themselves on every bare spot, sticking to my hair, making
me sneeze, popping up in mulch.
Normally, I love dandelions, and I’ve been known to pay $5.99 a bunch
for fresh dandelion greens in the dead of winter, because I’m just that
odd. I drink dandelion root tea, and I’ve used dandelion root tinctures
to support my liver. In fact, dandelion greens and dandelion tea are
two of my favorite things in the entire world of natural food store
shopping.
But this morning … arrgh … this morning, I was not enjoying the
dandelions. I had just somewhat successfully waged the Garlic Mustard
War — a week-long series of battles against garlic mustard, a highly
invasive, though also edible weed. After collecting a trash can full
last week and lugging that heavy can to the curb, I saw vendors at the
Farmer’s Market selling bags of garlic mustard for $4 each. I used to
love the stuff myself — it makes a great pesto — but David and I OD’d on
it in Madison and haven’t re-acquired the taste yet. In any case, I
uprooted and tossed the garlic mustard, because I’ve seen entire forests
covered in those biennials, and only uprooting it prevents a monolithic
spread once it appears.
The battles of the Garlic Mustard War occur less frequently now and
on a smaller scale; however, I really didn’t want to engage in war on
another front. Michael Pollan says, “A lawn is Nature under totalitarian
rule,” and I spend plenty of time railing against dictatorships and
gratuitous wars. The idea of waging war against my beloved dandelions
didn’t sit well with me this morning. I started feeling like, well, the government
… and that made me want to banish myself in the trash along with the
other half can of stinky garlic mustard. I began to gather up the
flapping landscape cloth and felt my heart sink as I realized my days as
a Faery Farmer had only just begun and already I wanted to retire.
Then something suddenly clicked.
I had been wracking my brain all Fall and Winter for a so-called
“cash crop,” but I couldn’t commit to anything that seemed too time
intensive or required know-how to grow. Hmmm … I actually buy
dandelions and dandelion products — sometimes at quite high retail
prices — because I appreciate their flavor, nutritional profile, and
medicinal value. In the midst of my aching back and increasing sense of
defeat by Nature, I remembered that I had agreed to take on this
permaculture project (our yard) because it involved working with
Nature. If I had planted a crop with this kind of yield, I would have
been thrilled. I looked around and reminded myself that in permaculture
(and life) “the problem is the solution.” “Ask and you shall receive.”
“Nature’s first law is abundance.” I’d wanted a fool proof, high yield
cash crop, and I stood surrounded by massive volumes of a plant whose
every single part offers valuable food and medicine.
Perspective.
Funny. Yesterday, after my sister and I both received our little
downloads that things would be “better than fine,” so long as I didn’t
get hung up on my expectations of the how, a youtube video suddenly
jumped out at me. This guy shares how he made $900 with his dandelions.
“Pay attention, Laura…we don’t give you and your sister a simultaneous
double-whammy message to remain open-minded and then just drop the ball.
Seriously, girl … we use it all. ‘Can you hear me now?’”
As I shifted my attitude this morning, I began to collect the pretty yellow flowers.
Lots and lots of flowers:
I looked up recipes for Dandelion Wine and Dandelion Jelly and
decided to freeze my stash while determining if I want to use the
traditional sugar or some other healthier sweetener(s). Do I want to
“wild ferment” ala Sandor Katz, or use some other method? Will I use the
Perfect Pickler? Do I need to gather pretty little jelly jars?
Decisions, decisions.
Meanwhile, this huge collection of flowers didn’t even make a
noticeable dent in the field. I could go out tomorrow and the next day
and collect the same amount and still not see any visible reduction.
Talk about abundance!
My mind began turning around other recipe possibilities like
dandelion chips (as opposed to kale chips), superfood bars with
dandelion greens as a base, and the possibility of bagging up the greens
for someone to sell for me at the Farmer’s Market. At this point, I
don’t know exactly how I will monetize this harvest, but I’ve
reached a point of equilibrium and gratitude, realizing that Nature
gives back to those who love her.
I decided to share my experience, because it mirrors that of so many
people walking by Faith right now. People who’ve felt strongly guided in
unusual directions who feel good about their choices but suddenly face a
seemingly impossible block. That block usually comes out of nowhere and
offers such overwhelming challenges that it temporarily rocks their
Faith. (That’s when I usually hear from them: “Did I just totally
misinterpret all those signs?!?” “Is the Universe messing with me?!”
“Did God just open all those doors so he could slam this one in my face
and laugh?!”)
As James Gilliland recently wrote,
we’re experiencing a 5D overlay on the old reality. Many of us are
already living most of our lives in the new reality, but when we pop
back into the not-quite-ended old paradigm, the contrast feels like a
smack upside the head. Those of us preparing bridges between the old and
new realities will occasionally become overwhelmed by the vast contrast
between the beauty, healing and instant manifestation of the new world …
and the boots-on-the-ground, bone-crushing fatigue,
pushed-beyond-all-limits work preparing the old world for its grand Transmutation.
Most people in this situation, regardless of chosen field, find
themselves needing to engage Nature or some kind of Nature-benefiting
practice in order to embrace and eventually transcend the challenge.
Guess what? Healing our planet is priority number one,
so that twist makes perfect sense, however surprising it initially
appears. If you find yourself beaten down by “time” or by physical
“limitations,” then I suggest you take a breath, step back, and remember
the bigger picture. Refocus on where you know you’re headed; recognize
how wonderful you and your world are in process of becoming; then remind yourself, “The problem is the solution.”
We’re all being rewired right now. This shift involves as much of a
perspective shift as a physical one, because perspective plays such a
key role in how we manifest. Mother Earth knows what she’s doing. We
need to stick with her and try to trust her. In the process of regaining
our intimacy with Nature, we will experience the true joy and freedom
that come from remembering how to trust ourselves.
Thanks to: http://laurabruno.wordpress.com
Posted May 5, 2013 by laurabruno in Uncategorized. Tagged: 5D Overlay, 5D Reality, Crisis of Faith, Dandelion, Dandelion Greens, Edible Weeds, Human Evolution, Permaculture, The Problem is the Solution. 6 Comments
I suppose it was bound to happen. I’ve seen this trend with so
many clients, friends and family members; I don’t know why I thought
that I’d remain immune. Yesterday morning, I even had a dream that
“things are not what they appear,” and not to get caught up in former
expectations. At the same time I received that dream message, my sister
got a cosmic download for me, too — in the shower of all places! I awoke
to her texts:
“Got a pretty strong message for you this am in the shower …. they
want you to remain open. God and the angels are with you and helping you
and everything WILL be not only fine but wonderful. …But it may not
come the way you think. …try to really practice mindful detachment. …
Just neutrally observe what comes up and let it go … God and the angels
totally have you covered, just be open to letting it happen. and right
now it feels like they know some key info that you/we don’t yet. Just
keep positive with your intention but let them work out the details of
how to get there. …”
We both assumed those messages related to a particularly annoying 3D
challenge I’ve been plugging away at for a long time but with which I am
finally experiencing rapid, longed for changes. Today, I realized the
messages we both received were also about …
Our Yard.
Oh, yes, I have big plans for this yard. It’s going to be an amazing
little eco-faery-permaculture-medicinal herb-food garden-wild
edibles-bird, bee and butterfly sanctuary nestled in a very unlikely
spot. Yes, indeed, and I have been harvesting wild violet salads and
dandelion greens for “beanie greenies” and dandelion smoothies like a
good little wild forager eco-chick. I’ve even got “new” grubbies from a
synchronous sale at Goodwill, so I can be the true Faery Farmer without
messing up my “real” clothes:
Yep, that’s me, sporting the very classy/totally dorked out duds on
my way out of the mudroom this morning to haul yet more wood mulch
around my precious raised beds to keep them pristine and separate from
the rest of the wild, wild yard. I’m tired. I have been hauling mulch
for weeks, and while the yard looks like it has a plan, and we have four
raised beds in various stages of assembly and soil filling, it still
looks like a giant meadow out there. Despite the fact that David just mowed the lawn two days ago!
I assessed my progress and realized I needed another three feet of
mulch around the front of the raised bed area, so out came the landscape
cloth, yard cart, pitchfork (yep, I’ve become hardcore with this wood
mulch. No more 5 gallon buckets … we’re talking wheels, here!), and more
cardboard. Out came the wind, too, blowing my freshly cut strips of
landscape cloth all over the dandelion filled yard. By the time I caught
the long panels, they were covered in fine dandelion seeds. Someone,
somewhere giggled, but it wasn’t me. Yet. I weighted down the other
landscape cloth strips while dumping mulch on the first one. Load after
heavy load. Man, my back began to hurt. I looked over at the fluttering
landscape cloth only to see even more dandelion seeds blowing into and
sticking on the cloth.
I decided to distract myself from this Sisyphean labor by stirring
the compost pile. When I looked inside, I realized that the mulched
grass clippings David had kindly added to the pile on Thursday were a)
not dried and b) filled with little white dandelion seeds. Everywhere I
looked this morning, I saw dandelion seeds or dandelion flowers.
Thousands and thousands of yellow and white heads blowing in the breeze,
scattering themselves on every bare spot, sticking to my hair, making
me sneeze, popping up in mulch.
Normally, I love dandelions, and I’ve been known to pay $5.99 a bunch
for fresh dandelion greens in the dead of winter, because I’m just that
odd. I drink dandelion root tea, and I’ve used dandelion root tinctures
to support my liver. In fact, dandelion greens and dandelion tea are
two of my favorite things in the entire world of natural food store
shopping.
But this morning … arrgh … this morning, I was not enjoying the
dandelions. I had just somewhat successfully waged the Garlic Mustard
War — a week-long series of battles against garlic mustard, a highly
invasive, though also edible weed. After collecting a trash can full
last week and lugging that heavy can to the curb, I saw vendors at the
Farmer’s Market selling bags of garlic mustard for $4 each. I used to
love the stuff myself — it makes a great pesto — but David and I OD’d on
it in Madison and haven’t re-acquired the taste yet. In any case, I
uprooted and tossed the garlic mustard, because I’ve seen entire forests
covered in those biennials, and only uprooting it prevents a monolithic
spread once it appears.
The battles of the Garlic Mustard War occur less frequently now and
on a smaller scale; however, I really didn’t want to engage in war on
another front. Michael Pollan says, “A lawn is Nature under totalitarian
rule,” and I spend plenty of time railing against dictatorships and
gratuitous wars. The idea of waging war against my beloved dandelions
didn’t sit well with me this morning. I started feeling like, well, the government
… and that made me want to banish myself in the trash along with the
other half can of stinky garlic mustard. I began to gather up the
flapping landscape cloth and felt my heart sink as I realized my days as
a Faery Farmer had only just begun and already I wanted to retire.
Then something suddenly clicked.
I had been wracking my brain all Fall and Winter for a so-called
“cash crop,” but I couldn’t commit to anything that seemed too time
intensive or required know-how to grow. Hmmm … I actually buy
dandelions and dandelion products — sometimes at quite high retail
prices — because I appreciate their flavor, nutritional profile, and
medicinal value. In the midst of my aching back and increasing sense of
defeat by Nature, I remembered that I had agreed to take on this
permaculture project (our yard) because it involved working with
Nature. If I had planted a crop with this kind of yield, I would have
been thrilled. I looked around and reminded myself that in permaculture
(and life) “the problem is the solution.” “Ask and you shall receive.”
“Nature’s first law is abundance.” I’d wanted a fool proof, high yield
cash crop, and I stood surrounded by massive volumes of a plant whose
every single part offers valuable food and medicine.
Perspective.
Funny. Yesterday, after my sister and I both received our little
downloads that things would be “better than fine,” so long as I didn’t
get hung up on my expectations of the how, a youtube video suddenly
jumped out at me. This guy shares how he made $900 with his dandelions.
“Pay attention, Laura…we don’t give you and your sister a simultaneous
double-whammy message to remain open-minded and then just drop the ball.
Seriously, girl … we use it all. ‘Can you hear me now?’”
As I shifted my attitude this morning, I began to collect the pretty yellow flowers.
Lots and lots of flowers:
I looked up recipes for Dandelion Wine and Dandelion Jelly and
decided to freeze my stash while determining if I want to use the
traditional sugar or some other healthier sweetener(s). Do I want to
“wild ferment” ala Sandor Katz, or use some other method? Will I use the
Perfect Pickler? Do I need to gather pretty little jelly jars?
Decisions, decisions.
Meanwhile, this huge collection of flowers didn’t even make a
noticeable dent in the field. I could go out tomorrow and the next day
and collect the same amount and still not see any visible reduction.
Talk about abundance!
My mind began turning around other recipe possibilities like
dandelion chips (as opposed to kale chips), superfood bars with
dandelion greens as a base, and the possibility of bagging up the greens
for someone to sell for me at the Farmer’s Market. At this point, I
don’t know exactly how I will monetize this harvest, but I’ve
reached a point of equilibrium and gratitude, realizing that Nature
gives back to those who love her.
I decided to share my experience, because it mirrors that of so many
people walking by Faith right now. People who’ve felt strongly guided in
unusual directions who feel good about their choices but suddenly face a
seemingly impossible block. That block usually comes out of nowhere and
offers such overwhelming challenges that it temporarily rocks their
Faith. (That’s when I usually hear from them: “Did I just totally
misinterpret all those signs?!?” “Is the Universe messing with me?!”
“Did God just open all those doors so he could slam this one in my face
and laugh?!”)
As James Gilliland recently wrote,
we’re experiencing a 5D overlay on the old reality. Many of us are
already living most of our lives in the new reality, but when we pop
back into the not-quite-ended old paradigm, the contrast feels like a
smack upside the head. Those of us preparing bridges between the old and
new realities will occasionally become overwhelmed by the vast contrast
between the beauty, healing and instant manifestation of the new world …
and the boots-on-the-ground, bone-crushing fatigue,
pushed-beyond-all-limits work preparing the old world for its grand Transmutation.
Most people in this situation, regardless of chosen field, find
themselves needing to engage Nature or some kind of Nature-benefiting
practice in order to embrace and eventually transcend the challenge.
Guess what? Healing our planet is priority number one,
so that twist makes perfect sense, however surprising it initially
appears. If you find yourself beaten down by “time” or by physical
“limitations,” then I suggest you take a breath, step back, and remember
the bigger picture. Refocus on where you know you’re headed; recognize
how wonderful you and your world are in process of becoming; then remind yourself, “The problem is the solution.”
We’re all being rewired right now. This shift involves as much of a
perspective shift as a physical one, because perspective plays such a
key role in how we manifest. Mother Earth knows what she’s doing. We
need to stick with her and try to trust her. In the process of regaining
our intimacy with Nature, we will experience the true joy and freedom
that come from remembering how to trust ourselves.
Thanks to: http://laurabruno.wordpress.com
