Organic Planting Class

Today was the last session of the four weeks of the Organic Gardening Class. What a wonderful experience it was to find a largish group of like minded individuals willing to sit on a Sunday morning and learn a lot! We covered most of the fundamentals of Organic Gardening and threw in some permaculture for good measure.




But people are hungry! They want more. They want the communing, the sharing of perspectives, the expanding of consciousness. This is not only about how to get rid of aphids, or how to make a compost heap. This is about how do we live our lives.

Today, Ivan Laughlin came to talk to us about his experience of living in an intentional community in Las Lomas - close to the airport. He practiced organic farming in his plot and really got a chance to continue his relationship with the land that had been started while he was still a boy. He told us about Royer - a Dominican man who deeply understood the land and how to communicate and cooperate with it. Everyone wanted more.

So we will continue to do a few more sessions. One to look at some permaculture and organic gardening DVDs, one to visit a Carib 'shaman' who practices forest gardening, and a couple more to meet with people who have expertise in different areas - banana farming and ground provisions.

I am blessed.

My First Home Grown Salad

Finally, two bowls of something that I have grown!
When I lived in California, I used to grow all kinds of things organically in my garden. When I was hungry I could step outside and picks scores of types of lettuce, fresh eggplant, onions, chive and garlic, tomatoes and zucchini. And within a half an hour I had a steaming bowl of ratatouille surrounded by a fresh salad of mixed greens. It was amazing!
So it was a joy today to step outside armed with a nail scissors and pick a large bowl of arugula and a couple of types of baby lettuce. It always tastes better when you grew it yourself.

The First Meeting of the Cooperative

I just realised that I forgot to take pictures yesterday - Awwww!
When I looked around the room with all these beautiful people there to make a world affirming choice I had to hold back my feelings of joy. The gene pool was astounding! There were people from all the corners of the globe and Trinis with all ways of life. It will be interesting to see an organization with this level of diversity.

The meeting ran from 4 to 6PM and I had to run out to another meeting. But I heard that they had to sweep people out! That's what happens when the chemistry just clicks.

Several things became clear; that we have to prioritize our mission statement, and that there is a strong desire to continue the shop. So now the work begins.

On Monday a few of us will meet to examine the business feasibility and to come up with a business plan. Others will focus on the legal end of things. And yet others will focus on fundraising. There's quite a bit to be done so if you have any free time please volunteer for something - even if it is a one time thing for a few hours.

Making a Mountain

I am really really drawn to mountains these days. Perhaps it is the stillness, the silence and the soberness of these large folds on the surface of the earth that makes me want to be cradled by them. But just as important are the energetic mountains that we create. The accomplishments that pile shovel upon shovel, bucket after bucket with the occasional earthquake thrown in for good measure.

And Sun Eaters Organics now has a mountain that it has created. Sometimes I hear doubts that this is a 'serious' business and not some plaything that I - the socialite wife of a banker (are my laughs loud enough) - have created to while away my many hours of free time! Wishful thinking.

Anyhow here is some of what you, me and the crew at Sun Eaters Organics have done over the past two years.

• Stimulated local organic production to the point where we have at least 10 active growers from whom we can get thoughtfully grown food - from one consistent supplier 2 years ago.
  
• Learned organic certification procedures and started getting several farms ready for certification.
  
• Served almost 10,000 organic vegan meals with mainly local content.
  
• Saved 10.000 containers from entering the landfill by using reusable glass bowls for lunches.
  
• Always, yes always, paid staff on time and above average salaries.
  
• Taken no loans from banks, lending agencies or government bodies.
  
• Grown an entire front yard forest after breaking up a concrete Woodbrook front yard
  
• Familiarized plant quarantine, customs, Caribbean Airlines with organic produce and how to treat it.
  
• Motivated several other freestanding businesses to begin carrying organic goods in their shops
  
• Taught multiple people organic gardening techniques
  
• Exposed Trinidad to its first in-depth look at Rudolph Steiner's work - especially the Waldorf approach to teaching
  
• Created a Port of Spain recycling depot
  
• Conducted the first Organic Raw Food Workshop in Trinidad and Tobago - and getting ready to organize some more
  
• Conducted on site lectures on the environment and organic farming for High School and Primary School students
  
• Presented to the American Women's Club and the UK Women's Club on issues of sustainability
  
• Attended a trainer of trainers workshop on Organic Farming techniques
  
• Created an environment where groundbreakers can feel at home
  
• Sent out 5000 plus newsletters exposing the national population to issues of sustainability and the environment in a locally relevant fashion
  
• Conducted 3 camps for children
  
• Hosted a Christmas show for sustainable products
  
• Built hundreds (or maybe thousands) of pounds of good, healthy organic soil by composting ALL of our kitchen and shop waste
  
• Deeply involved in training a Fulbright Scholar researching organic agriculture in Trinidad and Tobago
  
• Saved tens of thousands of shopping bags by never ever buying a new bag for selling our produce
  
• Saved tons of toxins from going into our water supply by only using natural mopping and other cleaning products with the exception of dishwashing liquid when we run out.
  
• Started a local Soap Nuts venture
  
• Provided extensive support for many conscious activities by advertising on newsletter and in the shop and by suggesting attendance to shoppers
  
• Saved reams of paper by minimal printing of marketing material and extensive online presence
  
• In the process of transforming the agricultural sector and consumer behaviour by converting to the first Cooperative Shop that is in the open retail sector and ensuring that the shop is deeply organic and also does not sell animals that have not lived out their natural life span
  

Not bad for two years, almost non-existent funding and almost 100 percent local input - produce and human resources. Maybe we should get a little cocky.

Of course there are many things that could be or could have been done better. But I am deeply hopeful that as the Cooperative develops and there are 20 plus people who, like me, have a deep and abiding commitment to the environment and putting people before profit, that many of these snags will be worked out.

So Congrats to all the Crew at Sun Eaters Organics - past and present crew and customers.

If I can do it .........

Well, today took the cake. I can only say thank god that I am vegetarian and that the global food crisis has not yet arrived. My first two chickens ran away - only to reappear briefly 3 months later. The next two were killed by the cat next door. And then finally today I got a rooster and a hen to add to my collection.
All I can say is that I never saw anything run so furiously as that rooster did on accidentally falling out of a hole in the bag. I was transporting him and his sister from Petit Valley. So there we were on Sydenham ave, him with his legs spread as widely as they could be, making the new world record look slow. And if there was anyone around to laugh, I would be hearing the cackling a mile away as I stood dumbfounded, the other chicken still in the sack in my hand, my computer in a bag on my back, my handbag lolling at my side and a skirt almost touching the ground trying to decide how to catch this crazy creature.
And so picture me tucking the skirt in my hip and the two of us running each other around for 15 minutes. And then me with a few towels in hand trying to now catch the hen who had run out of another hole and now herself was squawking and flying and running and flapping wings and hiding in a canal until finally she stopped, still hiding her head as though I could not see her. So I dropped the towels on her and put her in a bucket - wrapped up in towel - and deposited her in the cage.
If I had to consider the energy efficiency of this transaction: there is no way that eating those scrawny chickens could give me back what I expended trying to catch them. No way!

So I know that I need time to master this 'grow your own food' thing. I hope that the food crisis can wait for me to get good at these parts. I need those chicken eggs when times get touch.

In Tune With Spirit

You may wonder what an organic store has to do with spirit. Is there anything that is not to do with spirit? For me, spirit is the inside energy that keeps our world in order, that inspires us to act as more than material beings, and that reconnects us with everything else that is. And what better way is there to be in tune with spirit than by getting your fingers deep in soil, seeing plants grow with just a bit of water and loving care, and by listening to chickens cluck. The backyard (or front porch or window box) is one of the best places for us to have a weekly worship and thanksgiving ceremony.

For me the moments when I can enjoy that deeper connection include:

Listening to anything by Deva Premal especially her song ' Yemaya Assessu' www.devapremalmiten.com
Lying in bed with my sleeping children at my side and seeing them at rest after long engrossed days
Holding a freshly picked Red Leafed Lettuce (I am not kidding - ask the crew at Sun Eaters about the odes that I sometimes sing to them)
Listening to dry season breezes just before sunset

And how much I sometimes need these connected moments. Especially when I become engrossed in the tasking mode. Or become worried about the outcome of some event. Or hear messages from my body that don't seem like what I want to hear. At times like this it is so useful to hear/see/feel something that reassures me that I am not alone in my experience. And so this musing sends a thank you to all the sprites out there who keep me company, the spiritual backs on which I can lean, and the reconnection cheerleaders who give me encouragement when it seems that I cannot take one more challenge.
Eternal Gratitude.

Community Store Conversion

The time had to come. I have wanted to change Sun Eaters Organics to a Community Store/Coop since late last year and while I began putting some things in place, I also allowed sundry diversions to derail me. Well, the time has come to move ahead and we are doing so. All of us at Sun Eaters are trying to play our part in getting this to happen as swiftly and as seamlessly as possible.

Why a Community Store/Coop?

1) To share the work. Over the past two years I have worked more than I imagined possible to get this project up and running. I am finally at a point where others can come in and share what needs to be done while accruing numerous benefits. My body, my family and the other projects in which I am interested need me.

2) To have a rational financial basis in the organic sector. I have witnessed, with distress, the development of a mindset here in Trinidad and Tobago that organic is akin to 'gourmet'. It is not. I have probably contributed to this perspective by having to have higher than desired prices for the imported goods. As our size of shipment increases it becomes more and more possible to bring in our goods in a more environmentally friendly, inexpensive way. The Community Store/Coop will help to keep prices lower than we even dreamed possible for everyone. And for Member/Owners the goods will be further reduced in price. I envisage a time when for Member/Owners it will not cost much more to buy organic than to buy chemically-treated, non-sustainable produce.

3) To have a super active outreach and community education program. The place where we shop should be the place that is supporting the community in which it is located. As an individual owner I have done tons to support the community, but with a collaboration with other member/owners I will be able to do much much more. I cannot wait till we have our own newspaper columns, our own billboards with progressive information, our own Green Pages, and lots more!

4) To develop our region. The Community Store/Coop will have much more ability to work with others in the region than I will have on my own. My vision of this is expansive and I will share it in upcoming writings. What's your vision?

5) We are ready! Over the last few weeks it has become increasingly clear that the population is now at the perfect moment for this initiative. I have sent out many e-mails discussing development of the business, challenges to the business and the ongoing challenge of encroachment by confused profiteers. Your e-mail/telephone/in person response has been overwhelming and incredibly supportive. Sun Eaters has become a part of life for many of you and you seem willing to do something to ensure that the vision we espouse here grows and develops.

Thank you.

Two For The Price of One

I DID go to Jamaica for a definitive purpose; to get hooked up with a regional organic network and to get trained to train organic farmers. But I got much more than that. I met many wonderful people and am now linked to organic energy in almost all of the Commonwealth Caribbean territories.
AND in addition
I had a little side workshop. Chi Gong, Deva Premal, Forest Sprites and Imps were all present and helping direct things down the perfect path.

WORKSHOP ONE

The Organic Workshop

The Knowing and Growing Network has been functioning in the Caribbean for about 4 years. This has been a concerted effort to support gender equity in the organic farming sector. Most of the workshops to date have involved exclusively women. This workshop in Jamaica was the first one that had men included – mainly male organic farmers – and also included a few Information and Communication Tech types.

I learned a ton, got to share my experiences, and dissolved a lot of misinformation that I had regarding what is possible. But best of all I made connections across race, class and gender that left me dying for more.

WORKSHOP TWO

The Unseen

So much about Xaymaca left me in awe. And I am sure that the Mama Tierra energy of the place made it inevitable to tap into the earth source. And I did. I greeted the earth energy, the fire energy and the air energy. But water energy was a bit more tricky until I was walking through the Botanic Gardens and saw a stream right in the middle of the lawn! Kingston does not have swimmable water. Oh, and I stood for quite a while as a cloud swirled around me on the Blue Mountains - an elegant presentation of air and water. The Avatar arose in me.

The world around was responsive to my calls, and I felt a deep and lasting connection with this amazing life source. To think that it took going to Xaymaca to make me feel to run away!

Sustainability the Trini Way

Okay, let's call a spade a spade. This is not World Environment Day that we are commemorating but World Human Race Survival Day. The world, the planet, the natural systems will figure it out. Once the human impact is reduced - either by reduced populations by environmental force or by reduced impact by choice - then the other species will find their way back into balance. Sure it's going to take a long long time after we are gone but in the natural non-human time scale a few thousand years is no more than a second.

So what much of this - Go Green/Save the Planet/Environment Day thing - is really about is attempting to ensure the survival of the human race. The natural world is making a big heave to get back into balance and that can ONLY happen by reducing the impact of humans. The natural world NEVER allows any one species to predominate for too long and endanger the bio-diversity that natural systems strive for.

So how can we reduce our impact right here in Trinidad and Tobago? And this is where things like World Environment Day come in - but still don't be confused that the end goal is about anything but human survival.

1) Eat vegan. This doesn't mean eat vegan every meal or even every day. But really increase your commitment to eating low impact food - which animal products are not. Introduce vegan food into your diet a few times a week to start. And (shameless advertising here), don't forget that you can get locally planted, organic vegan meals at Sun Eaters Organics delivered to your doorstep every weekday.

2) Set limits to your driving. For those of you who live far from work then ensure that the car contains other people going in the same direction Maybe you can share a ride 2 days a week?

3) Eat organic. Organic uses less water, less energy, sequesters carbon in soil, and lots more. See shameless plug above.

4) Start planting. Johnny Stollmeyer and Earle Rahaman-Norohna conduct permaculture planting classes. Johnny and I start a 4 session organic planting class next week Sunday for 2 hours a session (only $25 to come). Plant anything, anywhere to start building your relationship with the natural world.

5) Start recycling. Drop off your stuff at Sun Eaters or if you live in the East go directly to Indo Caribe for newspaper drop off, Carib Glass works with glass, and in El Soccorro you can take plastics.

6) Read any of the Ishmael books - Ishmael, My Ishmael or the final one (I'm writing this on a plane so don't have research access to the internet). You will never be the same.

My Experience in Xaymaca

My first trip to Jamaica. I found the island:
Indescribable (although you know me, I will try to describe it).
Stereotype dissolving - I can't believe that I swallowed those things I was hearing about Jamaica and Jamaicans all those years.
And completely and utterly awe inspiring. Humans seem like an intrusion here - the land has better things to do. As I travelled from Kingston's airport and drove under the Man Crab monstrosity of the cement plant (shame on a Trinidadian company for sweeping their dust under Jamaica's bed), I felt puny in a yukky way. But when I leaned my head backwards a few minutes later to look up and up to the top of the Blue Mountains the puniness seemed just right and I remembered which of the two - cement plant/Blue Mountains - will endure. Uncontested.

I remember flying out of Quito airport in Ecuador about 15 years ago. And as we were flying along peacefully with me peering out of the window, suddenly the bottom fell out! We had come to the end of the plateau on which Quito is located and the earth was now thousands of feet lower than it had been a moment ago. I will never forget the free-fall-stomach wonder of that moment.

In Jamaica I had the same experience of awe for Mama Earth. The richness and power of the forests and the mountains, the solidity and generosity of the soil, the largeness and silent regard of the limestone cliffs was not what I had anticipated. This spirit also found its way in the relaxed confidence of the writer Kei Millerl's voice as he read from his new book. In the intensity of the energy beaming out from the soil. In the studied regard of the little green lizard one early morning. I was taken aback! And none of this planetary authority was negated by the mask-like bleached faces of many Kingstonians, the drive-by shooting that held up traffic for hours, the insistence of the addicts asking with the ubiquitous stretched arm and Anancy stories. It wasn't even negated by last week's pathetic stance of the PM who doesn't even understand how homophobia has a massive impact on his own liberty as a man. Humans can NEVER touch the strength and inherent truthfulness of something that predates us and will outlive us. And in Jamaica, I was blessed to see and experience this clearly.