permaculture garden

I am thinking about what I want to write for my 500 word challenge today, and the only thing I can think of is what I want to do with my blog. What is my passion? I know we all have them, but sometimes it’s hard for some of us to see what they are. So what am I passionate about at this moment in time?

I love to talk about spirituality, but some days it’s one of those topics that people struggle to talk about in a civilized manner, maybe I’ll leave that for another time in the future. I like…no, I LOVE nature, I always have. I feel more at home out in nature than I do anywhere else, so maybe I will focus my attention on that for now. This is one of the wonderful things about life, you don’t have to focus on one area unless you ‘feel’ you need too. I can be passionate about nature now, but if something else catches my attention down the road, then I can focus on that as well or completely change my focus, it doesn’t matter.

One topic that I have been drawn to over the past few months is permaculture. Permaculture is hard to explain because it means something different to each person, but simply put, it is a set of tools for designing landscapes that are modeled after nature, yet include us humans.  I feel that nature has the answers to every question and yet is simple enough for everyone to understand and connect with. The harder something is, the harder it is to connect with it, but the moment you begin to understand and things become clearer, the more connected you feel to it.

I feel that the area around my home is wasteful, it has no purpose other than mowing it, but what if I could change that? What if I could use every part of my land for the production of something? Whether it be air, shade, food, or just creating my own ecosystem, all of these things are beneficial to me and my family, not to mention the ground and the animals. Yes, I do believe the soil we walk upon is a living being and not just dirt, I also see animals as living beings and not just food or pests.

This will be a big change for me, but one I am willing to make, one that I know will benefit future generations and the planet. I have already started by purchasing a few different plants and shrubs, and one thing I know I will add into my blog, is some free giveaways, trying to do the right thing is hard and expensive at times. I was so excited to be able to purchase a beautiful flowering tree that I wanted for a fraction of the original price because it was at the end of the season and they just wanted to get rid of it so they had a place for their winter items. The poor thing was very neglected and the leaves were pretty dried up, but I knew it wasn’t dead and I knew I could nurse it back to health. It is now growing beautiful new leaves.

This is not about manipulating nature to do what I want it to, but realizing that nature is perfect the way it is and if I follow its example, I can give life to everything around me.