The practice behind the gifts in our hands
-- Aisling Blackburn -
Red is the colour of a pretty pillow box
Orange is any orange on a tree
Yellow’s the colour of a bag of lemon drops
Green is a piece of seaweed in the sea.
- Nina Simone…. Beautiful Land
Polytunnels are very popular on rainy days. The gardeners were working all together in both tunnels last Saturday, which were getting quite the makeover. A rare treatment, though, each day, the condensation is removed with a squeegee to increase light transmission and to protect the plants from droplets which might otherwise be a cause of disease. Having a covered area like this is a huge advantage, as it encourages outdoor activities at any time of year.
So far, we have planted lots of perpetual spinach and mizuna ‘red frills. Winter purslane has volunteered itself in the raised bed where the basil was and we are already harvesting this health-giving plant for salads along with earlier sowings of rocket which is doing extremely well for this time of year. The courgette plants have been removed, and the same bed is now planted up with garlic. We try to use our own saved bulbs but must buy-in sometimes. Every bulb holds several cloves, and each one is planted about two inches into the soil. This will become a new bulb in about eight months, it’s one of those long season crops.
But who knows, winter arrives later and spring earlier each year. I am patiently waiting for the leaves to turn so I can use them in my classes. It’s November and I am worried that I won’t get time to gather any good ones, as so many are still green. Looking around I see a lot of colour. The fuchsia plant in my front garden is still in flower, as is the red hot poker, kniphofia, and there are still a lot of Dahlia flowers inside, but most have been hit by the frost. Tender annuals have kicked the bucket at this stage, but the pot marigolds and several of the summer bedding plants are still holding up. Last chance to take cuttings of all those tender evergreen perennials while you can.
I have been thinking about the gap between raw materials like wool and plants, and their final products after processing. I just listened to a dour and deep novel about the son of an island dwelling Scottish weaver and sheep farmer, and the challenges of living in a remote area, where the coats of the local sheep are coarse, made to survive the harsh weather conditions which are not fine enough for cloth. The son has been taught from an early age how to precisely match colour. The father sends the young boy outside with a strand of coloured wool to find it’s duplicate, like bell heather or drying turf… the kind of thing which in adulthood appears to be a gift but is in reality is the end result of practice.
The rearing of sheep for wool produces a high-quality fabric, that impacts the lifestyle and health of both the producer and the wearer of the fabric to a greater or lesser degree. It is the same for the producers and consumers of organic food.
“The colour of Ink” is a documentary about artist Jason Logan, who makes bespoke inks from plants, found objects and elements from local water sources such as fountains and lakes. He sends his inks to artists and writers all over the world and in the film, one of the people he sends his ink to is Margaret Atwood, for whom he created a burgundy ink.
It’s not unlike the energy medicine of Dr. Edward Bach. A British bacteriologist who intuited the ‘emotion’ of a plant. He developed a technique of healing by floating plants in water for several hours on a cloudless sunny day, then collecting the water to make an essence, the properties of which could alleviate negative states of mind, and in so doing cure illness.
Dr. Bach treated the personality and not the disease, which he believed was caused by an internal conflict between the soul’s purpose and a person’s behaviour and outlook. Each of his 38 remedies was a plant- except for one, ‘rock water’.
I had the pleasure of visiting his house in Cromer some years ago. As I put my hand on the metal gate post the thought came to me, “this is where he also placed his hand, in which he discovered the healing properties of plants”.
The Australian bush flower essences are also worth a look. Dr. Bach’s rescue remedy is available in most chemists and healthfood shops.
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