Continued from the 15 March 2014
March 30th, 2014 → 12:55 am @ Shanti
I went through the last world war and there was nothing to eat for most people, because they did not provide for themselves. We were given coupons for milk, butter, flour and all sorts of goods, but none of these were available anyway. There was nothing in the shops, in fact the shops were closed. I was lucky, my Mum and Dad were visionaries and they did provide for us. Mum taught us all about the edible plants in the fields, the herbs and so on. She saved seeds and used them each season. So you see, this is not new. Later on we needed them, to survive and not have to eat tulip bulbs only, like some people had to.
Dad, as a baker, baked many very nutritious cookies and vacuum sealed them in tins. He also arranged with a farmer, to have a plot of land away from home, where he and we as children grew our own food from the seeds Mum saved. At home we had a small garden where Mum kept a goat for milk, a pig and some rabbits for meat and chickens for eggs. There were some fruit and nut trees as well. They came in very handy, when we were sheltered in a cellar for over 4 months towards the end of the war, while outside, the bombs were falling all around us and we could not get out. There were 12 people in this cellar, 6 adults and 6 children. The space was only a 6 x 6 x 6 foot cube and the stairs leading into it.
At times, one of the oldest boys, had to go outside and brave the conditions and find some greens and herbs plus some water, to feed 12 people. We were scared, but we knew as children, we had to do this. I was only 11 years old and had that responsibility, too help us to survive. Adults could not do this, as they would be picked up and taken away to fight.
I certainly would not like to go through that again and I would not wish such experiences onto anyone, but even if there is no war, anarchy could be a problem and plundering and stealing will definitely happen, as one will do anything to survive.
I know, it sounds like doom and gloom, and it is, but we can stop it now, by PROVIDING for the future and make sure you teach the children. They will have to know what to do !!! Get ready for such an eventuality, just in case,. It will not hurt to have fresh fruits and vegetables at home to pick when you want some, but better still, stop CONSUMERISM, which will help a great deal.
We have become GREEDY. We can do with a lot less.
We have no need to do it at this very moment, but when the time comes, we will be in for a shock, IF WE ARE NOT PREPARED. It takes a while to set up a garden, which will provide us with regular pickings. It needs time to settle down, collect the seeds and also to teach our offspring.
If we can get the message to enough people around the world, we will not get to that point. So please prove me wrong. I would love to be wrong. Maybe you will come up to me one day and say:”See I told you so, you were so wrong.” This will only be, because you were smart and provided for your family and stopped consumerism. I would like you to get a copy of Matali’s book and read his writings on the subject. He has done a great job.
And that is why we are here today, to learn about the seeds, the beginning of every form of life. Seeds are the egg of a bird, the egg of mankind and all the animals, the spores of the mushroom, the seeds of plants, the ones we are going to talk about here today; just a little part of life.
We have seen and helped in cleaning, sorting and cataloguing of the seeds here today. These good people, our lovely “Seed savers group”, have done a lot of that and are dedicated to re-establish the way, to sustain life, through the keeping of viable seeds for the future. Seeds that produce true to form plants, which will again produce seeds for future generations. It is not new, but it was forgotten for a while, as the need was not so great, during the last 50 years, as there was always enough food available, at least in Australia.
I planted some bean seeds once, years ago, before GM seeds were fashionable and no body talked about GM then. These bean seeds produced beans indeed. I left the vines to dry on the bean stalks, but they did not dry out, as Iexpected they would. They always had in the past.
The plants grew on and produced some strange fruit, which I did not recognise. That is what we have to stop from happening, by seed saving true species, which will re-produce the offspring from the original plant.
Here today we have learned how to do that and we MUST continue to do so forever more.
Seed saving is an art and that is not all.
Good seeds are important, but the soil they go into, is equally important.
In animal husbandry, the best male is chosen, to mate with the female we want to have a baby to. This is the same thing! We must chose the best seeds to produce the best plants and the soil must be viable to produce the best plant. Mother Earth is the womb, for providing nutrients to make that plant grow to a healthy species, full of vitamins and minerals, so we can benefit from eating this food, or its fruits etc. You can grow plants almost anywhere and some species are tough and will grow on rocks just about, but they are usually not the greatest food producers.
By preparing your soil and using the best methods available, such as bio-dynamics and that is something I can really vouch for, your food will be amazingly healthy. This is another matter and will be better discussed by people in the know. I have used bio-dynamics for years, but I do not feel qualified to teach you that. It is very complicated and takes a number of workshops to learn and even these are full on.
Lynnette West, now passed on, did our workshops and she was so good. She did years of research and used to go to the UK and help set up Prince Charles’ bio-dynamic gardens every year. Her workshops used to run over 3 weekends and she had written a full instruction manual and a video as well, just before she died from cancer, a few years ago.
This will continue on the 15 April 2014
