The Heart of Community

Some thirty people attended our Winter Solstice Bonfire gathering.  What we are indeed growing besides vegetables is community!  Thank you Dan and Giselle for hosting such a colorful gathering of beautiful people.

I am now in Seattle where I will be adding new beds to my sister's garden (back on Jan. 1st).  Before I left Santa Fe, I harvested kale, chard, arugula and lettuce (yes still alive in the hoop houses, even after several zero degree nights!) from the Dandelion garden.

Weather permitting, I suggest that people come on Wed. and Sat. from 1:00-3:00pm to sweep the snow off the hoop houses and, if the temperature is moderate, open the hoop houses to give the plant some fresh air.  Please make sure that all the hoop houses are then properly closed back up.

Dan and Giselle will be in Colorado from 12/26 to 12/30.  Help is needed to collect the compost from the restaurants and make sure the chicken and turkeys have water and food.  If interested in helping with any of these tasks, please email Giselle or call her at: 505-660-3171.

Solstice Bonfire Celebration Sat. 12/17, 5:00-7:00pm

No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning
red in the palms while
the night wind carries
everything away outside.

All this petty worry
while the great cloak
of the sky grows dark
and intense
round every living thing.

What is precious
inside us does not
care to be known
by the mind
in ways that diminish
its presence.

What we strive for
in perfection
is not what turns us
into the lit angel
we desire,
what disturbs
and then nourishes
has everything
we need.

What we hate
in ourselves
is what we cannot know
in ourselves but
what is true to the pattern
does not need
to be explained.

Inside everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.
Even with the summer
so far off
I feel it grown in me
now and ready
to arrive in the world.

All those years
listening to those
who had
nothing to say.
All those years
forgetting
how everything
has its own voice
to make
itself heard.
All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.

And the slow
difficulty
of remembering
how everything
is born from
an opposite
and miraculous
otherness.
Silence and winter
has led me to that
otherness.

So let this winter
of listening
be enough
for the new life
I must call my own.

-David Whyte


From the most Ancient Days our ancestors have gathered at Solstice to witness the rebirth of the unconquerable Sun at first light. Moving from its long gestation to triumph over the darkness, the divine light gathers strength to bring new hope, peace and joy, whispering life’s secrets into awakening dormant seeds, with the warmth of love and the mysteries of the spirit.

We rekindle the turning of the year from its dark coals, to guide and sustain us as we journey through the coldest times, honoring the rebirth of the inner light within ourselves.

Let's Rejoice, Celebrate, Bless the Children and Sing Songs to our Beloved Sun...

Sat. Dec. 17  5:00-7:00pm

Bring hot beverages, party pupus, instruments and warm clothes.

We'll provide the fire.

PS.  We'll be hanging homemade prayer flags (approx. 6"X6") along the garden fence.   Joan and Nicholas gave us some blank ones to decorate at our last reunion.  Don't forget to bring them.

Going inside, Moving Forward, Celebrating Community

Last Saturday, our Dandelion Ranchers gathered at Thure and Maria's for our second brainstorming event.  The company was delicious and the food charming...

We discussed:

• Creating money-making ventures for teenagers such as selling worm castings, compost, flowers (dafodils, tulips) and growing shitake mushrooms.  A formal invitation to the kids will be crafted to pass around to parents (Giselle, Joan)
• Dealing with the volume of compost we are currently getting from 1 restaurant and 3 coffee shops.  Dan may ask his neighbor for permission to use the back of their property.  We are running out of space and may need to relocate our compost area to make room for the building of a shed and outdoor kitchen. (Dan, Poki, Juaquin)
• Renting a ditch witch to bring water and power to back of property (Dan, Gary, Poki)
• Inquiring with plumber and electrician about code/permit/cost (Dan, Poki)
• Pricing material for plumbing and electrical supplies (Poki)
• Gathering recycled building material for our structures (2X4, 2X6, 2X8, plywood, OSB siding, bricks, river rocks, metal roofing, etc.)  Keep your ears and eyes open for free material (contact Poki)
• Creating a perennial garden along the top fence/above the swing, softening slope with a rock wall.  Shrine and bench could be located in that area
• Finishing arroyo fence and chicken coop fence (Gary, Poki, Dan) 
• Creating the bicycle shed in the front of the property
• Building a gazebo and fire pit in the play area, leaving plenty of room for Amelie to ride her bike...

AND

SOLSTICE CELEBRATION   

Sat Dec. 17.  5-7PM     

Bonfire, Music and Gratitude

Giselle and Amelie harvesting

Amelie hiding her blue lips (from eating blueberries)

Cleaning debris in the arroyo (will be used for mulching and compost)

Dominique, our newest garden faerie.

Poki and Gary rebuilding the arroyo fence (to keep predators out)

Thure and Juaquin discussing the good old hippie days and the birth of a new culture.

and a big harvest before the snow.



NEXT GARDEN PARTY (weather permitting!)
Wed. Dec. 7   1:00-4:00 PM
(fence building)

NOTE: NO GARDEN PARTY Sat. Dec. 10