.

Ok, so much to tell you about, I hardly know where to begin, definitely on information overload because my pal Steve has filled my head up with way too much information and it is all percolating in there or should I say composting, and how to describe to you all that I've seen on his farm? He gave us the farm tour yesterday, the sacred seeds tour today. This is a brief and possibly completely inaccurate account but here's how I'm thinking about it tonight:

Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon Farm) is 207 acres and growing organic ginger is what started Steve on the path to the biodynamic paradise that is now this finca. (He supplies New Chapter, the guys who manufacture whole food vitamins and organic herbal supplements - you've probably seen their purple labels in the health food store.) Biodynamics incorporates all the key elements of organic and sustainable farming, while assuring that every aspect of farm life - plant, animal, or human - thrives in natural harmony with the cosmos. Yes, you heard me right.

Check it out:

"use the horn of a female cow that has given birth.
fill it with ground quartz crystal.
top with water without chemicals.
let set overnite.
pour off excess water.
plug horn with 1" of clay.
bury in spring and dig up in autumn.
mix with water and use to fertilize crops."
They do this here. Seriously. We got to see the quartz crystal, the mortar and pestle, the big glass plates, the process of turning crystal into a talc. (But think gigantic crystal, mortar, etc., not what you'd use to make a Mojito.) They use a gram of this stuff to treat an acre. You heard me right. And this is only a small part of what goes in to the biodynamics of this farm. We haven't even talked about the alignment of the cosmos and what best to plant or feed considering the alignment of those planets on every given day. (I can hear Steve in my head giving a disgusted snort.) Ok, Steve, I know, this is very simplistic but dude, so not my forte. Anyway, and I'm quoting here, biodynamic preparations and compost utilize energy from alchemical combinations of animal and plant materials. They work to remineralize, revitalize, and protect soil. And that is what they do here. From cow poop to table, so to speak. haha

worms in cow poo

No way I am going to attempt to give you the names of the plants, their medicinal purposes, etc. Steve rattles them off by the hundred (like I said, overload.) Talk to Dr. Lu for that (took copious notes, bless her.) Suffice to say, when my friend Steve plucked a leaf or a berry or a stalk or a stem, I popped it into my mouth. Some yummy, some yucky, all for the good of us all. (Oh, except the termites. I drew the line at eating a termite. Just wasn't that hungry, I guess. . . )

termite nest

Anyhoo, the bottom line as I see it, is that Finca Luna Nueva, and increasingly more like them (thank goodness - but still not enough) are acting as guardians of these medicinal herbs/plants/seeds before they and the knowledge of them disappears, partly because of the loss of the indigenous communities who handed this stuff down thru the generations, but also due to the loss of habitat and/or climate change - both HUGE problems, as you and I know. And that is just to name two of the many many many hurdles to maintaining and sustaining these resources. Whew.  Hope that wasn't too garbled. So. Pictures. Here are some:

This, my friends, is where the doodoo voodoo happen

Tom worshiping bamboo, only 6 years old (the bamboo, that is)

caladium - recognize it?

cool covered bridge on the property

happy smiley piggies snoozing in the mid-day heat

my old friend

herbs

the drying shed - look at the size of this ginger root - holy crapoli!

 

 And no, not severed fingers, tumeric! Ginger and tumeric. Important for your health y'all! and the two top crops Luna Nueva produces for New Chapter.

curing bamboo

sweet babies

composting sheds

tumeric ready to harvest (looks like creepy fingers reaching out of the soil - zoiks!



Time to turn in . . . . . . . .lovely dreams and lots of love to each and every one of you - we need some every day  you know, along with the ginger and tumeric and, well call Steve if you want the rest of the prescription ...