Forest Gardening meets Deep and Personal Ecology

In Harmony we were gifted, on October 1st 2001, 1600m2 (2/5 acre) of space cleared from the forest by our predecessors just 70m from the Waitati Valley Road via a steep grassed drive. Ingrowth by trees had effectively divided the clearing into what we called:

Connection as it was to be the hub from which all parts of Harmony connected with the Humans.

And Sacred Space, which at 15m long x 4-6m wide now neatly embraces a little retreat cabin.

With Connection being 50m long x 30m wide it was immediately apparent that ground zero (Zone 0) buildings would need to be small and nestled mostly into the small gaps around the edges so that all possible open space left after drives and paths were built, could be put into the vegetable gardens of Zone 1 and the less frequently harvested fruits and nuts of Zone 2. Further out from Connection fruit trees are also being planted into smaller clearings and gaps within the canopy.

Although many medicinal herbs are being grown in Connection, these are also being moved into the forest, and out to other clearings. This will dedicate most of Connection to the more frequently used culinary herbs and vegetables of Zone 2.

Zone 3 grain crops, and other starches such as potatoes, as well as more fruit bushes, are being established at the next nearest clearing, Koha Gardens, some 250m uphill. It is for this reason so much energy has gone into improving the access via Compassion and Kowhai Trails.

This organic design as taken years to conceive. The seasons where studied while Lorraine supported David to build a website to promote Harmony and 5km of tracks so that people could see and meet her outermost and wilder Zones 5 and 6, before we committed ourselves in Zones 0 – 3.

In this time gardens were marked out with stones or netting and all the last of Harmony's internal fences was taken down by a volunteer accompanied into the hills by a fantail. The fantail reappeared hours later, to come all the way down to Connection with the last roll of netting, so we knew even the birds loved having the fences out of the way!

The first shelter was a bender of hand-skinned sycamore poles that may one-day become the site of our Temple for All Beings and Master Bedroom for our Guardian(s)!

North of the Temple Bedroom a 3.8m x 2.65m Garden Tool shed was specifically fit into a gap of exactly that size. Then separate smaller sheds were added to each side, like buds on a stem.

Cob Earth teachers then came to build a Cob Oven. As Ovens are of the fire element and the hearth it seemed only right to place this on sturdy rock foundation in the middle of our grassy clearing. In those days before the Drive it took 6 people days to carry the clay, gravel, and other materials up the track!

Danaa, our cob-earth building. started life as a shelter for the oven and ended up with north and east walls clad in vertical weatherboards of macrocarpa and windows to let the sun in on the earth which protects from the cold strong winds that roar in from the south and west. These boards are treated entirely with eco-friendly oils containing copper-8-quinolinolate as a safe anti-fungicide.

A rocky embankment, near where the toilet placed itself, was perfect for an in-built cob fire-bath and left a gap between large rocks that became our Wash House and Shower. As our main consumer of water these "Ablutions" are ideally placed close to the highest ground in the clearing on which water tanks will be placed.




In the above picture Danaa is on the right with a water tank being moved into place, Vanny is at the far end of the Drive, and the verandah of the Garden Tool Shed is tucked in under native Tree Fucshias on the left (west). It is easy to see how much space paths and trails take up!

Initally we parked our vehicle 50m up the road rather than in the mud at the gateway, so we had a contractor build us a gravelled off-road pull in area that entered into an oval parking area. David cut the oval by hand and used the sod for the low walls of car shelter by Gateway creek, however the creek flooded and the wall fell.

From the oval parking area a grassed track had been cut previously from the hillside. David grubbed off the turf and repeatedly raced "Vanny" (a HiAce Van) past the current track end to disgorge gravel and roll back down over the newly formed road. Until a turning bay could be created at the top Vanny lost the safety of the young Drive and almost went into Gateway Creek several times. With repeated visits and loads of gravel the drive hardened up.

Perhaps because Vanny had to be at his very best to make it up the steep parts, David named it 'Come Alive' Drive. The name also reflects the journey of David and later that of his clients and volunteers at Harmony.

The outside pull-in area is "Arrival" the tail of a fish. The oval parking area is "Acceptance", and this is the body of the fish drinking from Gateway Creek. As David has crossed them in "Vanny" with his foot down the fish vomited him up the track into the mouth of the snake whose tail grew as gravel reached towards grassy "Contemplation Ridge" in the middle of Harmony, where Meditation Rocks lie.

The natural transition from Drive to Trails takes place at the Walled Garden, where many lichen covered rocks already lay in place in one of the warmest parts of the clearing.

The wild side of Harmony is divided into 7 macro-zones based on her predominant trees and major slopes:
Broadleaf Forest where mature broadleaf trees where two creeks and swampy hollows kept it too wet for grass. Connection Clearing and Come Alive Drive are part of the Broadleaf Forest.

Orchard Wood the 2ha uppermost clearing that is going to be woodlot, large fruits and nuts, such as chestnut and walnut, and fruit bushes. This and other clearings within "Forest Gardens" are her Zones 3 and 4.

The remaining macrozones are: Cedar Forest, Podocarp Forest, Gentle Forest, Steep Forest, and Forest Gardens.

These seven marcozones are each divided into Zones, which are then divided into Eco-Zones (including buildings, gardens, and trails), and many MicroZones (which include garden beds, and distinct sections of trails).

These divisions are in the tradition of the systems of the human body. Macro-Zones being systems, Zones being organs, Eco-zones being tissues, and Micro-zones being cells.

As in the human body the boundaries are fuzzy. For example the Eco-zones: Arrival, Acceptance, and Come Alive Drive are also like the organ (Zone) of the aorta branching into the major arterial trails: Compassion, Happiness, and Sacred Space, which are themselves Eco-zones. These deliver nutrients to the gardens and buildings.

Connection Clearing is Harmony's physical heart-brain, as it becomes apparent to physiologists that the heart directs the brain in response to connection to the Earth. She (Connection) absorbs and processes information brought it by her trails of veins and sends decisions and nutrients out on her trails of arteries. In this she relies on every animal (on wing, on foot, and burrowing) as her couriers.

The intuitive mind-heart of Harmony connecting her to Earth is at, and near, to Meditation Rocks. In this she is greatly helped by the conscious work of humans and the more aware animals.

Her trees and ferns are her lungs, digestive, and immune systems.
The leaves cloaking branches and ground are her skin.
Her three creeks are primarily her urinary system.
Her ridges are her skeletal system and her valleys her soft bellies.
Her nervous system and elements of her circulation and endocrine systems lie under ground in her rock and crystal formations.
Her blood is the moisture of the land excreted by roots, leaves, and animals, on its way from rain to creeks.
Her reproductive system is everywhere in the sexual activity of every plant and animal.
Her trails (human and animal), as described, are her circulatory systems.
The wind, her animal and plant movers, and her creeks are her muscles.

Her aura is the mist of the Cloud Forest, the energy of the Forest Garden, and all that held dwelling in her arms.

To volunteer and study forest gardening, earth building, and permaculture at Harmony click here.

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Love,

David

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