Forest Gardening meets Deep and Personal Ecology

In 2001 land and all the creatures dwelling therein became known to us and invited Lorraine and I to be its new owners. I had asked for this land on the Wednesday and the following Saturday here was an advert glowing in the local paper. It said native forest (as requested) and that the area (hectares, acres) and price were much larger than asked for, and the latter much more than we could finance.

To check with spirit (my inner guidance) that this is indeed land we are to care-take I read the advert to Lorraine. She says "We might as well have a look at it". For me that was absolute and final confirmation. Somehow from that moment I knew this was 'our' land, and that is Miracle 1.

We phone the real estate agent, and have an ally, he is a sensitive plant man, as our agent. He is in the business for the love of it, he doesn’t need the money. That was Miracle 2. He says we can only see it at 1pm that day, he won't be there but the owners will. This is the very same time I had arranged to go for a walk in the bush "somewhere" with my brother. That was Miracle 3.

We drive down Waitati Valley Road, and can't find it, so Lorraine pops into a farm house to ask, and I explain to all my family "She has gone to ask our neighbour where it is". It turned out they were the immediate neighbour and following instructions we drove down to the next driveway on the left. That was Miracle 4.

It might just have been a muddy old paddock entrance but as our Van went past I felt this incredible huge wave of energy come through the gateway and me. Miracle 5 was impressive! Now I was totally awestruck, I was in love, and as we walked the land, I was barely able to take it all in.

It was amazing. The owners were there, and the two who had first option were there too!

One owner walked us over the trails to a large paddock, which was exactly the size I had asked for the whole title to be. This confirmed Miracle 6!) that spirit had heard. The paddock would have been considered the only useful landarea by many, and the forest was a free bonus!

Walking up that paddock my brother said you realise your recently deceased grandmother has left you considerably more money than what you got some time ago. No I didn't. He also said he would provide as much bridging finance as needed. Sign 7 was obviously to do with finance.

Lorraine and I came home after an amazing walk past three creeks, through native bush as good any we had seen near Dunedin city, and considered how much money we could raise! Those with first option they could not raise the money and it was now our turn. Having met the owners we decided to ask them their minimum price and as it was 16% than list price we decided it was Miracle 7 and that somehow we would find it.

We tell the agent not to write anything down on the agreement but he writes it down straight away, because he didn’t even know that the vendors would accept a price that low, he can’t believe they told us their absolute minimum. He says that they shouldn’t have and I say that we wouldn’t have been able to buy it if they hadn’t as it was about our maximum.

The owner is keen to pass it on to someone with similar plans to build a natural health clinic and so accepts the price. I get to walk the land as much as I want before possession date and I do. Later in exploring the boundaries I walk through an energy wall, Harmony reminds me of the energy I felt at the gateway.

In my excitement I walk with a friend with similar interests in forest, finding a mature totara tree Miracle 8) I haven't been able to find since (must be his not mine), and sharing with him we didn't know how, but the signs were that we were going to look after this land.

Now to finance. How? We arrange to meet a real estate broker and just before going I clear our mail. There is a envelope with a cheque in it for a very large sum of money (Sign 9), from the friend. It has his signature but says nothing about it. I take this into town to meet Lorraine and the broker and taking Lorraine aside I whisper the news to her.

A few days later even the bank which has our house mortgage (which had received extra lump sum payments from Lorraine's savings and my grandmother's estate) was not going to lend. So the broker tells us he told them about the money. Talk about having a broker with courage to do whatever it took. We hadn't even told him (that I knew of) about it. Miracle 10) The only catch the bank needed an affadavit from my friend that he didn't want the money back. So I asked him did he? No he said, and yes we would sign a statement to that effect. There was nothing but for me to conclude that this was one really big Miracle (No. 11).

So we said to the bank that this was clear funds for our exclusive use, and they assumed we had it. In fact we were now going to bank the cheque to get the funds. Miracle 12 was my sister in law walking down the street with thousands in cash to put drawable funds into our bank account for us, and a week later the bridging finance was repaid.

The bank was happy and Harmony (as Lorraine later named it) had us looking after it.

Being 17 hectares of native bush (plus a paddock) I figured that all the life within those trees, those insects, animals, and other plants was in the millions. No wonder they had had the power to make it happen.

. . . and a few months later, my grandmother's estate gifted us a sum such that the land actually cost us the amount I had asked for after also deducting the owner's reduction and the gift from the friend. Miracle 13).

To read more special experiences and insights living with respect for All Beings at Harmony Forest Subscribe here for my free quarterly e-zine sharing enchanting personal experiences not published elsewhere.

Thanks for telling you like this article by clicking:

Love,

David

Help: Please forward, distribute, and publish every article in this blog anywhere you wish, as long as the ENTIRE article, footnotes, and any banners, are left as is, and all links remain active. Exception: Photos may be left out, though we prefer they stay.