Calendar of the Soul

A Story About How Gardens Help You Grow

A family hired Hank and Rebecca to landscape their property, but Rebecca was hesitant to work with them at first as they seemed more interested in having a perfect lawn in a perfect suburban environment than working with the land. As she spent some time with the woman of the family, she discovered that secretly this mother wanted a special play place for her children. So Rebecca and Hank designed a play yard, including the family in the design process. With the children they released praying mantis and ladybugs, both beneficial predators, helping the children understand rather than fear these garden allies. Rebecca said, “The children learned that fruit comes from trees and that abstract play with sand and dirt and water can be really cool.”
The mother of the family began to discover herself by no longer using chemicals on her lawn, growing strawberries in the yard, and talking directly to any unhealthy trees on her land. The trees and the woman blossomed from this new relationship.

After a time the family decided to buy some land that had been an apple orchard but had stood neglected for a decade. The father wanted to build a multimillion dollar home with a swimming pool, which would require the removal of ninety percent of the old apple trees. It would reduce the habitat for hawks and owls, redwood trees, and willow seedlings. The architects spent time on the land with the family, teaching them about the marsh land and the apple trees, and the father decided to give up his plans in favor of the wildness of the land and the orchard. They decided instead to fix up the old farmhouse.
Several years later, Rebecca ran into the mother, who told her that her husband had become an organic apple farmer and that the sacred was an everyday part of their lives. She held nature classes for school kids at the orchard, and said her own children were flourishing. About this woman’s metamorphosis and the change in her family, Rebecca wrote, “She created the vessel, the chalice, the field of safety that opened the door for the sacred to be allowed in and experienced not only by her husband and children but now by many children, parents, families and friends. Because of this she’s touched the lives and altered the values of many people.”
Working with the land and respecting it as sacred can completely transform the way one lives her life. When you work in the garden, remember to work with the land, and to honor the natural forces and processes present.