I came to Blue Star Equiculture in May to work again with my friends, Pam and David, and of course their kids, who are now growing up beautifully. We have been good friends for many years now. We were introduced through ceremony with Charlie Thom, a Karuk elder from Fort Jones California. I went to visit Charlie for over a month recently to celebrate his birthday and and build a permaculture raised bed system on his land. He hopes to have a healing and educational center. After getting the project underway and preparing the beds, I came back east and immediately joined Pam and the Blue Star team. I am honored to be part of this great project which has so much potential for healing the earth and the spirit of the horses that have been with us for most of our history and prehistory. Pam and I worked in Colorado together and it is there that I began to understand and love horses.
My journey into gardening began with my granddaddy in Troutville, Va. I feel he is my guardian angel and he also was a musician farmer like myself. I first started in music on the piano as a toddler making up songs and probably was 8 when I planted my first garden and tree... At 12 I began playing viola and by 15 was accepted to North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem NC. There began a career that took me to work in Bogota, Colombia, New York City, and many parts of the world. Attending The Juilliard School opened many doors for me. I retired from active music work after taking care of my dying mom.
I've always been interested in spirituality and from my late teens I began my spiritual quest. Probably the most memorable books I read were by Carlos Castenada about his studies with Don Juan. That opened the floodgates and I studied Eastern thought, Gurdjieff Baba Ram Dass and along with the spiritual revolution of the 60's, I rode on the crest of the wave. I began working in NYC and then had an opportunity to work in Bogota, Colombia. There, I learned to speak and dance and sing Spanish and I developed a deep appreciation for indigenous culture which has remained in my heart always.
After returning from Colombia, I renewed my interest in macrobiotics, food and health, and began to study Tai Chi with Sifu Chester Catoose. It was then that I had my first garden in Brooklyn and followed the work of Manusoba Fukuoka of "The One Straw Revolution". I began to practice no-till gardening, and organics in general. I remember receiving rock dust from Alabama and seeing how I got dandelion leaves over a foot long.Like Mr Fukuka I had a small but precious place to create my own garden of Eden which has been my driving desire.
About the time I met Charlie Thom, I also met Todd Tremble a master farmer in the Catskills. We have always had a deep respect for each other even though we don't always agree. He knows how to raise lots of superior food of high vibration. Part of his sucess is maybe the luck to have found this land whose soil and water are healing in themselves. Maybe his own study of macrobiotics to heal his mothers cancer gave him the insight to recognize this as where he needed to be to raise his family in health and happiness. I have learned so much from our collaboration and I hope to continue to do so. It is knowing this farmer and then learning of the plight of small farms all over the country that inspires me to keep with this project to heal our relationship with the horses and the land.
The most recent studies that have inspired me are permaculture, Terra Preta, biodynamics and vermiculture .The last 3 years in Virginia taking care of my mom gave me the time to study all these things and prepare me to do serious work in this field. I hope many people will come to walk the spiral ... help us plant... and learn to create their own garden of Eden!