Vilcabamba, Neverland and Serendipity Farm....

It's been two weeks since I've posted... as access to the internet was either non-existent or very brief! The Farm experience has been so much more than I ever expected. It is Walter Moora's dream to teach people about Biodynamic farming, to enable and inspire them to be good stewards of the earth....He taught/reminded us about our connection to the land and our spiritual relationship to it, our food, animals, soil. We ate fruit and vegetables grown on the farm everyday....No chemicals have ever touched the sacred farm soil....ever! The composts are made from indigenous plants, cow manure and homeopathic preparations as taught by Rudolf Steiner. Everyday we meditated with our feet firmly planted on the ground, and worked at preparing the land, composts, preparations and planting the seeds which grew into little sprouts just in time for us to notice before we left. We had discussions daily... to help us understand the importance of the farm organism and the preparations used on the land. Walter's wife Susan led us in looking at our lives to create our own destiny paths. We learned about homeopathy from an experienced and well trained homeopath living in Vilcabamba, and  also had two long sessions with an experienced healer and life coach who lived on a small area of land nearby.

The workshop participants were awesome...There were four of us primarily. We all came there seeking and in the midst of transitioning, with a very similar passion to explore and to find our higher purpose in life. For me, the consciousness bar has been raised and I feel quite inspired on many levels...not just about farming! Though, I do plan now to put a small patch of land to use on our property to grow some of our own vegetables and fruit. I am also inspired to start a small garden of medicinal plants...and to get my Dad involved as he is so knowledgeable and has his own variety of medicinal plants in Salinas. I loved being in Ecuador, surrounded by the dramatic Southern Highlands (Andes mountains)everyday. It was so incredible. I felt a strong connection to the earth and looked forward to being in nature everyday. It was great to get to know the local Ecuadorians who work on the farm...and the volunteers who were not in the Biodynamic program but simply there to contribute to the farm organism and live in an intentional community. We all took turns preparing and serving our communal style meals and connecting with one another about our lives and experiences in the world.

The weather here has been an interesting factor...the first three days after our arrival (on foot) there was very heavy rain...so much so that it temporarily took out both wells which provide water to the property...So when we arrived there was no potable water! Though that got resolved by the next morning. By the third day, the river was so high and so intense we had to quickly get over to the other side while one of the bridges leading to the farm was partially dismantled so it wouldn't get washed away...it was quite dramatic! Also, while we were there two new dogs were integrated into the farm...one a rescued full grown golden retreiver that had been abused (Charlie who was in pretty rough shape) and a little brown puppy named "Chocolate" who I got to bring in on horseback and across the river.

I learned so much about the importance of staying connected to our food source...we are all part of the same universe...so the way we grow our food in an essence is the way we care for ourselves...Chemical fertilizers and monoculture farming is not a sustainable practice...We have a great responsibility to nurture the land as we would nurture ourselves...We are all interconnected...We cannot be one way in one part of our life and so vastly different in another...in terms of what we value and how we take responsibility. Nurturing and caring for our land, our food and animals...all living things...is our responsibility and our priviledge...We must be active stewards of these resources...These are the resources that sustain our life here on this planet...There is so much for us to do....I for one want to step up to the plate...I hope more of us will too!