From Apple Computer to Apple Tree

(c) wendiertje89 on Instagram
Fall in East-Germany, 2014

 Dreaming as reply to the Fall in the World

Winter is Coming. It's one of the most popular and known quotes from the series Game of Thrones. It means that dark times are coming, but it also means that we are in fall, the time between summer and winter, when things start to change. Trees start to loose their leaves, the birds fly to other regions and the temperature starts to decrease. In this period we pluck the fruits of our hard work in the previous seasons and keep it in a dry place, so we can survive the cold, dead winter. People who look further, see the spring after this dead period, and start to plant fruit trees and spread seeds from spinach, salads, parsley and even carrots, because fall is also the period when you can change a lot of things. 

My brother and I are very aware of the crisis, the winter, the dark times, that are coming to us, or in fact, already started. There is a big fall in the world. In two meanings of the world.  The Patriarchal capitalism is spreading as a disease over whole the world, polluting the grounds, the water, the air and the human mind. The violence against women and foreigners increased, biotechnology changed the genetics of seeds and plants so engineers control who has access to food and who not, we are working for money that does not exist, because the banks are speculating with it... etc. I believe the only way to solve many problems is when people have access to small pieces of ground and can grow their own food, as I said in the previous blog about "the future of food". That is why my brother and I decided to do something with the ground that we hearted from our grandparents. We want to create a safe haven, that gives us food, that frees us and our beloved ones from the capitalist patriarchy that makes from us slaves of our own wage, that let us be in contact with nature and let us be in control of our own life. We started to dream... as a reply to the fall in the world. 

Planning with Permaculture Design
Last Summer I participated in the permaculture design course from Regreen ecocenter in Greece. These were two of the most interesting weeks in my life, because apart from the knowledge I also got some skills and tools to achieve my dreams: my mind and my hands became different in my eyes. 
Together with my brother we made a map of our ground and started to draw. We decided to have a greenhouse (without warming elements), but also a place with a self made contain and picknick tables. We also made different phases, to give us enough time. We hoped that in the summer and fall of 2016 we would be 30% self-sustainable. We think it's important to have a part-time job, to pay taxes, medical care etc... but we also think we can save a lot of money by providing ourselves with vegetables, fruits and eggs. 

I have to admit that I feel guilty that I spend too much time with my apple computer. Technology is promoted as progress, something that should make everything goes faster, but instead of creating more time for ourselves, I've the feeling I've not enough time. Nothing can go fast enough. By going back to the nature, and planting apple trees and other seeds, I hope to find again a balance with myself and the world, find more time for myself and can feel really happy and satisfied with what I am doing. Being self-sustainable is not only about being in control of your food, but also in control of your mind. I know that my mind is still a slave of all the ruling dogma's of the patriarchy. 

Maybe that's also why I am so interested for ecofeminism. It is a political answer on racism, sexism, class exploitation and environmental destruction, that not only maps the problems (all the roots of the bad things happening in the world are in patriarchy according to ecofeminists), but also provides the solutions: subsistence. 

(c) The Ecologist

Acting, because actions tell more than words

Since the end of June our garden started to change. We bought 3 chickens. We built a picknick table and a terrace where we hope to celebrate nice evening gatherings with friends. We made a greenhouse where we planted seeds for vegetables for next spring - and I love writing about it and sharing it with Facebook, because it makes me proud that I am doing these things for myself, for the world and for nature.

Today my brother, his friend and I planted also 18 fruit trees: mulberries, apricots, pears, apples, cherries and nuts will be hopefully the main ingredients of our diet. Soon I will plant some flowers (like narcissus) and herbs that belong to guilds of plants protecting trees against diseases and insects and/or making the soil more fertile, but according to a garden architect our soil is perfect for fruit trees, so we will focus on plants that will fight against the pests and diseases. In the next months I will give a list of the guilt of plants we used, what kind of problems we (hopefully not) faced and the solutions we (hopefully) found. 

 Celebrating, as the 4th and most important phase of Dragon Dreaming. 
That's for later, but the feeling that I am doing something good feels already as a nice celebration for the soul. 

Terug naar Nieuw-Zeeland (6): Happy Heaps of Hobbits Hunt (HHHH)

Nieuw-Zeeland staat voor veel mensen bekend als het land waar Lord of the Rings, en The Hobbit is gefilmd. De epische landschappen zijn dankzij de regisseurs voor eeuwig in onze netvliezen, geheugen en dvds in onze kasten gebeiteld. Wie de films heeft gezien noch de boeken van Tolkien heeft gelezen, kent toch het verhaal van de hobbit Frodo die een ring moet vernietigen in de vuren van Mt Doom in Mordor om de boze tovenaar Sauron te verslaan. Hobbits zijn een inventie van de auteur. Ze zijn klein, blootvoets, hebben krullend haar, houden van drinken en feesten, en wonen in groene heuvels. Zowel in de hobbit als Lord of the Rings is er een prominente rol weggelegd voor Gandalf, een goede tovenaar. Dan heb je ook nog Gollem, een gedrocht dat misschien het meest gedenkwaardige creatuur van de hele wereld van Tolkien is. 
De figuren reizen door landschappen zoals Rivendel, Lothorien, Mordor en de Gouw (in die laatste plek wonen de hobbits).

Ik zou meteen tekenen als ik aan de opnames van “de hobbit” kon meewerken, die op dat moment bezig waren in Nieuw-Zeeland. Ik deelde de wens ook met Bae, mijn nieuwe Koreaans maatje, in een koffiebar in Auckland: “Ik hoop stiekem dat we al liftend het noord-eiland verkennen, en dan opgepikt worden door Orlando Bloom. Ik heb ergens gelezen dat Legolas ook een kleine rol heeft in the hobbit. Dus Orlando moet hier ergens rondhangen. Hij neemt ons mee naar zijn appartement, waar we kunnen overnachten. Wanneer hij slaapt, neem ik fotoʼs van hem en versier mijn toiletdeur met de fotoʼs van die ene onvergetelijke nacht.”

Als ik dit zoveel jaar later in mijn dagboek heb gelezen, heb ik zeer hard mijn wenkbrauwen gefronst. 

Ik vertrouwde Bae toe dat ik een succesvolle auteur wou worden, niet om veel geld, roem, blablabla te hebben, maar een gratis uitnodiging op feestjes, ceremonies... waar geweldige auteurs, muzikanten, acteurs en andere artiesten aanwezig zijn, met wie ik over kunst, het leven, de wereld... kan filosoferen op mijn niveau.
Toen bleek dat ik niet zelf beroemd moet worden om met andere artiesten in contact te komen. Soms lacht het geluk je toe.

In een of andere “Food Alley” in deze grote stad aten we Koreaans. Ik zei luidop dat we morgenavond Belgisch moeten eten. Niet dat ik een flauw idee heb wat Belgisch eten juist is. Er bestaat niet eens een Belgische taal.  

Aan de tafel naast ons keek een jongeman op. Hij bleek ook Belg te zijn. 
De jongeman aan de tafel naast ons bleek ook een Belg te zijn. Hij studeerde voor filmdirecteur. We praatten voor uren. Ik was zelf al bijna de helft van mijn leven voor film en andere vormen van verhalen vertellen geïnteresseerd. Ik was echter nooit zelfzeker genoeg geweest om het zelf te gaan studeren. Pas een half jaar later, in een ander continent, nam ik de sprong en volgde ik in zijn sporen.  

Op het einde van die avond besluiten Bae, hij -laten we hem Tim noemen- en ik morgen aan een “Happy Hobbit Hunt” te doen en “heaps of hobbits” te vangen. Het was een bizarre naam voor "hitchhiking," een ander Engels woord dat met een h begint. 

Later zocht ik nog met Bae en Tim het nachtleven van Auckland op. Toevallig verzeilden we in een feestje dat het veertigjarig bestaan van organisch boeren vierde. Of zoiets. Heel Nieuw-Zeeland lijkt me precies toe te roepen om meer aandacht te geven aan de Natuur. In feite, Nieuw-Zeeland is een en al natuur. Zelfs in Auckland vind je overal groene initiatieven. 

Op dat feestje lanceerden ze ook een nieuw label voor een organische wijn: Lothorien. 

Correctie. Nieuw-Zeeland is natuur én Lord of the Rings. 
Verwacht dat ik nog vaak over beide  ga schrijven. 
In feite, ons hithchiking avontuur zou ons naar Mount Doom brengen.
Of ja, waar de scènes op Mount Doom zijn opgenomen... 

Ik zag Nieuw-Zeeland echt alleen maar als een verzameling van stereotypen. Het is ook het allereerste wat je ziet als je een land binnengaat: souvenirwinkels die elke stereotiep mogelijk prediken. Ik heb daar een hoodie gekocht met "Wild Kiwi". 
Ik zag alleen maar schapen, hobbits, natuur, kiwi's, vulkanen, Maori symbolen en rugby. 

Nieuw-Zeeland is echter veel meer dan dat. 
Alleen zag ik het doen niet.
Ik wou alleen maar hobbits en Orlando Bloom. 

Grandmother's Consciousness about Food

Yesterday, in Ghent, my new 2nd home where I work as graphic assistant for the next weeks,  I attended the lecture "The Future of Our Food" by Vandana Shiva, followed by words from Jeroen Olieslaeghers and Thierry Kesteloot, to end with a note how we can change our own habits to leave this world a better place. It was all about seeds, monocultures in the food but also in the mind, biogenetics and privatisation of seeds (and knowledge). It was not the evening that changed my whole life, but there were interesting quotes I want to share. 

Vandana Shiva, source: wikipedia 

Who is Vandana Shiva?

This lady was the reason of my presence; I didn't give too much attention to the subject. Apart from the fact she is a scientist and an activist, I know she is an ecofeminist. I'll copy another thing from wikipedia to give a clear definition (although researchers say there is no clear definition): "Ecofeminists connects the exploitations and domination of women with that of the environment, and argues that there is a connection between women and nature that comes from their shared history of oppression by a patriarchal Western society." Several years ago I bumped into this concept, and I have tried to read more it, because gender studies and environment both interest me a lot, and inspire me for many stories. I had hoped Vandana would tell more about ecofeminism, but there were not so many words about the role of women in "the food from our future". I wanted to ask it, but there was no time for more than 3 questions... 

The biggest reference to the role of "women" in (re)connecting the human with nature, healthy (bio-)food... was made by one of the panel speakers, who told us that when his grandmother prepared a meal, it was for 3 hours of socializing. She was very consciousness about the food, and gave it a lot of love, because it would reproduce a lot of love. Now we don't have time anymore to invest in healthy life and food. He called us we don't need a "new consciousness", but have to go back to the "consciousness of the grandmother". I liked this quote. It reminded me to the philosophy around Ayahuascu, the Russian mythology of Baba Yaga... In the womb of Grandmothers, mothers Earth, Mother Ocean... we are all born, and there we probably all will end. I like this metaphor... to go back to the grandmother, to reconnect back with healthy life. 

"Monocultures in food creates monocultures in the mind"
The whole lecture started with the fact that when Vandana was picked up from the Belgian airport she remarked all our corn had the same height. In India, she said, they have different heights. It is true. In many countries you only can find "beautiful", "perfect" vegetables, fruits... Tomatoes are thrown away if they are not red and shiny. People invest a lot of money in genetics... to create "the perfect food"... but what is the perfect food? Vandana critisized the fact (ok, here we have some ecofeminism) that all scientists of multinationals -which she calls technicians, not scientists- try to control nature, try to control life... but that it does not really bring the world, us all... to a better place. "Everything has to be engineered, to look like a machine." 
We spread everywhere pesticides. 
And all because of money. 
We measure yield/ha, not health/ha. 
Money, power and control destroys the earth, because it let us all forget we're all connected. We should live next to each other, horizontal, not trying to have control over each other, living vertical. 

Seeds and deeds
Of course words are only seeds. Most people are already aware of what is going on with our health, food, environment... but the next step, maybe the most difficult, is to take action. It can be everything. Just planting sunflower seeds on every ugly piece of ground you find. Planting fruit trees and share the fruits with your neighbourhood. Buy bio-food in supermarkets, because they are the big players in our whole food circuit. The demand of the client decides what they will offer. If you only buy in nature shops, you'll not affect super markets. You've to know the tricks to win the game. Even in power and there are many weak points. It is up to find them and go for it. 

In the end of the lecture, they all gave us seeds to plant somewhere to grow bio-tomatoes, and a small booklet about the "law of seed", which is about privatization. I'll try to read it soon, and give some review about it. First I am going to plant some seeds ;)