Co-Creating with Nature to Heal Water
From the moment I first visited this Land, I knew that the Nature Spirits were strong here. I also was in awe of the different ecosystems that exist in this fairly small area (4.5 acres), some of which I have never worked with. Fortunately, I knew that I would have guidance.
Before moving here, I highlighted the area where I wanted to focus. However, the Faeries had another opinion. They unequivocally pointed to an area where they wanted me to work. When I explored this area, I discovered that it was once the burn pile for the previous owners and later became a dump. There were Plants growing around the trash and lumber, which we needed to clear in order to remove the trash. I, reluctantly, began to clear the Plants and gather the trash. Though I had to admit that the energy in this area was definitely off. Even with help, clearing this area took me almost a year to complete.
One of the floods of 2018 where the rain garden is now located.
Now that this was finished, I was again excited to focus on my original plan. Really, I should know better. For the Faeries insisted that this area was not complete. As if to emphasize this, we experienced an enormous storm and this area became a lake. I was completely surprised. There is a drainage swale that runs through this area. During our first year at Heart Springs, I never saw Water in this swale. However, last year, we had a record breaking amount of rain and the swale did not dry out until this past February.
What I discovered in this process is that my neighbor’s farm is contoured in a manner which directs all of the run-off Water into this swale. The Water flows into the Sanctuary through the swale, to the previous dump, and then into our little creek. Of course, it is not just Water that flows through here. The Water carries with ki our neighbor’s soil, fertilizers, and pesticides, as well as, quite a bit of trash. The amount of runoff soil has changed the topography of the Sanctuary in this area in just one year. This past spring, I noticed a piece of trash in the swale, I stepped to get it and immediately sunk to my upper thigh in thick mud. (There wasn’t mud or even dirt in this location when we moved here, only a pile of large boulders.)
I discovered all of this much later. After the first major flood (there were many more to follow), I was stunned. I knew that I was being asked to do something, but I didn’t know what to do. The very next day, I was presenting at a Permaculture conference. When I arrived, the schedule changed slightly and I was able to attend a class on water management. During this class, I learned about rain gardens and began to find the next steps.
This image gives an idea of the size of the Rain Garden. The Garden extends to the Red Osier Dogwood bush behind Wendy, one of the many answers to my prayers.
Now, I had an idea of what to do. However, this area is fairly big. The overwhelm set in again. I kept saying, “I’m only one person. I don’t know how to do this. I need help!” To which the Nature Spirits would respond, “Ask for help.” They have insisted that I bring more people into the projects at the Sanctuary rather than doing them on my own (which is what I’m used to doing). They also reminded me that they will guide me, I don’t really need to know what to do.
This fall, more than a year after getting the idea about a rain garden, I finally began the project. First I need to say that while we call this a rain garden, this is not a typical rain garden. There were no machines used, the area is naturally concave. We also did not add any substrate or drainage materials. We simply cleared the area; built a garden with cardboard, sticks, and compost; and planted Plants.
I say simply and laugh internally. Because the truth is that this took weeks and weeks of exhausting (yet fun) labor, as well as, 34 scoops (or nearly $1000 worth) of compost. Fortunately, I did end up with human help, in fact, some of the best helpers I could have imagined!
This area was completely swallowed by Japanese Hops with a good spattering of Giant Ragweed and a few other Plants. Japanese Hops is considered an “invasive” vine. Which I understand why, ki can grow around 35 feet in one growing season!! The vine is covered in hooked hairs that seemingly reach out and attack you, leaving a minor rash sometimes for months. I know that I’m not describing Japanese Hops in a favorable manor, to be clear, I absolutely Love this Plant and am grateful that I got to work/play with ki.
Looking at the future garden from the West side. You can see the large mat of Japanese Hops.
View of the future garden from the North. On both the right and left sides, you can see that the Japanese Hops is beginning to climb up the surrounding Trees, including our Maple Prayer Tree (on the right).
One of the many “mountains”. This one towers over me.
One of the delays in the project was because I knew that Japanese Hops wanted to communicate with me and I could not clear them before doing so. When I finally talked with them, I learned that they moved into the area to get my attention and to make me take action. (They also were helping to slow the water down and were thriving on the extra nutrients from the fertilizers.) Take action, I did. While I was clearing the Japanese Hops, they were laughing at me saying, “See, we got your attention!” While the area is huge and the task looked daunting, it actually was quite a lot of fun. I felt like I was a cowgirl learning how to wrangle a horse. I kept winding the Hops like a rope, mesmerized by their length. As we cleared them, creating mini mountains of removed vegetation, I discovered that the Japanese Hops mostly kept any other Plants from growing beneath them, thus making the clearing much easier than I thought.
On the west side of the garden, Marcus, the co-steward of Heart Springs Sanctuary, was able to roll up the Japanese Hops into a gigantic ball.
The garden is mostly cleared, though we need to move the “mountains”.
I was aware that this project was meant to slow the water down and help sequester the soil and fertilizer before they went into the creek. Agricultural runoff is the largest source of pollution for the Chesapeake Bay, which our creek eventually flows into. As I worked with the Faeries, I learned that the main point of this project is to raise the vibration of the area and particularly the Water molecules that flow through here. As mentioned earlier, this area of the Sanctuary had a lower vibration. It contained the vibrations of fear and anger. The Water from the farm was carrying more fear and anger with ki, often in the form of pesticides and fertilizers. This garden is to provide an opportunity to shift these, so that the Water that leaves this area carries the vibration of Love. I imagined these Water molecules coming into contact with other Water molecules as they made their way to the Conestoga River and then to the Susquehanna River and then to the Chesapeake Bay, spreading their vibration of Love along the way. This meant that while we worked in the area, we needed to be aware of our own energy and vibration, focusing on joy and Love. If we were frustrated, tired, or struggling with anything, we could not work there or even be in the area. I often turn to gardening or working with Plants when I need help; however, we could not do this in this area. (Fortunately, there are plenty of other places in the Sanctuary where we can connect with the Plants for help.)
The garden begins!
Along with the large amount of Japanese Hops and Ragweed, there was an enormous pile of branches. This pile was started by the previous owners. I added to it planning on using the wood to create hugelkultur beds in another area. Hugelkultur beds are high mounded garden beds, the base of which are logs, who over time decompose allowing the soil to absorb more water and providing nutrients for years. These logs and branches needed to be moved to create the rain garden. We decided that the problem was part of the solution, rather than remove these logs, we could incorporate them into the base layer of the garden and create a modified mini-hugelkultur garden.
We had 10 scoops of compost, 3 people, and 1 wheelbarow. So we got creative and rigged up a tarp to the lawn mower, which also was loaded with buckets of compost.
Our 3rd load of compost being delivered, to make it 34 scoops! By the 2nd load, we got smarter and had it delivered next to the garden, rather than on the other side of the Sanctuary.
An idea of the scale of the project. The 2nd load (in the distance) is about 3/4 gone and the 3rd load (foreground) was just delivered.
When we started building the garden, we were visited by many Beings including Butterflies, Bees, and Birds. The Deer also left their footprints (it is very rare for Deer to cross over the creek here). It felt as if we were getting encouragement and blessings for our efforts. (The cats of course thought that we created a playground for them.) I regularly sat with the Garden and the Faeries to be sure we were doing the right thing, to ask questions, and to fill this area with Love. During one of my check-ins, I was told that I needed a “rock” for the garden and told to contact one of my students. I did, asking her to send me pictures of all of the large rocks she has for sale. Gratefully, she complied without making this seem weird. As soon as I received this one image, I knew that this was the rock. Ki turned out to be Petrified Wood, which suddenly seemed perfect for this area. During this process, I also felt drawn to a Blue Calcite for the Land, though I didn’t know where ki was going. The Calcite ended up being much bigger in person than ki appeared in the picture. When ki arrived, it was evident that this also needed to go in the rain garden.
Let the planting begin!
Once the logs and compost were spread, it was time for planting!! We already purchased Bushes and Plants for this garden in the Spring. A friend came for a visit and brought me trays of Plants. Another recently dug up a large amount of perennials and gifted them to me. We moved some Elders and other Plants from around the Sanctuary. Though there were some Plants who the Faeries requested for the garden which we did not have. We were leaving in a couple days to go to California for nearly two weeks. We were working hard to complete this project before leaving. However, the Plants were calling and so we added a few more to the project. The co-steward of Heart Springs Sanctuary planted these final bushes hours before we were leaving. As he did, it began to drizzle. As soon as the last bush was planted, the rains downpoured. We received the most rain we’ve had in months!! Again, it felt like a blessing and a recognition of our work. We were able to see that the garden was doing what ki is meant to do.
The final Plants being placed. The Petrified Wood and Blue Calcite can be seen in this photo.
The Planting is finished! For now.
We know that this is only the beginning of the project. We need to work with the drainage swale and create some structures which will slow the water down, capture the sediment, and also shift the flow to enliven the water molecules. We also need to expand the garden on the west side of the swale and then focus on the area where the water flows after ki leaves the garden. For now, we are enjoying the rain garden as ki is, grateful for the help, guidance, and blessings. I am again in awe of what can be created when we listen to and work with the Nature Spirits.
And so, the Rains come. May these Water molecules hold the vibration of Love.