Herbs and flowers from the garden, cut small, mixed with Atlas-Rock-Salt – a tasty and healthy easy-self-made seasoned salt
Sage, Rosemary, Basil, Onion, Arugula, Marigold, Marjoram, Borage, Plantain, Laurel, Persil, Celery, Rose, Yarrow… healing herbs from God’s pharmacy.
“And your Lord inspired the bees: “Make ˹your˺ homes in the mountains, the trees, and in what people construct,
and feed from ˹the flower of˺ any fruit ˹you please˺ and follow the ways your Lord has made easy for you.” From their bellies comes forth liquid of varying colours, in which there is healing for people. Surely in this is a sign for those who reflect.” (Qur’an Sura An-Nahl 16: 68,69)
A few days ago, a wild bee colony visited us and decided to stay. We keep already bees, but never so near on the campus. So off we are now, together with teachers and students, to beekeeping and learning more about these wonderful animals, subhanallah.
Spring is in full colour and there are signs of Allah’s magnificence and of the beauty of His creation everywhere.
Full moon is just over and half of the holy month of Ramadan as well. Mashaallah.
Time to re-adjust, re-define and re-focus spiritual goals for the second half of the month and most important time of the year.
Inchaallah, may Allah bless you and yours, accept your intentions, fasting, prayers and good deeds. May He shower the worlds with His mercy, facilitate our goals and ease our burden. Ameen and salamou aleikoum.
Looking back to a wonderful summer, alhamdulillah, enjoying the cooler early autumn air and the beginning of a new school year with a totally new rhythm and very new @C-times-rules and strange obligations…
I focus on the good and the blessings within: time with the kids, harvest in the garden, so much beauty and natural abundance all around, subhanallah! …and sometimes a quiet moment, simply me…
A wonderful time to count all these blessings, time for gratitude-lists and time to look at all the things I appreciate so much…this is how I recently go through my days, working on my inner balance, clearing my own energies, trying to spread only good vibes around, in the midst of all this unpredictable and uncertain worldy situation that is still going on…
“If you give thanks, I will give you more.” (Qur’an 14:7)
Allahu akbar!
“If you would try to count God’s blessings, you would never be able to count them all…” (Qur’an 16:18)
In times like these, with a so-called “world-pandemic” going on, when nothing is sure and everything’s just so new and unpredictable, and in situations like the actual, when we cannot count on previous experience, it is very important to find some secure retreat, some occupation that provides stability or some moment of familiarity.
I think, a life close to nature can offer such sense of security and there is maybe nothing more grounding and soothing than being connected to nature and feeling at least a bit able and in control of a small part of our life (for example concerning the fulfillment of one of our basic needs which is food).
So, I am convinced that everybody would much benefit from learning the basics of horticulture, on how to survive independently and on how to nourish ourselves with the most basic things at hand – just in case we would once really have to… mashaallah.
The question here is not “how to become totally self-sufficient” (which might be nearly impossible and even too extreme and hostile towards society), but “how to live a healthy and natural life that allows us to feel good and in control”.
So today, I really want to encourage you, with my own humble story, to put your hands on some growing and garden work, even if it is just in a few pots on your balcony or window seat.
Come on with me, back to our roots!
My own story as an organic-gardener began already back in Germany: I grew up mostly with biodynamic food in an eco-conscious household, alhamdulillah. But I’ve never really learned how to garden or how to grow food myself. I had no idea about how much energy, time and space, yes, even how much thought and love has to be put into a small kernel until we have our daily bread on our table.
Now, living in the middle of an Amazigh-tribe, amongst Berbers who still entertain their own small farms and basic agriculture, often done by hand, mule-plough and the simplest equipment, I got to learn a lot about the hard work and difficult-labor-reality of the production of what we eat.
Self-sufficiency has always sparked my interest and since more than ten years now, I deliberately learn and grow more and more in these fields and I guess, as a family, we already live a very green and eco-conscious life.
Four years ago, we luckily met a young Swiss permaculture-student and together with him and his wife we transformed the whole land around our house and school into a permaculture model-farm and research-site. So, the campus vivant’e grew into a 2 hectare agricultural farm with different cultivated and wild zones, a forest, several terraces of vegetables patches, an orchard, chicken- and green-house, compost-toilets, greywater-use- and rain-water-collecting-systems, swales and much more. During school-days, it’s the pupils and teachers who learn outside and do much of the work on the campus. Every student here learns about permaculture principles and eco-gardening, along with the content of the national curriculum.
Now that the schools are on shut down since March, I was kind of propelled into a new role: instead of being the head of the school, an arts teacher and the leader of an 20-person-adult-team, I now look after 20 chicken, I water the potato-fields, grow salad and find my way, little by little, into a whole new world, mashaallah – it’s my family and I who now entertain and work the whole ground.
My everyday-work-outfit changed into much more practical (yes, I love wearing the rainboots now all day!) and my hands have gone dry from working with the soil.
I’ve got to find a new rhythm and every day I learn so many new things, along with my children who participate in it all, subhanallah.
I am not a professional at all, I still think my thumbs are not very green, and sometimes I still feel a certain restraint in digging with my hands in the earth. Also, I follow more a kind of “laissez-faire”-gardening-style and prefer to interfere in nature’s natural way as less as possible (much like Fukuoka did). My orchard looks quite wild, our harvest is still small, we are far away from being really self-reliant and we buy much of our food from the local farmer market and some even in the supermarket at the cities.
This was not a conscious choice and until recently, I have always seen myself more like a weekend-gardener or a hobby/amateur-farmer, mostly concentrating on the cultivation of some medical herbs, healing plants and beautiful flowers.
But when I look at the reality of things, at my actual level of satisfaction and the pictures on my old vision boards, I see the positive fulfillment of my long-time wishes and aspirations and so much blessing in it all, alhamdulillah! I learn to trust more and more in my own ability, I re-connect with and loose fear of the soil.
This capability itself already provides a certain level of inner peace and security.
But the most important aspect is the inner balance and shift of focus we can gain by re-connecting with nature and the earth.
Back to the basics, back to soil, touching the ground, understanding where it all comes from and how it grows, are all things that feed our soul on very deep levels and can help to heal us by a change from the often stressful, high-speed, abstract, virtual realities into a much more tangible world: work by hands, learning to be patient and trust the process.
Plus, being in communication with plants, animals and other humans, finding a healthy equilibrium of sharing, trading and connecting with others, concentrating mostly on the closer environment and community, could offer solutions for a better tomorrow of the total.
I might not want to do farm work as a fulltime-job nor do I opt to totally rely on our own harvest, but spending some considerable time in nature and growing at least a bit of what we eat, is really a priceless gift.
Anyway, I think society would do good in re-thinking the image of the peasant, valorizing his work and recognizing his very importance for the survival of the human species – and why not becoming kind of a “philosopher farmer” – part-time in the garden, part-time writing…
little pause with a very inspiring book, some coffee and out of my most beloved shoes these days (Crocs ankle-high rainboots)
Nicole Faires “The ultimate guide to Homesteading” : … “it’s about living as well as you can in less than wonderful circumstances.”
I would be more than happy, if my story encourages you to try it yourself, to take some responsibility, to show interest for your body and how you feed it, to cultivate some respect for nature, to develop a caring attitude for its needs, to gain some understanding of life’s cycles and try to feel the energy of the elements and the seasons.
So, roll up your sleeves and hit the ground / the pots! – I promise, you will feel much more grounded and at peace, even whilst living in a big city during a pandemic.
Would you like to share your gardening experiences with us?
Wishing you blessings inside and out, and much connectedness!
Xxx
Here’s again my (incomplete) list of possibilities to approach a greener way of living in the everyday:
To be continued…
And a list of other great books on self-sufficiency, permaculture, gardening and homesteading:
life gives you lemons? – make lemonade…. and pictures of everyday beauty at home.
A random list of ideas and links on what to do at home … alone, with kids, as a family … during C-times
Many of these activities can be done alone or with children, adapted to different ages of kids and even be turned into homeschool activities, as there is so much to write about, to plan, to report, to count, to draw, to type on the computer and to journal afterwards – and then to translate in whichever other language you want… a great learning opportunity!
and some thoughts on learning, schooling, mothering in between and unschooling in general…
…reading “The power” from Rhonda Byrne
wishing you happy home-days – stay blessed and healthy inchaallah!
Dear friends,
thank you so much for your comments and personal thoughts on my last posts, it is so good to hear from you and to feel connected this way, alhamdulillah.
Please continue sharing your inspiration with us, we need it! – the comment section will always remain open to your further ideas on each post and topic.
We passed now a little more than one week in C-times, and if the information is right, we have at least one month more to go until “normal life” can begin again, inchaallah.
My mother told me, that in Germany the supermarkets get more and more empty and especially the shelve with the toilet paper is sold out.
This idea was kind of strange to me, because since many many years we never buy toilet paper… I realized that our life-style changed a lot over the last years and went really green and self-sufficient in some areas.
So, I thought about sharing some green-living inspiration with you, which might be helpful in these special times, where supply can become scarce and a certain level of creativity and independence might be asked from all of us.
As I said, we never buy toilet paper – we use cloth instead.
I already wrote about this ten years ago here and I still recommend this so much!
Cloth is absolutely more comfortable than tissue paper and surely one of the best ways to re-use and recycle old fabric things – we cut everything : old socks, towels, shirts etc… cotton is perfect, but other materials serve as well.
And the really beautiful old worn-out pieces I cut bigger (about 15x15cm) and use as handkerchiefs.
When a pile of dirty cloth added up and became big enough to fill the washing machine, I put it in and wash it very hot at 90°C (!!) to kill all the germs and bacteria,
and then we just have to put it flat or fold it, when still a bit wet (great meditative work, even for little hands, on the terrace in the sunshine or while watching TV) and then it’s ready for use.
A note on our toilet:
beside a normal one, we also have compost toilets at home and in our schools (I once wrote about it here), which is very practical because we sometimes run out of water here and then the normal one gets really messy, whereas the compost toilet stays as clean and good as before. I can assure, approve and really recommend this now after ten years of experience…
…yes, green living and all that comes with it – here you can find an article about the whole topic, which I wrote in 2011 and which I find now more actual than ever before, mashaallah.
I’ve put there green-ideas together and I linked to other interesting posts and general eco-experiences: https://ittosjournal.wordpress.com/2011/10/24/islam-is-green/
So, I wish you joy, I wish you creativity and the blessings of these times at home to re-animate a greener lifestyle and a more conscious life-mode.
Happy recycling!! Peace, love and health to all of you!
In Ramadan, eating becomes something very special, since we do not eat from dawn to sunset.
And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. (2:187)
when the call to the evening prayer can be heard, it is just soooo good to finally fill an empty (starving) stomach after a whole day of fasting.
Our senses are much finer then, and it is incredible, how well tastes then the very first bite of a date, a fresh orange, a glass of water,… subhanallah.
But in Ramadan, it’s not only the pleasure of taste and filling ourselves up that becomes a blessing, eating itself becomes a real act of worship, alhamdulillah.
We eat an drink then with much more conciousness and responsability, because we know, that the possibility to eat is limited and that our bodies absolutely need certain things to feel well, to have a good energy-level throughout the day and not to feel overacidified, heavy or uncomfortable before going to pray or to sleep.
We get much more aware of the God-given duty we have to pay attention to our health and to our body as an entrusted good of which we are dependent. What agift, subhanallah!
O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship. (2:172)
I still breastfeed the baby during nights, so I have to make sure that I drink lots and eat enough milk-producing things like dates, oats, herbal teas, fenugreek, fennel, water.
And I make sure that the things we all eat on Iftar (breaking the fast meal in the evening) and at Suhoor (breakfast in the very early morning, long before sunrise) are healthy, nutritious, most natural, fresh and local as possible, inchaallah.
This year I try to concentrade again a bit more on sugar-free- , wholesome things and also on the Ayurveda-path Bismillah!
some natural-, food- and spiritual- inspiration wishing you all wonderful and blessed last nights of this holy month!
http://tinykitchenvegan.tumblr.com
http://www.greenkitchenstories.com
Because gardening is (mostly) an easy and do-able task done together with small children, just like baking and crafting, we spent a lot of these days outside.
Being in the garden this week, planting, creating and improving our flower beds, I’ve suddenly felt the need to go in, to my nearly forgotten sewing machine, and add bags and pockets to my work-clothes. And to sew some pocket-belts for the most important utensils of a gardener.
By reusing, repurposing and recycling, out of old trousers and aprons, arose those useful garden belts, very practical for all these little things one always needs to have at hand…., alhamdulillah
Many other beautiful ideas to be found online by searching for “garden belts diy”.
Happy April, inchaallah!
itto's journal 