July 11, 2020
Category: Regenerative Faith, Regenerative Permaculture
Hello again! I don’t know if I have mentioned it before but I have been feeling inspired to create edible landscaping in my yard in Bozeman, Montana (zone 3b). Once I started on this path, I realized that dream plans may take many years to create. It all started when Steve and I were studying the New Earth. We have felt like we’ve gotten a deeper understanding of what God wants from us as far as trying to renew this world. We don’t think God has called us to “just hold on until heaven”. We are actually supposed to be literally bringing renewal to this world – in ALL aspects – people, culture and nature.
After talking about this with Steve a lot, I felt like gardening and nature would be an avenue to show God in a very different way. I wanted to create a yard that would make people feel like they were in the Garden of Eden again and that they would be able to experience what “renewal” looks like. Nature has a way of bringing us closer to God and understanding him better. I won’t dive into all of the details but I wanted to set the stage for the next part of the story.
So, I have been super motivated to work on this edible landscaping garden. I have done a lot of reading, purchased many books and have just thought about it a ton. Every free evening or weekend, I am out in the yard working on some gardening project. I knew it was going to be a lot of work but it has been SLOW. I dug out grass and mulched around a couple of our fruit trees, I have cleared out a few other soil patches where I am experimenting with some of our standard veggies (tomatoes, cucumber, kale and cabbage), and I’ve been experimenting with some companion planting with our fruit trees. Its been such a blast, but a LOT of work.
While I was listening to a homesteading podcast, someone mentioned Back to Eden gardening. I had never heard that term so eventually I was curious enough to look it up. I read a couple of really great articles about people referring to the Back to Eden philosophy. I still didn’t really know where it originated but I eventually realized that there was a documentary called Back to Eden. It was the true story of a man, named Paul, who had a revelation from God about his garden techniques. I saved it on my Prime Video watchlist and was so excited about watching it. I finally had some time to watch it today. Note: the documentary is very “Christian” for anyone outside the Christian faith but the gardening information is worth watching it for, even for those who don’t share the same faith.
I was so inspired and absolutely loved it. I was talking to Steve tonight about it (he’s starting to watch it with me) and told him that I thought it was so amazing that God had put all of this on my heart before even seeing this. What was so interesting (and strangely coincidental) was that the basic principles were all things that God had already been speaking to my heart about – taking care of the Earth’s resources, building for myself and showing others a healthier life, being generous and creating community, creating an experience similar to the Garden of Eden, and using our garden as a ministry to show God’s character through nature – love, abundance, creativity, etc.
After watching this documentary, I not only have confirmation that God is working out something new in my life, but that I may have hope of finishing my edible oasis faster than I thought possible. I look forward to telling you more about the journey as we take steps to implement Back to Eden gardening techniques and philosophies. I would love to hear if anyone else has implemented these techniques into your garden.
Update March 21, 2021
— Back to Eden was definitely the first entrance into this new philosophy but I have realized that Permaculture encompasses a lot of the main parts of the Back to Eden philosophy/methodology but is so much more. There are tons of resources for anyone wanting to learn this way of life. I also have really been doing a lot of research on No Dig Gardening (which is also a principle of Permaculture). Realizing that our treatment of the soil has many profound effects on our health and the health of this earth has had a profound impact on the way that I look at my yard/garden/way of life.