Saturday 26 April 2014

Nestled amongst the rice fields

The good thing about close siblings is that they will always be there for you in times of need. Therefore, after a spontaneous trip of this kind, I found myself in Bali. Whilst here I naturally gravitated towards what was going on with the agriculture in the area that surrounded the town of Ubud, where I was staying. On first impressions it was hard to see beyond the yoga-come-spirituality-come-raw food mecca that Ubud has become for Western visitors. However, I was quick to veer off the beaten track and venture into more real territories. Whilst exploring I found nestled in between the sea of rice fields an organic garden growing an array of fruits and vegetables. Its diversity of colours and shapes stood out against the backdrop of formulaic paddies.

The garden belonged to the smiley-dreadlocked Har, who was happy to show me around and whilst jumping between pathways and water canals which structure the growing spaces, he shared his dreams for the project. He was growing a huge variety of native and non-native crops organically and had created a business by selling his wholesome produce directly to consumers. Whilst working full time on this and 3 other gardens Har also gives free gardening classes to the local people spreading the knowledge that he has built up to his wider community.

He explained the difficulties of getting authentic organic seeds which affects his seed saving practices, a vital aspect for any garden wishing to be less reliant of external inputs. He gave me some Indonesian spinach seeds which I will try in the garden this season.

One of Hars philosophies was “Give more, put more or change” and this stuck with me as it can be applied to so many situations from farming systems to relationships.

Feeling happy to have found such a garden of hope with many parallel ideas to what we are doing at Cordwainers I bid Har farewell and promised to send him some heirloom seeds so we could be guardians of each others native varieties.
 

Rows of vegetables and fruit separated by water canals
Seedlings ready to be planted out or sold to local gardens

Abundant diversity in amongst the sea of rice fields

Har busy at work making lettuce plug plants