The final week of out Merritt Permaculture Course went by fast. There were some beautiful people and I want to thank everyone for all they added to the course.
Some week highlights:
Christina Bertea, artist and plumber - also of the Greywater Guerillas - was a very special lecturer and hands on instructor. We partook in a small scale greywater project that redirected the water from a washing machine to the garden outside. In the owner's yard we harvested an old stalk of a banana tree and split it open - you can cook and eat the heart of the tree.
We also took a hike into the oak forest across the street from campus to see what the original hillside looked like before they bulldozed the top of the mountain to make room for the school! Many useful plant sightings - thimbleberry, native hazelnut, elderberry, snowberry, cow parsnip, mugwort and more. Elizabeth, an herbalist in our class, told me her way to harvest useful medicinal plants - ask the plant! I harvested some mugwort, which is a fragrant plant used by the indigenous peoples and others to induce lucid dreaming. You can sleep with it under your pillow. I did have some vivid dreams! There were some incredible scenic moments on our brief hike - the canopy was quite high and many of the trees must have been hundreds of years old.
Thank you Christopher for leading a whirlwind two week urban permaculture experience. There was a lot to cover and I think we all went away feeling a bit more connected to each other and the land.
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