John Carlson (right) with Charles, our head gardener
When I arrived at the retreat last summer, my first task was to paint a greenhouse along with my fellow interns. I couldn’t help but notice the vegetable garden which laid fallow, and I felt strongly it was something I could interact with to provide service, contribute to the retreat kitchen, and learn about growing vegetables and farming.
For the next few months, I helped out in the botanical garden. Charles taught me so much by setting me to a task, giving me basic instruction, and then letting me figure it out for myself. When I did have hesitation or needed help with a technical question he was always there to answer and lend support. This instilled great confidence, and he kept sharing insights into intuition, the devas, nature spirits, and other wisdom he had received through years of practice and moments of guidance.
After a few months away I returned to the retreat in January, and slowly winter turned to spring. I still thought about the vegetable garden though. I asked Charles about it from time to time, but he reassured me there would be plenty of other areas in the botanical garden needing our attention, so I did my best to trust his sage wisdom over my youthful enthusiasm. I accepted and surrendered to the plan larger than myself- the vegetable garden would go at least another year unused.
That was the time Charles received guidance that the vegetable garden should be prepared for planting. Now, I was the one somewhat resistant to the idea, already accepting we had too much to do as it is, plus waking up before meditation to harvest veggies didn’t sound like the most comfortable plan.
Regardless, Charles had received clear guidance, and if he’s taught me anything, it’s that fighting intuition is a losing battle. With his instruction, I began turning soil in raised beds, researching timing for planting, feeling like I knew nothing the entire time. Charles kept telling me I knew how though; I just had to trust it. This would be an experimental year; we’d learn a lot, raise the vibration of the retreat for our guests, but we shouldn’t expect much of a harvest.
To make a long story short we had a better harvest than I think any of us, including myself, expected. Zucchini, tomatoes, and lettuce were our biggest producers. But the corn, sunflowers, amaranth, potatoes, sweet peas, and radishes were the most fun to watch grow. Even the existing trees; apples, pears, and peaches, produced quite a few baskets of fruit. It was a wonderful experience for myself. I think Charles would concur, and I believe the chefs in the kitchen enjoyed having freshly harvested produce to work with.
It especially touched my heart when I would see a curious guest venturing across the gravel road to the vegetable garden to take a look. They seemed pleased to see we were attempting to grow their food, especially when the chefs would announce the delicious meals and add in, “Grown from our garden”. The guests’ ears would perk up and a smile would spread from their face to mine.
I’m happy to say the experiment was a success and the vegetable garden will continue. We’ll see what next year’s harvest will bring, but as always it’s in the hands of the Devas, Nature Spirits, the Heavenly Father, and our Divine Mother.
by John Carlson
