We started by building an 8′ X 2′ box in our three-season room, and (with help of good persons at Growing Power and some worms) grew, with mixed results, salad greens and seedlings for the first summer’s garden. As the seasons change, our focus shifts back and forth between the sun-room and its evolving Growing Power Home Garden Project Box, and our Growing Power backyard garden, where we use the rich soil, worm castings and worms from the indoor box outdoors. Same system yet different.
Digging in the earth can uncover all kinds of things, and so can digging deep in ourselves. In my online journal, I have been recording daily reflections on the progress of our efforts in adapting the Growing Power model to our home and garden, mixed with my observations about life, peace, justice, faith, family, community and friends. Enjoy. Thank you! — Bob Graf
Sponge Bob: Nothing but SillyI must make a confession. I enjoy ‘Sponge Bob’ cartoons on TV. For those who may not know, ‘Sponge Bob’ is cartoon sponge character who lives under the sea in ‘Bikini Bottom.” I confess because many adults would consider this show silly, worthless and a waste of time. I even know some parents who do not allow their children to watch this cartoon series. I must admit it is a silly, childlike satire of life but that is what it makes it so endearing to so many children and some adults like me. It is a show about innocence and makes fun of the everyday adult world where everything, like driving a car or eating a sandwich strives to be meaningful. It is about ‘nothing’ as best as you can do and still communicate.
Yesterday I brought you an article about how growing your own food in a garden has a double meaning: the visible one of eating the healthy food you grow and the invisible one of how messing with the soil has natural mental and physical health benefits.
The invisible world, the world beyond our physical senses is real. The nothingness of Silence allows us to communicate with this world beyond; messing with the soil extends us mental and physical benefits beyond our senses; ‘Sponge Bob’ touches on the funny bone in our imagination.
Russian Kale in the GardenWhen I was in the direct mail coupon business, the most attractive coupons were the ones that were ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ or ‘Two for the Price of One’ or ‘Two For’. Now it turns how that growing renewable affordable food G.R.A.F. in a garden not only produces healthy food but “messing around in your own garden proves to be nature’s fruitful way of cultivating your health—physically and psychologically.”
This morning Tegan, the wiki gnome (web master) of this wiki web site and many others send me an amazing article in Psychology Today called Nature’s Bounty: Soil Salvation. It talks about the science of how “getting out in the garden plants us back in what now appears to be our optimal habitat. Eating fruits and vegetables — even antioxidant-rich tomatoes, melons, beets, cabbage, and berries — turns out to be only half of a newly evolving story of health. Our bodies and brains depend on the whole experience of growing our own. Our mental and physical health seem to be deeply rooted in the dirt.’’ It is fascinating and is the Featured Article of the day. Read it and find why growing food in one’s own garden is the best “Two For”.
No wonder I felt healthier today after messing with soil and plants for my sunroom growing.
Lost but FoundDid you ever have the feeling of having lost something and found it? The feeling is not so great when you lose something, like eyeglasses or a cell phone, that you should not lose, but find it. However, it is a great feeling when you lose something you did not know you had but found it.
A few weeks ago we received a St. Vincent De Paul call for a home visit to a man and woman with the same last name. We tried various numbers on the contact sheet we were given and were directed to other numbers, but to no avail. We could not contact the persons by phone. It was time to try to mail the person. However, our trip down South came up and we forgot about it. The other day my partner, my wife, remembered and mailed a contact notice to the people.
Today a man called explaining he was the person that had contacted St. Vincent De Paul Society for help. He explained the woman’s name on the list was his daughter who was seriously ill in the hospital. His daughter was a young adult who just recently came back into his life. He was trying to get some household essentials so that when she got out of the hospital he could care for her. We started talking and I shared my experiences with ill family members. We had a long conversation that went way beyond the purpose of the visit, and included him saying what I often have feel, “you just do what you need to do” and do not have much choice in the matter in caring for a family member. His being new at the experience, I offered him some comfort on how caring for a sick person can seem like a curse at times but is full of blessings. After a while I made the appointment to visit him and we offered to pray for each other and our ill family members.
Facing WinterWinter like Death surrounds us. We can hide in our TV and on our cell phones but winter, like death, is certain.
Death like Winter surrounds us. We can hide in our heated houses and our censored news reports but death, like winter, is certain.
Starvation, Violence and Poverty, the faces of death surround us. Where can we start to make a difference?
Facing winter we have a choice: we can prepare the ground and compost pile, rake the leaves and shovel the snow, or go down South.
Facing Death we have a choice: we can meet it head-on by living more fully in the now, or we can run from it as far as we can.
First Crawl - Sunday, November 16, 2008
First CrawlBefore we learn to walk we learn to crawl, as our friend’s child demonstrated today in our living room. Now that she is crawling and mobile her mom realizes that a whole new world is opening up for her daughter. The next major step in mobility will be when she walks.
Another dear friend’s mom passed away. Near the end of her life my friend’s mom had lost mobility and was limited to a chair. Walking easily and crawling were not an option for her.
Much of life happens between crawling and being unable to walk on one’s own. At both ends of this spectrum we are dependent on others to get around. However, as grow up, walk and become adults we think of ourselves as independent, not needing anyone, to live life till we get old, sick or cannot walk.
I do not longer believe this is true. Although we may not have the same needs as a baby or an elderly person we always remain needy persons, interdependent on each other, no matter our age, gender, racial makeup, our poverty or wealth.
Messy Response - Saturday, November 15, 2008
In the last posting I talked about how Messy Science Saves when talking about a Greenhouse experiment with AIR. Making nonviolent change can also be messy. The tactics of Gandhi or of the civil rights movement do not seem to be effective in today’s world yet we must work for nonviolent change and to speak truth to power with nonviolence. The “Nonviolent Worm” symbolizes the Growing Power aspect of this web site as well as the Nonviolent side. The ongoing experiment on the nonviolent side is the renewal of the 40-year-old resistance to the Military at Marquette University (MU). Recently we sent an Open Letter to Marquette University leaders seeking a debate on the moral issue of Marquette’s support of the military and war, and asking for a garden of resistance to symbolize the struggle for Marquette to be faithful to Gospel Values.
Marquette’s response has been messy and confusing. Fr. Wild S.J. has said for many years that a dialog on this issue of Marquette hosting the military on campus was not possible, but in recent times has said he was open to a debate on this moral issue on campus. The other two MU leaders the open letter was addressed to, Father Simon S.J. of the Center for Peacemaking at Marquette and Stephanie Russell of the Office of Mission and Identity at MU have gone back and forth communicating through a secretary saying a debate is being planned and than saying there will be a dialog. It is all very confusing and you can find here a summary of Marquette’s Response or No Response.
Experiment in AIR GrowingSome of us have this image of science being clean and organized. My experiment, pictured here, should destroy that image, at least for me. I purchased a cheap small greenhouse at a discount store, assembled it and placed it on a card board box full of compost and put layers of plastic over it separated by pieces of air bubble packing material. Only the door, which I must open once and awhile to water the plants, has just one layer of air bubbles over it. I can add more but will need to keep the zipper accessible. Next I will program the temperature data logger in the greenhouse and put a wireless temperature gauge outside of the greenhouse. The data logger temperature gauge can be programed to take the inside temperature in time intervals of my choice. The goal of the project is to keep the inside temperature consistent to a growing temperature despite how cold it might get on the outside.
For now I have placed five planters of collard greens and one of arugula inside the greenhouse. Depending on the temperature we can maintain with the air pockets, we can always exchange the planters with ones we have growing in the sunroom, also insulated by AIR.
Sunset Faith - Thursday, November 13, 2008
Sunset in SarasotaUnless the seed dies it will not rise. Unless the sun sets it will not rise. Being a late riser (when I can be), I have seen many more sunsets in life than sunrises. From my recent journey to Florida I have some more spectacular sunset pictures to add to my collection. I hope to make a slide show soon of the Florida sunsets using the drum music played last Sunday at the sunset at Siesta Beech.
There are a lot of sunsets in life, people we know die or get sick. Many people suffer not only the loss of the sun each day but also the loss of food, clothing and shelter. These life sunsets are not beautiful like the sunsets at the beach, and can be messy. Quite often we need the hope of sunrise to keep going.
Today Dawn, Marna and I had our monthly DMZ lunch. Marna suffers many physical trials and illnesses but always has hope and a kind word. Dawn cares for persons with disabilities, like mental illnesses, in her houses and struggles each day with persons in crisis. Being with these two strong but gentle women always reminds me of my blessings, like my recent opportunity to watch beautiful sunsets in Florida.
Lettuce Tonight in the LightLast night I spoke about our trip to Lettuce Lake in Florida back to lettuce in our sunroom at home. Today I made a slide show called Faces of Lettuce Lake that says, better than words, the beauty of this nature preserve in Florida.
Above the GP box in the sunroom I have some fluorescent growing lights that go on for about 12 hours a day. These lights have been very useful, especially this week when the sun is not shining. In the picture on this page you can see the lettuce at night under the lights. However, I have been told that the real growing goes on in the night. The light or sun is essential to growth but the growing happens in the dark. Lettuce, like most plants, takes in energy during the day and then grows in the night.
I heard once that we humans are like lettuce, taking in energy during the day and growing in our sleep at night.
Cypress Knee in Lettuce LakeOur first stop in our trip to Florida was Lettuce Lake Park. Actually it is not really a lake but a swampy nature preserve area where wild-life and nature can be free. It is called Lettuce Lake, I guess, because there is a green lettuce-like material on top of the open water. Many of the trees are cypress trees, and there are ‘cypress knees’, roots of the tree, also growing out of the water. Our first day there was the only non-sunny day on our trip to Florida, but a beautiful way to start our travels.
We met a friend at the park who now lives in nearby Tampa, and walked the boardwalk with her around the wild area. Besides the lettuce-like greens growing from the lake we saw many other faces of nature in the park, from face-like carvings in the trees to faces of squirrels, birds and other animals. Soon I will put together a collage of pictures from Lettuce Lake. When you look for faces in plants, animals and natures you can see a lot. Faces represent the diversity and beauty of nature.
Air is everywhere“Then we who are alive, who are left, will…meet with God in the air”
1 Thessalonians 4:17
Today I insulated two double pane windows with another layer of AIR, Air Insulation Resource, thus making them three-pane windows. Now I have some windows that still have two panes, some three panes, some four panes (ones with layers of glazing on each side of storm window) and some five-pane window (those with inserts). I realized Saturday and talking to people today that my explanation on the AIR web page is not clear and adaptable to many situations. I am taking some time away from the web, from tomorrow (Tuesday) until next Tuesday, but when I get back I plan to clarify the situation with pictures of how to adapt the AIR insulation to various situations. The idea of using layers of AIR by using multiple clear plastic glazing over windows is an old idea but it needs some new life and vigor injected into it.
One of the reasons the idea of using AIR to insulate might be slow around here is the good weather we are enjoying. Today it was over 70 degrees outside and will be in the sixties, I understand, for the next few days. But the cold and the winter will come as it always does and it is better to be prepared first. I am doing my outside window opportunities now but next week will do the inside opportunities.
Our friend, John, who did the five pane inserts, has been developing a simple solar system to provide electricity for the sunroom. He was ready to go last week but now has decided he needs more time for research and study. So I do not think we will get to it this year.
Soon the Great Reality Show we call the Presidential Election will be over.
But the worm continues to eat, cast off and procreate.
They say one vote make a difference but all the votes together do not seem to make much of a difference.
But the worm continues to eat, cast off and procreate.
No matter who we vote for or against, or if we do not vote, not much will change.
But the worm continues to eat, cast off and procreate.
So enjoy the Great Reality Show for there will not be another one for a few years.
But the worm continues to eat, cast off and procreate.
A small group came to my workshop on the AIR system of insulation in our church hall this morning, but that turned out to be a blessing, especially since a few of them were senior citizens I had seen in Church but really did not know. In the questions and comments of this small group I learned at least as much as I taught, probably more. With a small group I could respond to each person individually, and by considering his or her particular situation, learn more how to adapt the AIR system to different situations. The use of air as insulation is like the use of worms for growing; it is so adaptable to the environment that it has been around for a long time and will stay vital for a long time. The AIR system, however, like worms, is so simple a tool that we take it for granted and thus do not always use it effectively. In fact I was so inspired by our conversation that I came home, and after watching the second half of the Wisconsin football game, went outside seeking more applications of the use of AIR. I found a number of windows that I could use a layer of air on the outside to increase the insulation factor and I did one. I raked some more ‘manna’ from trees (leaves), and placed them over the rain garden ground in front of the house, thus providing them with fertile air pockets for growth next spring. I figured out a few more ways to insulate the small green house experiment that I started out back. Our small group discussion this morning was like a breath of fresh air to my mind.
Be Not Afraid - Friday, October 31, 2008
Yesterday after a few semi-scientific paragraphs on this posting, I released my frustrations about all the fear mongering mail we are receiving from the Republican Party. Today three more scary mailers arrived plus some more robo phone calls to scare our votes away from Senator Obama; and we even heard a piece on public radio about how some “Democrats for McCain” are spreading stories that Obama is a ‘murderer.’ Fear usually works in politics but I think it will fail this time. I put the Jim Wallis article, Be Not Afraid on the featured article page of the Nonviolent Worm. Check it out if you want, but do not worry or fret if you do not, nothing bad will happen to you as a result.
Fear is bad in politics but in life sometimes fear can be valuable or even funny, like today, Halloween. I am surprised at the intricate costumes and scary things available for Halloween. Today, our three grandchildren, Graf Kids called us to tell us of the haunted house they are building in their basement and the one in the school they visited last night. There was joy and smiles in their voices as they described all of the scary tings they experienced or were creating for tonight.
Greenhouse ExperimentA new experiment in Growing Renewable Affordable Food (G.R.A.F.) began today in a very modest way when I put a electronic Temperature Data Logger in the inexpensive small green house that I recently purchased. The Temperature data logger looks like an ordinary memory disk, and can be put in your computer like one to be programmed. After you program it to take temperature and other readings you desire on a predetermined schedule, it can be taken out of the computer and, running on a battery, can take measurements anywhere you place it. You can then put it back into the computer and download the data. It was given to me by a friend in Madison, the science adviser to the Nonviolent Worm, who did the science on the AIR project. (His son did the actual work on the inserts and is the one considering an affordable way to make the sunroom electrically self-sufficient using solar energy.)
My experiment is to regularly measure the temperature inside the green house, as compared to outside, as I add layers of plastic using the ‘ air spacers’ to create pockets of air between the plastic. The experiment sounds logical but my science adviser friend gave me a caution warning today since he tried something similar some years ago when he lived up north. When he created his green house with just plastic layers he found that the temperature in the green house in the winter was lower than the outside temperature. Here is his explanation of what happened. “I did some reading and found that poly sheeting is transparent to infrared, unlike glass. So the heat of the ground just radiated right out of the greenhouse leaving the ground in an icy grip of cold. That was the end of my inexpensive green house since glass was out of the question. Of course, inside your house, Bob, you have glass that doesn’t allow the infrared to pass through so you are ok there.” Despite this precaution I am going ahead with the experiment because I am not sure if the plastic on my green house is like the poly sheeting he used and maybe will act more like glass. Also mine for now is on concrete not ground. (This base might change to ground, insulation or something as I experiment.) I, weak in science as I am, am not afraid to experiment.
Rest In Peace - Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Warm Depository Ready for WinterToday I covered the worm depository, the all year around hill for worms, with coffee grounds, kitchen waste and leaves in preparation for the winter. Maybe I will get some wood chips for the top but the worm depository is ready for winter. With the frozen leaves and wood chips on top and all the warm nitrogen in the hill it should stay warm for the livestock, worms.
The person who crested the AIR insulation system, John, the son of a old friend who did the science for the AIR project, called me today about his idea for an affordable solar energy system that could power the fan, lights and heater in the sunroom. It was good to hear from him and will be good to find out what he has in mind. He is very good at designing affordable systems.
Speaking of warmth and AIR, I am reminded of the AIR workshop that will be held this Saturday, Nov. 1st at our church, Blessed Trinity, 39th and Courtland from 10am to noon. Although the main point of the system is to insulate storm windows for low-income persons, I will have some other ways to use the AIR system.
Eat The View - Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The weather was cold today and I was a little under the weather with a cold. However, a ray of hope came when I had the chance to read the Kitchen Gardeners International (KGI) web page a friend has sent me. KGI is an international group whose “mission is to empower individuals, families, and communities to achieve greater levels of food self-reliance through the promotion of kitchen gardening, home-cooking, and sustainable local food systems. In doing so, KGI seeks to connect, serve, and expand the global community of people who grow some of their own food.” It is by no accident that the same friend who called my attention to this web page is the friend who shared with me the idea of the Garden of Resistance.
Another friend, Godsil, co-founder of the Milwaukee Renaissance and a big Obama backer, has been desperately trying to get urban farming on the national political agenda during this election campaign. I am sure he will enjoy the picture of “Eat This View.” So those of you that might read this posting I suggest you check out this web page. Also I like calling oneself a “kitchen gardener” over urban farmer or gardener or the ‘worm guy.’ Grow what you eat and eat your view.
Nonviolent Worm AwardThe Nonviolent Worm web site would not be possible without many persons contributing to make this web site a reality. It is good and proper to recognize some of these persons. Here are this year’s winners of the Nonviolent and the Worm Awards.
The Nonviolent Award is for individuals who have been loyal to the principles of creative nonviolence. The winner for 2008 are the people of Casa Maria, the Catholic Worker House of Hospitality community in Milwaukee. Since the 60’s Catholic Workers of Casa Maria have combined the works of mercy with the works of justice. From Mike & Nettie Cullen to Don and Roberta Timmerman to the present community of Lincoln, Neal, Pat and others, Casa Maria has been a leader in bringing the struggle for justice and peace to Milwaukee while at the same time serving those most in need.
The Worm Award is spit between two persons who have contributed greatly to this web site.
One Worm Award is for someone who has made an outstanding contribution to making people aware of the growing power of worms. The winner is Will Allen of Growing Power. Will, as an urban farmer in Milwaukee, working with youth on a 4-H project, became aware of the valuable contribution worms make to the organic growing of food. With this awareness Will developed Growing Power, a non-profit organization that has had influence over gardeners and farmers all over the world. It was from Will and Growing Power that Bob got his inspiration that led to the Growing Power Home Model garden. Will has won many awards and received many honors for his work in Growing Renewable Affordable Food, and this is probably the least. But that is okay, since Will has raised awareness of the dignity of these lowly creatures, worms.
Sunset at Christine CenterThe sun has set on my too brief retreat at the Christine Center in northern Wisconsin. The weekend experience was one to look deeply within ourselves to glimpse the Divine. However, in the white pine woods around the retreat house the Divine re-radiated. The first night at dinner, deer wandered on the grass right outside the dinning room windows, unafraid that anything or anyone would harm them. This is a place of innocence. Inside we shared our reflections with each other, and outside nature shared its abundance with us.
For the weekend life was simple, good people, good food, a wonderful environment. It was a time of silence and a time of great conversations; a time to spread the wealth we all have been given. Learning was minimal and Listening was maximized. We live in a world where we know so much more than we can realize and explore in depth. Yet it is in the walks in nature, in the silence and listening that we become aware Of who we are and how we are One.
I went to the retreat thinking of what I could do to fix some of the crises developing around me. On the retreat I did nothing on any of these, yet came back refreshed in Spirit and aware of what I can do and not do, and how my being is essential to my doing.
Retreat Air - Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sometimes we need to take a step back, stop, look around and be, in order to move forward. Tomorrow I will drive up to Willard, Wisconsin to make a weekend retreat with folks like myself who have made trips to Latin America with GATE, Global Awareness Through Experience. GATE is the organization that I traveled with to Guatemala and Venezuela. It will be good to see friends from the trip, but best of all it will be great to get away in the deep woods of northern Wisconsin. It will be a time for prayer and reflection, a time for conversation and silence.
This week has been filled with news of friends having health, legal, marital or survival problems. I do what I can do for others, which is not always that much, but is something I need to do. At the same time if I do not take time for myself just to be, I am of little or no use to others. So in the world of doing I will be doing some being.
