Recently, I've been working with wonderfully different groups, introducing them to permaculture and the Adrian Dominican Sisters' Permaculture Gardens. As I strive to provide them with practical knowledge and a sense of place and wonder, I often fear that the message is quickly lost and permaculture has already become a distant memory.  

But without fail, the Permaculture Gardens do change people's perspectives simply by existing. The importance of spending time walking with Earth cannot be overemphasized. By spending time with Earth, we may first get to know Earth. Only then can we begin to love Earth and understand our role as a regenerative solution to climate change.

This is why I'm so excited for the community that is learning about the ADS Permaculture Gardens. This summer, members from the HOPE Community Center ----  which serves and empowers local adults with disabilities ----  have come twice a month to spend some quality time in the gardens and to water raised beds, collect seed, build soil, and engage in other regenerative work.  

Also growing is an exciting permaculture partnership with Siena Heights University's first Honors Program students. Julieanna Frost, PhD, Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program, has integrated permaculture into the honors curriculum to give students the opportunity to deepen their ecological literacy and connection to place. Every Friday during the fall semester, 21 freshmen will be immersed in permaculture service learning on our campus. Julieanna brings to the Honors Program her experience as the faculty adviser for the Environmental Leadership Experience for Siena Heights and Barry University students, held in late spring on the ADS campus.

I'm looking forward to yet another season of growth and life, feeling blessed to share this opportunity to know permaculture, and wishing you all a happy fall!

Tending Relationships

Fall is in the air ...

As this season's cycle of gratitude and thanksgiving becomes amplified, might we offer thanks to the relationships that make life possible on Earth? For example, plants, using the natural process of photosynthesis, offer us clean air, water, healthy soil and habitat, fuel, medicine, food, fiber, and so much more. What might we offer in return?  

One suggestion is growing attentiveness to our relationship to such humble yet vital beings and recognizing them as fellow citizens of Earth. During this Season of Creation ----  an optional season celebrated by many Christian communities worldwide from September 1 to October 4, 2018 ----  look around for ways to engage with creation. This is a wonderful way to begin integrating the practice of the permaculture principles, the first of which is observe and interact. Permaculture, with its emphasis on interaction with one's surroundings, helps practitioners to understand that of all nature gardens, that the ability to grow in a way that is regenerative and beneficial to the community, is innate to all of nature. This includes humans, since we are part of nature.  

Nurturing our gardening instinct means to acknowledge and honor the relationships among elements, cycles, energy, individuals, and communities, which together create Earth. Permaculture is a gardening lens that we can use to relate to each other in a way that is truly sustainable, regenerative, just, equitable, and beautiful.

Thank you as always for this connection. If you would like to explore a topic of permaculture, please share with me via email at [email protected], telephone at 517-266-3599, or in person at the Adrian Dominican Motherhouse, 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, on the fourth floor of Madden Hall.

Elaine Johnson  

Permaculture Specialist