Yesterday Dave and I traveled to an organic farm just outside Bishop. It is called Apple Hill and is known for its vast apple, peach and cherry orchards. They also grow vegetables and invite the public to come out and harvest. They have an honor system of payment where each harvester leaves what he or she deems appropriate payment in their cash box. The farm is absolutely lovely. It is a green oasis thick with trees, green pathways, ponds and wooden bridges. There are flower beds, barns, and chickens, ducks and peacocks roaming freely. It is completely out of place in the starkness of the high desert surrounding it. Dave says one of the wealthy land developers in the area created it for his wife.
As we walked around the farm I thought of how magical it is that humans can take the elements of nature and arrange them so delightfully. We each have an intuitive sense of creating sacred space. It is one of our pleasures and points of power. These farm owners have arranged the topography of their acreage, the trees, the plants, the run-off streams, the barns, sheds, and house - they've arranged these things to create a safe, bountiful, inspiring, soothing, beautiful space. I wanted to stay there all day. Heck! I wanted to live there.
Of course the winter is harsh and the growing season short. This year, the winter played tricks and came back with a late frost that took out all the stone fruit. So, no cherries or peaches this year. Ah, well the upside is the water supply is strong. Perhaps next year the trees will produce a bumper crop. When I imagine my farm in Oregon, I see many of the same elements I found on Apple Hill Farm - ponds large enough to boat on, a barn large enough for yoga retreats, orchards of fruit to share, acres of vegetables for creating healthy feasts that I hope to be sharing with all of you!
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