New blog address

Join us here and update your bookmarks!

http://thedeepeningrootsblog.wordpress.com/

(someone already registered deepeningroots, so we had to be creative).

-Thanks for following, see you on the new blog,

-M

Toronto Workshop

Our Toronto team at our latest perennial polyculture garden!

This past weekend Deepening Roots held a 2-day workshop in Toronto and for a third time in a row it was a success!

The two days were taught by four teachers in training who had taken the Summer Intensive over the past few years. It was exciting to see the growth and future of Deepening Roots on display, and in this authors opinion they all did an amazing job.

In case you all are wondering what these workshops are all about, I can give you a quick breakdown.

The overarching goal is to support sustainable development. We aim to achieve this goal through Personal Growth (a healthy body, a content mind, feeling empowered) Community Development (getting inspired implement your new knowledge and share it with friends and family) Sustainable Agriculture (supporting our connection to our land and food) and Health (understanding digestion and other body processes).

From these paths, the 5 elements of Deepening Roots are born

1 Meditation

2 Health and Wellness

3 Sustainable Agriculture

4 Community Development

5 Empowerment

Currently, most of the team is up at the Art of Living international center in Quebec and implementing a edible landscape around the main building. We will update you with that ongoing process as the days pass.

-M

Toronto Workshop

The Deepening Roots 2-day workshop Toronto style is today! We will have a great day and will update you on how it goes later!

-M

2010 Summer program

THE 2010 TEAM!!

We say it every year, but it's always true. This was the best summer EVER for Deepening Roots! We had five new participants: Lashanda, Addy, Julia, Victor, and Naren, and two returners Jenny Olah and Joel Collard.

The director Andrew Korza was at the helm for the three plus weeks and was supported by Abhimanyu Sud (Youth Empowerment Seminar master teacher) Andrew and Shenaqua Jones (Permaculture, Health, and Culinary Arts instructors).

All the participants made big steps towards becoming Deepening Roots workshop facilitators and the program took another step towards going global with Victor hailing from Sweden, Addy from Dubai, Lashanda and Naren from the US, and Julia holding down Canada.

In the future you, our faithful readers will get to hear from the participants themselves as they immerse themselves in gardening, smoothies (green ones?) meditation, health, community, workshop planning and all the other fun details that they picked up over the summer.

Addy has already started seeding a garden in Dubai

Here is the most recent-

Ive started a vegetable garden. Got a wooden table made so i can stand easily and work. Its 52 degrees celsius here (125 F).

im having fun though

Addy

the promised video

This video is hot off the presses. I have not run it though the appropriate channels to check for content, so I hope I still have a job Monday. Enjoy. Oh yes, Ill put it on fbook soon too. Thanks to all that joined us in DC and to Alton Ellis for the sound track.

DC=Awesome

Here we are in the busy season for Deepening Roots! We just finished up a 2-day workshop in DC and judging from the participants responses and smiles, it was another success.

Again we had a wide range of people, established gardeners, newbies, nutritionists, Art of Living teachers and more, and again each and everyone got something (lots of things actually) from the 12 hours. I was able to attend/observe and will be assisting on the next course, so you better be there!

For me the best part was planting and designing two poly-culture gardens. One was annual plants (cucs, tomatoes, basil). The other was perennial including a blueberry bush, lupine, strawberries, and yarrow. If you don't know why these four are good together, take the course, and you will say "Oh, that makes sense, wow, that's smart" or something along those lines. Seeing the joy on peoples faces as they planted is wonderful!



The summer program has started and I am eagerly awaiting a report on the first few days. Ill update you all once I hear, or at the latest, when I get there later in June.

Enjoy June!

Michael Sustick

A great link for Urban farmers.

stumbled upon this rummaging around google. It is the blog for "Little Homestead in the City" (a play off Laura Ingles Wilder's books "little house on the prairie"). Basically, a family in Urban Pasadena grows about 6,000 pounds of organic produce every year on ONLY 1/5 of an acre. Although not all the links on their website are working I still recommend checking it out. I found the "homestead" tab off the main page to be informative and inspiring.

what you can watch on TV on earth day...

In honor of Earth Day 2010 PBS has some great programming avaiable to watch. One cant miss film is "Dirt the movie" which is playing on Idependent Lens. Don't worry it is playing on days besides Earth Day which leaves you plenty of time to go to this website an find out what is happening in your community. If you are looking for someting to do after you read this blog, maybe check out this. Finally if your brains aren't mush from all this media I am recommending, take a look (if it is on in your area) at this feature on Rachel Carson.

Soon a very special Deepening Roots video will be taken out of the vault and be released to the public for the first time in two years. I just know you cant wait to see it!

-Michael

PS today I reached the highest point in NJ. (not very high) but I took a picture anyway. Ill insert that soon. Have you been to any highest points in the states? Tell me about it!

Mixed bag

Today you get a two-for-one.

First are two pictures of the 2-day workshop in Oakland (remember, we have another coming right up in DC!). And second you get to see some early efforts of my class (pre-school) and our tiny garden.

Andrew leads the group in a discussion: "what do you look for in a life partner?" why do we discuss this? I guess you will have to take the workshop to find out!

During the workshop you get to sample delicious superfoods courtesy of

Navitas Naturals Just snacking on this stuff is worth the price of admission. My favorite are the golden berries.

Nursery School Garden

This photo captures about 1/3 of our beautiful plot. The green springs shooting up are garlic (planted last fall). Ready to pop out are Cosmos, nasturshums, and marigolds. Once the flowers have gained some footing we will mulch it with straw. Ill keep you updated through the spring...

2-day workshop in DC

Happy to report that our successful workshop in Oakland has helped us secure dates and a venue for our next workshop. The workshop will be held on May 29th and 30th in Washington DC and will run from 12-5 both days. Below is a flyer with the information. For more detailed information including a overview of the two days and facilitator bios check out the registration page

Also there is a $20 dollar discount for registrations sent before May 13th.

I will share more as it becomes available.

-Michael

Click on poster for larger view!

In the News(letter)

I just received the the April newsletter from the Art of Living International Center in Canada (where we host our summer program). Wouldn't you know? We have a article in it. Its a short read, but the writer obviously has an exceptional talent. I would say he is a mix between Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, and Virginia Woolf. Plus he is modest.

Thanks to all that contributed!

-Michael

Workshop Mania

Happy and proud to say that the Deepening Roots workshop held in Oakland last weekend was a MAJOR success. Twenty-two people from many walks of life participated in a high spirited, and overwhelming positive workshop; and while everyone took something different from the workshop, one message they sent unanimously was:

This workshop is for everyone.

Each person left the weekend glowing, excited to take on new adventures in the five areas the workshop covers (meditation, health, agriculture, community, and empowerment). Participants also emphasized that one of the greatest strengths of the workshop was how it offers simple yet (sometimes) profound techniques so they could get started right away.

When people leave our workshop with tools and feeling empowered, we consider it a success. By this standard, this weekend was a major success.

Thanks to all who joined us and helped organize.

The rest of you will just have to patiently await the announcement for our next workshop (coming soon!)

Below is a picture of the group, once more photos float to the surface of the internet I will post them here. If you took the course, send your pictures to deepeningroots@gmail.com

Poem segment

Yesterday I posted a short bit of poetry from Wendell Berry on the facebook page and it was received well so I thought I would try again with a longer segment here on the blog. These are the last three stanzas of Mary Oliver's "The Ponds" from the collection "Houses of Light"

Still, what I want in my life

is to be willing

to be dazzled-

to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even

to float a little

above this difficult world.

I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.

I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing-

that the light is everything-that it is more than the sum

of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.

Mary Oliver is the winner of the 1984 Pulitzer prize for poetry, and one of my favorites.

-Michael

Final results!

As promised, here are the finished garden at the LA Center. The previous post can fill you in on all the details. Enjoy!

A post from the director.

Deepening Roots has started a small garden at the new Art of Living
Center in Los Angeles!!

In three short days we turned a space with weeds three feet tall into
a beautiful garden. Incorporating a fig tree already on site and
planting tomatoes, cucumbers, dill, basil, artichokes, cabbage, swiss
chard, marigolds, natursium, peppers.... we used cocoa shells as
mulch and are waiting for the wood chipper to make the paths.

So many people came out to lend a hand even if it was only for an
hour. It was a true testament of how gardens have the power to bring
people together. We had so much fun and hope to expand on our design in the coming months!

-Andrew

Pictures from the LA center Garden.

Deepening Roots in LA, and a cool article.

Andrew, hard at work?

The Art of Living Foundation is opening a wonderful center in Los Angles. The grand opening is coming up fast, and who do you think was asked to help plant an edible garden? Why, Andrew Korza, director of Deepening Roots. The plot is small, but the work done is beautiful. I will post some photos soon.

Also, somebody shared this link with me. Basically its an old mall that is being turned into an Eco-Village and will grow and sell produce year round. It will also have retail space for environmentally conscious vendors. It is always wonderful to see already built structures being transformed into something positive.

-Michael

Sunflower update

So here is the highly anticipated update on the sunflower sprouts.

Day 2: the roots start to squirm out and find the soil

Day four: Turning green, growing up!

Day seven: many are 2-3 inches tall, the biggest ones pop off the seed casing. Time to eat!

Now you do it! If you have any questions, you can always ask deepeningroots@gmail.com

-Michael

A tale of two seasons

Before I give another update on the sprouts (and they are growing, despite the fact the sun has not come out here in 3 days) Id like to share a couple of photos from the Children's Garden. One was taken in early August, the other in January. Just thought it was a nice contrast. Check out our facebook page for another set of winter/summer pictures.

Thought this would be especially cool for the participants that designed/built and planted the garden.

A taste of what you will learn when you take our two day workshop. (Notice I said 'when' its inevitable, might as well just go now).

Soak 8 oz of sunflower seed per seed tray for 24 hours. Lay into seed tray containing basic potting soil medium and keep moist and covered for a couple of days. Roots will develop and grow into soil. Begin to harvest once sprouts reach dicot (two leaf) stage. A white and fuzzy mold is often visible at the soil surface, don’t worry, you can still eat what you cut. Cut stem towards base, rinse and enjoy in salads and smoothies. A spritzer spray bottle is useful for watering microgreens to avoid flooding the tray. Two good options for micro greens are buckwheat and sunflower seeds.

Here are some photos of my progress thus far!

First Workshop of 2010!

Excited to announce that our first workshop of 2010 will be happening the first weekend in April in the bay area. The poster below has all the details. This course, which focuses on the sustainable agriculture and health elements of the Deepening Roots curriculum will be co taught by Andrew Jones and Andrew Korza. These are two Andrews you don't want to miss.

You can click anywhere on the flyer to see it larger, but in case that does not work, here are the details.

Dates/Time. April 3rd and 4th 10AM-3PM Both days

Location 5844 Chabot Court, Oakland CA 94618

Contact: Ganesh at Gnagaraj@Berkeley.edu or 510 325 6004

Happy belated birthday Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

This week the beloved children's author turned would have been 106. While some parts of his life are controversial, and some of his books simply silly (but great of course) he did have some amazing things to say, and phrased them so simply that a five year old can get the idea, now that is a skill. Anywho, here are two of my favorites in the category of 'social issues'

From Horton Hears a Who:

And that Yopp…
That one small, extra Yopp put it over!
Finally, at last! From that speck on that clover
Their voices were heard! They rang out clear and clean.
And the elephant smiled. “Do you see what I mean?…
They’ve proved they ARE persons, no matter how small.
And their whole world was saved by the smallest of All!”

From the Lorax:

[reacting to the Once-ler making a "thneed" from a tree he cut down]
The Lorax: I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you sir, at the top of my lungs - that thing! That horrible thing that I see! What's that thing you've made out of my truffula tree?
The Once-ler: Look, Lorax, calm down. There's no cause for alarm. I chopped just one tree, I'm doing no harm. This thing is most useful! This thing is a "thneed." A theed, a fine something-that-all-people-need! It's a shirt. It's a sock. It's a glove! It's a hat! But it has other uses, yes, far beyond that. You can use it for carpets, for pillows, for sheets, for curtains! Or covers for bicycle seats!
The Lorax: Sir, you're crazy. You're crazy with greed. There's no one on earth who will buy that fool thneed!
[a man drives by, buys the thneed and pays the Once-ler]
The Once-ler: The birth of an industry, you poor, stupid guy! You telling me what the public will buy?

I also posted these on facebook and encourage you all to add some of your favorites.

Warming Up

So here we are, March 2nd a beautiful day in the Boston area. Although I am still mentally prepared for another storm I must say today was beautiful. The mud brings my thoughts to the garden, and the garden brings my thoughts to another (my fourth!) Deepening Roots summer. I must say, it is not a bad thing to day dream about.

Andrew has returned from Dubai, and is now in LA where he is again teaching and setting up deepening roots two day workshops. There is a good possibility that he will be helping to create a school garden at his school. Deepening Roots in high schools? Yes please.

-Michael

PS, just to show you what I day dream about, here us at a not so serious moment posing for an "english garden" shot.

Andrew returns to the US of A

As you may already know, Andrew has been out in Dubai teaching the YES (Youth Empowerment Seminar). His trip was such a success that YES organizers are jockeying for his teaching time. You can check out a video of him doing his work here, its a really nice video. He should be touching down in Hartford any minute now and I for one am looking forward to hearing all about his adventures in teaching abroad, and especially about the interest that Dubai organizers have in the Deepening Roots curriculum, we knew we would expand past Canada, but to Dubai? Wasn't even on our radar. Funny how life works like that.

Andrew claims to have some photos. So keep in touch with us here and on facebook to see and hear the details about his trip.

Don't forget to tell your friends about Deepeningroots.org

-Michael

if you made it this far...

If you have found our blog it probably means you have seen our new website. Sure, I may be biased, but I think it is a thing of beauty. I hope you continue to follow us here and/or on facebook and stay updated with the fast moving current events within Deepening Roots.

As a start, I would like you all to know that Andrew Korza, the Director and lifeblood of the program has taken us global by teaching our workshop in conjunction with a YES (Youth Empowerment Seminar) in Dubai. Since he has arrived there his list of accomplishments have been staggering and include, designing and printing tee shirts which are for sale via the website, opening relationships for the YES community by adding an agricultural element, and shooting a course record on a PGA course there (this game was technically tossed due to a minor scorecard infraction). Oh well, the other two (and so much more) makes up for it. Pictures and more stories from the horses mouth to come soon. See you all on facebook www.facebook.com/deepeningroots

-Michael