permaculture

["Graham Burnett" <gburnett@unisonfree.net>]

Thanks for all the replies about bindweed, in my original posting I  was 
looking for both practical
advice (plenty recieved which provided the requested Zen 'whack on the side 
of the head'- In
addition, a further couple of visits to the allotment, short but observation 
oriented rather than
panic/reactive stylee, revealed that the attack of the bindweed wasn't quite 
as awful as originally
thought when looked at sensibly- which I think relates to initial feelings of 
being overwhelmed
when revisiting a situation which has been neglected, and ties in with what 
follows) as well as
other perspectives on stuff that was nagging and i've hopefully now applied a 
context to...

My thought processes about this matter when i analysed them a bit revealed 
some interesting
parralels with some internal stuff I've been dealing with over the last few 
months which i hope
other list members don't feel is inappropriate to share when looked at under 
the permaculture ethic
of people/self care and maybe others will find these insights of some sort of 
use....

earlier this year i went through some kind of stress-related burn out type 
event, which is partly
what led to my allotment becomming neglected in the first place ( i went off 
sick from my work
place for a couple of months, many friends/colleagues said, 'lucky you, all 
that time to spend at
your allotment/garden', but the reality in that depressed mindset is that you 
don't feel like doing
ANYTHING except watching telly and sending crap emails)...

By utisilising my understanding of patterning, such as it is, I can see a 
parellel between the
growth of the bindweed and it's taking over my allotment  and the growth of 
the various factors
which i'll call 'stress' which led to me becomming ill.... basically I was 
doing too much and not
taking care of myself, which I'll bet is a pattern many other 
permaculturists/world change workers
fall foul of...

Anyway, when i first became ill I went to see my GP to be signed off from 
work, who offered me
medication, which I firmly declined... I understood what was going on and 
felt it best to work it
through (which i'm still doing)...

Point here is I'm seeing a parralel between 'the land' and 'the personal'- if 
the proliferation of
bind weed or other noxious species is analagous to forces that were affecting 
my health when I was
neglecting my own 'Zone Zero Zero', then quick fix solutions (ie, 
weedkillers=anti-depressants) are
just as inappropriate when looking at a holistic way of dealing with the 
totality of the land I am
lucky enough to steward...

Confused rabbiting after a few pints at 'The Spread Eagle' with some good 
mates, but I'll send this
anyway and hope it makes a glimmer of sense...

Cheers people...

Graham Burnett
35 Rayleigh Avenue
Westcliff On Sea
Essex, UK
SS0 7DS

South East Essex LETS
http://pages.unisonfree.net/gburnett/

South East Essex Organic Gardeners
http://pages.unisonfree.net/gburnett/SEEOG/

South East Essex Permaculture
http://pages.unisonfree.net/gburnett/SEEOG/page7.html