Let me take you on a journey through a magical land inhabited by Pagans, Druids, Witches, and Bamboo Monsters. It's located in the Upstate of SC and is home to the
SUN Foundation.
Ancient Earth Design also resides in this location, as does the Fox Den and the Gypsy House. Tribanns are to be found, as are treasures, gourds, and bamboo bones (I think they are the phalanges of the Bamboo Monster himself). Legend and myth is unfolding here, and if one looks closely enough fairies can be spotted racing from earth mound to earth mound. It all amounts to hope in a hopeless time. In other words, beyond monetary value, and beyond business as usual. For there is very little BAU to be found here. It's cordoned off and kept at bay by intentional magic. As in the esoterically occult kind. The kind that uses natural objects to weave meaning, purpose, and intentionality. Join me on this journey. Captured in one windy, unusually chilly, overcast and drizzily day after a storm had passed.
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There is a tribann composed of 6 Earth Mounds |
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A hidden mushroom |
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Me |
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gourds |
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more gourds and a bamboo staff altered by sun, rain, and druid magic |
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reflection of phyllostachy spectabilis in a rain water filled swale |
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Wind blown spectabilis |
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A bee on a gourd blossom |
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gourds gourds and more gourds |
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Zen pointing out evidence of the Bamboo Monster. He leaves behind bamboo bones as he passes through to check on the welfare of our chickens. We're certain he lives here. |
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Bamboo bones left by the Monster. Zen says he was "keeping them safe from the ostrich." Apparently "The Ostrich" likes to eat Bamboo Monster phalange's left behind by his passing. Zen threw them all into the pond. |
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a gourd and a booga |
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Blueberry being "gourdtacked" as Wendy likes to call the process of being overtaken by a gourd plant. We've gotten 2 blueberries so far this year. This is the second year of growth. |
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One of many bamboo trellises held down by stone with a message to the future about what we do to televisions in this land |
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our fire pit |
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A fugi apple tree along with several different gourds, concord grapes, and Saint John's Wort. |
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One of the three black locust trees next to the main swale. In five years it should be around 20 feet tall. |
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Zen's leg in the main swale |
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Aji Crystal with one of last year's gourds. The same gourd that was broadcasted throughout the garden by me |
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Montmorecny Cherry Tree in the front attached to a staff with a Georgia Belle Peach tree behind surrounded by gourds and pepper plants |
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This maple tree grew from under our deck, went through the deck wood, and emerged in the corner of our deck. It grew to about 10 feet high. I had to remove because it was right next to the house. I planted it here. You can see the curved branch at the top of the maple, that was the main branch. What I planted was actually what was beneath the deck. This maple wants to grow. |
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A maple tree cut down with the Sergent Major. That's a size 13 chacco. I'll be burying it in a Spiral Earth Mound this week. |
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One of my two compost bins |
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Maygold Peach tree |
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Gourd central |
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Ripe Aji Crystal |
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Lavender, tomato, gourd, Saint John's Wort |
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Comfrey |
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Granny Smith guyed with bamboo |
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raspberry |
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Saint John's Wort growing behind the lavender and beneath gourd leaves |
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Bamboo Island |
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Ghost pepper with Pseudosasa Japonica |
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The soon to be pond (it's not been lined yet) |
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The Fox Den |
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Phylostachy Aureus, aka fish pole or Golden bamboo |
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Aurea |
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Aurea with the power line above |
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Rooster Spur pepper with Phyllostachy Negra or Black Bamboo. There's are no canes yet. What you see are just stems coming off of the rhizome |
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Pseudosasa Japonica, aka Arrow bamboo due to the Japanese using it for arrow shafts due to it's perfectly straight growth. |
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Here you can see how straight it grows |
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Arrow Bamboo at the tip of the bamboo island |
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Phyllostachy Aurea Koi. The rose color is south and the green is north. The canes change rose colored with sun. |
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One Koi cane, and by this time next year there may well be 30 canes. |
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Bamboo island |
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Phyllostachy Spectabilis |
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Here showing the idiosyncrasy of spectabilis. Twisting out of the ground. It also sometimes grows in a zig zag formation. |
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Bo Peppa's (my late dog) memorial. She's burried beneath those Fresno pepper plants and likely has spectabilis rhizome growing through here by this point. Maybe it's morbid to point that out. I think it's beautiful. |
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my favorite wild edible, Sorrel. I never knew it before my business partner showed it to me. Since it's spread like wild fire through my yard. It's everywhere!!! It taste like lemon. |
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Most of the chickens |
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"Little Chicky" with the broody hen. He had a sister but she drown in the water bowl on day two. He's a redstar rooster. We didn't incubate his egg, the broody hen did. |
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the new "eggmahal" located in the chicken shack. I made it from mostly salvage and bamboo. I designed it to be an egg laying chicken house capable of keeping dry on it's own, without the benefit of the old ass tarp that kind of keeps the chickens dry. |
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