Planting Peace

by Candace Ross

Besides being a core value of the Temple (and my magical name), “Peace” is something we just can’t get enough of around here. I understand that the symbol we know as the “peace sign” was designed by Gerald Holtom in the late 1950’s, and stood for nuclear disarmament (right on!), but it will always represent the foot print of the Bird Goddess to me.

Layout of New Herb Garden

My newest project is a garden (located half way between the Temple and the Guest House) in the shape of a peace sign. It is about 27 feet across, and each of the four sections will be planted with culinary herbs, medicinal herbs and a few flowers.

One of the beds in the new herb garden

I’ve just completed digging out one of the (smaller) sections and it has been quite an adventure. The ground here is basically “gravel pit”, so I decided I needed to sift out every rock over ½ inch in size. Once the rocks and soil were separated, I mixed the soil with organic material (even some goat poop from when Patricia was Priestess) and returned it to the hole , watered it down and now it is ready for the little plants.

Seedlings waiting to be planted in new herb garden

I’ve started some of the plants I plan to use, but can’t set them out until the weather gets a bit warmer, and I get the rabbit proof fence up. (We’ve got so many jack rabbits and cotton tails here, they could easily destroy the garden in one evening.)

If you are a gardener (or if you’d like to learn about gardening), I would welcome help with this project. Please call or e-mail to set up a good time for both of us. Happy Growing!