Plume poppies and Permaculture --- nic

I suppose it’s rather head in the sandish of me to bother penning a piece about Plume poppies ---- it will follow this bit of rant or reflection depending on how it all turns out ---- but it is just one of those “gotta do it” impulses that grip me now and then.

I attended two days of the three-day “Northeastern Permaculture Summer Convergence” this weekend. It was held on the property managed by Nuestras Raices,“ (http://www.nuestras-raices.org/en/home) a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food, agriculture and the environment”. The property is a 20 plus acre “farm” that offers plots for gardening, both home and small commercial, as well as fields on which to raise domestic animals such as pigs, goats, chickens and sheep. They also have a petting zoo, a horse barn, a restaurant and space for celebrations of all kinds.

The group, as you might have gathered from their name, grew out of the efforts of the Latin American community in Holyoke, especially immigrants from Puerto Rico. I had hoped and expected that there would be some participation and at least one presentation by Nuestras Raices during the “convergence”, but except for a tour of the facilities hosted by an extraordinary young Puerto Rican man, they had no presence at the actual sessions or working groups. As we went about the tour, I had the distinct feeling that those folks who were there on the place to tend their animals and gardens regarded us curious, and somewhat unwelcome interlopers. I wondered if anyone had actually reached out to them. I felt very uncomfortable about their lack of participation and don’t really know if it was an oversight on the part of the permaculture folks or the unwillingness of NR to join in. In either case, something should have been done to include them; it would have made for a richer and more satisfying experience.

I am still sorting out my feelings and thoughts about the both the content and the aura or gestalt of the weekend. Until I have actually had time and taken the effort to articulate them as clearly as I can, I won’t share them. The only impression I will pass on for now is related to what I observed above. The demographics were definitely on the white side, except for one Asian woman, and one woman from Ecuador, though there might have been a couple of other folks who weren’t white and I just didn’t notice them. Most of the participants were youngish --- I would guess that people in their 20s and 30s were the largest age groups. I couldn’t help but have a sort of flash-back to the 70s moment or several. More on all of this later.