Author: maherrv

As promised, I have read Bertha Damon’s book, shared by Jane Nicholson.

At the beginning of Chapter 9.

“The importance of humus in human economy seldom receives sufficient emphasis. Suffice it to say that it probably represents the most important source of human wealth on this planet” p.95.

Damon published the book in 1943 during the Second World War. It is a collection of twenty-two chapters. Besides Humus, other topics include Spring Doings, Plowing and Planting, In Defence of Weeds, Apples Old Style.

“To have a sense of humus is to have an appreciation of the past, to realize that to discard the achievements and virtues slowly built up through long periods of human society and to attempt to live solely in the present is like throwing away humus and trying to exist in more or less inorganic hardpan.”

“One who works much with humus sees it to be a symbol of democracy, in which many work for the good of one, and one works for the good of many.” p.101.

From Apples Old Style, Chapter 21.

“I have found that at least twenty two different varieties, well enough known to get into books, originated in New Hampshire.” p.230.

This compares with the four varieties in our small orchard: NovaMac, NovaSpy, Liberty, MacFree.

After my earlier blog post, Brian Arnott made the comment.

“Is the mind a kind of compost pit? Do we break down ideas to create more potent matter? Yes, probably.”

On Friday afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with both Roger Mosher and John Wightman. John kindly lent me two books by Thomas Raddall, “The Dreamers” and “Halifax: Warden of the North” as well as Will Bird’s, “Off-Trail in Nova Scotia”.
In these COVID times, books serve as a medium for sharing ideas, to add to the ‘compost pit’.

Postscript

Having a sense of humus, reminds me of the important role of elders in our society, without them, we are left with the inorganic hardpan. I also think of the work by Maria Popova and her web site, Brain Pickings. Check it out.

This led to the following exchange with Edward Wedler.

”If society sees elders as simply ‘old people’ then we are missing out on the opportunity to harvest/apply this mental humus.”

Edward replied “There exist many cultures that value elders (Japanese and Canadian indigenous communities come to mind). David Suzuki once co-authored a book ‘Wisdom of the Elders’ where he explored this question.”

Acknowledgements

Brian Arnott, Roger Mosher and John Wightman for their contributions. Jane Nicholson for sowing the seed. Heather for her help in the garden. Edward for his feedback.

References

Bertha Damon, 1943. A Sense of Humus. Simon and Schuster.
Thomas H. Raddall, 1986. The Dreamers. Pottersfield Press.
Thomas H. Raddall, 2007. Halifax, Warden of the North. Nimbus Publishing.
Will R. Bird, 1956. Off-Trail in Nova Scotia. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
David Suzuki and Peter Knudtson, 1993. Wisdom of the Elders. PenguinRandomHouse.

This week, I picked up the book ‘A Sense of Humus’ from the post office in Bridgetown (Lawrencetown is closed). It had been sent to me by Jane Nicholson. She thought that I would enjoy it. Written in 1943 by Bertha Damon.

“It describes the pleasures of living in the country, the vicissitudes of gardening, the small lovable satisfactions of working on one’s own land.”

“If the reader’s own personal soul is winter-chilled, war-torn, tax-parched or just plain tired, ‘A Sense of Humus’ will do it considerable good.”

The book is set in New Hampshire. Written during the Second World War, there are parallels to COVID-19. I will offer a proper review, once I have finished it.

Meanwhile, Saturday, we went for a drive to Annapolis Royal and Victoria Beach. At Great Expectations Books and Cafe, I was able to pick up John Prebble’s Book, “Landscapes and Memories: an intermittent autobiography“. I am familiar with Prebble because of Heather’s Scottish heritage. Prebble wrote The Highland Clearances, Glencoe and Culloden.

It was wonderful to discover that the town is reopening. We stopped at Lola’s cafe and were able to purchase Cornish pasties and a roast lamb dinner for Sunday night.

The drive gave us a well-deserved break from the garden. With the black flies, the best time for planting is 6 am in the morning. After the heavy rain, we were able to transplant the tomatoes from the greenhouse and sow seeds: beans, carrots, beets, spinach and lettuce.

After the rain, the apple trees in the orchard were in full, white splendour accompanied by the sound of the bees.

Congratulations to Jane and Adele on the fourth anniversary of AIRO!

Sad news, writer Silver Donald Cameron died on Sunday night. He will be remembered for his Green Interviews.

Acknowledgements

Jane Nicholson for sending along the book. To Great Expectations for opening up the bookstore and cafe. To Lola for delicious food. Heather shared the road trip. Edward for his artistic talent.

References

Bertha Damon, 1943. A Sense of Humus. Simon and Schuster.
John Prebble, 1993. Landscapes and Memories. Harper Collins

Turtle Talk is a slim collection of ‘voices for a sustainable future’, published by New Society Publishers. It includes interviews by Christopher and Judith Plant with Gary Snyder, Peter Berg, Murray Bookchin and others. First published in 1990, with a Foreword by Kirkpatrick Sale. I found it hiding between Simple in Means: Rich in Ends and The Ecology of Wisdom (see the references, below). Deep Ecology is a large topic and won’t be discussed in this blog.

Sale tells the Lakota Sioux story of the creation of ‘Turtle Island’. Discussing the contributors:

“ What makes them special is that they are people not merely thinking but doing, despite the weight of the forces ranged against them – people who, it could be said, are sticking their necks out on behalf of all endangered species, including the human, including the living Earth itself. And it is the great lesson of the turtle, of course, that you can get ahead only when you stick your neck out.”

From Gary Snyder,

“The bioregional undertaking is to learn our region; to stay here and be at home in it, and to take responsibility for it, and treat it right.” p.14.

“ …you have people who say, “I’m not going to move” That’s where it gets new. People say “I’m going to stay here, and you can count on me being here in 20 years from now”. What that immediately does is make a politically-empowered community possible.” p.17.

From Peter Berg,

“The greatest shared value for the necessary upcoming ecological era is wilderness. Because wilderness already embodies systems, designs, purposes that are workable, are demonstratively eco-energetic – efficiënt in terms of energy and resources.” p.25.

“I think our working together to discover our own wildness, the wild Homo sapiens being within us, is very liberating, very exciting. It is the future from my point of view, and it’s pivotal in terms of human civilization.” p.29.

Finally, from Murray Bookchin:

“There’s a long tradition in New England and other parts of the United States, in which the town or the village is merely the nucleus of a much larger area, bringing the country and the town together.” p.130.

“We can decentralize our cities, we can use our land intelligently, ecologically, we can have people create new kinds of communities”. p.131.

It is a sobering thought to find this thin book, hidden away on the shelf. Also to realize that these interviews were recorded over thirty years ago.

What has changed? What is their relevance to today’s global predicament? Is there a sustainable future?

Many of those voices are no longer with us.

PS. Given that the libraries are closed. Please contact me, if you want to borrow any of these books.

Acknowledgements

Heather for her turtle talk, whether Blandings or Wood turtle.
Edward who has chosen Turtle Island (North America) as his home too. Plus his graphics contribution.

References

Christopher and Judith Plant, 1990. Turtle Talk: Voices for a Sustainable Future.
The New Catalyst Bioregional Series.

Bill Duvall, 1988. Simple in Means, Rich in Ends: Practicing Deep Ecology. Gibbs and Smith.
Alan Drengson and Bill Devall (Ed.), 2008. The Ecology of Wisdom: Writings of Arne Naess. Counterpoint Press.