Lets imagine ourselves in a beautiful garden. Our senses emancipate in the buzz of life. We journey into the fragrance of beautiful blossoms. Our mouths crave the succulent fruits that we pass by. We are free to pick and enjoy anything we see, for this is our own special place. To our astonishment, we are blessed with big, ripe blueberries, juicy Asian pears, red raspberries, blackberries, and luscious purple figs. Our minds reminisce the past spring when the jewel-like strawberries shined bright red around our feet, covering the ground between the fruit trees. Then, there's cherry season when people come from afar to taste our families famous cherry pie. Oh, and that old mulberry tree, it produces juicy fruit for months and makes for an incredible, naturally sweet pie.We share these with the birds, as they tend to choose mulberries over other ripening fruit in the garden. Our family loves this place too. They all have their own special memories of delicious moments. Soon the paw paws will be ripe. Yum, their tropical custard filling is simply sensual. We will want to share these with that special someone. We'll want to freeze some of the paw paw meat to use as a substitute in banana bread on a cold wintry day. Fall is coming; nuts will be gathered and stored in the root cellar. Today, inside our kitchen, the smell of fruits being dehydrated flow out the screened door and under my nose. These joyful pleasures of a garden experience can be the most fulfilling part of life. From this garden we pick gorgeous, fresh vegetables to feed our family. Our children are connected with the earth, the seasons and the weather. Windy nights have toppled some of our tomato plants and without being asked, the children set out early the next day to straiten everything out. During the occasional droughts, we have stored rainwater in barrels connected to our drainpipes. Plus, our sink water (gray water) is drained out of the house into a holding tank that filters it and slowly irrigates our lush, edible landscape. We always have abundance and get to share with our friends and neighbors. We invite our loved ones to share this enlightening experience of being present with nature. In turn, our friends tell their friends all about these magical wonders of edible landscaping. Thus, we are building a wonderful community to live in. Making this dream a reality is life enhancing and therapeutic. Anyone can re-green the planet, while design methods can minimize time and efforts. We are caretakers of this earth, whatever jobs and hobbies we have. We do not own the land as we cannot own the air we breathe or the water in our ocean. We deserve to trust the food we eat, without chemicals, obtaining the highest percentage of nutrients, picked and eaten fresh and ripe. Useful landscapes, from a window box to a farm, are incredibly fulfilling parts of life and a way to be in tune with nature through our pursuit for self-sufficiency. "The land is a mother that never dies"

Give thanks!