Life After an Eco-Village

I left Lost Valley about three weeks ago. On one hand I was sad to leave the idyllic simple life there, and on the other hand I was so excited to bring everything that I had learned there back to my life in Berkeley. Since I have been back I have been on a quest for learning, and am taking lots of different classes here and there. I am happy to report that there is a big permaculture movement here in the Bay Area, and I am excited to get more involved.

Yesterday I took a beautiful walk in the Presidio, as part of a medicinal herbs class. We learned about the medicinal benefits of tons of different native and introduced plants that one commonly sees around this area. It was amazing to learn that even common weeds like chickweed can have physical benefits (It can cool inflammation and soothe internal body parts). I was also surprised to learn that the new growth on redwood trees can be used as a source of vitamin C, useful if you are backpacking.

There are countless other plants which have medicinal benefits, most often by making tinctures of them. A tincture is when you take a strong alcohol, which has the property to extract all the vital healing oils from the plant into a concentrated form. You then can take just a small dose of this tincture every day to receive the effects from the plant. It is a relatively easy process, and I am excited to start making some of my own tinctures from the plants all around me.

The class also got me thinking about how much of this native indigenous knowledge of plants has been lost to the general population over the ages, as we have grown more and more dependent on others for our health, namely pharmaceutical companies. It is a shame to have lost some of these natural homemade herbal remedies that can keep us healthy and balanced, without spending lots of money.

Judging by the size of the class yesterday, it seems that more and more people are wishing to break free of the control of pharmaceuticals, and learn more about the healing effects of the plants around them. It seems like a big part of permaculture is simply re-learning all the practical knowledge that was lost as we adopted this industrial fast paced lifestyle, a lifestyle that is leaving people unhealthy and unfulfilled.