WILD FLOWER FOREST
It was last summer that I had the epiphany. Like a bolt of kaleidoscope lightening. Through the midst of summer, the spectacle was playing out in the long rows of bright candy coloured flowers. Clouds of butterflies of all different sizes, colours and temperaments were conducting their lives in open view. Metallic bees and beetles flashed and sparkled, Birds came down to move about the cool afternoon oasis to pick at caterpillars or unwary spiders.
Flowers are both a celebration of the beauty of our natural world. They are also the biome on which are housed the realm of insects, birds, and beasts. It is this dramatic interplay between the flowers and the biome that gives me the ultimate pleasure. For it is here that I feel fully connected to the raw earth, the eons of evolution, the soil, the sky, the sun, and the air. Rows of Zinnias in summer have been the carrot kept dangling to keep me on the path I am on. They are one the thing that has kept my eye on the real reason of why I feel about our farming venture the way I do.
It was last summer that COVID began to appear more and more in the news headlines. As Dave and I worked to get the new farm infrastructure completed for the beginning of resupply of produce, suddenly, COVID exploded on the scene. By March 8, 2020, all orders from our distributor at Brisbane Produce Markets ceased. We wondered what we would do. As I found solace in my zinnia rows, I pondered on what we could do to bring in some dollars. Tours? Nope – Lockdown. Farm Gate sales? … yes, totally OK with the government. And so, started the folk who dropped in from far and wide to come buy our leaf mix and edible flowers.
…..however…… something very special happened one day. A lovely lady came to collect her bags of leaf mix. She gazed longingly over my shoulder at the riotous flower gardens behind me. She asked if she could spend a fleeting moment to just look at the flowers. Her eyes filled tears. She explained her recent horrendous situation with domestic violence and family upheaval. Although I was not meant to open the gates due to COVID – I opened the gate and let her wander through at her own pace for her own journey.
After a spell, she emerged. Tears of joy had replaced her fearful ones. She was beaming from ear to ear. She said she felt reenergised by the beauty of the flowers. By the peaceful and gentleness of the gardens. It made her life a little more bearable. I gave her a bunch of freshly picked flowers for her home and bid her a safe passage.
And so, Wild Flower Forest was born. The seed firmly planted in my consciousness. A seed that has grown and now is becoming a space for you to wander at your pace. To feel gentle and joyous wonder at beauty. At flowers.