Working towards Billion Trees Campaign

A member organization of the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign, Embracing the World has organized the planting of more than a million trees globally since 2001.Here is a short personal account by a Green Friends volunteer of M.A.Center planting trees in the hills of M.A.Center in the Bay Area.

THANK YOU, VOLUNTEERS!
The Karma Yogis and volunteers had spent a lot of time preparing for this day. They pre-dug big holes that were three feet wide and at least two feet deep for all of the new trees. That was making it so much easier for people like us, who don’t have the stamina to dig holes and plant trees…AND keep toddlers from rolling down the hillside into the pokey dandelion weeds.
I’m ashamed to say that I’d never been up to the orchard before. It’s truly beautiful and peaceful on those hills just adjacent to the temple. There are hundreds of trees already thriving under the stupendous skills of the M.A. Center residents. (Especially Guiniviere!) And guidance from Amma has materialized this growing, magnificent orchard into a place where people can learn the best practices for their own gardens at home. Workshops are held here several times a year…so just as the temple is a place for people to come and be inspired, the orchard has bloomed into an outdoor temple of inspiration, too. Everything Amma does has a message and an inspiration!

GETTIN’ FIGGY WITH IT
But I digress. After we made our way up the hill, we were matched up with two other volunteers who had started making a home for a brand new fig tree. And not just any fig tree…a Tiger Striped Fig Tree. We were told that this tree, if cared for properly in its early development may grow more than a million figs in its lifetime. WOW!!!

There were two piles of dirt that were to encircle our tree. One pile was compost rich with worm castings and healthy microbes, the other was dry dirt from the hole that was dug. Noel got started right away and helped get the moist compost around the roots of the new tree. Nicolas wasn’t too keen on touching the “worm dirt” as he saw two worms and said they were “scary.”  He was happy putting his hands into the dry dirt pile and pretending like he was going to fall down the hillside. After our tree had sufficient wet and dry soil patted down, we gave each other high fives.  But before we left, our Common Vision volunteer let us know that by putting our hands in that microbe-rich compost, we were touching millions of healthy organisms designed to encourage and bring about the miracle of growth. Apparently studies have been done and some people who spend time with their hands immersed in this muddy magic have dopamine and oxytocin naturally released into their system, which explains the wooden sign on our neighbors garden gate that reads, “Gardening–Cheaper than therapy…and you get tomatoes!”

As we walked down the hill, we passed a small group of volunteers encircling a new tree. They were chanting the gayathri mantra over and over. It was so peaceful, even Nicolas was quiet as we passed them and walked out the gate to our car.
More on this Tree Planting Project