Orchard Bathing

An Interview with Local Mindfulness Coach Ellen Falconer

The essence of the Finnriver mission is to ‘reconnect people to the land that sustains.’ From our founding, we’ve been intent on creating opportunities for the community to gather and enjoy the beauty and bounty of the Earth, and to deepen appreciation for the elements that we all rely on for our spiritual and physical sustenance. Being on the farm is an invitation to tune into the seasonal and daily rhythms of the land and to get grounded, literally! As part of this aspiration, we’re very pleased to be welcoming local mindfulness coach Ellen Falconer to offer monthly sessions of ‘orchard bathing.’ To learn more about forest bathing and the benefits of mindfulness practices, we interviewed Ellen here:


1. What is the origin of the “orchard (forest) bathing” practice? 


According to a very sweet book that I discovered called, 'Forest Bathing - How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness' by Dr. Quig Li, shinrin - yoku ('bathing in the forest atmosphere’) was developed in Japan. The Japanese are a forest civilization. Their culture, philosophy and religion are carved out of the forests that blanket the country. "Both of Japan's official religions - Shinto and Buddhism - believe the forest is the realm of the divine." The Japanese national health program for forest bathing began in 1982 in the Akasawa National Forest as an experiment to help their citizens recover from 'techno-stress', over-work, urban living and sedentary habits. Sounds familiar! By 2050, the United Nations predicts that 75% of humanity will live in urban areas.


2. How do you understand the practice of mindfulness? 


To paraphrase Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD the author of "Full Catastrophe Living" and the creator of the course, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), now in its 4th decade and as relevant as ever, mindfulness is holding the intention to pay attention to this present moment, where we are actually living and breathing- what we are immersed in. Our minds wander in and out of the present moment, but our thoughts are usually predicting the future or ruminating about past life events- as much as 50% of the time. To practice mindfulness we practice paying attention to the here and now: tastes, smells, sounds, sights, breathing, touch- as well as our thoughts and our emotional state. Life can be so rich! Learning to pause, to slow down and savor moments is the practice of mindful living. This sounds simple, and yet...it takes a lot of practice to change the minds' patterning. Thankfully, there is continuing, fascinating research being done on the minds' neuroplasticity...another delightful and intriguing subject!


3. What was your own pathway into mindfulness practice?


Back in the mid-80's, in my mid-twenties I was eating at the Sunlight Cafè in the U District of Seattle and I saw a divine cabin for rent in Ballard. It was in the backyard of the Seattle Dharma Center, a Korean Zen residential community. To live in the cabin I had to participate in the 'together-action' of the center, which included cooking, gardening, hosting meditation retreats and sitting meditation every morning. The immersion into mindful living, Zen-style, has informed my perspective and direction in life, with a lot of twists, turns and adventures between then and now. 


A few years into my therapeutic massage practice I decided to delve into learning about chronic pain- the power the brain has in interpreting and creating pain symptoms- real and imagined, to help my clients with their chronic pain. In 2016 I found Mindfulness Northwest, headquartered in Bellingham, where I enrolled and completed their mindfulness teacher training in 2018; closely followed by the training to teach MBSR. Along In Balance Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork I am the proprietor ofOlympic Peninsula Mindfulness. I offer forest and orchard baths (!), stress reduction classes, seasonal contemplative hikes, various meditation opportunities, and fall/winter online book clubs. I have more ideas than time actually! It helps to be mindful of over-achieving!


4. What do you hope people carry with them from the “orchard bathing” experience?


As a child of the 50's and 60's, I was blessed to have the run of the neighborhoods we lived in: rural/suburban Connecticut and upstate New York. Parents back then let us kids run wild, and I found solace and adventure in all things natural. There was very little distinction- in my mind- of inside or 'out there', the separation our minds make between this and that, in or out, good or bad, etc; which is really a problem for humanity!


My hope for our orchard bathers is for us to experience the effects of slowing down; of practicing pausing to allow our senses to more fully engage. We can create, even for a little while, a safe place to soften, feel our feelings, feel connected to each other; and feel gratitude for this little slice of paradise on our planet.


Join us at Finnriver for Orchard Bathing on the dates listed on our events calendar:click here. 


You can learn more about Ellen’s offerings at her website:click here.


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WORKING WITH BEES

May 1, 2020
We couldn't do it without the bees! According to the Pollinator Partnership, "Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles,, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. Pollinators support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilize soils, protect from severe weather and support other wildlife." At Finnriver, our farm and orchard rely on the work of pollinator, whose quest for pollen and nectar helps both feed their families and fertilize the trees. In our orchard, we provide home nests for mason bees, whose particular flight patterns and belly hairs make them very effective and thorough cross-pollinators for our fruit trees. We also have a handful of honey bee hives that promote pollination and make honey for the farmers. As organic farmers, we use an integrated pest management system to target pests and avoid or reduce the impact on pollinators and other beneficial insects, and we work to promote pollinator-friendly practices, such as planting the purple cover crop Phacelia. This wildflower produces lovely foliage topped with deep blue-violet flowers that produce heaps of nectar and attract an array of pollinators. Phacelia's common name is a translation of bienen-freund, German for "bee's friend." How Can You Help? You're helping pollinators by supporting small, local organic farms like Finnriver and all our neighboring farms. Grow your own pesticide-free garden with flowering plants, purchase organic foods and certified organic cotton clothing when you can, buy honey from local beekeepers, engage in citizen science and support legislation that protects pollinators.

BUILDING COMMUNITY WITH FOOD

August 1, 2019
Finnriver Orchard crew member Sam Scheidt and his partner Katelyn Porter were looking for an opportunity to get their hands in the soil, deepen their experience with production vegetable growing, and provide a needed resource for the local food bank. They found the connective tissue for their goals at the Finnriver farm when owner Keith Kisler suggested they dig into some underutilized space near the orchard. With the support of Finnriver, the Food Bank Farm and Gardens of Jefferson County, Sam and Katelyn began their first growing season this year.  They are currently responding to a need for an intentional grow of greens, lettuces and salad vegetables for the Tri-Area Food Bank in Chimacum. This is different from gleaning unwanted, overripe, or lesser quality foods from farms and supermarkets—how much of the food makes its way to the food bank. Sam and Katelyn feel passionate addressing the divide between people with means and people without means and the land’s capacity to provide for everyone. The same land can and does provide food for the food bank as well as for the Finnriver kitchen Sam says. Vegetables don’t make distinctions based on income and class. Perhaps humans can learn something from that. Either way, Sam is interested in blurring the boundaries, and feels good about all the labor he puts into growing food when he feels it is a needed resource. The food bank and this Finnriver partnership has also provided Sam and Katelyn a relatively low-risk environment to hone their farming knowledge and experiment with what they enjoy growing. Experiences like this can be vitally important and encouraging to young farmers, Sam says. He wants to encourage more farms to partner with newer farmers to better utilize extra space, address challenges of land access, and grow food for everyone in this community that needs it. This food bank garden has been producing a variety of lettuces, kale, collards, cabbages, and summer squash so far. A bounty of onions and winter squash are growing bigger everyday and will supply both the food bank and the Finnriver Kitchen later this fall. Looking toward future seasons, Sam and Katelyn are hopeful to put in more perennial crops like herbs and berries.

PARTNERING WITH THE SUN

July 1, 2019
Finnriver relocated our tasting and tap room in 2016 to a historic dairy farm at the central intersection in the rural community of Chimacum. Our goal was to show how rural economic development, land and resource conservation and sustainable agriculture can all converge and thrive. The old cow feeding trough was converted, using reclaimed barn wood, into a 75 foot long community table and the space covered by an open air pavilion. Alongside the pavilion, we restored an old feeding shed into our cidery tasting and taproom. These and other structures make up the Cider Garden, which looks out over the 50 acres of organic farm and orchard. This Cider Garden has now become an all-ages gathering space, music venue and local food court, offering a welcoming space for neighbors and visitors to gather and reconnect to the land that sustains us. In order to continue the mission of educating and inspiring wise land use, we worked with local renewable energy advocates and Power Trip Energy company to apply for the USDA Rural Energy for America program (REAP). With matching funds from REAP, federal tax credits, support from a Barnraiser crowdfunding campaign and loans, Finnriver was able to install an expandable, grid-tied 65-kilowatt system, using 212 solar panels. These panels cover 3,000 square feet of roof space here at the Cider Garden. Initially, we estimated that it would produce 65,000 kWh of electricity annually which would produce enough electricity to supply more than half of our annual power needs and send green energy back into the grid. After one year in service, the solar panels have in fact produced around 74,500 kwh – which is enough electricity to cover almost 80% of Finnriver’s portion of electricity use at the Cider Garden property. To commemorate this feat, a Sol Mandala was crafted by the ceramic artists at Millbrook Clayworks and with metalwork by Abraxas Crow. It celebrates the generous contributions of supporters of Finnriver’s renewable energy campaign. We recently installed an educational display that will teach visitors about the benefits of renewable energy near our North entrance.  We hope that this renewable energy system will provide a venue to educate our community about the benefits of solar energy and give us an exciting opportunity to 'walk our talk' about sustainability and to showcase how the local food economy can integrate land conservation, renewable energy and watershed restoration!

COLLABORATING WITH PLANTS, BACTERIA AND FUNGI TO CLEAN OUR SOIL

June 1, 2019
That patch of yellow-flowering, wild mustard greens behind the Finnriver Kitchen aren’t just growing tall to look pretty; they’re working hard! Results are in from the first round of testing on our bioremediation project, revealing the decontamination efforts are meeting our goals of clean and healthy soil! The Remediators, one of Finnriver's land partners, took up the task of removing toxic levels of petroleum and lead from an area of the property where farm equipment was historically repaired. A network of specially selected plants, bacteria and fungus (locally sourced willow, rapeseed, PDN-1 bacterial endophytes, and a mushroom strain similar to the edible Stropharia rugoso-anulata) have significantly reduced the high levels of toxins detected on the site since the project began two years ago. In a decontamination method known as the Integrative Biological Approach, mycoremediation and phytoremediation are used in tandem to leverage each organism’s purifying talents. These living beings have proven abilities to grow in contaminated soils and take up or break down petroleum and heavy metals. “By combining this suite of organisms together, they work better than on their own,” said Howard Sprouse, CEO of The Remediators and lead of the project at Finnriver. For example, the chosen fungi strain are able to transform heavy metals into a soluble form that the plants can then take up and store in their tissues. In general, the methods of bioremediation transform toxic organic materials at the molecular level, converting them into more innocuous compounds. While full mineralization of contaminants is desired, it is sometimes not possible, as in the case of heavy metals. In these scenarios, the hyper-accumulating plant material can be removed from the soil and taken elsewhere to decompose. This will be the method utilized at Finnriver. The biomass of the plant and fungal matter will be significantly less than if the contaminated soil were to be removed directly, as is the case in more conventional forms of remediation. In some cases, the plant or fungi material utilized in remediation create useful byproducts, such as bio oils that can be turned into fuel. There is even consideration that edible mushrooms can be harvested as a food crop byproduct in instances where the organic soil contaminants might be decomposed without so imparting toxicity. Soil contamination, particularly involving heavy metals and petroleum, pose huge health burdens to society and to the earth. Conventional clean-up invokes a sizable financial strain as well. Through observation, appreciation and application of the natural capabilities of some specific plants, bacteria, and fungi, we can remediate the damage as we work in partnership with these incredible beings. The samples collected from the Finnriver farm this spring were from areas of the project where plants were growing well and that were expected to be cleaner. More complete testing will occur at the end of this year’s growing season.

FEEDING THE SOIL ORGANICALLY

March 1, 2019
Last Fall’s rains and harvests may have depleted our soils of the nutrients that will determine the fate of our crops and the health of our garden this year. Early spring is a great time to add soil amendments because the rain and warmer temps will awaken soil microbes and bring those nutrients into the root zone. It is often said that we need to put a healthy dose of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) fertilizers on our lawn and gardens every year. However, it is important to first know the components of your soil in order to understand what you may or may not need to add. At the Finnriver orchard, we test our soil every year as it lets us track how our soils are improving or being depleted by our fertility management program. With a soil test in hand, you can apply the appropriate amounts of amendments. By adding amendments such as lime (for alkaline) and sulfur (for acidic), you help "unlock" fertilizers that are bound to soil particles and increase the absorption of other amendments you add this year. It is essential to be careful about over-applying which can cause problems downstream when leached nutrients travel into storm water and aquifers that ultimately pollute river mouths and other bodies of water. This is why we encourage the use of organic means to amend soils. For example, a gentle means of replenishing nitrogen is to apply a 2-inch layer of compost onto your beds or around perennials. Earth worms and other arthropods will break down the compost and slowly release its nutrients to your plants. After a few years of composting this might be the only source of nitrogen that you need to add. Homemade compost from kitchen scraps, coffee grounds and leaf debris is a fine way to start. Other good commercial options are NutriRich (pelletized chicken manure) or Mushroom Compost in bulk. For more detailed information about the health of soils, I recommend “Teaming with Nutrients" by Jeff Lowenfells and “Soul of Soil" by Grace Gershuny.
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