Can Cultivated Land still be Wild Land?

Ah, the endless wheat fields.

Bumblebees buzz around uselessly, looking for wild flowers, and deer find that they cannot graze. Weeds are pulled, sprayed and tilled under repeatedly.

In these places, only one thing is allowed to grow, sometimes for such distance that the eye can see nothing else.

Here, a forest garden. Many useful and beneficial plants grow together in communities that mimic those found in nature. Many kinds of food are grown, and the use of fossil fuels (as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, or to power large machines) is limited.

Bees and insects scuttle and buzz merrily through the forest garden. They are welcome to call that place their home.


But the question is: Can forest gardens be wild places?
Can we share 'our' land with others... and can it be beneficial to all?

I think that is possible. It's part of why permaculture is so important to me.


"The Earth is already perfect; infinitely complex and almost infinitely able to support itself. It's always changing always cycling. Our part in that is to imbue creation with love and kindness.
"Each plant and animal is already perfect, because all are the manifestation of the creator's thought. By planting them together and tending them with kindness, affection and forethought to the benefit of all who will encounter them, we create pieces of paradise.
"Our purpose is to surround others with love, using the knowledge and skills that are inherent in us to build the world around us in a way that will make others happy. My purpose is to transform creation into paradise, just as every person's purpose is."

- Wild Land, my debut novel.



To find out more about my writing, check out my website!