Spreading Organic Seeds of Love

July 27, 2015

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Sometimes you meet a person that so inspires you that they become an intricate part of your life!
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Every week I go to the little carpark in Penestanan Ubud where everyone patiently waits for the blue van to arrive from the mountains.
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As the van is unloaded with boxes, there is a mini frenzy as everyone dives in to grab bunches of the freshest spinach, lettuces, rocket and kale. Boxes of all sorts of varieties of vegetables like the sweetest turnips, kohlrabi and beets, and juicy cucumbers, and peas and whatever is in season is brought out and is instantly snatched up by the keen shopper.
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Joko is an organic farmer who lives in the mountains of Bedugal where the soil is rich in nutrients and the air and water is clean.
Joko and market
I met him 5 years ago when he had started a little market stall on Tuesdays in Ubud. His Greens were so vibrant unlike anything I had seen before, I was eager to introduce myself and get to know him – anyone who has a passion for organic veggies is a sure friend of mine.
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One of the dilemmas of growing ‘organic’ in developing countries is that the farmers general only have access to tampered seeds, potentially even genetically modified seeds. There is just no way to know. So even though growing vegetables and using organic practices might be their intention – their access to organic & heirloom seeds is limited
 joko and the market
 Luckily a few years back I’d visited Eden Seeds, a seed famer in NSW, Australia and so I knew were to source the best seeds. I ordered their ‘Self Sufficient Seed Collection” which literally covered every vegetable group and their different varieties (just under $300) and gifted this to Joko. This was the beginning of our flourishing friendship.
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Not only was Joko excited to grow so many more varieties of vegetables but my desire for healthy clean veggies would also have a ripple effect through the community too. I knew it would touch anyone who would ever eat a cucumber, kale or radish from him. And it was this part that excited me most: With a small gesture from my part I could help a farmer and his family become self sufficient and make an impact on the greater community. It was an opportunity I couldn’t resist!
 organice produce
Going to the markets to get my lovingly pre-packed bag of fresh greens & veggies from Joko is one of my weekly delights. We have such a great connection. Im always so eager to see him and I get to hear the latest news from the farm – what’s new to sprout and what’s coming into season.
 Joko and Komang
But the best part is I get to bring a big bag full of the freshest produce home.
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Its just amazing to see what comes out of the bag from the farm directly to my table. This video shows it all
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Oksana facilitates the Art of Life Retreats in Bali
You can find out more about Oksana here
And follow her life observations and inspirations on instagram@oksysox
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Photo credit to Daniel Nekvasil at Bali Is Healing
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Do you know where your food comes from?  I do! 

June 22, 2015

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In this blogpost I introduce one of the most important people in my life—Har.  He is one of the farmers who grows my food.
But it wasn’t always like that.

 

When I first began to get serious about my health and what I ate I started to look for the most accessible way to get the freshest produce. Living in the city the local health food shops didn’t quite stock the freshest choices. There just wasn’t the demand for it. And it was  over priced for the amounts that I needed to sustain myself.

 

So I found the main organic distributors. The middle man. The companies that bought bulk from the farmers and then supplied the organic shops and businesses in town. The alarm would be set for 4am and with a 40 minute drive to the fringes of the city, this would be our weekly dedicated ‘shopping trip’.

 

Armed with a trolley the size of a mini platform we would shop alongside the health store owners in the huge market sheds. Most things had to be bought in bulk. So whatever was in season was eaten. We were coming home with boxes of cos lettuce, a variety of greens, an abundance of vegetable and fruits, perhaps it was oranges and cherries that week, and peaches and passion fruits the following week. Life was pretty simple, we might not have been eating a huge variety however what we were eating was all organic and it tasted fantastic.

 

And It made me happy knowing that I was one step closer to eating from the land.

 

Things have changed since then. I ended up moving closer to the farmer. But the farmers also have better access to us now. Today due to the demand, Farmers’ Markets have exploded in most places. It’s so good to see! We really have many more choices today, real opportunities to vote with our dollar to make a stand for what is most important to us.

 

In this video I share my joy and love for organic farming and knowing where my food comes from.

 

From being a shopper in stores who bought food off the shelves and in boxes, it’s now all about my relationship with the very person that grows it.
Picking lettuce, rocket, all the herbs that I’ll be eating that week whilst catching up with Har is so enriching.

 

Its really living from mother earth to the table. And this gives me a sense of community and interaction that I never felt before, enriching my life even more.

 

See you in Bali on our next 100% organic retreat! www.artofliferetreats.com
Oksana

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