New website, new projects

Lots of things are coming together for me. My good friend Riki Cevallos (rikicevallos@gmail.com) has designed a new website for me https://spiritland.blog/ where I describe the projects that I am involved in.

Especially exciting is the women's garden project. I think it resonates with a lot of people. One of my first posts on Facebook, about the garden project, had over 15,000 views. Now we have over thirty backyard gardens in our little village. More women are on the waiting list.

A few months ago a young Ecuadorian masters graduate, who grew up close by, showed interest in putting an online book together. This will both describe the project and be an educational manual. We will have chapters on growing techniques, harvesting, preserving and preparing meals. A big part will be on nutrition. So many people have problems such as diabetes and obesity. They know that this is caused by processed foods, chemicals and bad diets. Hopefully this book and project will be a springboard for improving health, not just for Tumianuma but for many rural communities in the Andes.

You can read more about our project here https://spiritland.blog/communitygardens

When Susan and I arrived in Ecuador twenty years ago, I spent three years writing my book, A Farmer’s Love. At the time it was more of an exercise for myself, reimagining the turning points in my life. I was lucky in that it was published but recently I made it into an Ebook. I am now giving it away on the website Spiritland.blog. You can download my book here for free. https://spiritland.blog/book

I am asking, if you like our Women's Garden project, to give a small donation. Although I was given a grant for $13,000 from KinshipEarth.org to support this project there is more that we would like to do. The book will cost about $4,000 and I would love to expand the project to Vilcabamba.

This would help fulfil our larger dream to create a sovereign watershed.The Piscabamba River Bioregion. Imagine a region growing most of its own healthy food. Food is the foundation of any community. We would be part of a movement to take back control of our lives, and more importantly, learn to live in harmony with our mother. Pachamama, Gai, mother earth.

This link describes the bioregion project https://spiritland.blog/bioregion