Professor Lonnie Gamble | StudentBlogs / Tegan

I went to write my first blog entry only to find there was already something written here. I would like to clarify that I do not think I'm the coolest kid in class and I don't actually use phrases like "tramping it up" and "OMG cool". With that out of the way I'd like to talk briefly about my experience at Bioneers...

Bioneers: I was pleasantly surprised by the Bioneers Conference. I always respect people who take up a cause and try to bring about positive change in the world. However, I often find that people get too caught up in their issue of choice. Each issue is important and needs to be addressed but one issue does not overshadow another. I liked the format at Bioneers because we listened to so many diverse speakers. Each speaker highlighted an issue and the need for change. Instead of painting a dark picture for humanity each speaker brought forth inspiring solutions. By covering such a broad range and focusing on solutions rather than problems I felt like the conference cultivated a holistic understanding of the world. As humans we must focus on ways to uplift the earth by working together with compassion and respect. But in order for there to be world change there must be individual changes as well. One of the founders and opening speakers of Bioneers challenged each participant to look deep inside and see what needs to be changed. I think it was very important for the Bioneer conference to focus on individual as well as group transformation. The world is ready for a change, more then ready, some would say. Overall I thought the speakers at Bioneers brought out creative solutions that got me thinking towards the future but also made me pause and reexamine myself.

Permaculture Article: To Dye For (hah.)

I choose to write about the article I read in the UK based, Permaculture Magazine. The article called, 'The Magic Cauldron', goes into depth on low impact dyes. It highlights plants that can be used to dye natural fibers such as wool or silk. Instead of harsh synthetic dyes that pollute the environment the writer advocates the use of plants that can be grown in any small garden. These plants provide a local source of color that are sustainable, renewable and harm no-one. With proper plant knowledge most people can find many types of plants, bark, and lichen through out their local area. With a bit of foresight whole dye gardens can be created that will insure many rich natural dyes.

The author of the article was a pagan and kept bringing that up. To her working with plants was like a magical pagan birthright. She advocated natural dye because of the "magical significance" of the plant as well as the resulting color. One thing I thought was interesting is that she used bark from an apple tree she played with as a child. When used for dying this relic of her childhood produced a rich green color. Now that color will tie her back to that specific tree and memory. I like the idea that the source of color can bring a new connection to our environment.

Nothing goes to waste when you dye at home. If there is any color left over you can mix it with others to produce different color or dye paper. The possibilities are endless as long as you dye natural, prefereably raw material. Most plants just dye things a muddy brown so you have to make sure you have the plants that can create bright colors.

Let's dye some yarn to knit with this winter.

Here are the plants she mentioned in her article:

Woad (blue)

Madder (red)

Weld (yellow)

...not very many but here's some books she mentioned if you want to read more:

Color Magick, by Raymond Buckland

The Craft of Natural Dyeing: Glowing Colours From The Planet World, by Jenny Dean

Everything in the Kitchen Sink! Dyeing with Kitchen Waste, by Dee Duke and Rowena Eldin-White

Species List Originally I thought it would be cool to research the 'Tree of life' in different cultures throughout the world for my species list. Since the plants have to grow in the same climate I changes to plants in Greek mythology. Here is a list of ten trees found in Greek mythology that also provide food. I included the myths, most are very strange:

Mulberry, Morus nigra

Myth: Death of Pyramos & Thisbe. Pyramos and Thisbe were a pair of ill-fated lovers from the Assyrian city of Babylon. Their parents forbade their romance and the pair agreed to meet secretly beneath a white-berried mulberry tree outside the city limits. When Pyramos arrived he found Thisbe's shawl in the jaws of a lion and believing her killed plunged a sword through his breast. The girl upon discovering her dead lover also killed herself. The mulberry tree soaked up the lovers' blood and its berries were turned from white to black-red. (Source: Ovid)

	Food: Sweet berry

Oak, Quercus ilex

	Myth: Nymphai Dryades. Dryads or Hamadryads were Nymphs whose life force was irrevocably bound up with that of a tree, usually a mighty oak. At their birth, a symbiotic plant sprang up fully grown from the earth and when they died it withered away. The premature felling of the tree also brought about the death of the Nymph.
	Metamorphosis Philemon. Philemon and Baukis were a pious couple who hospitably received the gods Zeus and Hermes when they were travelling amongst mankind in disguise. The gods destroyed those who had turned them away and rewarded the couple by making them priests of the temple and transforming them into a pair of entwined trees at death: Baukis a linden, and Philemon an oak. (Source: Ovid)
	Food: Acorn, nut.

Olive Tree, Olea europaea

	Myth: Contest for Athens. Athene and Poseidon once engaged in a contest for dominion of Athens. Zeus agreed to award the city to the god who produced the best gift for man. Athene then created the first olive tree which she caused to spring forth from the rock of the Akropolis, whilst Poseidon produced a horse. The gods judged Athene's the better gift and awarded her the city. (Source: Apollodorus, Pausanias, Hyginus, Ovid)
	Food: Olive, fruit and oil

Pear Tree, Pyrus communis

	Myth: "But without the courtyard, hard by the door, is a great orchard of four acres, and a hedge runs about it on either side. Therein grow trees, tall and luxuriant, pears and pomegranates and apple-trees with their bright fruit, and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives." Homer's Odyssey 7.112
	Food: Pear fruit.

Pomegranate Tree, Punica granatum

	Sacred to : Hera (the fruit was her attribute as goddess of marriage - the bloody red seeds representing female fertility), Aphrodite (for similar reasons)
	Myth: Rape of Persephone. Haides the king of the underworld abducted Persephone for his wife. She refused to eat while she remained with him, until he tempted her with the seed of the pomegranate. She tasted these and in so doing was condemned to spend a portion of each year in the underworld. (Source: Homeric Hymns, et. al.)
	Food: Pomegranate, fruit.

Greecian Strawberry Tree, Arbutus andrachne

	Sacred to: Hermes (a sacred strawberry tree stood in his sanctuary at Tanagra).

Myth: Birth of Hermes. The infant god was nursed beneath a strawberry tree. (Source: Pausanias)

	Food: Strawberry, small tart berry.

Walnut, Juglans regia

	Sacred to: Artemis (had a sacred grove of sacred walnut or hazelnut trees at Karyai in Lakonia; the priestesses were named Karyatides, i.e. "ladies of the nut tree")
	Myth: Metamorphosis Karya. Karya was a Lakonian maiden loved by the god Dionysos. When her two sisters tried to prevent the liaison, the pair were driven mad and having gone to Mount Taygetos were transformed into stones. Karya meanwhile died and was changed into a nut tree. The goddess Artemis informed her father Dion of the affair and commanded he found a sanctuary in honour of Artemis Karyatis. (Source: Servius)
	Food: Walnut, nut.

Almond Tree, Prunus amygdalus

	Sacred to: Attis (born of the almond nut)

Myth: Birth of Attis. In Phrygia there was born an hermaphroditic deity named Agdistis. The gods were fearful and castrated it creating the goddess Kybele. The genitals were cast upon the earth where they sprouted and grew into an almond tree. Once when the nymph Nana was sitting beneath its branches a nut fell into her lap and impregnated her. The child conceived was Attis, who grew up to became the consort of the Kybele. (Source: Pausanias)

Food: Almond, nut.

Apple Tree, Malus domestica

	Sacred to : Hera (assoc. with weddings), Aphrodite (assoc. with love)
	Myth: Wedding of Hera. The earth-goddess Gaia produced first apple-tree as a wedding-present for the goddess Hera. This tree of the golden apples was guarded by the three goddess Hesperides. (Source: Apollodorus, Hyginus)
	Judgment of Paris. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris the goddess of strife, cast a golden apple addressed to the fairest amongst the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera and Athene all laid claim to the prize. They were referred by Zeus to the shepherd prince Paris, who awarded the apple to Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. (Source: Stasinus, Apollodorus)
	Melanion & Atalanta. The beautiful-princess Atalanta was reluctant to wed, and insisted that her suitors best her in a race. Those who failed the contest would be put to death by her father. The youth Melanion (meaning he of the apples) prayed to Aphrodite for help, and the goddess presented him with three golden apples. These he cast before the princess in the race, slowing her down as she stooped to retrieve them and so won the race. (Source: Hesiod, Apollodorus, Ovid)
	Nymphai Epimelides. The nymph-protectors of apple-orchards.
            Food: Apple, fruit

Ash, Fraxinus ornus

	Sacred to : Zeus (manna juice), Kouretes & Ares (ash-spears)
	Myth: Nymphai Meliai. The Meliai were the Nymphs of the manna ash-tree who were born from the blood of the castrated Ouranos which splattered upon the earth. They were entrusted with the raising of the infant Zeus whom they fed on the honey and the milk of the goat Amaltheia. The Meliai were also the ancestresses of mankind. (Source: Hesiod, Apollodorus, Callimachus, et al)
	Pelian Ash Spear. The spear of Akhilleus, the great hero of the Trojan War, was crafted by the centaur Kheiron for his father Peleus from an ash growing on Mount Pelion. (Source: Homer, Apollodorus, et al)
	Food: Manna, sweet sap.

source: Plants and Flowers in Greek Mythology, http://www.theoi.com/Flora1.html