A Ladybug’s Secret Garden

When several recent visitors, at different times and completely unprompted, used identical language to tell Starr & I that our farm was “magical,” it got us thinking; “Why?”

I’m a farmer, not a magician, so I stand ready to be corrected by any Magus who might read these notes, but it seems to me that magic is always extraordinary, never “business as ordinary.”  Farming, by contrast, is precisely a business. Nor is magic transparent, the way a legitimate business ought to be, or even easily explainable to investors, regulators or tax collectors. If we are to believe the AI bots lurking under the internet bridge, farming contributed roughly $1.537 trillion to the $ US GDP in 2023. What did magic do for capitalism? Who could know? Magic is mysterious. Besides, is everything of value measurable in dollars, pounds, pesos yen or bitcoin?

Magic is “occult.” The word “occult” may sound evil or threatening to some Christian Fundamentalists’ ears, but it’s just Latin for “hidden” or  “secret.” Think about it; the magic on display in the public square is the pulling of bunnies from hats. Doesn’t the deeper magic always happen in sacred groves, away from the gaze of the uninitiated rabble, where the sorcerers and witches gather in a circle for their ceremonies, illuminated only by moonlight or by the coals glowing from under the cauldron?  Unless you are raising rabbits for meat or fur, the last thing any farm needs is another bunny. So what are the things that could make Mariquita Farm “magical?”

When my daughter was a girl she played in the redwood grove too. My Grandparents got married in these redwoods. It’s a sacred grove.

For one thing, our farm is at the end of a private road and you have to go through three gates to enter the property. (Mystical numerologists will tell you that 3 is a magic number, a perfect number, and the number for harmony, wisdom, and understanding.) Even locals who grew up in our Corralitos/Salsipuedes neighborhood have expressed amazement when they visit. “We never even knew this place was here!” they say over and over again. True, being at the end of a shared private road with three gates may be awkward and challenges our sense of harmony, wisdom, and understanding sometimes, and sometimes it’s tedious to respect our neighbors’ rights and demands and drive SLOWLY past their homes, but our hidden location does grant us a rare privacy and tranquility that can seem magical in this crowded and noisy age.

Magical thinking does seem to look back in time to a more mysterious era. The newest AI meme fodder available for public consumption on Insta or Tik Tok can never be as magical as something inscrutable from the deep past. In the canyon below our herb field there are redwood trees, including one broken giant that must be 1000 years old. Maybe the proximity of such a wise and ancient life form casts a spell over our herb field.

Plants play an important role in magic; they are not mere commodities like cotton or alfalfa or head lettuce. When I was a child in the 60s and this property was my grandparent’s sheep farm I would visit the redwood groves and bathe in their magic. Then I’d come to the house and my grandma would scrub the poison oak off. When my uncle was a child in the 20s and this property was his grandparents’ place, he played in the redwood groves. When my uncle sold me the ranch in 1998 he put a deed restriction on the property such that the redwoods could never be cut down. I signed the documents happily; this land belongs to the redwoods and the creatures they tower over- we’re just passing through.

Redwoods are majestic, but all plants are magical in some way. Anyone who has ever watched a seed germinate can feel the mystery if they let themselves. Starr and I have planted lots of flowers, so the landscape is splashed with color. All the roses and snapdragons blooming may seem magical enough but as you walk around the property you will see — and smell—- a lot more than pretty colors. Magic engages all the senses and incense is a core magical tool to connect with arcane realities. By coincidence and design we grow a lot of powerful, aromatic plants on the farm that have healing powers, from various basils, mints, sages and lavenders to more arcane plants like huacatay, cempasuchil, and hoja santa. And of course we plant the holy trinity of corn, squash and beans. (There’s your magical number 3 again.)

The labyrinth is modeled on the floor plan of the Medieval labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral.

Symbols count for something. We chose to plant our lavender patch in the form of a gigantic labyrinth 110 feet in diameter. Then Starr fit a cool little stone spiral walk into an unoccupied nook of the yard and we were pleased to see it sprinkled with volunteer wild violas in the spring. The fact that we didn’t even plant the Johnny Jump Ups  seemed magical to us. If you look carefully under the roses or behind the cacti you will see a growing population of Gnomes who remind us of the mysterious forces at wor k and play undergroundSo maybe our farm is magical. We hope so, and we invite you to come see for yourself; here is a brief outline of a number of events we have coming up soon:

Ziggy The Gnome stands sentinel under the roses and cacti.

Outstanding in the Field, is bringing their traveling celebration to the farm on May 31st. Mariquita Farm was the site of the very first Outstanding in the Field dinner twenty five years ago and we are excited to come full circle after a quarter of a century with a 25th anniversary meal prepared by Chef Gus Trejo from The Dream Inn’s Jack O’Neil restaurant using produce from our farm and from our friends and neighbors at Lonely Mountain Farm. The wine pairings will be from John Locke/Birichino. It’s going to be tasty and the lavender labyrinth will be in bloom, so it’s going to be an aromatic time too. Click here for link https://outstandinginthefield.com/

A silly wild turkey admiring its reflection in the door to Starr’s farm store, where she sells her shrines, dried herbs, crystals, and preserves.

2. We will host a series of Lavender U-Pick with a first date on Saturday, June 7th.  We will keep the U-picks going through August 1st and perhaps longer. A car full of folks can come and pick 5 bundles. Get all the details and make your reservation at Mariquita.com under events. Other herbs, like basils, thymes, oreganos, etc will be available for U-pick at (dates tba, check newsletter updates)

3. Summer Solstice Self-Care on Saturday, June 21st will bring together a grand group of special practitioners for a three hour journey into self-care. You can relax and enjoy the countryside, explore the gardens filled with flowers, while looking out at hillsides  covered in citrus and roses. Indulge yourself in  a variety of self-care offerings while celebrating the Summer solstice with us! We will be joined by several event guides and practitioners that will provide you with a taste of their art and profession. https://www.mariquita.com/features/summer-solstice-self-care-saturday-june-21st/.

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Besides our public events we do open the farm and host events for groups and individuals; painting clubs, Blessing Ways, staff parties, baby showers, and fund-raising dinners and picnics have all been on the calendar. Let us know if you have an event in mind that would benefit from a beautiful, peaceful rural surroundings with an out-door kitchen, a handy labyrinth and a lot of flowers! Starr does flowers for events and weddings too. Let us know.

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