Watershed
an old pond
a frog jumps in
the sound of water
Basho
In a narrow coastal valley nestled in the Marin headlands is the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, also known as Green Dragon Temple (Soryu-ji). This Buddhist practice center in the Japanese Soto Zen tradition seeks to “awaken the bodhisattva spirit, the spirit of kindness and realistic helpfulness”. This approach is also applied to the stewardship of the land. On the site of what was a sprawling ranch, the Green Gulch tributary, the gentle creek that traverses this place of gardens and meditation, had become choked by invasive non-native plants.
The following images are of the restored habitat today, where many diverse native plant species thrive.
Overlooking the pond, the Zendo (meditation hall) is a refinished barn from the former ranch.
embraced by water;
hugging cedars, grasses, reeds:
brown spongy swamp mud
Sondra Ball
the single rivulet
how slowly a pond
lets go
Laurie W. Stoelting
Introduced as an ornamental houseplant from South Africa, Cape Ivy (Delairea odorata) is now considered a serious invasive pest along the California coast. Cape Ivy expands vegetatively as a vine through the spread of stolons. Fragments of the plant as short as one half inch, carried by runoff or landscape machinery, can take root and colonize new areas. In riparian corridors such at Green Gulch, choking mats of Cape Ivy have been removed. Other exotics such as nettles and poison hemlock have been removed as well and hauled to the compost yard to produce finished compost. The result of the restoration is a rich diversity of native grasses, annuals and aquatic plants.
tender willow
almost gold, almost amber,
almost light…
Jose Juan Tablada
In sheltered areas along the creek, young Coho Salmon have been spotted. The restored creek has been brought back into balance with the cycles of the seasons and the rythms of nature.
For more information, and to visit the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center:
http://www.sfzc.org
soldier ferns, soft moss
beside the slow moving creek
the sun’s rays are warm
Sondra Ball