Digging the Past, Seeding the Future
Craig Fees
If ever anything were improbable, or even impossible (think of Freud), it would be an independent archive and study centre dedicated to the field of ‘therapeutic community’. But we exist. This presentation examines the how and why, and looks ahead.
In the labour intensive mixed agricultural economy of an archive and study centre, where you naturally have your fruit and vegetables, your flowers and grasses, your water plants, your sequoiah and joshua tree seedlings, and your grains and vines all growing among each other, there are also paths to keep clear, walls and garden structures to maintain, weeds to pull and plant, and a growing seed bank to stock and tend. Plus visitors and queries. All within the context of climate change and the vagaries of the weather. It’s hard and busy work. Fifteen years ago there was nothing here. It could have failed on many occasions. It’s still here, and now we’re talking about expanding the garden; or, perhaps more precisely, deepening. Let’s talk about how this has all come about; and what the next stage is. And your role in particular.