acacian, some good and thoughtful observations in your post (as always)
..I’ll return to a few of them shortly..but regarding species c, it relates to a tangent i felt needed a reminder again…
for parks management to be aware of this means it is clearly not small scale harvesting with a solid code of ethics as some claim .. pretty grim.
Yes…it’s all relevant to the quote posted by SHYBZY…which was from 12 years ago, and in context an ongoing dialogue beyond that…it’s interesting to revisit… as I communicated to cheif hobo stank, I completely understood and resonated with all their concerns about the public sharing of information about acacias, in Australia..
That leads me to tell a historical story..I’ve told this story too many times before, but probably not for quite a few years, and it's still relevant, especially for a new generation..(here we go, one more time.. )
..let’s call it “Wailing Trees”
I had both the luck and the misfortune of being there, at a much earlier age, when the youthful, naive and hopeful 'found' (in a modern context), or first bio-assayed some of these species. Fresh in the astonishment and reverence at the spiritual, creative and psychological research power of this flora - seeing only the possible benefits for humanity at the time. That information was revealed to others, who in turn made it internet public, or shared that information with people with self opportunistic rather than healing motives.
After a few years, one of these species in particular became highly abused in its natural environment, largely national parks, by the advantageous, and the shady. Old mother seed trees were stripped of their bark, left as skeletons to die. Large areas had nearly whole populations of mature adult trees killed in this way.
Not all acacias are as fast growing or short lived as some think. Some of these species take a long time in the wild to reach even modest size. And they're not as common as claimed (often by the opportunists and those self-justifiers). They're concentrated in certain areas, restricted in national parks and nature reserves, or land clearing has changed dated records. There's the ecological destruction aspect..these trees are crucial habitat and food sources for many forms of life..they can't support wide-scale harvesting. Already in some areas of NSW one species in particular, who I know well, may be on the way out in certain locations, and may require regeneration to ever return to natural numbers in one national park.
Whole graveyards of trees were reported. Birds watched more silently from the bushes, or sounded alarm at encroaching humans.
A number of advantageous people began the commodification of wild plants.A few of these people used their power base of corrupt extracts for ego driven self promotion and gain. The situation became particularly bad in the late 90s/early 2000s, when large amounts of plant extracted alkaloids (from national parks and similar) were marketed in new catchy ways to feed international festivals, and a new kind of semi-casual usage to move larger amounts.
The things is, for this story it's not The End yet, but hopefully the final act...
..people offered products need to contemplate the ethics of what they've been offered, where is it from? should you even receive such a thing from strangers? What is the motivation behind this?..another name for the story could be:
“Bloody Hands of the Changa”
It remains the most shameful era in Australian acacia history, and a terrible indictment for the so-called conscious entheogenic community. It's appalling eco-vandalism.
The thoughts and feelings of those who knew and respected these sacred trees - how can I explain...? I'd liken it to coming across a beautiful remarkable woman who has been raped and left battered and bleeding, and you call this out to people, say this is wrong, and some of them go ‘She was good..let’s go back for more’!
It happened under the watch of people in the community who put social diplomacy above ethics, or at least couldn't quite comprehend where it was headed.
As for those who harmed these trees, these sacred forest places, for their own ends -
personally..I think these people will never see the true face of a beautiful tree, or it's molecules...only their own reflected distortions..and they will have to eventually face their actions and clouds in the Bardo.
Or eventually, if they want to keep experiencing plants, they'll have to face themselves. But the wisdom to successfully and sustainably work with such plants is built up over thousands of years in cultures, and the haphazard and commodity driven modern culture could well respect that more, before any wisdom left is also extinct...
..yeah, what to do?
The decision to create this thread was not taken lightly, and was done so after years of watching what was happening, the increasing destruction..and diminishing levels of high level or therapeutic experiential reports, due to an increasing slackness in set, setting, and general awareness around the significance of what was been partaken in.
It was also after some thought and consultation. The cat being out of the bag as they say with some species, and the level of now generated consumer demand with lack of ethics, required something to take the pressure off as much as possible for these trees. The spreading of ecological eco-ethical knowledge and the widening of the knowledge pool, towards increasing diversity, sustainability and cultivation..and by asking the more conscious community to collaborate in this endeavour...this was seen as the best strategy. And the Nexus as the most balanced, accurate and ethics orientated forum (with a remarkable pool of knowledge) , as the best platform
Further consideration led to some theories about knowledge - (more) information, about acacias, and also of itself..which I'll discuss when i return..
These trees have molecules but are also living beings, like us. Respect and care for life is one of the oldest kinds of wisdom on the planet…
...
Seedling Care
acacian wrote:
re: fertilisation.. I was wondering whether light fertilisation during the seedling stage is something that they would benefit from or whether best to wait till they're more mature? Also if using a sandy mix I have noticed best to have something underneath the pot as if the medium dries out too much before the roots have established it can fall through the pot! I had this happen to a few seedlings in hiko trays recently
..fertiliser in the
seedling stage is probably best diluted in water, and watering best done by misting, as they are certainly
very delicate when sprouting… ..this has reminded me of something i wish I’d added in the cultivation advice earlier, and that is, with the river sand/peat potting mix, a handy addition is a bit of perlite or even better the expanded clay balls (used sometimes in hydroponics)..this gives forming roots something to grip onto, and can help increase growth …in the seedling stage, just one or two of these clay balls (being quite porous) give the seedlings something to hold onto, and can quicken root rate growth…
Below is a baby acacia seedling sprouting from a ‘seed ball’…these are used in re-forestation and forestry, and like the clay balls provide a footing for the tiny acacia treelets …they are very delicate.