George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist, author, and inventor

This American hero, George Washington Carver , was wise, kind, and brilliant, and I am thankful that his words are still around for us today.    

When I review his quotes, I see how strongly I agree with his ideas, and we both love the same things. Even as children, we had similar interests. 

“I wanted to know the name of every stone and flower and insect and bird and beast. I wanted to know where it got its color, where it got its life - but there was no one to tell me.” 

- George Washington Carver

This quote strikes me how grateful we can be for the phone apps that allow us to identify plants and animals in our environments . George would have loved it! 

“Reading about nature is alright, but when a person walks through the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” 

-George Washington Carver

In food forestry, we practice observing nature and listening to God’s still voice as we watch . 

"Young people, I want to beg of you to always keep your eyes open to what Mother Nature has to teach you. By doing so, you will learn many valuable things every day of your life."

-George Washington Carver

You will learn universal truths that apply across all areas of life in nature . 

A food forest is the plane midway between the infinity existing above us in outer space , and the infinity below us in microscopic beings and and matter on Earth . 

The more you look at the tiny, the more new, even smaller things you find. The more you look into space, the more huge stuff you see. But you have to place your attention there. 

The zero plane of food forest is just as infinite as the above and the below, but it is on the ground . 

There are infinitely expanding patterns all around us, just waiting for us to place our attention there. There is excellent abundance there, so I encourage you to pay attention to nature’s lessons around you . 

Another beautiful thing to observe in the food forest is that all biota perform unique roles to help themselves and each other in their biodiverse community that performs as a united community , the “ Food Forest University .” 

By focusing our attention on nature around us, we discover that the place is teeming with life . And they are not at war, but rather that all contribute by doing unique jobs, feeding on each other and plants and fungi, and balancing each other’s populations .   

I believe nature’s design is for us to be at peace with each other and with the steady rhythms of birth, life, death, and transformation of the material body into new energy and form .   

In the forest, everything decomposes and becomes part of the next cycle of life. It doesn’t seem so sad if you see it as a rhythm of ebb and flow. When you see a beautiful young flower, you know that it came from a seed that fell from a parent that is no longer here. And that is okay. That is what is going to happen to all of us. So we can be a pretty flower or a healthy tree or a beautiful human being for the life we have on Earth. We can choose to enjoy it and not worry about dying. 

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour if we will only tune in.”

-George Washington Carver

To this, I say, Nature shows great kindness to us in a food forest, and when you focus on that, you will unlock joy and abundance for yourself and the diverse plants, fungi, and animals on your land.

“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”

-George Washington Carver