Creating a Garden of Eden One Mistake at a Time.
Our vision for creating a Garden of Eden was grand, but on the journey there, we managed to make every mistake possible (and even invented a few new ones along the way).
But in true Yoni fashion, he embraced the idea of “making as many mistakes as fast as possible,” so he wasn’t bothered. Meanwhile, I was the one feeling the weight of all those “learning experiences.”
One of our more memorable missteps was assuming we had plenty of water to use on our property.
Spoiler alert: we had close to none.
Even with our commitment to Permaculture, where trees are encouraged to adapt to the natural water levels, we quickly realized that the harsh conditions of our land were going to need more than just good intentions.
True to form, Yoni dove into research mode—so much so that he could’ve given a TED Talk on growing trees in arid zones.
One of the more innovative solutions he discovered was a system developed in, of all places, The Netherlands.
It was called Water Boxes, and the creators claimed it had been used to plant over a million trees in the Sahara to stop the dunes from advancing.
We figured if it could work in the Sahara, it might just work for us too—minus the moving dunes, but with just as little rain.
The idea was simple yet brilliant: you plant a tree in a box filled with 25 or 50 liters of water.
This water source is intended to sustain the tree until it develops roots deep enough to tap into groundwater on its own.
Yoni was thrilled—it seemed like the perfect solution to our water woes.
Being Yoni, he didn’t just stop at one system.
He found two: one that was biodegradable, meaning it would eventually dissolve into the soil, and another that was reusable. Naturally, he ordered 50 of each!
By May 2018, the Water Boxes arrived.
One of the first projects for our WorkAway volunteers was to help Yoni plant trees using these magical boxes.
We had so much hope riding on them.
We planted over 100 trees, each one accompanied by a blessing and a silent prayer that they would thrive and flourish.
Some of them did, and some didn’t.
But one thing’s for sure: we learned a ton through the process.
