http://news.newspress.com/westmont/0904oasis.htm
Spiritual oasis found in organic garden
9/4/00
By RHONDA PARKS MANVILLE
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
rparks@newspress.com
When Glorianna Buynak ventures into town to run errands, she's always
happy to return to her chickens, trees and plants on seven serene acres
at the edge of Santa Barbara.
"I go downtown and my head spins," she said. "I have to
spend a certain amount of time in my garden to get over that."
Buynak's garden is her spiritual oasis, a place where she communes with
nature and grows organic food for her and her husband, Tim, a lawyer. The
garden has become her way of life and she hopes that someday the practice
is common, instead of rare.
"How we grow food and eat food is a form of practicing devotion. It
becomes our communion -- or common union with the earth," said
Buynak, a member of the Sisters of Earth environmental network.
"There's a real healing from plants that you can't get from other
things -- a lot of that energy is the missing link."
Buynak's colorful, peaceful garden contains native live oaks, pines and
redwoods, along with vegetables and herbs, succulents, flowers, citrus
and other fruits, and majestic, sweeping pepper trees. The plants are
linked by soft, meandering paths lined with wood chips and other natural
materials. There is no asphalt or concrete, not even in the parking area.
Composting turns organic waste into rich soil that is folded back into
the earth. Two donkeys control the weeds and produce manure for
fertilizer.
The garden is her sanctuary, her source for spiritual guidance and her
teacher. But this was not always so.
Ten years ago, Buynak was running on overdrive most the time. She owned a
costume business and a bed-and-breakfast inn and managed property. In
addition, she and her husband were raising two teen-agers.
Yearning for a break from all that business activity, the Buynaks 10
years ago bought the seven acres at Foothill and Laurel Canyon roads,
which they later named "NamastŽ Santuario."
The purpose of the purchase was to live in harmony with nature. Glorianna
planned to take a year off to work with the land, but 10 years later it
is a full-time endeavor.
She was inspired through the writings of New Age ecologist Machaelle
Small Wright to become a co-creator in the garden, growing plants
believed to have curative powers. Buynak, her husband and son Todd also
studied permaculture and have used those concepts to plant a sustainable
garden.
"I wanted to return to a more simple way of life, and this really
fills me," she said. "People shop and shop, and watch TV, and
they feel hollow. Taking time to connect with nature is really magical.
It helps you to feel part of the cycle."
The Buynaks' land serves as an example to others with similar interests.
It's a private place, with access by invitation only.
Her advice to harried people who want to connect with nature? First, she
recommends eating organic food and wearing organic cottons, the latter of
which do not contain harmful, polluting dyes. And she urges people to
reduce, reuse and recycle.
For the more ambitious, she suggests composting waste and growing organic
food. It's not as hard as one might think, she said.
"Take out your lawn, turn off the news and plant food," she
says. "This is the creation, the Garden of Eden. Let's take care of
it."