WE ARE THOSE WHO HARVEST

We are Those Who Harvest, welcome to this: our humble blog. 

A place for us to share with you, dear internet, the things we’ve learnt, and more importantly, are currently learning through a never-ending process of trial and error, and through lived experiences of many different kinds. 

But first, allow us to introduce ourselves: we are Bushrah and Nevau. By no means experts, sages, masters, or oracles in any way, but certainly keen experimenters and strong believers in the try-it-yourself-to-figure-out-how-to-do-it-best methodology. We are on what some might call a “mission” to live better lives. “Better in what sense?” you might wonder. Well, better in the truest deepest sense: better for ourselves, better for others, and essentially better for the planet we call home – ultimately better for the universe that surrounds us. The world, especially the internet, is now littered (excuse the pun) with all sorts of theories claiming to help people be better in the above-mentioned ways – we have filtered through a fair few, narrowing them down to those which we see as essential, and included some of our own creation. These theories govern our path to being better, and essentially define what this blog stands for.

Biomimicry

Nature has literally spent millions of years perfecting its balance – surely it would be wise to draw inspiration from it, and use it to our advantage? To us, this means mimicking nature and its systems, farming organically, minimising our waste, and constantly finding and trying new ways to be as environmentally regenerative as possible.

Ecological Consciousness

The disconnect between humans and the ecosystem must draw to a close. Awareness of the environment that we depend on, and our role in it needs to become a core value – we simply don’t have a choice. This consciousness means taking note of all the footprints we have, and our individual and collective effects and responsibilities that they entail.

Minimalism

Function over form – materialism and useless embellishments have no place in the journey to being better. Besides, we’ve often found that things which are the most functional tend to have a simplistic, natural beauty of their own anyway.

Regeneration

We need to be more than just sustainable. We need to actively do that which helps the planet to reverse the damage which humankind has inflicted. What can we do to improve the environmental situation, instead of just trying to sustain it?

Do-easy

Bruce Lee sums it up pretty perfectly: “Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water…” Do-easy is inspired by a short film from Gus Van Sant, illustrating how sometimes, the easiest and calmest way is the best.

Experimentation

Try and try again. One thing we’ve learnt in our short time farming, is that in life the variables and factors are numerous and constantly changing, so the only way to really know whether something works or not is to try it. As Thomas Edison said about his failed light-bulb experiments: “I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 that won’t work.”

Hands-on

To know something theoretically is great, but to really know something, one has to experience it first-hand. So it follows that we try to be as DIY as possible – we’ve found that this method not only saves money, but also often opens up new possibilities which we had never foreseen.

Community

One thing that society is sorely lacking these days is the togetherness humans need to thrive. Let’s do away with all the barriers that are holding us as a greater whole back. 

Sharing of Knowledge

What good would come from keeping discoveries to one’s self? Not much. The days of ego-centricism are ending, and now is the time for sharing knowledge that we gather – whether it is from our successes or failures.

Well that’s enough for now about what we believe in, who are we exactly? Well, to put it frankly, we are people who harvest fruit and philosophy, honey and hope, energy and experience, information and intention. Growers of chives, chilli and change. We want to grow a community of free-thinkers, seed savers and changemakers – those who plant anything from carrots to informative ideas. Now, more than ever, ecosystems need help and the environment requires regeneration. This is our way of helping to restore the balance.

These are weird times, there can be no doubt of that. The most privileged cohort of society by-and-large serve their own interests and those of the few like them; society raises people to be cogs in the machine; humankind uses and abuses planet earth with little, if any, regard for it, and certainly barely any consideration for generations still to come; and yet – people are waking up. Slowly but surely – indeed, microscopically at first in some places, but undeniably in general. A growing underlying movement, which is yet undefined and still massively fragmented into countless other movements, ideologies, groups and changes; has begun and is stirring deep below the cresting bombardment of media sensory overload we are overwhelmed with every day. Whether they realise it or not, the 10 year old boy growing his own basil in a pot on a balcony in Hong Kong, the middle-aged woman building her own bee hives in Zambia, the school teacher in the USA teaching their students what “GMO” stands for, the businesswoman in Japan choosing to buy organic tomatoes instead of “commercial” counterparts, the old couple in England replacing the light bulbs in their retirement home with energy savers, the rugby player swallowing his masculinity and following his heart to avoid eating meat despite his fear of criticism, are all members of a unique new movement, despite their differences, and even more importantly, despite them not knowing it yet.

When faced with the overarching question defining our generation: what do we do about everything going wrong in the world (read: inequality, climate change, etc., etc., etc.,) many, ourselves included, simply don’t have an answer and are rather intimidated by not having one. So we’re doing the next best thing: what we can. And we firmly believe that that is all everybody needs to do: what they can. The smallest changes may seem insignificant at first, or feel lost in a sea of despair, but they do cause ripple-on-a-lake type of changes. So this is us, doing what we can – publishing our little learnings as they happen, for the world to read and share in. Perhaps you’ll find something useful and helpful. Maybe you’ll have a chuckle at or with us. Possibly you’re just plain curious about the life-path change we’ve made, and why we’re doing it. Or maybe you feel an urge to try and help the world somehow, like we do… who knows? Whatever the case may be, here you will find a catalogue of sorts – chronicling, in a probably-not-so-scientific manner, the things we’ve picked up here and there that maybe might just make this world a slightly better place. So please: do enjoy, share, give us your thoughts and impart your experiences on us – after all, the whole point is mutual learning.

– Nevau, one of those who harvest