Category: Uncategorized
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The Knowing
Lessons from Devon, Tomatoes, and a Life Lived Widely By Tarka Robin Padbury The journey of my life began in two third-world countries shaped by revolution and regime change: South Africa and Zimbabwe. I’ve since lived in the U.S.A. and Britain. To me, these Western lands always held the promise of opportunity — a place…
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The World Is a Garden You Made
Gardens are a matter of perspective. I remind myself of this as I watch my nephews race across my allotment, sometimes trampling the plants I’ve tended with care. For them, the allotment is an ecosystem—an exciting maze of hidden paths and edible treasures. They run, explore, and gleefully pick beans and peas that are ready…
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Free Water!
The UK is seeing declining living standards, this has really challenged my political views. Recently I cut the hedge at my allotment, and there was a lot of controversy regarding boundaries. Do we really own land? Civilizations come and go and nature hides the ruins. When working on my allotment I meditate on letting go…
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Birds of a feather flock together.
Westward Ho! today was the perfect setting for my first busking performance for the year. Months have been spent in my studio learning new equipment, exploring new music, and producing backing tracks for my performances. Hopefully all my busking experiences will be as fun as today. Making friends with a parrot really made the months…
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Lest we forget.
The Harmonious Devon Blog helps me to remember where I have come from, appreciate the present, be open to the future. My allotment was overgrown, and the structures needed repair. Now I am beginning to literally enjoy the fruits of my labor. It’s easy to look at some of the more established allotments and make…
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Kill or be killed.
Fitting in socially for a non-neurotypical can be daunting and confusing, the laws of gardening and nature are simple. When we plant a seed there are two outcomes, they grow or they don’t. Plants don’t care if you have followed celebrity gardeners instructions to plant on certain months with specific planting techniques. They live and…
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Fading Winter
Getting ready for winter gardening
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Yin and Yan
What is the nature of God, is something I have been pondering the first week of February. The story of the creation speaks of God giving judgement for the wickedness of people on earth, but at the same time providing grace and mercy in the Ark. The flood is a universal epic passed down to…
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The times are changing
January 2025-waste to be removed, (Management have come to inspect. Dad and Jamie) Those of you who know me will know that through a marriage break-up I have returned to live in Devon after about 18 years of living in Essex, Chelmsford. When I left Devon I was a young man looking to gain a…
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‘Let’s start from the very beginning’
I had privilege of introducing my three daughters to music from a very young age. They could not read and were so young that trying to explain simple concepts like a ‘High note’ or then note C, D, E, became very complex tasks for me. I was learning to play the Celtic harp at the same…
Harmonious Devon 