Pardesa blooms in the spring (even in the rain)

Dear community,

these last few months at Pardesa have been overflowing: with sun and rain, friends and nature, creativity and abundance, space and silence. It’s been a real pleasure to share this time together during retreats, courses and volunteer weeks. Among the many new elements are a rainwater collection pond (lilies and irises are on their way), new and productive vegetable gardens, and hedges that will soon offer their perfume.

Below we’ve posted a few photos from our events so you can taste some of their beautiful energy.

As you may know, the region of Emilia Romagna (where Pardesa is located) has recently been hit by extremely severe rainstorms, producing landslides and flooding. Here at Pardesa we’ve had only small issues that we’ll be fixing over the next year, but in the nearby town of Livergnano and the Futa Road you can still see the storm’s drastic effects. There’s so much to learn and to change: not only how to reduce our contribution to the climate crisis, but also how to implement resilient systems that can survive these kinds of extreme conditions. Many of the techniques we’ve used here at Pardesa, for example terracing, trees planted along contour lines, and the use of cover crops, in fact, have helped slow the flow of rainwater and reduce the damage and erosion. We’ll be doing our best to continue to share this know-how and best practices.

Looking forward to seeing you this summer, beginning with three special events: