This podcast is all about “O.O.O.O.B.Y.”1 — yes, that’s a lot of “O’s”. It means “Out Of Our Own Back Yards” and is the brainchild of OOOOBY’s Founder Pete who with his team has been building technology driven solutions in decentralized food production for small-scale farmers to sell through a national network of independent regional hubs.
I learnt a lot from Pete and love his philosophy how great quality local food supply really is the backbone of resilience when it comes to aspirations around personal freedoms or upholding one’s liberties and independence — so I was very happy for him to agree to be on the Podcast and hope you’ll enjoy it, too.
Meanwhile and to accompany what you’re listening to, the following below are some of my own thoughts on how gardening and growing food can lead to better nature-life-self harmony which has always been priceless to achieve and is even more valuable today. And if I got a bit carried away with other topics, enjoy that, too!
Disclaimer: I’m neither a doctor, nor am I a skilled gardener or farmer yet, but I love plants and nature. Given the concerning trend of food shortages in previously unimagined places2, I would be keen to do more in this direction, including supporting OOOOBY’s investment and growth story (see the end of the article).
Grow Abundance with Gardening
Take a look at this document by the State of Illinois during World War 2 outlining a so-called “victory garden” and how it could be set up to get you and your family, your friends and neighbors through tough times3:
Victory gardens became a way for every American family to supply themselves and their community with fresh food. Twenty million victory gardens were planted anywhere there was room — yards, hanging window boxes, rooftops, even Fenway Park (among many other well-known public spaces). By 1943, American victory gardens generated nearly 40 percent of all vegetables produced in the US!4
Don’t have space for a full blown victory garden or think you don’t need it? Well, you may still wish to consider producing some of your own fruits or vegetables. After all, our gut is like a second brain and affects our state of mind. Indeed, emotional wellbeing has been interlinked with gut health and good food could help reduce risk of depression.
Hence if you’ve got a balcony, why not use food consciously to help your mind by growing some pineapples?
In any case, it’s important to check the quality of the soil first:
Secrets of the Trade
There are many secrets to successful farming. As a musician and deeply interested in the Power of Sound, I’ve been following closely the “Sonic Blooming”5 technique:
Whilst effective, it’s certainly not enough to grow these monsters in your backyard:
Real or not, there are annual competitions for who grows the largest “garden giants” as the Guinness World Records describes them6, so how do people achieve such extraordinary results?
It’s probably a combination of factors and most likely starts already at the seed stage, which I’ve revealed to Premium Subscribers at the end of Realign with Nature.
However there are many other effective tricks to get more yield from your backyard, for instance “Electroculture”7. This concept uses conductive materials (such as copper, brass or zinc pipes, coils or nails) to tap into electrical, magnetic and other types of currents that our atmosphere is charged with, thereby harnessing and directing its energy flows towards the plants and trees one wants to grow.
Aspects of electro gardening include:
antennas (some recommend different windings depending on whether you live in the Northern or in the Southern hemisphere),
magnets,
electric fields,
and many more. All have their pro’s and con’s and are not without consequences (as they affect Earth’s electric and magnetic atmosphere and the insects and organisms living in the soil), so it’s important to cultivate the knowledge before elevating your garden8 and do it responsibly.
Using electricity as a fertilizer9 has enabled not just a difference in size, but also in resilience and accelerated plant growth, e.g. in the case of sunflowers:
Electroculture can also protect and stimulate bee hives with magnets copper strips and Lakhovsky coils.10
Healing and Repair
Parasites are tiny creatures that can infect the nervous system of organisms, effectively exerting a form of mind control by altering behavior — e.g. insects who can't swim are made to jump into water11 in order for the parasites to eventually propagate their own species.
Whether vegetables and fruits have to fight a parasite or have become infected with a fungus or bacteria, knowing how to heal and repair plants and trees is a valuable skill that anyone can learn:
Who knows, perhaps by studying nature and trying to understand the “brains” of other organisms, we will eventually learn more about our own, as even after many decades of research, our brain remains a fascinating mystery.
It reacts to sounds and noises with a natural resonance that is often felt and associated with negative consequences such as sleep disorders, stress, etc., however, knowledge of resonance can also be used positively — for example through biological acoustic resonance processes tuning the brain into specific healing frequency ranges (such as absolute deep relaxation), or (as in this case with 528 Hz), to promote better, healthier and faster growth of plants:
Brain, Mind and Gut
The ancient greeks proposed that the mind resides in the gut and even today we commonly say “gut instinct”12 when referring to a sixth sense or intuitive moment.
Whilst instinct, sixth sense and intuition are certainly triggered by different causes and operate in their own unique way, as mentioned above the science of our gut microbiome has heavily evolved in recent years, indicating that it not only influences our brain health13 and its associated thinking capabilities, but that it also plays a key role in neurological conditions such as depression and neurodegenerative diseases14.
Obtaining a continuously growing understanding for the gut biome, some companies have taken to artificial intelligence to create “food as medicine” by delivering hyper-precision nutrition.15
This makes sense, especially at times when the Human Gut Microbiome is about to become an “endangered species”.
By leveraging the microbiome-mitochondria axis16 (a model for how bioactive molecules, nature's food packaging and instructions help coordinate nutritional energy transformation by our gastrointestinal tracts and cells), we can gain more clarity on the direction of food science to help solve the metabolic crisis on hand:
This axis is supported by the vagus nerve, the longest of our cranial nerves, mostly known for being linked to subconscious actions such as breathing and digestion, playing a role in controlling voice, mood, heart rate, and the immune system.
A dense highway of neurons evolved to support high-bandwidth communications directly between brain and gut, the vagus nerve can manage stress and anxiety, as it’s not housed within the sympathetic nervous system, which typically triggers our well known fight-flight-freeze responses, thus able to support mind-body wellness, digestion and relaxation.
Because of this gut link, there are certain herbs which are particularly beneficial for the vagus nerve promoting said uses17, such as:
Passionflower
Astragalus
Lemon Balm
Skullcap
Chamomile
Tulsi
and others.
Vagus nerve stimulation can also be done via the nerve inside the ears. A very low frequency sound (the exact Hz can be disclosed to Premium members) helps to quickly balance cytokines and could even fix pains within hours as the body comes back to normal homeostasis. Other than sound, the same frequency could also be deployed via “light ear pods” and thus yield a special effect.
Light, the Pineal Gland, and Crystals
Given the medical indications of photodynamic and photobiomodulation therapies18 for diseases such as diabetes, metabolic and concentration disorders, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases, as well as for dealing with a weakened immune system, depression, fatigue and burn-out, there is a good chance that the effectiveness of laser light therapy in combination with certain frequencies and supplements (with light-sensitive properties acting as photosensitizers activated by specific wavelengths), can provide both targeted nutrition and information to the gut delivering a unique value.
Latest research into the science of laser therapy shows that it could improve microcirculation and perfusion of oxygen uptake by increasing nitric oxide (NO) production19, activate telomerase and inhibit the degradation of telomeres which play a role in longevity and “slow-aging”. I personally use the EndoLight® Band which is quite ergonomic, easy to wear and super easy to travel with.
Read more:
Light also plays a role in regulating sleep and wake cycles, causing the pineal gland not only to convert serotonin into melatonin, thereby directing the rhythms in our body, but is also linked to specific wave patterns of our brain activity (from deep sleep over dreaming to wakefulness) allowing us to seamlessly move between different states of consciousness.
With many rhythm generators and oscillators already identified in the human being, various levels of conscious activity are linked to different frequencies with those in the brain ranging between 0.5 Hz and 100 Hz20.
Not only that, at the California Institute of Technology nearly three decades ago, a group of researchers found that the electromagnetic field generated by cell phones can stimulate the magnetite crystals in our brains21. Yes, we have crystals in our brains! This in turn can then trigger certain signals to the pineal gland, which again (and unfortunately often adversely) affects the production of certain proteins and hormones, thus causing a stress reaction.
Feel with your Heart to Claim Nature’s Rewards
So what’s the solution?
Luckily the brain isn’t the only electromagnetic field generator in humans. The heart is electrically and magnetically much stronger than the brain and it’s well known that by changing the magnetic and/or electrical field of atoms, the elements associated with said atoms also change accordingly.
With the human body exhibiting both electrical and magnetic fields of energy and our heart’s ability to create and act in both fields, perhaps we can even affect a certain change in the atoms within ourselves and the world surrounding us as well?
Research on how our heart influences and works with the brain has been taken to new levels by the HeartMath Institute. They have developed a system of scientifically validated techniques based on the study of heart rate variability and heart-brain interactions, leading up to coherence, allowing people to realize the role intuition plays in becoming who they truly are, to increase their resilience, compassion and self security. Revealing the benefits of interconnected global coherence, the research and tools are empowering to more deeply follow the intuitive guidance of our own hearts.
Indeed our hearts are truly special. Even many decades ago, some German researchers claimed that a normal person's chest area typically emits22 about 20 photons of light per second and that when they studied people who "send love" to others, the results came in at 100,000 photons per second23.
True or not24, it’s certainly conceivable that higher frequency vibrations are generated when there is a “loving healing intention” in these photons. The process could even hold the secret to changing the quality of matter on the physical plane, thereby curing diseases or transforming negative emotions.
“Emotional waves” could also be of obvious importance in the field effect on biology (as we are) immersed in living fields of vibrational information and specific frequencies and patterns of electromagnetic radiation (which can) regulate DNA, RNA and protein syntheses, altering protein shame and function, control gene regulation, cell division, hormone secretion, nerve growth and function, (and more). — Bruce H. Lipton, Phd.
“The intelligence of the Heart is the intelligence of the Universe to hold itself in unison.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce
Invest In and With Your Heart
To me, this is why a typical venture capitalist or mere financial investor seldom gets the reality of the world at large and thus can hardly make the best decisions for their limited partners (“LPs”). Stuck within a mindset of greed it’s easy to get blinded by e.g.
asking for a valuation and using that as a filter, without even seeing or understanding the real opportunity on the deal;
only investing in first time funds and founders that are hungry to succeed and therefore easier to control;
creating an atmosphere of fear through onerous terms thereby causing a lack of leadership by the real visionaries behind the venture.
Perhaps VC’s original successes also radiated from people’s hearts yearning for others to succeed, being less focused on the venture itself. This investment spirit possibly changed with each financial crisis where most VC’s realized that they now themselves have someone else (e.g. LP’s) to report to.
Coming back to the motto at the beginning — “At the Heart of Resilience, Nature's Garden awaits”, I will be investing (with my heart) into the people and the ventures that support nature. And if in that capacity I can support you on your journey in any way, I’d be happy to hear from you.
Best,
Toby
X (@groenendijkp): The Red Cross raises the alarm about increasing food shortages. In Rotterdam.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Library: Recipe for Victory — Food and Cooking in Wartime.
University of Illinois: The New Victory Garden.
Guiness World Records: Giant vegetable showdown sees 4 world records broken.
Cultivate Elevate: Electroculture Gardening Techniques for Beginners.
ElectricFertilizer™: The 12 Principles of ElectroPermaculture.
Yannick Van Doorne: Electroculture, Good vibes for Agriculture.
NewScientist: Parasites brainwash grasshoppers into death dive.
BrainPost: How Gut Microbiota Affect Brain Health.
Neuroscience News: Gut Microbes May Lead to Therapies for Mental Illness.
StartUp Health (Medium): BetterMeal AI Delivers Hyper-Precision Nutrition Through Better Understanding of the Gut Biome.
Anima Mundi Apothecary: Rituals To Soothe The Vagus Nerve.
Martin Junggebauer’s Substack: Light and Equanimity.
EMOTIV®: Basics of Neural Oscillations.
The California Institute of Technology 1992 Study led by Joseph L. Kirschvink:
Source: National Library of Medicine — Magnetite biomineralization in the human brain.
Nature: Distribution of magnetic remanence carriers in the human brain.
Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine • Volume 16 • Number 3: Puran Bair — Visible Light Radiated From The Heart With Heart Rhythm Meditation:
AAP Factcheck: Science shines light on claims meditation makes body brighter.
Backyard Freedom