"Those who practice the Art of Peace must protect the domain of Mother Nature, the divine reflection of creation, and keep it lovely and fresh. Warriorship gives birth to natural beauty. The subtle techniques of a warrior arise as naturally as the appearance of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Warriorship is none other than the vitality that sustains all life." -Morihei Ueshiba

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The White Pines land

includes a rolling meadow, very young white pine-dominated forest, and an older, mixed coniferous forest. Wildlife abounds here with many dear, bear, rabbit and coyote. The meadow and forest team with bird life from spring to fall.

As of 2008, we have created running trails, solar shower, camping facilities, organic gardens and orchard. In addition to planting a garden and orchard, our future plan is to work at restoring the creek to its natural form and vitality by lining the bottom with many different sizes of rocks. Along its sides, we will plant native deciduous and coniferous trees including cedar, poplar, alder, willow and birch. Over time, the trees will provide shade and increase the water quality of the creek. The growth of native, moisture loving ground cover will also be encouraged. At the lower end of the creek there is a 30-foot drop. There, we will create a series of cascading water falls that flow into a pond.

In our stewardship of this land we will follow the principles of permaculture, where the land is a living organism with nutrient cycles that sustain an abundance of life. One of the useful ideas in permaculture is planting in zones so that the highest maintenance systems are closest to the dwelling. Thus herb, vegetable and berry gardens will be close to the straw bale building. The next zone is the orchard and forest, where wild edible and medicinal plants will be encouraged to grow and are harvested. The final zone is the outermost part of the forest and wildflower meadow, which is left mostly untouched. We will host upcoming permaculture workshops focusing on design, organic gardening, seed preservation, pruning, composting, mulching, water and nutrient recycling, and agroforestry.