MASTER Choy championed the Potimarron – or onion squash – 40 years ago, not only by growing so many in his own gardens every day, but by distributing seeds to all those who want them – for free!
To date, thousands of seeds have been sent worldwide, even as far as South Africa. He has also distributed many fruits to the soup kitchens in nearby towns and cities. And now he has brought them to Spain to feed you!
October 2019, two days before the Malaga floods, Master Choy and his wife Christine came to live at El Chopo – Cortes de la Frontera with a deep rooted vision to reopen their former UK-based Happilization Centre.
With a group of 10 students from all over the world they are exploring a new approach on agriculture through Tai Chi Chi Kung practice and healing.
“You are doing physical gardening, but you are doing soul gardening at the same time, except nobody told you!” explains Choy.
“Your growth is mirrored in the growth of Nature and then you start connecting to Nature.
“Nature has its own secret beneath the ground, so that is why we grow the potimarron very close to each other where they support each other in ways we never understand. We can learn from that as human beings, how to support ourselves and each other.”
But before they could even start preparing the gardens, the river came and flooded their property – secretly nurturing their ground and clearing the old away! A blessing in disguise.
Once the damage was cleared, a new heart-felt relationship with the local people and international community from Cortes de la Frontera and Cañada had been built, after having exchanged so much support to each other.
CIRCULAR GARDENS
“I have come to build a happy home, just like everyone else!” Master Choy shared.
Only his circular gardens, with over 200 potimarrons growing, has already attracted many curious noses, wondering what these big bright orange fruits are.
“The Potimarron is a mix between a poti (pumpkin) and a marron (chestnut). And to us it is like a mascot, a solution to world hunger and a message from our hearts. At the centre we are not only growing this amazing vegetable that can feed a family with 3-4 children, and can be kept for 12 months.
But what if these families also learn to grow them themselves? How many can they grow! The saying is, if you want to feed someone, don’t give them fish, teach them how to fish! But the person needs the fish while he is learning to fish. Hence we distribute Potimarrons and their seeds wherever we can!”
The Potimarron message is not just saying ‘Hey here is some beautiful nourishing food!’ but also encouraging people to grow and share their creative fruits!
POTIMARRON DRAWINGS
With every fruit Master Choy and his Tai Chi students tune in to see that this fruit/vegetable is going to go to somebody, someone who is going to be attracted to this particular Potimarron because of the design on it which connects maybe to love, to joy or any other quality. This morning he did one called “Ola” for example.
To him, as an artist, who is not only an artist but an educator, a vegetable looking back at you saying “I love you”, sort of throws people… “What?! How can you love me, I am the one that is hungry, that is eating you, I am the one who wants to cut you up, make soup out of you.”
Just for a split second, a split moment, that somebody takes a pause, to change his or her thinking, ‘wow there is this beautiful, radiant being shining back at me’.
Even if it is just one split second, he is happy, that’s the Potimarron Message. And than they can go and cut it up!
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You get 60 – 65 seeds from a small potimarron. Share it with neighbours, friends, relatives. From one Potimarron, you can have 65 plants, and from these even more.
That’s how the multiplication works, that’s the Tai Chi energy – distribution.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND US?
You can visit us at El Chopo in Cañada del Real Tesoro. For more information please contact: peterchin2@icloud.com