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mUD MOUNTAIN BLOG

                                                                         
Back in 2011, I found myself camping alone on a remote
Turkish hill. There was no power or water on the land.
It was the start of an adventure that profoundly changed
my beliefs about what is enjoyable, or possible...
Get Mud Mountain the book.

 The Secret Garden

24/8/2015

17 Comments

 
Until now I haven’t done much to publicise The Mud website. I've let it grow organically, and it has wriggled its way upwards in gentle anfractuous pulses, a bit like the wild grape vine outside my bathroom. This is the same grapevine that was dismissed by both Dudu and Celal as being a waste of space, because it was wild and would never bear fruit. Today that same vine is bulging with sweet, globules of purple. Well it would. It’s next to my composting toilet.
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Back to The Mud. This spring, I decided it was make or break time for www.themudhome.com. The site has germinated, it has pushed its virtual head through the soil, grown leaves and branches, and a fairly stout trunk. But it’s time for it to bear a little fruit too. Lord knows, I've watered it enough. So I took inspiration from the grapevine. Last month I decided to throw a little manure on. Flippin’ ‘eck! As we say back home.

The Mud website has burgeoned. And naturally, all sorts of other life is attracted. I’m blessed with flocks of happy emails, the buzzings of would-be natural builders and freedom seekers all greeting me from far and near. It’s a good feeling to see the fruit you planted enjoyed by others, to hear people say they had never considered building without cement until they saw your house, to have your books and posts devoured like succulent grapes, to connect with like-minded souls. I had no idea there were so many!

Quite naturally too, those in the vicinity would like to visit, to see The Mud in the flesh. And it pains me to turn Mud searchers down, it really does. I have been delving into nooks of my mind this month, trying to feel out just why I can’t have visitors. I then something happened. And I got it. I really got it.

I was clearing out my shed a few weeks ago when I came across a box full of books. I pulled apart the floppy cardboard flaps, and there on the top was the well-known children’s story, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Pulling it out, I read the first page, and couldn't put it down. 

Just in case you haven’t read it, The Secret Garden concerns a contrary little girl (horrid even) called Mary Lennox who has been orphaned in India. Mary is shipped back to Yorkshire to live in a dark manor with a hunchback uncle, his sick child called Colin, and a locked secret garden. What more could she want, eh? To cut a long story short, Mary sniffs out the key to the secret garden and breaks in. She begins tending the crocuses and messing about in the earth which is full of Magic. Yet the garden remains a secret (shh!). Eventually she tells Dickon, a local boy who has a way with animals and is a bit Magic himself. The two children attempt to bring the garden back to life, and the therapeutic effect of the endeavour renders Mary much less horrid than she was. Eventually, she also lets sick Colin into the secret. Both of them are healed by The Secret Garden. Colin even begins walking.

Naturally, I was enthralled by the tale because it mirrored so closely my own experience here on the land; the healing properties of tending the Earth, the connection with animals, the Magic. Yet most significant of all, the story highlighted a point I’d unwittingly passed over in my own experience. The importance of the secret element in the garden. How primal it must be for each of us to have a space of our own, a place outside eyes can’t pierce, a corner of the earth we can be explore our souls, and damn it, do what the hell we like!

This need is incredibly universal. Even my dog doesn’t want to share her kennel, and sniffs at me irritably when I try to get in it. (Now, you may rightly ask why I was trying to get in my dog’s kennel in the first place. Honestly, I just wondered what she’d do.) Children make dens, husbands construct man caves, authors hide away in purpose-built writing rooms, Celal had his wooden hut, my granddad had a garden shed in which he’d sit upon an upturned bucket.

We all harbour this yearning for privacy, because society is officious, judgemental and staid. It’s like a nagging parent, or a bossy warden, incessantly restricting the expression our true selves. We all need a secret garden where we can play without the outside world interfering. For some it might be about the freedom to chuck motorbike parts all over the carpet, for others it could be about not having to make cup of tea for anyone, or not having to wax your legs, for others it might be about making love unabashed in the forest on a whim, or watering the plants naked, for others it could be a space where the phone never rings, or the boss can’t bother you, perhaps it’s a child's cubby hole in which you create a magic world, a safe place where the adult world can’t ridicule your imagination.

The Mud is no different. While I have willingly published a virtual window into my world, The Mud reality must remain in the dark, because this is my own private playground. And I get it. It’s the secrecy which allows my creativity to roam. It’s the intimacy of the place which brings me and it alive. If the Mud became public, it would kill it. I would run a mile, pull down my site, and probably never write another thing.

So Mud friends enjoy the fruits my secret garden pushes forth. Take what you want of them. I’m pretty generous with my free information, I think. But sorry, the garden will remain locked. Concealed. Unseen. It must. Or it will die.

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17 Comments
Joel delorme
24/8/2015 03:31:14 pm

I never got the celebrity thing. Someone become "famous" for whatever reason and suddenly they become everybody's property, their place some sort of pilgrimage. I don't get it. I do get the need for privacy though. Good on you for keeping your private place private. I'll read you book though when it gets here!

Reply
Kerry link
25/8/2015 04:05:10 am

Thank you so much for that comment Joel. I was rather nervous about stating this truth, so your words are much appreciated. Have a lovely remainder of August.

Reply
Philippa Rees link
26/8/2015 02:14:28 pm

Absolutely right! I adored the Secret Garden precisely because it answered the call of secrecy, one of my all time favourite books. I share ( absolutely) the need for an un-invaded space. Wise woman!

Reply
Kerry link
27/8/2015 03:56:12 am

:)) It's the best! I fear I am simply regurgitating the story here in The Mud.

Reply
Alan link
26/8/2015 11:58:39 pm

. . you've nailed it (with a wooden dowel, naturally) - absolutely the right decision.

Reply
Kerry
26/1/2016 11:30:22 am

Alan your comments hit my spam box for some reason. Now they are unspammed:) Thank you.

Reply
Dee
27/8/2015 02:37:59 am

Kerry, I so get what you are saying. Enjoy your secret garden, without visitors leaving a bit of their energy behind when they leave. I'm sure I speak for many people when I say thank you for sharing the building of your sacred space with us. Your journey has become our journey and you have inspired so many of us to find our "inner ding," as Louise Hay would say. I look forward to enjoying the parts of your journey that you may share with us in the future.

Reply
Kerry
27/8/2015 03:59:40 am

Yes Dee, you are so right about the energy thing , because each new person really does leave something behind, an imprint or a memory or something. That's absolutely part of it. Thanks!

Reply
klaus link
27/8/2015 05:21:27 am

keep the gate closed as much as you can kerry!! your open mind and great heart as well as the energy you are sharing with peopel
should be enough..selam k

Reply
Kerry
27/8/2015 05:45:20 am

Aw tesekkur Klaus!

Reply
Nora Brooke
29/8/2015 07:57:05 pm

Thank Goodness you realized your needs before your sacred space was invaded. You are attuned to your inner self, many aren't...many are scared to be. This is another gift from you to us...your voice saying...listen and be true to yourself! Thank You

Reply
Kerry
30/8/2015 03:35:44 am

Thanks Nora, everyone's seeing another aspect to this. Love it! Yes ultimately if the way a thing resonates inside sounds like finger nails dragging down a blackboard, I think it tends to resonate in the same way outside too.

Reply
oliver
12/9/2015 04:39:38 pm

I like it

Reply
Kerry
24/2/2016 01:21:59 pm

:)

Reply
dave
27/9/2015 06:20:50 pm

Nice. Yes, I'm sure folks want you to share(more) but most would understand the need to hold on for dear life also. Like maybe you wear a nice shirt and folks comment how nice it is---you don't give everyone a piece of it---it would eventually be gone...you tell them where you got it. The analogy, of course, works better if you didn't make the shirt yourself....hmm...anyway....we hope you continue to share what you feel you can-thanks

Reply
Kerry
24/2/2016 01:22:43 pm

Thanks Dave, just seen this one. Hope you are well.

Reply
Richard Darrah
24/2/2016 10:44:45 am

Yes I have a man cave and I share it with my dogs.

Reply



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    Author

    Atulya K Bingham

    Back in 2011, I found myself camping alone on a remote Turkish hill. There was no power or water on the land. It was the start of an adventure that profoundly changed my beliefs about what is enjoyable, or possible...

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Disclaimer: All the content in The Mud Home website is provided for informational purposes only. The author undertakes no responsibility for any person or entity who chooses to use the information on this website. It is not intended to be a standard and should not substitute for the exercise of good engineering judgment by engineers. It is the user’s obligation to make sure that he/she uses the appropriate practices and consults the appropriate experts when building. It is the user's obligation to make sure they are following health and safety guidelines. The author is not responsible for any accidents, injuries or damages to persons or property incurred while using the information presented in this website.

Some blog articles refer to the use of lime. Please note, lime is caustic and can cause burns. Read The Mud Home guide to using lime safely here.

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The Mud Home  Copyright © 2013  Atulya Kerry Bingham
  • Home
  • Building
    • Earthbag >
      • Rubble Trench Foundations
      • Earthbag in Extreme Weather
      • Earthquakes and earthbag
    • Earth Plaster
    • Using Lime
    • Cob
    • Straw Bale
    • Wattle and Daub
    • Inspiration
    • Off-Grid Living >
      • Off-Grid Prep Course
    • Mud Building Blog
  • Books
    • Dirt Witch
    • Mud Ball
    • Mud Mountain The Book
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
  • About
    • Contact
    • Mud Home Facebook Group
  • COURSES
    • ATULYA's In Person Workshops 2025
    • Perfect Earth Plaster Online Course
    • Lime for Beginners Online Course
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
    • The Off-Grid Roadmap
    • Consultation
  • Blogs
    • Mud Home Turkey
    • Barn Life in Spain
  • My Projects
    • The Earthbag Home in Turkey
    • The Barn in Spain