Peter Webb is the most connected, intuitive, gentle gardener and artist I know, we first met in the 70’s in Melbourne when he was working as the seed collector for the Botanic Gardens, he showed me how plants communicate and wisely advised to start collecting seeds way back then. The beautiful stained glass windows he designed and made for a friend’s house in the Dandenongs inspired me to start working with glass even though the thought of cutting myself was so scary it took a few years to steel my nerves. Peter has lived in Brazil since the early 80’s collecting seeds and reconnecting people with the land and plants with such deep heart & his partner Bel Cesar.
He gave me these beautiful words half a lifetime ago
“Spirit likes to see us dance on the shifting sands of change”
here’s a link to a public lecture he gave in Senegal earlier this year
Peter Webb RAW Academié Germination
(this lecture is spoken in English with a French translator for the audience, if you want to skip the introduction in French, Peter begins his talk at 7:20 minutes)
love how he says in closing that the only hope for our world is art, not just in the galleries but on the street, in our lives. How we need to be creative, to trust our sensitivities to help make sense of our world, to understand each other and create a way to heal ourselves and our beautiful broken world.
namaste
A treasured memory with Peter was helping out on his wild block of land in the Otways of Victoria in about 1978. Earlier in the year he had a local bulldozer driver push in a road with an area cleared & leveled for the tiny wooden house he built by hand. A bunch of us young hippies camped there one weekend to help sow an acre of meadow garden to revegetate the building site. We woke at dawn to meditate with the rising sun, then broadcast buckets of mixed flower and herb seeds harrowing them in by harnessing ourselves to long pieces of wood with nails for tines. We finished the last of the harrowing just on sunset with the Full Moon rising as a gentle rain came down to water in all the seeds, one of the most magical experiences of my life.
It's Crow Time 
He looks so happy in these pics Mo. We were both living at The Tardis and I remember him teaching himself Portuguese….Best thing he did for himself I think, going to Brazil that is. Thanks for posting.
(((Eliene))) I loved how his hair turned into tendrils when he was working in the glasshouses at the Botanic Gardens, he has such an amazing affinity with plants and taught me so much about working empathetically with the old Edna Walling garden at The Tardis. The first place he regenerated for 13 years in Brazil had crystals growing on the ridges, love how he described encouraging the dragon spirit in the lay of that land.
Wow. Such a man and the experiences that have surrounded him. Blessings indeed.
((((Nancy))) love how Peter makes the connections and does the work with all his heart wherever he finds himself, he really helped the starry eyed hippy chick I was back in the 70’s searching for a way to make a living in the big wide world.
What beautiful reflections of a wonderful spirit.
(((Hazel))) Peter is a true eco-warrior, he helped Bill Mollison in the early days of permaculture and built the first vertical garden in Sao Paulo Brazil back in 2008.
I will never forget Peter. He saved my life and I will be for ever great full to him and his best mate Phil for being so caring. If there is any way I could get in touch with him I would be so grateful. I lost touch with him so many years ago but I often think of him so it was amazing to see your post Mo. Do you have an email address for him?
(((Lana))) I was hoping you would see this post, will send his address in an e-mail
This post is full of all kinds of wonderful. 🙂 Going to go follow that link now.
It was fabulous…
(((Deb))) I love how Peter opens his lecture with the thought of how we spend our whole lives searching for who we are when plants know who they are as soon as they germinate!
MC – beautiful words indeed. B
(((Barry))) Peter has spent his whole life working with such deep spirit & loving heart creating peace and harmony in our beautiful broken world.
that his name is WEBB is another kind of wonderful… I love hearing about that magical moment of decades ago… the deep roots of yours to magic!
I passed (for almost the first time since 2016) on going to a protest/vigil in Boston last week… so I just want to mention how there’s acting, and there’s resting, too. I really worry about progressives in the US being worn down. The acts of our mad president are so assaulting, so overwhelming, so contemptible, so non-stop. Now if only a brave DEM or two who matter would begin impeachment proceedings. How cheering that would be!
(((Dee))) Peter shows us how every act of reaching out to touch the earth and each other helps to heal & create new harmonies in our beautiful broken world.
What a great spirit being. tried the lecture link for a while but wearied of the tiny print in English subtitles. Wish I spoke French. Also went to look at your old ‘hippie girl’ photos too. Nice all. I miss gardening but can’t do the rigor any more.
(((Michelle))) Peter’s lecture is in English with a French translator, there’s no subtitles, if you want to skip the intro in French, Peter begins his talk at 7:20 minutes.
Mo, you must hold the memory of that day as if it were golden and magic…and it was.
(((Fiona))) the magic of working with respect for the land and the spirits of place
Hello Mo, firstly, thanks for posting this. I miss Peter! I shared a course on Biodynamics with Peter in England in the early 80’s and unfortunately lost contact with him after he moved to Brazil. I’d love to re-establish contact with him.
will contact you via e-mail