Urban foraging, gathering and trading

My interest peaked when I lived in the Bay Area - where the fruit trees are plentiful. Walking around Berkeley I could pick figs, plums, lemons, and avacados on my way to the BART station.
The house I shared had a huge plum tree from which anything imaginable from the fruit was made, including plum wine that was barely drinkable. A housemate's dog would pluck plums from the trees as snacks frequently. Then we discovered the neighbor down the street with the avocado tree in her backyard - apparently too many fruits to handle. What a great trade!
When I moved back to Richmond I met a guy and his zines. One of his local zines had a map of places to forage, harvest and gather. Mulberries, figs, blackberries, day old bread, discarded bruised fruit, and it went on and on. There is a certain joy in the happenstance of finding a tree bursting with fruit, right there next to the side walk, and picking until you've filled up every container and pocket. "Why isn't everyone else here, right now, picking these delicious berries?" Is it weird? Are they afraid? Do they just not know? I'm just not sure but I want to share it and encourage it. Start with a friend and you'll get hooked.

Here are some references to begin:
The Neighborhood Forager: A Guide for the Wild Food Gourmet by Robert Henderson
Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons
Edible Wild Plants - Peterson Field Guide
The Uses of Wild Plants by Frank Tozer

Lewis Ginter Butterflies LIVE!

Huge a tree for your health!

From OrganicGardening.com

Researchers in the UK have discovered that access to green spaces helps people live longer, healthier lives. From a study conducted at the University of Glasgow researchers concluded that, despite a substantial health gap between the poor and wealthy, access to open spaces cut the health gap in half. Access to green spaces offers more opportunities for physical activity, relaxation to reduce stress and increases air quality.
Just as important - access to green spaces increases our appreciation for and awareness of nature.

Obsessed with the birds

I have truly been taken with birds in the last year.  I've always appreciated birds and would stop to admire one in my sight, but it's now different.  Working at Lewis Ginter has definitely played a large role in this - especially because I've had the opportunity to see birds that I don't usually come across in my yard or the places that I frequent on the weekends.  I can distinctly remember each of these birds, where I sighted it, and what the weather was like outside.   

The first close encounter with a green heron happened to be a day I was sitting outside at work lamenting the loss of my friend Ronnie.  I was crying and unable to work and took a break near the pond where the lotus was tall and blooming.  I heard a sound in the lotus and looked up to see a green heron looking at me from just a few feet away.  We looked at each other for a few minutes but it felt like an hour and she then turned around and continued to wade through the pond looking for fish.  I was exhilarated and refreshed.  The experience was special and remarkable.  It was almost exactly a year ago to this day and marked the beginning of a connection with birds.

The next remarkable encounter was at this same pond a few months later.  I was taking a group of toddlers around the Children's Garden in search of animals and their homes.  We noticed a great blue heron close to the pond edge about twenty feet away and I asked the kids to stop and not speak.  We watched him wading in the water and right in front of us, quicker than a second, he speared a fish and swallowed it down.  It was an experience that most people never have and I was able to share it with a group of kids who were completely in awe.  

Since then I've been greatly impressed with seeing bright red Scarlet Tanagers eating berries in the Mulberry tree, the yellow and black American Goldfinch eating seeds from the coneflowers, and the hairy and downy Woodpeckers eating the suet in the winter.  I became obsessed with Cedar Waxwings and could not spot one at work despite other folks seeing them eating holly berries around the garden.  Finally my friend Allison found THE spot that they were all visiting.  We went with binoculars and watched for about 20 minutes as they flew to the large holly tree to get a berry, fly to another adjacent tree to eat it, and fly back to the holly again.  I didn't get as close of a look as I wanted but was satisfied.  Another thing I realized this day is that spotting birds alone has a very different feel than watching them with other people.

By far, the most amazing experience was the Red Tailed Hawk.  I've already made a personal connection with these beautiful birds of prey.  While driving to Asheville, NC for Ronnie's wake, I constantly noticed hawks flying above from south Richmond to Asheville.  The next day, as I was sadly leaving Asheville in my car, I was on the phone with my friend Tim telling him about the birds and I looked up and saw one fly right overhead.  I was beginning to acknowledge that this was not a coincidence.  Again, there they were flying overhead during my drive back to Richmond.  This immediately inspired my memorial tattoo to Ronnie, a large red-tailed hawk with two words that had been tattooed on Ronnie's arms- evolve and revolt.  So last month, I was leaving work as the sun was going down and I was feeling a little down myself.  As I was walking past the mulberry tree, before I could process the flash in front of me, I heard the loud sound of the metal fence shake.  I stop in the middle of my stride and try to catch my breath as my heart tries beating out of my chest.  Just a few feet in front of me is a red-tailed hawk perched on the fence staring at me.  I have never been this close to a wild bird of prey in my life and I was stunned.  The hawk did not seem phased but seemed to be studying me.  We stared at each other for about two minutes and I then I moved.  The hawk was slightly startled and flew up a few feet onto a branch of the mulberry.  The bird looked like a juvenile, not fully colored like an adult red tail and also not afraid.  I stood there for about five minutes just watching him look around until he flew off toward the pond.  I walked back to my car in a daze, doubting that it had really happened and my heart was still beating fast.  It started to sink in and I couldn't stop smiling the whole ride home.  

So, now I'm really obsessed with birds!

Garden lessons

Arrow started to really understand colors for the first time the summer after he turned 2 years old.  That July, a renegade cherry tomato plant popped up in a flower bed under a pine tree in the backyard.  Of coarse it was more prolific than our intentional tomato plants - Murphy's Law.  Arrow was so excited about picking and eating those perfectly-sized tomato fruits.  It took a while, but he eventually started to leave the green ones on the vine and learned to pick the yellow fruits for eating.  He experimented with the various tastes of the ripe fruit within the whole yellow spectrum and truly seemed to understand that the brightest, yellowest tomatoes were indeed the most flavorful.  

This year will be Arrow's fourth summer garden and although he may not be running around naked in the back yard anymore, he'll still be picking fresh fruits off the vine and telling Nick and I which ones are the best!

Bird beaks and pinecone birdfeeders

The Outdoor Classroom Society at Central Montessori started off the school year with a celebration of birds.

I was able to give a lesson to the primary class about bird beaks, how they differ, and what kind of food different shaped beaks are for. I also brought in a vary of kitchen implements such as chop sticks, tongs, a ladle, soup strainer, a straw and scissors for kids to "try" the variety of bird beaks in retrieving things such as "nectar," floating raisins in water, plastic bugs, and nuts. They really enjoyed it but also really appreciated the King of the Birds storytelling.

Next we made up a mixture of cornmeal, flour, and sunflower butter to smush onto some pine cones that we then rolled in birdseed. We hung these up around the outdoor classroom in front of the large windows to watch the birds eat.

The kids were each given a bird identification sheet and asked to record which birds they see (with the help of an older child or teacher).

Looking forward to seeing what the results are!

Kinder and gentler revision of the King of the Birds:

A long time ago, all the birds in the world lived together in the same place.  They tried to get along but it was hard, especially for the smaller birds.  Sometimes the little birds couldn't find a place to nest or food for dinner.  

One day the wisest and oldest owl decided something needed to change and that the birds needed a leader to make decisions for the birds.  He decided to call a flying contest.  The bird that could fly closest to the sun would be the king of the birds.  

All of the birds figured that the hawk would win, for hawks are large and strong and they can fly very high into the sky.  Well, the small wren thought that the hawk should not be king becasue he may not make good decisions for the small birds.  So the wren came up with a plan.  When the owl called for all of the birds to begin the race, the wren quietly hopped on top of the hawk's back without him knowing.  The hawk flew high into the sky, higher than any other bird.  As he looked down and realized that he was the winner, he began to fly back down.  Just then the wren flew off of his back and up into the sky.  She flew a little closer to the sun than the hawk and she won the contest.  The wren became the king of the birds.  

The wren thought and thought very hard and finally made a decision for all of the birds.  Since birds have different types of beaks and feet and different preferences for what to eat and where to nest, all of the birds should spread out and move to different parts of the world.  The birds agreed and they flew away to find the best place for them for nesting and finding food.  Now, the birds no longer have to argue over finding a place to build a nest or finding something to eat.  

Phase One of the Central Montessori Children's Garden

In late fall we converted the round structure in the middle of the outdoor classroom from a sand play area into a herb and butterfly garden. We started with some bulbs and pansies and in December we added some thyme, rosemary, and germander.
In late February or early March we will need to start some seedlings with the kids for our early spring vegetables and some butterfly attracting herb plants.
We are anxiously awaiting the response from the National Gardening Association regarding a grant we submitted to help with our garden plans!!!