Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer.
First a howling blizzard woke us,
Then the rain came down to soak us,
And now before the eye can focus -
Crocus.
It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain
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My first act of gardening this spring was to prune an apple tree. Late in the month of March before the snow and slush made it’s last hurrah, I visited my friend Valerie’s back yard to get her apple tree cleaned up in time for the growing season. Valerie and I paced back and forth around the tree spying branches to cut back. We worked for about a half hour to remove any branches that were rubbing each other, as well as any branches that were crisscrossing the canopy of the tree, or too tall for us to reach with a ladder. By the time we were done the tree had a shape that could be likened to a wine glass, which should make the fruits on this producing creature even more accessible for Valerie and her grandkids. Even before this early gardening trip, I was noticing the first signs of spring pushing out of the gardens, yards, and parks in the city. Plantings along the South sides of buildings are among the first to wake up in the urban environment. After that comes the forming maple buds that mark the clear blue sky with thousands of tiny red and yellow dots, and with them a flurry of winged activity in the tree tops. Vibrant male cardinals, as loud visually as they are vocally are easy to pick out on the bare branches of neighborhood trees. Mallard ducks can be seen flying overhead in pairs throughout the day. The colorful world seems to be stretching and yawning, waking itself from the long white dream called winter. Now that the snow is gone, I’ve been a busy gardener. It feels therapeutic to peel back the layer of hay that protected the plants from the drying winter air, winds, and sun. This layer of winter mulch caught all the garbage, salt, and leaves that was thrown or blew on it throughout the cold months. As I pull off the spent dirty hay to bring it to compost I think of how it can be helpful for all kinds of creatures, to peel off the protective layers that they build around themselves in this stressful world. The farm compost that I layer on top of the freshly raked gardens dress them up just as much as it promises to re-invigorate their soils for another season of growth. I love a good metaphor and there’s nothing like spreading a healthy layer of shit around a garden to remind me that if we allow it to compost and change, all the shit that we create together will eventually settle in to make us healthier and stronger then before we made it. At least I really hope this concept applies to gardeners as much as to gardens. While I’ve been out in the backyard or over at the Co-Op gardening I've had plenty of breaks in the raking and shoveling due to all the folks that stop by to visit. You’ll get no complaints from me about these welcome interruptions. Talking with passing friends and neighbors I can see moments of vibrancy that remind me of the cardinals and maple buds in the tree tops. Like the bulbs and perennials slowly pushing out of the ground until you can hardly even imagine a world where they didn’t cast a proud shadow, the folks in this city emerge in the spring warmth from beneath thick winter layers to show the world their own vibrant colors.The Seed Vol. 14 April. 20, 2008 A Giving Tree Gardens Newsletter
Photos by Russ Henry ©2008 ,Text by Russ Henry From an interview with Sue Hensel 3-18-08
©2008 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
Plant Profile:
Aquilegia canadensis Native Columbine
Hardy, self-seeding, reliably blooming, and attractive to butterflies and humming birds, with all these wonderful attributes, falling in love with Native Columbine is as easy as watching it grow. It should come as no surprise then that some Native American cultures traditionally used Columbine seeds as love charms, giving them to those special someones that excite and delight them. In addition to curring lonely hearts columbine has been used to treat a myriad of human ailments. Native folks sometimes ate the roots or used the seed pods in tobbacco. My son Ellyot showed me that when you bite off the back ends of the flowers and suck through the blossom it tastes sweet like honey. Plant columbine in the sun or part shade, but be sure to give it lots of compost as it will grow vigorously and likely bloom the first year in healthy soil!
Ending homelessness, one person at a time
REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS!!!
Project Homeless Connect is a one-stop shop model for delivering services to people experiencing homelessness. Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis are partnering with service providers, businesses, citizens, and faith communities to bring multiple resources to one location where people can come to find the services they need. These services include: housing providers, employment specialists, medical care, mental health care, benefits specialists, eye care, haircuts, transportation assistance, food and clothing. YOU can help! At least 1,000 citizen volunteers are needed at the next event on April 28th, 2008. The Convention Center space will be set up with many tables, rooms, and areas for the various services available and volunteers will assist the guests in connecting with the services they need or request.
Giving Tree Gardens in the Co-op news!!!!!
Find The Shade Of Green That's Right For You!
Join Russ Henry of Giving Tree Gardens this May 3rd and 4th at the Living Green Expo!!
Stop in to the State Fair Grandstand visit with more then 200 exhibitors or take in one of the 65 workshops all for FREE!
We Win!!
Giving Tree Gardens is honored to have been chosen as a recipient of a Metro Blooms award! We've recieved an award for the
Best Garden at a Minneapolis Business 2008 for our gardens at the Seward Co-Op!
Stop by and talk to Russ Henry at the Giving Tree Gardens information booth on Blooms Day Saturday April 26th, at the Logan Park Community Center from 9am to 12:30pm.
April is a promise that May is bound to keep. ~Hal Borland
Minnehaha falls roars with the collected melt water from our yards, roofs, driveways, and streets. Consider planting raingardens to reduce your watery runnoff so the streams and rivers are clean for all the love birds, like the happy couple shown above.
Nothing like a spring cleaning! Out with the old hay, and in with the FARMPOST!
Tulips and Crocus popping out of the ground, Spring must really be here!
Organic Gardeners Know Their Shit!
Valerie's apple tree after we pruned it. Most fruit trees respond brilliantly to pruning.
