Internal Biochar

There are certain points where I realize that if an objective person were to read my journals from years past they would find cyclical patterns. Euphoria, fascination, sadness, etc. My internal ecology I think has a certain forest pattern that includes the seasons as well as periods of accumulation and then fire where all those accumulated ideas, thoughts and feelings get upcycled into biochar. I think about how certain seeds need fire to germinate - that heat burns off the protective coating and activates the growth process. The seed is then nourished by the rich ash from all that accumulated material.

Always in that regrowth period, there's a certain lyrical nature to the world around me, where I am more aware of the layered realities surrounding me. I am grateful for these periods of re-awakening, to see the world with new eyes again.

Central Maine Botanical Gardens

A few weeks ago, my family and I were nearby the Central Maine Botanical Gardens and spent the afternoon exploring its different gardens. I remember visiting the site before anything was there - about 7 years ago, and was astounded by the creativity and work that went into creating such beautiful spaces - from piney Maine woods - which are beautiful in and of themselves.

I was heartened to see the area devoted to gardening for those with mobility challenges. The only other example I had seen of this was at the Chicago botanic garden. The garden beds were around 2.5' - 3' tall and there were spaces inset into the walls for people with wheel chairs so they could reach the beds. I appreciated the attention paid to the walking surface and that there was shade there at mid-day as well. The vistas of the neighboring garden were nice as well - with generous areas to stop and take it all in. From the photos, you can see that I was really interested in the modular planting cages inset into the vertical garden frameworks. It inspiring to think that in tiny spaces and anywhere, there are straight forward options to grow in any plane or space. I think that the way these were constructed was particularly successful - because of the simplicity and elegance of design. I am looking forward to trying some experiments in this vein out myself, and down the road perhaps adding a green roof to our house like the one in the second photo down.

acupressure labyrinth

universally accessible garden with raised beds

modular growing cage

modular growing cage

Vertical garden wall

Vertical garden wall

Shifting Rhythms

An amazing year we're having. Lots of intense sun and aside from the lack of rain over this past month, a great growing year. It's hard to believe that it has only been a year since the garden went in. Already, it seems like the terraces have been there for years - especially considering the robust growth of the plants....Mediterranean in origin plants like the Clary Sage and Hyssop are thriving, and I am amazed at their structure and beauty. Having been a vegetable gardener - with some understanding of culinary herbs, it is wonderful to harvest garden bounty during what was once early in the season. As with the post earlier about the red clover, I knew that there was beauty in the flowers of certain plants, but to have healing in them too is marvelous. I have enjoyed shifting my rhythm in the garden to harvesting and processing earlier and with different methods. Yesterday I made a garden sage, thyme flower and tulsi essential oil - infused honey. Today I caught the tail end of the elder flower season, and made a batch of Elder Flower Fizz starter ( see Darina Allen's the Forgotten Skills of Cooking). We'll see how all these initial attempts come out. In the process though, there's poetry. Taking something that had meaning and beauty to me already and then integrating it into my life in nourishing, new and unexpected ways has pushed my experience of landscape and ecology into a new direction that's more profound and rewarding to me.

Vegetable Portraits II

    

Last Sunday, I hung my show at Provisions, a fantastic wine and cheese shop, in Northampton. It will be up for the rest of July. There are some new paintings there as well as some from the initial Vegetable Portrait series. The space there is beautiful, and I think my paintings are quite harmonious with the vibe of the shop. Stop by on Arts Night Out in Northampton, July 13th, from 5-7pm. 

Tincture

With the profusion of flowers this early summer as well as the sunny, warm days we have been having, I was inspired to try tincturing. For several days I reviewed Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech. That book is the definitive text on getting the numbers and formula correct. Seeing the equations for testing alcohol content and yield brought me back to Ms. Key's chem. class in High School. What a disaster I was. I was so bad at math, I couldn't even blow anything up in the lab. Thankfully, I found my math skills - especially as they apply to practical applications - like making folk medicine. 

Red clover is in bloom everywhere here on this former Dairy Farm. It has many spiky red/pink petals shooting off of a central stem. It's wonderful in salads - when young - and it's great in tinctures. According to Making Plant Medicine, it helps with lowering cholesterol, and removes metabolic waste products from the body. It's helpful too for fixing nitrogen in the soil. So inspired, I set to gathering the clover flowers. 

Gathering is a magical process - especially from what grows in profusion in the landscape (non-endangered species, and situated well away from roads, septic systems, dumps etc...). It is powerful to me that I can make folk medicine my own way. These plants are from here, where I live, and I harvest them with mindfulness. I believe that such intention and love is an important constituent element in the healing process. So after gathering, I roughly chopped the flowers and then ground them in a Cuisinart with Everclear.  After all was combined, I put the mixture into a labeled jar, and topped it off with more Everclear to make sure that the medium was completely covered. I shook it up and after 6 weeks of infusing, I'll strain out the solids, and then have a good base tincture for creating formulas. (Note, this is a BASIC methodology not intended as a primer - consult manuals like Making Plant Medicine and others by certified herbalists for proper directions.)

Holyoke Medical Center Planting

I recently completed a planting plan and set of renderings for Stephen A. Roberts, a local landscape architect . The proposed site is next to Holyoke Medical Center's main entrance.

The planting is composed of a large component of medicinal plants. While these plants may not be used for medicine themselves, (I would not recommend most commercially grown plants for consumption that have not intentionally been cultivated for medicinal use) their presence in the garden so close to the hospital may inspire people to explore herbal medicine as a base line for health and healing. Among the plants included in this proposal are: red root -  for cleaning the lymphatic system, echinacea and baptisia - for stimulating the immune system response, anise hyssop - for lowering fevers, and catmint - helpful for calming headaches. These plants are beautiful and hardy and in combination with each other create compelling textures and forms that out of the "bloom season" are interesting to explore and look at.

I have always loved plants, and learning about their healing properties adds a richer dimension to that fascination I have. Where before I saw them as engaging pieces in a landscape, I am beginning to see how they support landscapes and us through their part in ecosystem dynamics across scales, from our guts to watersheds. 

perspective

section/elevation

plan view with plant selection

Walking

Walking. Ambling. Strolling. Sauntering. Moseying. Loping. Those are among the more appealing ways to walk for me. I was a critic the other day at the Conway School’s final presentations. All of the presentations had something to do with “circulation or walkability.” In design school, walkability was a hallmark of a “sustainable” city or development. What is walking anyway these days? All of us walk. Some with ear buds, some while texting, some while eating, some arm and arm. What about surfaces? There are cobblestones, bricks, planks, rubberized tracks, those freaky moving sidewalk things at airports, I am not sure that the overarching concept of walkability takes these into account though. Perhaps planners, designers and policy makers are to the point where they think that any walking would be success – getting people out of their cars, away from the computer (yes, I realize the irony of my writing and posting this on the computer….) and into the world. 

I love walking. Some of my favorite books are about walking, The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin and Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit give beautiful histories and descriptions of walking and how people have moved across this earth. Keeping those examples in mind along with the power and immediacy of direct experience, I have been experimenting with path making here since we arrived 5 years ago. The following are some of my path attempts…..

“Man's real home is not a house, but the Road, and life itself is a journey to be walked on foot.”
― Bruce Chatwin, What Am I Doing Here?