Leaf peeping weekend

This is the last weekend I have free from work until Thanksgiving, so M and I decided to head outdoors and enjoy the incredible fall weather. We managed to catch the end of a grass-fed beef competition at Wyebrook Farm in Honey Brook, PA, enjoy a housewarming party at a friends' farm in Southwest Philly (complete with marshmallow roasting!) and peep some leaves at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge near the Philadelphia airport.

* Heinz NWR *

 

 

 

 

 

* Heading out to the Farm *

 

* Our jack-o-lantern didn't make it to Halloween :( *

 

* Wyebrook Farm *

Terrain Terrariums

There's a store about 45 minutes away from me called Terrain, and it's run by the same people who do Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. If you like that stuff (and I DO), and you are a gardener (and I AM), you, like me, would just faint dead away when you saw the things they have for sale at this place. It's like home-and-garden porn.









And they specialize in terrarium supplies, which I happen to be slightly obsessed with. See my post about Z's terrariums at her family home. She scoffed when she heard that I had PAID to attend an entire workshop on the topic, but that I did.



It was taught by Tovah Martin, who has written a coffee table book called "The New Terrarium." While she was talking I had the distinct feeling that both she and I were of a different world than the people who were about to spend over $100 on their terrariums, and how in the world did we get here? But it was fun, and I managed to spend relatively little on my two terrariums.



Her basic recipe includes stones (for drainage), charcoal (to purify the water), container mix soil, and plants. Pretty simple. And to be honest, I think the only things that are necessary are the soil and the plants. It's a widely spread myth that putting stones at the bottom of a container helps with drainage, it doesn't.





The stones, charcoal, and soil came with the registration fee, and they had some fun little pieces of nature to add to the container, which I did, liberally. But the plants and the "glass vessels" were extra, and it was easy to get carried away (my friend spent about $75 on her terrarium). I made one terrarium while I was there, and then prepared another one for home . . .



. . . because I had this special guy to put in it! It's a pitcher plant (Sarracenia sp.), native to our region, that I got from the EPA's flower show exhibit for free! They are kind of difficult to grow indoors, but I'm going to try.



So the verdict is that Terrain is amazing for inspiration, but not so amazing on the wallet. Not that I won't go back.

'Tis the Season

:: For a few more winter decorations (it says "Snowflakes," from funkyshique on etsy) ::



:: For handmade banana-chocolate-coconut bread for all of my coworkers ::



:: For Christmas cactus ::



:: And for handmade vanilla syrup for all of my family members (recipe from Food in Jars) ::

Have an amazing Christmas Eve!

The High Line

While we were in NYC we also took the opportunity to see The High Line - a park on the West Side that is on an old elevated train trestle. We were there on a Monday afternoon so we had a lot of space to walk around and explore. Apparently on the weekends it's mobbed.



I've been wanting to see this park ever since I saw the plans for it in an exhibit in one of the art museums in NYC years and years ago. I remember taking the pamphlet home and taping it to my wall, thinking about how cool it would be if they actually did it.



Since they built it I've seen lots and lots of pictures, and even though I knew what to expect, it was a thrill to actually be there. The design makes heavy use of the elements of the old trestle, and the effect is that you feel like you're walking through a (subtly structured) overgrown or feral landscape. The plants appear to grow out of the sidewalk, and you can see old tracks amongst the trees and bushes.







I was also pleased to see lots of native plants and fall color in the plantings. They were very well done and not overly manicured, which added to the wild feeling of the park.



The benches even seem to leap up from the tracks, arching up out of the architectural lines of the walkway.





M commented that this kind of project is great and all, but the neighborhood where it was built is not lacking for tourist attractions or amenities (like open space) for its rich inhabitants. It would be better served in a different, under-served part of the city. I see that logic, but think it's unrealistic that an under-served neighborhood would have the pull for funders to take the leap that they took to build this. But now that it's been built and it's successful, the model can be extended to other areas of the city where green space is more needed. What do you think?

Planty Porch

A few months ago I was asked to judge a container garden contest for the Powelton Village neighborhood in West Philly. The neighborhood had used funds to buy decorative pots for all interested applicants in an effort to beautify the neighborhood. Each household with a pot then planted the pot (or pots) all summer and in August they were all judged (by me!) with a cash reward given to the top three contestants. Below you will find the winner:

Apparently this person wins every year, which doesn't surprise me because the pots were all lovingly tended and nicely placed. They even put some sticks and statues and other props in to add to the aesthetic appeal and make the design cohesive.

I haven't lived in any one place for long enough to establish a porch garden, but there are examples of them all over the city. I'm going to try to take more pictures (next spring, I guess) so you can see what the creative plant people in Philadelphia can do with the concrete space around their house. It's incredible, I tell you.

I would love to sit on that porch with a cup of tea and a book. Lovely.

Spring in a bottle

The weather has been all over the place lately. Several days last week I didn't even wear my jacket outside! And today it snowed. Ah March, you are coming in like a lion after all.



In these cold days I wish I had a terrarium on my bedside table, like these that I photographed at Zoey's house over the holidays. A little slice of the forest floor. They were all over the house and ranged in size from the one above to an aquarium-sized one in the study.



When I was at the Missouri Botanical Garden in November I picked up a little fact sheet on how to make terrariums (which have only plants) and vivariums (which can have animals too, usually amphibians). You can find the fact sheet online here. I will do it one day, I even have several old aquariums sitting on my front porch waiting (and they will probably wait forever).



Last winter I was visiting Providence with M and we went to an old historic estate and garden outside the city with a gorgeous restored greenhouse out back. When we knocked on the door to the greenhouse and requested to see the inside (it was in an employees only section of the grounds, whoops) we found a gardener in there who was making little terrariums for her friends and family for the holidays. Watch out, friends and family, guess what you're getting for Christmas next year!



And lastly Jaja found this, which has been inhabiting my dreams ever since.

Getting Started

So I'm sure you all remember my "master plan" and you are wondering what I'm doing to achieve it (because the world revolves around me and you are all paying very close attention). Well, let me tell you.

After I graduated from undergrad I learned the hard lesson that the college degree is the new high school diploma. It means relatively little especially if it's from a liberal arts college. I'm not being cynical it's just true. So the best way for me to get my foot in the door is to volunteer, volunteer, volunteer. I recently "informationally interviewed" someone from White Dog Community Enterprises here in Philly, and she said that a lot of their new hirees started out as volunteers who made themselves so indispensable that she was forced to hire them or lose their talents to someone else.

This is my new mantra, Make Yourself Indispensable.

These are the places where I have decided to focus my efforts:

Bartram's Garden
This is an historic house and estate originally owned by one of the most forward-thinking botanists of the pre-Revolutionary period, John Bartram. I've been helping out with their children's education classes (right now we're doing lots of butter churning classes with a colonial butter churn and I have amazing home-made butter in my fridge waiting for me to bake it into something delish). They might be hiring a part-time gardener for their children's garden this spring, keep your fingers crossed!


(from bartramsgarden.org)

Tyler Arboretum
There are 650 acres of diverse outdoor landscapes and habitats at this arboretum in the western suburbs. I've been volunteering with their education department, mostly doing maple-sugaring classes right now. They have some of the highest quality education curriculum I've ever seen, especially with respect to the diversity of activities and amount of information in each class, as well as the thorough training that each educator gets. I will also be helping them out with their new vegetable demonstration garden, which currently lacks a gardener (again, fingers crossed).


(from the Tyler Arboretum set on Flickr)

Weaver's Way Co-op Farm
One of only two co-op grocery stores in the city, Weaver's Way does community programming on and around their farm in North Philadelphia . I've been volunteering with their education programs, mostly helping to build a greenhouse at Martin Luther King High School which the students will plant and tend. They also do farm field trips which I'll be helping out with soon.


(from weaversway.coop)

Mill Creek Farm
The farmers at Mill Creek are on vacation for the winter, but in the spring I hope to get my hands dirty helping out with everything that goes into growing food on this urban farm (which is not far from my house in West Philly). They also do education programming, mostly farm field trips. The farm is on a small plot of land and has a shed made of cob with a green roof, solar panels, a composting toilet, mosaic, and grey water collection. Loves it.


(view from the shed's green roof, from the blog Mac&Cheese)

Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - Garden Tenders Training
This is the most exciting thing I'm doing right now. It's a free workshop series for people interested in starting community gardens in and around Philadelphia. Did I mention it's completely free? (I just CANNOT believe that). It consists of 10 three hour classes with guest speakers who teach you how to organize, plant, and sustain a community garden. And each year at the end of the training sessions there are several new gardens that were formed right there in class. After the first class I thought my head would explode with excitement. I've already met several people in class who live in my neighborhood and are interested in starting a new community garden (one of whom already organizes a garden at 47th and Spruce and is inundated with plot requests every day).


(from pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org)

So we'll see where all of this takes me. I'm now nannying three and half days a week and the rest of my time is full of volunteering of one form or another. I don't expect to be paid to do anything in my field until April at least, but I'm optimistic. I have a rolodex of over 50 contacts that I have met and/or spoken to on the phone about my interest in environmental ed/urban agriculture and them's good odds, I think.

Squash THIS

It's almost Turkey Time! I'm driving down to San Diego with a friend tomorrow afternoon (an 8 hour trip, at least). The vacation is much needed. I'm not sure if you could tell by the drop-off in posting, but my time is really running low right now. So, I will leave you with a pretty picture of a squash leaf infected with a mosaic virus. You know, to put you in the mood for pumpkin pie.

These Plants Need Some Chicken Soup

I'm taking a plant pathology class this quarter (my only class, and I'm taking it Pass/Fail, but still, where does the time go?). We went on a field trip to see some diseased plants at the Horticulture and Agronomy field sites off campus a few weeks ago and I took some pictures, in an attempt to supply myself with visual aids.

Plant pathology is basically the study of plant diseases, and it encompasses mainly those caused by bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Maybe I'm a plant nerd (I guess that's undeniable) but I think it's really cool, and some of the diseases are incredibly fascinating and even quite beautiful. Here are some examples:

Powdery mildew on strawberry leaves - caused by the fungus Podosphaera aphanis



Botrytis fruit rot on a strawberry - caused by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. There were plenty of non-diseased strawberries in this field too, and many of them made it into my mouth.



Leaf roll on grape leaves - caused by a grape leafroll virus (clever name). This one is really interesting because the virus interferes with the plant's phloem, so it can't transfer sugar from the leaves (where it's made via photosynthesis) to the rest of the plant. The sugar gets stuck in the leaves and discolors them and makes them feel stiff and hard.



A different type of powdery mildew on grape berries (a technical term, I know, weird) - caused by the fungus Uncinula necator.



Common smut of corn - caused by the fungus Ustilago maydis. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (snickersnicker, "smut," snickersnicker).



The idea that there is beauty in death and disease is not new. Although some of these diseases are disgusting, they are also incredibly complex and vital parts of life on Earth. Disease is natural, though agriculture has led to unnatural patterns and resistance, but that's another story. One of my favorite photographers, Irving Penn, makes photos of dying flowers that are as thought-provoking as they are beautiful. Of course I can't find a single one to show you right now, but check him out in the library or the bookstore.