Green and Growing

Ask and you shall receive. It started raining Friday night and the entire Philadelphia metro area breathed a collective sigh of relief. The weather has cooled down and our rain barrels at the Walnut Hill Community Farm are completely full. I got a helpful e-mail from Carol, a reader from the Pittsburgh area, reminding me to secure them to the shed because they are incredibly heavy and could cause injury, so that's our next priority over at the farm.



As for The Woodlands Community Garden, we had a work day this weekend and built four more beds! This means that we can invite eight more people to join the garden. The waiting list is down to only a handful of people now, which is a beautiful thing.



The bed that M and I tend is looking kind of bedraggled because of the haphazard way that I tied up the potatoes. But it gets them out of the way of everything else that I've planted in the rows: hot peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, melons, watermelons, winter squash, basil, leeks, chives, and sweet potatoes.



We also decided to celebrate the fact that the garden is one year old by having a little potluck party after the work day. It was delicious, as usual, and a nice break from the hard work.



And today the judges from the PHS City Gardens Contest come to judge The Woodlands Community Garden. It was really fun to talk to them about the garden, we've done a lot in only one year and they were sufficiently impressed. Fingers crossed!


*** Check out the wildflower meadow at The Woodlands where we relocated our bees. They're very happy.***



At the St. Bernard Community Garden things are also growing nicely. I've harvested a few cucumbers already and nibbled on some cherry tomatoes. There's still kale, swiss chard, beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and lots and lots of zinnias growing.



I planted four different seed packets of zinnias along the border, so I plan on seeing more views like this all summer:



Happy gardening everyone!

Happy Day

This is one of the most beautiful Easters ever!



I dyed my Easter eggs with natural dyes again this year. Onion skins, red cabbage, and spinach. I used brown eggs this year, so the effect is not as striking.



The trees in Philadelphia are just going crazy! I swear this is the earliest I've ever seen the magnolias, cherries, and pears blooming.





Happy Spring!

Soup and Salad: From Camden to the World!

That's the name of our exhibit at the Philadelphia International Flower Show! The show runs from Sunday, Feb. 28th to Sunday, March 7th, 2010. I spent all of last week in the Philadelphia Convention Center setting up our display, and it was so incredible to see the show take form. When I got there on Tuesday it was mostly carpenters and masons setting up the infrastructure of the exhibits and by the end of the week we were sweeping, labelling our plants, and making last minute adjustments (shining this leaf, staking that flower, etc).







Our exhibit shows off the Community Garden Program at the Camden Children's Garden and emphasizes healthy eating (here's an article on the exhibit from the Philadelphia Inquirer!). It also displays the Campbell Soup Factory, without which Camden, NJ would probably not even exist. Campbell's employed most of the town at one point, and they are currently building their new headquarters in Camden. The gigantic soup bowl and the soup can water tower that are part of our display will be going back to the headquarters to become part of their landscaping.





As you move through the exhibit you see a landscaped factory, an orchard of citrus and fig trees, and a vegetable garden. There is a windmill with the Camden Children's Garden logo, a gigantic salad plate planted with lettuce seedlings, and several topiaries that represent children working in the garden.





And I got to design part of the exhibit! The little vegetable and herb garden on the corner of the exhibit was my idea and my responsibility. I'm thrilled with the way it turned out!







If you're in Philly please come by and see me at the exhibit on Wednesday, March 3rd or Friday, March 5th!

'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!

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.

Scenes from Longwood Gardens

Here are some favorite shots from a recent trip to Longwood Gardens.


***Waterlily bloom outside the West Conservatory***


***Crazy spiky waterlily leaves outside the West Conservatory***

***Gourd display in the Idea Garden***

***The Cascade Garden in the West Conservatory***

***An arbor of Angel's Trumpet in the outdoor gardens***

My friend and I visited on a gorgeously crisp and sunny day, and we stopped at the Chadds Ford Winery on the way home for a tasting. If you live in the area, their Spiced Apple Wine heated with come cinnamon sticks is perfect for the upcoming chilly days!

He loves me, He loves me not

He loves me.

i have found what you are like
the rain,

(Who feathers frightened fields
with the superior dust-of-sleep. wields

easily the pale club of the wind
and swirled justly souls of flower strike

the air in utterable coolness

deed of green thrilling light

with thinned

newfragile yellows

lurch and.press

--in the woods
which
stutter
and



sing

And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
queitly)almost,

your kiss


e.e. cummings, Tulips and Chimneys (1922), Chimneys, Sonnets-Actualities XVI

Happy birthday to me.

Rhodos

Last month I did some weekend work at Tyler Arboretum and I took a little hike through their rhododendron collection. It's blooming right now and it's breathtaking. Literally. I didn't realize that some rhododendrons had a scent. I was surrounded by acres of them and the smell was incredible.

I get to work here . . .

This is Bartram's Garden in the spring time. The copious rain we've been getting means that every time I walk these paths the view changes. This week the native azalea bushes are going gangbusters, the birds are out, and the blooming locusts are making the garden smell like heaven.










**The boardwalk in the wetland alongside the Schuylkill River**




**Mossy path covered with Carolina Silverbell flowers**


**Stone garden wall built and carved by John Bartram c.a. 1758**


**The stone house, built by John Bartram from 1731 to 1770**


**The robin who lives in the tree outside our classroom**



I am loving my job right now. And it seems as though I've truly made myself indispensable elsewhere too because I recently got hired by Tyler Arboretum to do some weekend environmental education work! I start on Sunday, wish me luck!