Marin's Specialty Nurseries Marin Independent Journal Bright blue skies and emerald-green hills recently drew me out into the country for a tour of rural nurseries. At first I thought of Sonoma County, where small growers abound, each with a specialty.
400 Celebrate Buddha's Birthday Marin Independent-Journal A 7-foot-tall baby Buddha gleamed gold in the morning sun that broke through fog just as the narrator Cory Fischer from "A Traveling Jewish Theatre" reached the part about the holy man's birth.
Green Gulch Gardener Cultivates Passions San Francisco Chronicle Waiting for Wendy Johnson to come visit your garden is a bit like being a parish priest getting ready for the pope to come check you out at Sunday Mass.
May 11, 2008
I've gone to my farm in Kentucky for the weekend. It's a great place to relax, do a little hard physical labor, and forget about the rest of the world. If you don't have such a place, I highly suggest you get one.
In the meantime, here's a little something that I found for you to read with your morning coffee.
See you on Monday.
J. Peterman
From The New York Times:
As a proudly Birkenstocked Zen gardener, Wendy Johnson can mindfully muster up affection for many of the earth's species, with the possible exception of persimmon-devouring gophers.
But poison hemlock holds a special place in her heart.
Without the presence of this pernicious carrot look-alike, a potent vertigo-inducing poison that when ingested can cause death, she reasons, her garden would be all cloying lilac- and lily-scented perfection - boring, in short. The innocent-looking malevolent weed, which she allows to flourish for its capacity to draw rich minerals from the soil for compost, "gives the garden its punch," she said, "snapping me back to my senses."
Like her beloved hemlock, Ms. Johnson has deep taproots in California. Her own garden, bordered by a mountain creek with a view of the Pacific Ocean, lies down the road from the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, where she helped pioneer the concept of organic gardening in the United States. Now the farm's unofficial gardener emeritus, she lived at Green Gulch for 25 years, marrying, raising her two children and growing produce for Greens Restaurant, which was founded by the Center in 1979.
In the Tangle ecoliteracy.org I lived and gardened at Green Gulch Farm for twenty-five years, settling my life, practicing Zen, and deepening my understanding of the earth under my fingernails.
Gardening at the Dragon's Gate Artsopolis Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate is fundamental work that permeates your entire life. It demands your energy and heart, and it gives you back great treasures as well, like a fortified sense of humor, an appreciation for paradox.
San Francisco Zen Center sfzc.org San Francisco Zen Center was established in 1962 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (1904-1971) and his American students. Suzuki Roshi is known to countless readers as the author of the modern spiritual classic, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.
I wish I knew how to get rid of the gophers that enjoy a midnight romp in my yard. I've tried poison but they just move to another part of the yard. I 'd like to use a non-lethal way to make them leave. If anyone has a remedy I'd like to know.
Now as to hemlock in the garden. Is it poisonous to other animals, like my dog?
I know the Hemlock Society probably has a yard full.
The Greens restaurant is quite famous. several years ago they had a cookbook that was available.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend. I am: a little work, some play, some excercise, and a little relaxation.
And happy Mother's Day to all of our moms on Sunday.
To: Spinner: did the house get clean to your satisfaction?
Spinner said...
To: ExPat:
Yes, and to the satisfaction of my husband who is really not all that particular anyway. By the way, we will be coming out your way for a visit with the kids the middle of next month. They live in Culver City.
A lot of attractive plants are poisonous. Mistletoe, poinsettia, holly berries, to name a few. We seem to be able to live with them in our midst. And we don't seem to have much of a problem with gophers here in KY, just moles. And that we do!
To: Spinner:
Thanks for info on the plants......I didn't know the poinsettia was toxic.
When you come to visit see if you can schedule a trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. It's not far from Culver City. You can get a double ticket which gets you into the Aquarium and the Queen Mary next door. The Aquarium is an amazing exhibition of sea life. And the Queen Mary? It's the grand old ship of the seas.
If you haven't been to the Getty Museum just up the freeway from Culver City give it a try. It's free. You just have to call ahead and reserve parking. Parking is (or was) $10.00. It might be a few more dollars. It's great architecture and artwork. Van Gogh's "Irises" is on exhibit. It looks like it did when Van Gogh painted it: bright, colorful, and impressive.
Happy Mothers Day, Spinner.
Georgia said...
Here in the deep South moles thrive, as do most things in our unfailing nigh-tropical humidity and three-digit temperatures. To thrive, ourselves, we wear big-brimmed hats, carry a sun-umbrella, never go un-sun-screened, and drink. Constantly.
As to drive-out-moles recipes, I've tried everything recommended by my garden store-lady, hardware-store-man, pharmacist, and -- almost -- passing strangers, to no avail. If I could but make the potions and obeah voodoo created out on our coastal islands, I'd give those a try.
JP's farm 'reads lovely': An idyllic, time-out-of-mind place of blue-green grasses.
To: Georgia:
If you ever get any of those voodoo receipes let me know, I'd try anything to be rid of these pesky gophers.
Perhaps I could get a potion that would convince them my neighbor's garden is the best place to be. Come to think about it, my neighbor's garden doesn't have a gopher problem......perhaps they have a few recipes and a cookbook I know nothing about!
Spinner said...
We ended up using mole traps. Killed them, but got rid of them. Also, water down their holes worked until they dug more holes...
To ExPat:
We are talking a home-schooling family here. They have family memberships to everything and we have been to them as well: Aquarium of the Pacific (where the 4yo. g-child could give the shark lecture), the LA Zoo, the SD Zoo, Animal Park, Aquarium, LA Natural Hist. Museum. Been to La Brea Tar Pits, Getty Museum for the big Van Gogh exhibit. Most every day they go someplace like that. Except for the days when they go to the library or for her horseback riding lesson. They are definitely taking advantage of living in LA and environs. Of course, Disney Land is also on that list of memberships.
To: Spinner:
There is more to Los Angeles than people realize. Your family has discovered its treasures.
I believe the L.A.Zoo has recently re-opened it's gorilla exhibit.......
I recall now that you've been to L.A. before because you once mentioned the Autry Museum. One of my favorites. Incidently, the Observatory in Griffith Park has re-opened after extensive renovations.
Enjoy your family and your visit!
It's late in the evening and I'm the first one to mention Socrates in relation to the Hemlock? In the immortal words of Claude Rains, "I am shocked! Shocked!"
My clients always notice the rooftop gardens in New York City. Manhattan Island is only 13 miles long and two-and-a-half miles wide so there is no free space. The rooftop gardens (like the one Andie MacDowell tended in GREEN CARD) are a great solution and tend to be free of such pests as moles and gophers.
There are also, of course, community gardens throughout the city. The government provides the land on empty plots, often in between the buildings whose inhabitants tend the garden. Some of them are lovely while others are comparatively untended. It all depends on the level of interest in the neighborhood.
To Spinner:
I was also homeschooled. But I did not have the advantage of growing up in a cultural mecca. After I moved to the city, I always said that I would leave when it was time to have kids. But I didn't. And, now that my daughter is growing, I'm truly glad to have stayed. I'm delighted that she has the American Museum of Natural History, the Children's Museum of the Arts, and other such institutions that I never had, right here at her fingertips.