I have spent a good amount of time in this garden. I must tell you that Alan Chadwick was very right when he wrote that it is the garden that makes the gardener. From this place we learn not only of plants and their needs but of our own. We learn about pruning fruit trees and many of us cannot help but apply the skill within our own hearts. We learn not only how to prepare a bed for planting by enriching it with compost, but how to clear our own minds, and, using failure as compost for success, begin anew. Most of all, we are exposed to a pace that modern living has long since abandoned. There is a collaborative (human + nonhuman) pedagogy in a garden. There is a legacy inherent in a study of place. There is something else - not too complex for words to describe, but too simple - lurking within everything.
And so I thank the garden and the people it grows, and I am grateful to be one of them. I thank the soil for nourishing me. Again, human words cannot impart my love for this space. I am blessed to be of witness.
Blessings, praises, and Foundational Roots!
Life begins the day you start a garden
-Chinese Proverb
Friday, March 30, 2007
Saturday, March 03, 2007
winter tree-pruning
Today was the first of three collaborative events between PICA and the Trailer Park. At 10AM, UCSC renowned tree steward Dave Shaw came to the Foundational Roots Garden to lead a winter tree-pruning workshop. After explaining to us the exciting basics of how tree form works, and how pruning ties in, he demonstrated on 
Johnny-the-Giant apple tree. After the lot of us - Dave Griese, David Saxton, Mike, Sarah, Gulliver, Chris, Andrew, Lyle, Jose, and I don't know who else - were set loose in groups to prune our own trees. Andrew, David, and I pruned the Golden Delicious outside Callum's window. It was very tall! The hardest cut came when we had to prune the leader - David balanced precariously on a stump and, with Andrew spotting him, managed it. Sarah and two others worked on the Granny Smith. Dave Shaw pronounced the Mutsu near the pond as "Aaah!", roughly translated into "unhappy". He doesn't think it will live to produce leaves, although it's trying. He's suggested that it may be diseased.
At some point, Demian showed, and it was on him that the crowning cut depended. Dave wanted to cut back the leader on the prune tree, but (as I can attest) he wasn't quite tall enough to reach the 8-ft crown. So, at my suggestion, he sat on Demian's shoulders and pruned from aloft. It was hilarious! Afterwards, an assortment of instruments materialized, and the band played. Meanwhile, Lyle, Mike, Jose, and I unloaded the halfblend soil (the stuff Jose and I had picked up this morning at 9) from the bed of Jose's truck.
Then a golden-haired angel came and blessed the final half-hour of the workday. Ali Mujic came and pruned the rosebush, raspberries, and Lion's Mane. In his gentle manner, Ali brought peace to his time, and we worked silently side by side for a few minutes - he pruning and I weeding around the rosebush. We both think that it ought to have an arbor and stay where it is. To us, it is the heart of PICA's garden.
Then PICA went up to the Trailer Park in increments and saw the amazing compost that Lyle has been stewarding. The stuff is so warm, even in shade, that when Lyle dug into it, it produced a thick column of steam. That stuff has been cooking for sure! When Mike got there, he was impressed. Jim stopped by at some point and was equally impressed with the amount of collaboration and amount of work the Trailer Park and PICA have made towards sustainability progression.
We stayed to help with pruning, rock-moving, and hoophouse rejuvenation. I left early, as I am not feeling well. Dave Shaw was taking it easy too; he's been having stomach pains. I can hardly wait for next weekend.
Johnny-the-Giant apple tree. After the lot of us - Dave Griese, David Saxton, Mike, Sarah, Gulliver, Chris, Andrew, Lyle, Jose, and I don't know who else - were set loose in groups to prune our own trees. Andrew, David, and I pruned the Golden Delicious outside Callum's window. It was very tall! The hardest cut came when we had to prune the leader - David balanced precariously on a stump and, with Andrew spotting him, managed it. Sarah and two others worked on the Granny Smith. Dave Shaw pronounced the Mutsu near the pond as "Aaah!", roughly translated into "unhappy". He doesn't think it will live to produce leaves, although it's trying. He's suggested that it may be diseased.
At some point, Demian showed, and it was on him that the crowning cut depended. Dave wanted to cut back the leader on the prune tree, but (as I can attest) he wasn't quite tall enough to reach the 8-ft crown. So, at my suggestion, he sat on Demian's shoulders and pruned from aloft. It was hilarious! Afterwards, an assortment of instruments materialized, and the band played. Meanwhile, Lyle, Mike, Jose, and I unloaded the halfblend soil (the stuff Jose and I had picked up this morning at 9) from the bed of Jose's truck.
Then a golden-haired angel came and blessed the final half-hour of the workday. Ali Mujic came and pruned the rosebush, raspberries, and Lion's Mane. In his gentle manner, Ali brought peace to his time, and we worked silently side by side for a few minutes - he pruning and I weeding around the rosebush. We both think that it ought to have an arbor and stay where it is. To us, it is the heart of PICA's garden.
Then PICA went up to the Trailer Park in increments and saw the amazing compost that Lyle has been stewarding. The stuff is so warm, even in shade, that when Lyle dug into it, it produced a thick column of steam. That stuff has been cooking for sure! When Mike got there, he was impressed. Jim stopped by at some point and was equally impressed with the amount of collaboration and amount of work the Trailer Park and PICA have made towards sustainability progression.
We stayed to help with pruning, rock-moving, and hoophouse rejuvenation. I left early, as I am not feeling well. Dave Shaw was taking it easy too; he's been having stomach pains. I can hardly wait for next weekend.
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