Garden Journal

Wednesday
Jul182007

Nurturing courage and creativity

Do you need inspiration? Encouragement? Perhaps to create your magnum opus? Or, to try yet again to grow your dream garden?

Look no further than this small and beautiful zine by jen lemen:

Beginnings

I received my eagerly-awaited copy in the mail yesterday. It will occupy the dining room table for some time -- perhaps indefinitely -- so I can read passages throughout the day, whenever I walk by.

I'm hoping jen will write "middles" to help us get through the stage where we get stuck or off track.

You can purchase jen's book on this Etsy page.

Monday
Jul162007

Summer poetry

Some people eat ice cream or drink iced tea, some go swimming, and others nap on a blanket under a shady tree -- and I enjoy these pleasures, too -- but lately, I've been seeking relief from the heat (and to be honest, other stresses) by reading poetry.

Here is a selective sample of poems I discovered through my favourite blogs:

The Sun by Mary Oliver (posted by jen lemen)

The Summer Day by Mary Oliver (posted by Christine of Abbey of the Arts)

Daily by Naomi Shahib Nye (posted by Christine of Abbey of the Arts)

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Addendum: I feel the need to tie this post to gardening. OK, here is the connection. Until today, for the past week it's been too hot to garden on my south-facing balcony with its glass railing and heat-amplifying deck. Even some of my nasturtiums got sun-burned. So, I've been taking refuge in the coolest room in my apartment, the office, and spending a lot of time online reading blogs. Well, one blog leads to another and it really isn't much of a leap to go from gardening to poetry. It's really a natural pairing.

Tuesday
Jul102007

What I'm reading

Books and websites such as these (1, 2, 3) have inspired me to try to eat seasonally, locally, mindfully and sustainably by transforming my balcony from an ornamental to an edible garden and myself from a gardener to a farmer (although I think I can be both).

I have so much to learn. In my quest for knowledge and guidance, this week I returned to a trusted source of wisdom on how to live with nature: Orion Magazine. Here are links to a couple of articles I'm reading in the online version:

Stalking the Vegetannual by Barbara Kingsolver
Grace Before Dinner by Deborah Madison

Tuesday
Jul032007

thank you

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

–e.e. cummings

i thank you, jen lemen, for introducing me to this perfect poem tonight

Sunday
Jul012007

Happy Canada Day

In celebration, I am posting links to Flickr photos of all the provincial and territorial flowers. (Note: none are edible, although the Pitcher Plant might like to eat you--it is a carnivore.)

British Columbia
Cornus nuttallii Pacific Dogwood

Alberta
Rosa acicularis Wild Rose

Saskatchewan
Lillium philadelphicum Western Red Lily

Manitoba
Anemone patens Prairie Crocus

Ontario
Trillium grandiflorum White Trillium

Quebec
Iris versicolor Linné Blue Flag Iris

New Brunswick
Viola cucullata Purple Violet

Nova Scotia
Epigaea repens Mayflower

Prince Edward Island
Cypripedium acaule Lady's Slipper

Newfoundland and Labrador
Sarracenia purpurea Pitcher Plant

Yukon
Epilobium angustifolium Fireweed

Northwest Territories
Dryas integrifolia Mountain Avens

Nunavit
Saxifraga oppositifolia Purple Saxifraga