Beginning of Summer - Frogs Start Singing
Seems like much of my year revolves around April, May, and June. That’s when the gardens are reborn, the trees wake up, and also when I celebrate my birth. A multitude of noteworthy happenings also occur, but once I start rattling off all the phenological changes I see each day, I may have to skip the remainder of my day’s obligations and I cannot afford that. Simply put, I know not many things more enjoyable than watching the smallest incremental changes in the world around me. Grateful to see another spring and to have loved ones cherish the days with me.
Sometimes I look up. (Film photograph scanned.)
Sometimes I look down. (Film photograph scanned.)
Family birthday visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden! Masked up and tea in hand to stay safe and warm.
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FARM
This week was the infamous tomato week! We transplanted rows and rows of tomatoes in the massive cathedral poly tunnels. It was a sunny, 60s and 70s ambient air temperature, and I did not put two and two together before heading out to work…I wore long sleeves on top and bottom…everyone else got the “suns out, guns out” memo. Quite alright, we had a wonderful farm lunch of a heaping bowl of hummus, fresh salad greens, last year’s carrots cut into chips, pickled veggies, refreshing herbal iced tea, and bartered sourdough bread. Thought about that lunch all week long.
Sara explaining how to best transplant tomatoes.
Chloe, Sara, and Sam working together to transplant and water the tomatoes!
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GARDEN
Planted an impromptu dry-shade garden along the street of a client’s home this week. Could not have accomplished the installation without the help of Chloe and my mother, both helped with the grunt work of digging, planting, and mulching.
Yours truly walking about to understand the plant relationships before committing them to their new homes.
Chloe planting ferns, mother doing the same and blending into background.
Taken after their first deep watering. Hope they grow up to be healthy and happy!
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BONSAI
I received my first order from a French ceramicist, Nendosei. My oh my, the containers are marvelous!
Detailed look at the glazed finish.
Looking forward to understand how to pair plants with these shapes and designs!
The other week I received a shipment from two ceramicists I have been admiring and wishing to see their work. Well now the wait is over!!! Zoe Powell and Mitch Iburg are a ceramic duo that also share a studio in the Twin Cities, Studio Alluvium. Though their final products are touching on different themes and aesthetics, much of their process and inspiration are parallel. I cannot walk past either of their works without stopping to stare and ponder or to reach out and feel the textures. So excited they are devoting their lives to their art!
Smoother than smooth.
The picture does not come close to capturing the wonder of the greens and oranges that exist in this piece. Must take a closer look in person.
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PODCASTS, MUSIC, & LITERATURE
Podcasts
Cultivating Place: To The Forest, with Midori Shintani and Dan Pearson
The Tokachi Millenium Forest is outstanding. Inspiring, collaborative, responsive, attentive, and forward thinking. The concept revolves around a longterm stewardship of 1,000 years for the wild and cultivated landscapes of around 600 acres in Hokkaido, Japan. Please take a moment to look into it further! Biggest takeaway for gardening and for living life was what Midori learned from her apprenticeships and what wishes to impart onto her gardening team: concentration, patience, and observation.
More can be found at the below links:
http://danpearsonstudio.com/tokachi-millennium-forest/
(Check out the video at the bottom of the webpage on Dan Pearson’s website!)
Dan Pearson & Midori Shintani, looking to the near future. (credit: https://www.hokkaido-garden.jp/oldnews/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_3842.jpg)
Asymmetry: 166 - World War Bonsai: Remembrance and Resilience
Important history that we Americans talk too seldom about. Intriguing that the narrative about the Japanese American incarceration during WWII is still being uncovered. Yet thinking deeper, since the history books in America are written by the few and often white voices, it is no wonder that there is a massive lag in hearing these stories and repairing the damaged bonds between our fellow humans. Thank you Nancy Ukai, Aarin Packard, and Eve Sczechowski for having this conversation.
Music
I was gifted a set of wireless earbuds for my birthday and have been putting them through my daily grind. They’re charging as I write this, but here’s a playlist of tuneage this week!
Literature
Driftless Reader - edited by Curt Meine & Keefe Keeley
Deep into this compilation of stories, poems, journal entries, etc. and a worthwhile read for all those people interested in learning more about the layered past and present of the unglaciated pocket of land in the midwest.
https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/5538.htm
Been a busy week and there were loads that did not make the journal entry this week. No worries though, because tomorrow is another day and creativity does not dry up! So until soon. Thank you for reading and tagging along!
-M-
I agree, pup, it is time for a moment’s rest.