Planting Fruit Trees, March 2012

When I was a child, I could disappear into the privacy of the fig tree below my house. Its supple branches spread along the ground making an ideal temporary second home with plenty of space for my dog and me. Just up the hill from the fig tree were two orange trees and farther up were two large lemon trees with yellow oxalis flower blooming under them in February, and just beyond the lemon trees was my home. The whole east-facing hill was a sampling of all of the types of fruit that grow in central California. These trees were interspersed among my family’s apple orchard that my grandfather had started.

It was my grandfather who had the vision to plant this variety of fruit trees long before I was born.
He knew that the top of the hill was a good site to build a house which my dad later built. I didn’t get to know my grandfather very well. He died when I was young, but he influenced my life and the lives of my grandchildren by planting those fruit trees. We don't yet know how these trees will inspire the next generation - For you, Ellie and Ben.

I grew up knowing the smell of fig leaves, the softness of a young peach, the silver leaves of olive trees, the smell of orange blossoms, the taste of ripe apples, the juiciness of fresh plums, and the way my dad smiled when he offered me an unripe olive to taste. Fruit was there for me to pick in the summer. In the spring the trees blossomed each kind with different flowers - the peach with pink flowers and the plum with white ones. The apples blossoms are still my favorite with white in the inside of the petal and pink on the outside. Their fragrance is like no other. In the winter the trees revealed the pattern of their branches and the brilliant mustard flowers grew in between the trees.

This month I planted two new fruit trees, a peach and an apricot, while I thought of my grandchildren. One child will turn a year old and one is expected to be born next month. Last year I planted two cherry trees for my first grandchild. This year I also grafted a delicious late apple variety on to some volunteer apple trees in my yard. These trees will bear fruit years in the future.

When I purchased the two trees this year, a lady in line at the nursery asked me how I could plant trees that take so long to grow that I might not eat their fruit. I didn’t tell her about what my grandfather planted for me but I did explain to her that I couldn’t imagine not planting fruit trees. I am glad that the trees live a long time and will provide fruit far into the future.

Community Growing
Today I showed Aranis how to sow seeds of fava beans for a crop that provides beans while enriching the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients. She also added some flower seeds for beauty and grass for additional organic material to work into the soil in the spring. These seeds are planted at her home. She also has kitchen scraps mixed with soil and weeds breaking down into compost in a five gallon bucket. Growing crops for soil-enrichment and using kitchen waste to make compost are two ways to improve soil.

A Dream that Healed the Earth

This past Wednesday morning, I had a dream that young people had an app on their phones that allowed them to pool information about the health of the Earth from anywhere on the Earth. The information on this phone app was updated and edited much the same way as Wikapedia from reports sent by locals as well as travelers. Information gained from precise measurement and chemical analysis by independent observers was most valued. The information was put on a map of the Earth using symbols.

The information allowed the rating of farms, forests, fields, deserts, factories, and cities with a map symbol ranging from green for a sustainable area to red for severely damaged area with toxins that take years to break down. A yellow symbol is an area in the process of becoming sustainable. An orange symbol means an area needs to change practices immediately so restoration can take place. The goal is a sustainable Earth. “A sustainable society is one that satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations.” Quoted from Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute. This definition of sustainability is the criterion for the rating of the areas of the Earth.

People used the information on this app when making choices about what products to purchase, what cases to bring to the attention of the government, which lawmakers to reelect, which multinational companies to hold accountable, etc. The Earth healed. This was my dream.

When actions are known because of transparency, persons or corporations committing unsustainable actions can be held responsible. As people’s actions all over the Earth are known and correct stewardship is demanded by masses of informed people, the Earth will heal.

Beauty in the Garden

What is it that inspires me to go into the garden on a foggy November Sunday morning? The beauty. The dew collects on the Asparagus ferns giving them a silvery sheen. Brilliant pink roses announce their charm. The wild Baccharis pilularis or Coyote Bush covered in white fluffy bloom with its sweet scent will always remind me of fall. If you grow up in California and play outdoors in the hills as I did, you become familiar with this scent. These plants grow in the open grassy spaces between the Oaks. I have cut them for display in the house where their fluff falls on the table below.
The vegetable plants show their exuberance as they push up through the soil; fava and bell bean seeds, garlic, red onions, and also the flowering bulbs that promise color in winter. They express beauty in the patterns which their unfoldment follows. The bulbs are straight up and the winter beans slightly nodding with their leaves poised to lift and spread.
Always the surprise and wonder draw me. There will be some discovery today. Perhaps it will be new blossoms of sea-blue winter iris or a hummingbird at the pineapple sage. The wonder that I am part of this life is more that my mind can comprehend but my heart has always known. I share this life with the plants and animals I see around me and the microscopic life in the soil. Sometimes I see a favorite animal like a toad. I am at home.

Today's wonders were the last gifts of the season: a bucket of tomatoes in red, orange, yellow and green; a few last zinnias and chrysanthemums, and a couple of red kuri winter squash. This was probably the last time till next year that I will bring these treasures into the house. Soon the tender summer plants will turn to mush when they freeze. Then the onions, garlic, green manure legumes, chard, cole crops, and orange calendula flowers will have the garden to themselves. As I picked the last pear tomatoes, I was sad and appreciative. We have eaten some wonderful fresh salsas, salads, and tomato sauces, and the vibrant colors of the tomatoes have brightened our kitchen counter since July. I discovered that I will miss them like friends who move away for part of the year.

Certainties, October 2011

I am comforted by certainties in a time of little sensible political action amid world-wide environmental degradation and a poor economy. Some of the few things I can count on are the golden light of fall, acorns falling with the brown oak leaves, and the emerging green grass transforming the dry faded golden hills.
Another certainty is the funny things that kittens do. There is one kitten by my side as I write. Actually she is now moving under my journal, on me, next to me, oops!–over my journal. Now she is high on the book shelf after some tiny flying insect or spider that I can’t see. Now two of the smaller stuffed animals are falling on me from the shelf above the bed where I am sitting as the kitten explores.
When this active kitten first arrived, she seemed uninterested in people. We have recently adopted her along with her four-month old sister and their mother. During her first few days with us, she and the others stayed close to the bathroom where I had their beds and food. By the second week, they were joining us in the living room. The others were interested in being petted and purred vigorously when they were handled and came to sit with us on the sofas. It crossed my mind that the most active one needed more petting so she would become more social. I soon noticed that when she got around to being with her people she was most attentive–purring, laying nearby, stretching out on her side in front of me, moving under foot, or snuggling with me depending if I was lying down or walking. I realized that she is just a very busy cat and socializes when she gets around to it.
She is a cat after all, and does things her way. No extra petting needed. Weeks later, she is near me when I lay on the sofa in the evening. She even watched a documentary about dogs with me one night. I could tell she was watching because her head moved slightly as she tracked the motion on the screen. She got up and left a few times but went right back to her position facing the television each time.
My husband has named her Rudy. She is the smallest. The mom, he named, Claire. The sister kitten he named Theo or Thea. All names are from the Cosby Show. Sometimes my husband calls the mom Mrs. Huxtable. I can be certain that Rudy will have a busy day today.

Gardening with Nature’s Principles during October in California
A big change happens in California after the first inches of rain fall in October. The grass seed and other wild-plant seeds sprout and grow. Growth is fast in the soil that is still holding warmth from the summer sun. Soon green is visible after the long summer drought. The plants that grew with the last rainy season have withered and dried. In wild places, the dry plants are thick and some are tall. There the green is barely visible two weeks after the first rains . Where last season’s golden brown dry plants have been mowed or eaten by grazing animals, the bright green velvet coat of plants already shows its vibrancy. Perennial plants like the roadside fennel begin to grow from the base of the old dry stalks.
In my garden, I cut down the finished perennial plants and compost them. No one does that to the plants like roadside fennel. By late spring, their old dry stalks are concealed by the new growth if they haven’t blown down during winter storms.

This October, I copied nature and sowed my winter green manure crops in between the finishing tomato, squash, and corn plants. I can remove the tomatoes, squash and corn plants after the last harvest, while letting the seeds get a good start in the warm soil. My time is limited as I teach full-time so I dug compost into beds only when essential for a particular crops like onions, garlic, and cabbage. I didn’t dig or weed to sow the green manure. I just tossed the bell beans and mixed cover-crop seed in between the finishing crops and scratched them into the soil with a hand tool. These beds will get a good dressing of compost later when this green manure crop is double-dug for the next planting in the spring or dug even earlier for lettuce and spinach which will be protected under row-cover or glass.
This green manure sowing was very easy and took about ten minutes. I could have been watching baseball on TV and done the sowing during the commercials if the Giants were in the World Series.

The garlic is up and growing along with the cabbages planted in August.
This year I am planting Chinese Garlic. I recently read Chester Aaron’s book called "Garlic is Life". I was so inspired to try other varieties of garlic that I found this more spicy Chinese variety at Imwalle’s Gardens in Santa Rosa. We tasted some of it before planting to determine that it really had a noticeably different taste from the California Garlic commonly sold in the grocery stores, and it does seem a little spicier.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Garlic is Life for its beautiful descriptions of living in Western Sonoma County. As I had also lived in the Occidental area, I loved having Chester’s words bring back my connection to this land of tall firs and grassy hills. His writing also tells of his gardening and how that connects him to warm memories of his parents. If you love gardening, this is a good read.

Gardening in the Summer of 2011

A Personal Garden Vision
My garden is designed to grow food for my husband, myself, friends, and family as well as for beautiful views of flowers from our windows and cut flowers to put in the house. The total effect is patterns of leaf and flower in a range of vibrant colors with the movement of birds, insects, and wind while the constantly changing angle of the sun strikes the leaves and blossoms. Pairs of goldfinches visit the sunflowers chirping all the while. Hummingbirds visit blossoms. Woodpeckers work in the surrounding Oakwoodlands. Scents fill the air.

Included among the vegetables and fruits are plants that increase the well being of the garden. These plants provide food and shelter for a variety of insects. This insures a balanced insect population that eats only tiny bits of the veggies and roses---not enough to be a bother. The plants that increase the well being of the garden include the honey scented alyssum which attracts an insect that preys on aphids, the tall airy Verbena bonarensis with its small flat flower clusters which make perfect landing pads for a variety of insects, the wonderful monarda that attracts humming birds, and the healall that bees love. There are also scented beautiful plants like lemon balm, caledula, marigold, feverfew, lavender, and rue that are essential to a healthy plant community. Some of these probably contribute by repelling harmful insects with their strong smells. In fact, the one potato plant in the new orchard garden with no insect nibbles is the one with a little feverfew plant that volunteered right next to it. Being newly established, this garden does not yet have a variety of established beneficial plants like feverfew to keep the insect population balanced. Here most potato and early bean plants were nibbled..

Being a teacher gave me the summer to correct and refine my garden infrastructure and practices. For example, I built compost bins that will better hold moisture in our dry summers, and the new orchard garden is terraced, has double-dug beds, and is layered with mulch. The materials that I used in these projects were left over from home improvement projects. I have completed gardening projects that will keep myself and the plants thriving as I go back to teaching for the school year. I recycled materials that would have otherwise been landfill.

Gardening for a Purpose
This is the summer when my gardening became part of my life in a unified way. Just as I create an interweaving of plants that do well together, my garden integrates all parts of my life. I no longer leave unfinished tasks undone. For example, vines are tied up before they sprawl over other plants blocking sunlight. There are no neglected tangles of weeds and vines taking extra time to correct. I am planting a year-round garden so seeds are sown most months. I do not just sow a summer garden, water it, harvest it, and wait till the next season. I found that there is always something to harvest. For example, greens can be harvested when small or when mature. If I harvest them when small, I am giving nearby plants more room to mature. This worked well with the cabbage which I am still harvesting. My cooking is inspired by fresh vibrant produce coming from the garden.

Gardening gives me hope. I know I can grow food and increase beauty by growing plants in harmony with nature. I am inspired by the natural processes that I work with and ever changing life-cycles of the plants in my care. I sense that our lives and the life around us are like small concentric rings connected to larger ones expanding and blending. Sometimes these rings also blend from the past into the future.

As a child, I felt nurture in the homes and gardens of my great aunts and my grandmother Florence. Their homes were clean and orderly and their gardens and farms were lovely. I knew that I wanted this nurture in my life. I wanted to be able to create this nurture for myself and my own family. These women were my models for how I wanted to be. Now I can see that I have this nurture in my family relationships, my garden and my home. It feels good.

“I do not yet know why plants come out of the land or float in streams, or creep on rocks or roll from the sea. I am entranced by the mystery of them, and absorbed by their variety and kinds. Everywhere they are visible yet everywhere occult.” Liberty Hyde Bailey



Garden Observations are a Bonus
This summer was different as I paid more attention to what the plants needed since I was more attentive. After the summer plants were in the ground, I made compost and turned soil, all the while paying attention to the needs of the plants as they grew. I planned a year-round garden, so by July, I was starting plants for winter. I often hand watered the vegetable beds. “The foot steps of the gardener is the best fertilizer,” is a quote from the ancient Chinese farmers. It is so true as being in the garden allows me to see what is needed. While watering I sometimes pull a weed, notice a squash that needs to be picked, train a pumpkin vine to stay inside the protective wire deer fencing, and see what tomatoes need more staking. I don’t think that I spent more time in the garden this summer but my time was spent in better ways. I was able to do small tasks like getting out weeds before they got to be big and competed with the vegetables for food, sunlight, and water. Enjoyment of a well growing garden was my reward as I spent time on priorities that insured healthy plants. I was able to learn to prioritize tasks by what was most needed by the plants.

There were also other bonuses to hand watering besides the fact that the sprinklers don’t water the garden edges well. Once while I was hand watering at dusk, I noticed a turkey high up on an oak tree branch and wondered why her wing was out from her body in an unusual position. I paid attention to moving the gentle rain of water onto the soil between the zucchini and cabbage. The next time I looked up, the turkey had flown down the hill leaving behind five little ones on the branch about 30 feet up in the tree. I was amazed that these little ones had flown so high up to roost in the tree. I watched as one by one the little ones flew down to their mom to find another safe place to spend the night. I was sorry that my watering had disturbed them but glad to have seen how a momma turkey keeps her babies protected at night when the predators are most active.

Gardening with Natural Principles
My understanding of many natural principles increased. For example, plants want to make a protective cover over the soil. I plant seedlings close enough so that the mature plants cover the soil. I use mulch to cover bare spots. This cover protects the soil, keeps moisture from evaporating, and keeps weeds from sprouting. The mulch also provides food for the earthworms to mix into the soil. I also let dandelions and small grasses grow in paths, giving me fresh greens for the chickens. Another path had healall growing in it. In the summer the blossoming stems get about a foot high so I hoed out a narrow five inch pathway. I found that the bees loved this stand of blossoms. I walk through this narrow pathway slowly so I don’t hurt or disturb the bees while they work. I have not been stung, and I go through this area daily. I encouraged pursulane to grow between the corn plants which improves the corn. The plants are protecting the soil in many places in my garden.

Plants place their vitality for growing into tiny seeds which the gardener brings to life. I found this principle of nature a joy to work with. From big nasturtium seeds to tiny viola seeds, baby plants began their life under my care. Some volunteered like the violas and columbine in the soil under the parent plants. These I carefully moved to bigger quarters in nice pots of freshly mixed soil. The results have been a nearly constant parade of sprouts becoming beds of vegetables or decorative plants. Friends have benefitted from my extra plants.

I benefitted from the extra seedlings of a new friend. I partnered with Diane who had not grown much outdoors but grew indoor gloxinias from dust-like seed. Last spring Diane had extras of these baby plants which mature into tender house plants with flowers up to four inches across. As I type this, sitting next to me are several of these plants, one with a luscious wide-opened white bloom with red dots in a beautiful scalloped pattern of denser dots near the petal’s edge and another with intense purple blooms that look ruffled. Another gloxinia that has finished blooming was a deep red. It is in the greenhouse as it goes dormant to sprout again later from a tuber of stored energy. These wonderful plants have the added bonus of being perennial.

“Feed the soil, the soil feeds the plants, and the plants feed you.” This is a quote from my friend Pat who gardened for a year learning from Alan Chadwick, the gardener who introduced French Intensive/ Biodynamic Gardening to North America. Last year my summer and winter squash plants were small and produced little. They were growing in a new garden with very poor soil. In fact, a soil test revealed that my garden soil tested low in nitrogen and potash and medium in phosphorus. This planting area had only been gardened for a few years with my chicken manure compost added in only the last two years when I started raising chickens. My improved compost was added in the spring, and this year I noticed that my squash plants look healthy and vigorous. It takes years to build good soil with compost, and I needed more soil nutrients than I had been applying. I have continued adding purchased compost as a mulch throughout the summer, and these large squash plants are continuing to thrive.

Community Growing
My friend, Diane, and I gardened together every week this summer. Diane helped me prepare plum grafts and shell bell beans. I helped her double dig her first bed in the back yard. She gave homes to some of my extra plants like tomatoes and rosemary as we landscaped her wild front yard. I learned how to follow another person’s garden vision as I paid close attention to her garden plans.

My friend had not imagined she could turn her soil into planting beds. After observing me double digging the soil, she plans to get a fork for herself.

We were both very proud of our results. Her front yard shows off some of her favorite lilies and morning glory vines as well as existing shrubs and new tomato plants. Her back yard has its first planting bed. I have three fig tree starts from under her fig tree in my greenhouse and we await the results of the plum grafts which will be evident next spring. We were both pleased and got compliments on her front yard from a homeless man who often walks by her house.

Community growing was definitely a success for us and we have more gardening planned when our work schedules allow. Of course we will keep each other informed of the growth of our plants and the ripening of the figs.


Hidden Places for Growing
The path by the raspberries filled with the low growing mint ground cover, healall, is like a bee sanctuary. It is wonderful how many things you can grow in a path when you get over the idea of all paths needing to be free of plants. A sign saying "Walk slowly, bee sanctuary" would be nice if anyone used that path besides me.

The chickens are always interested in my activities when I come outside. They watch me from the edge of their pen. They are only distracted from me if I give them some greens or grasses to scratch through. I give them grasses from spring weed-eating done to minimize fire hazards. Any unwanted plant material pulled or trimmed from the vegetable and flower beds are theirs except for woody twigs and rose prunings which go to the garbage company for shredding and composting. I have a little pen within their enclosure that I sometimes use as a place to sow peas and vetch for the chickens to eat. They finish with that in a day. I am glad there are dandelions, burr clover, and grasses growing in the nearby paths to supply them with fresh greens. This also increases the vitamin content of their eggs besides keeping the chickens happily occupied.

Matching companion plants in beds together gives extra crops. There are carrots in between the tomato plants and carrots planted with green onions.

Starting the next crop among the finishing crop worked with a pea bed becoming a tomato bed. There is a bed of peas that had four tomato plants started in between them in May. Now the peas are decomposing under the mulch around the four foot tall tomato plants.

Several beds of potatoes are still growing. Adding layers of mulch to the beds probably encouraged the plants to continue growing. Most potato plants are still green and have not bloomed so the next crops for the cool season are in pots in the greenhouse waiting for the potatoes to finish. The greenhouse with pots is another hidden place for growing as growing in pots keep the beds available for large maturing plants. The potted plants will be ready when the mature plants are harvested. A continuous supply of food comes from beds in continuous production.

Invasive Plants as Healers
I have a patch of ground were the soil was once covered with chaparral. We cleared this area to protect our property from wildfire moving up the hill to our house. The slope faces south west receiving the hottest part of the sunlight. Over the years that we have lived here, star thistle has started growing here. This plant is considered an invasive problematic nonnative. I have tried over the years to pull it all out each summer, and the next summer it is still growing in the same place. This summer I read the book, Invasive Plant Medicine, The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives which gave me an understanding of the job invasive plants do to remediate problem soils so I didn’t pull out the star thistle. I went to see how this area looked this summer and noticed there was only one star thistle plant and a whole patch of native bunch grasses perfectly arranged as if they had been planted with equal spacing between each one. Did the long strong roots of the star thistles make it possible for these plants to get their roots into this dense soil? Did I pull last year’s star thistle out before they made seeds and there were no seeds left in the soil from previous years? Has the star thistle finished its work so the native grasses can grow? I wonder what will grow there next year. I am going to continue to leave this place alone.

These quotes were taken from the book, Invasive Plant Medicine.
A quote from the great plantsman, Liberty Hyde Bailey. “All living beings have the right to engage in the struggle for existence.”
Many believe that invasive plants harm native plants. Here is a quote from Vermeij. “The evidence so far points to the conclusion that invaders often cause extinction on oceanic islands and in lakes, but rarely in the sea or on large land masses.”
A quote from Masanobu Fukuoka. “The living and holistic biosystem that is nature cannot be dissected or resolved into its parts. Once broken down, it dies. Or rather, those who break off a piece of nature lay hold of something that is dead, and unaware that what they are examining is no longer what they think it to be, claim to understand nature... Because [man] starts off with misconceptions about nature and takes the wrong approach to understanding it, regardless of how rational his thinking, everything winds up all wrong.”

Still Learning as Always
I am a teacher by profession and have found that teaching and learning are the same thing. I am curious about many things and want to share that with youth. I find that I am still learning about gardening constantly even though I have gardened since I was a child. Pairing up to work with a less experienced gardener gave me much to learn. It wasn’t so much that she learned from me but rather that we both learned different things from sharing gardening.

The wonderful thing about this is that each new season becomes a new chance to learn. My winter study of new garden practices and seed catalogues is always an exciting time of year for me. During this period, I am like a kid in a candy store as I envision next year’s garden. I often need to adjust my exuberant plans so they fit the space that I have.

Connecting Gardeners, Community, and Opportunity
Building a humane world where food is produced locally and sustainablly will heal ourselves and our planet. Currently about 75% of greenhouse gases come from food production and distribution worldwide. More land that is stewarded locally and sustainablly will allow gardeners and community to work together toward a humane world.

Imagine if the unused land between a suburban fence and a city street, the front yards currently growing only a monoculture of mowed grass, the forgotten easements, and unused back yards were beautiful kaleidoscopes of texture, color and form devoted to fresh local food. Children would view the wonder of the life in these places and be learning to appreciate and protect it. People would have more fresh nutritious food. People would work together to create something that would be a source of pride and kinship.

I have friends with a nonprofit organization who would be happy to sponsor food growing. Their website is Communityconnexions.org. I and other friends with gardening experience ranging from setting up community gardens to farming biodynamically would be happy to share our experience. I can be reached at marlenahirsch@yahoo.com. In my area of Sonoma County, California, there is igrowsonoma.org and the School Garden Network's group emails with helpful info for food growing. These are just a few of the many groups devoted to promoting local sustainable food growing.

Community Growing; food, flowers and friends

Community Growing ---May 2011
Mission Statement: To help people grow fresh food for healthier daily living using natural sustainable principles.

Walking outside to my garden is stepping into a world of surprise and wonder. Each day brings provides new observations. As I learn from my observations, my garden flourishes. I would like to connect with others who want to enjoy gardening.
When I bring food in to my kitchen from the plants growing outside, cooking is more fun. Often the smells and tastes are heightened as the food is so fresh and vibrant.
Plants want to grow. On a recent trip to North Carolina, I saw a tomato plant that was growing behind a restaurant next to the corner of the building near the sidewalk and the rock paved alley. No one had planted this or was caring for it, and yet it was as big or bigger than the tomatoes in my garden. As a gardener, I am attempting to organize the growing.
Besides college classes, my horticultural background includes working under the tutelage of Alan Chadwick at UCSC in the late 60s who brought the French Intensive/ Biodynamic gardening method used by the Parisian market gardeners to North America. I have taught gardening to children of all ages as well as to adults. My quest to learn and teach about growing plants continues.

You do not need to leave nearby to be part of Community Growing.
We can work together by meeting at a garden site or by email: marlenahirsch@yahoo.com