Stories About Gardening
The Chimney Fire Christmas
If you close your eyes can you conjure up a roaring fire? Can you feel your muscles relaxing as they soak up heat from a roaring fire? Can you feel the bone and soul-penetrating warmth of wood? That’s what I thought of while I was perched on top of a three-story house one freezing, black…
Read MoreLessons from Grass Puppets & Youngsters
The stories we’ll tell….and a brief history of Indonesian shadow puppet theater called Wayang Kulit. . Geoff and I lead a troop of young adventurers down the sand road. We are family friends, unrelated adults, “fun uncles” hoping to inspire wonder in the three young siblings who trail behind. Not so long ago, we all sat…
Read MorePandemic Distraction — Wandering In the Nursery Fields on Sunday Morning
Standing barefoot in the field trying to click. The slick phone screen can’t feel my fingers through potting soil and worm parts.
Read MoreGhost in the Crinum Field —- A Massive Bulb Stimulates Weird Thoughts While the Garden Crew Works
I see things nobody else does. Snapshots, little fictional scenarios flash through my head. Does that happen to you? Today when we were digging the biggest of big bulbs, Crinum ‘Fiesta’, it happened. Leaning on shovels next to me, two nice fella’s who I thought would never have a black thought like the one I pushed…
Read MoreCountry-style Cut Flowers — What? You’ve Never Heard of Chicken Feet Flowers?
A cut flower stem that last for weeks without water.
Read More25 Years Ago Riverbanks Botanical Garden Opened — I Was Mad in the Photo!
Which mean 27 years ago, I left my adopted home of Seattle to move back to Columbia, South Carolina. It was culture shock to be sure! Columbia was still pretty much a small town with a lot of Bible Belt ways. An amazing group of people established a vision, political support to establish a new…
Read MoreStone Cold
I sat down at the bar at Hunter Gather alone. It’s warm and dark, the kind of place strangers talk. A few other farmers, craftsmen, tradesmen types were always there at 4 p.m. One time, I was telling some guy a story. I’d explained how my farm is an hour out of town and that…
Read MoreSouthern Peat Bogs, Old Men and A New Farm Ethic
On a hot October Saturday, family had gathered to bury my youngest cousin. It was on the funeral home front porch that first cousin twice removed, Bill, started a conversation. Sitting in a rocking chair, a tiny plate of deviled eggs in his football player lap, I guessed he was about 75. He was almost…
Read MoreHolding Our Breath…..A Tree of Winter Flowers
Fat buds of Prunus mume wait for the warmer days of winter. Starting around the turn of the year, I eagerly wait for both buds and warmth. Every cold gray day, the bulging buds stand out, puffed up like they’re holding their breath along with me. We’re all waiting. Then one lovely day the sun…
Read MoreShadow & Light in The Garden
She made a point of coming by the garden twice a year to see what the old man loved. She smiles at our secret jargon, Ben and I used only Latin names. No questions, no suspicion just eyes that said, I’m happy ‘cause yall are happy.
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