Growing up
You can never tell how well (or badly) a horticultural therapy will be received. My last session on growing an early kitchen spring garden maxed out with a baker’s dozen of clients who crammed around the table. It appeared that some just came not expecting what to get out of the day, but the idea […]
Advancing the season
The moment Juana and I stepped off the plane from Florida, we realized that we were not in the tropics anymore: The temperature was 50 degrees less than what we had become used to and the early green of southern dogwoods and oaks were replaced by the skeletons of their northern relatives. This mattered little, […]
A snowy remembrance
We must have done something really bad in the Northeast and even worse in my home town as Ridgefield seems to be the epicenter of nasty weather events over the last two years. We had just gotten over Sandy and had 100% power restored in the town when we got word that a Nor’easter was […]
It has NOT been my pleasure to serve you
I remember that there is an old saying that you always sow three seeds for every plant you desire because “one is for the gods, one is for the birds/animals and one is for you.” Or something to that effect. The trouble with that saying is that few birds, animals or gods sign off on […]
Timberrr!!!!!!
As I have mentioned in a prior post, one of the large challenges my vegetable garden faces is its exposure or its lack of one. Though its raised beds are situated on a greenhouse foundation, the combination of northern exposure and tree cover, which wasn’t there when the greenhouse was built, makes for light light […]
Solstice salad
Going out for the newspaper a few mornings ago, I was greeted by a warm 50 degree breeze and sunny skies. Normally, such weather is more appropriate for the Spring Equinox than the Winter Solstice. But this has been a year of unusual weather so I shrugged off the morning breeze as yet another aberration […]
Recalling a blackout and October snow
Writing by candlelight and fire evokes images of Abe Lincoln or Ben Franklin recording their thoughts at the end of a long day. But there is little else I was able to do after days without power finding myself alone tending a fire to keep the house warm and the pets fed. This trip back […]
Cutting flowers, exposing memories
Part of the practice of horticultural therapy is to help clients work through or at least realize their challenges. Before you can begin to do that, particularly for emotional or social issues, you must first gain the trust of your client. In working with the children at Green Chimneys I have found that one of […]
Going home to New Jersey
Working at Green Chimneys is full of paradoxes. One of the biggest ones that I don’t understand is the rationale behind the rule that staff are not allowed to discuss the entire life cycle of animals, particularly when they die. On a farm, life and death is common. Animals get sick and die, chickens that […]
January snow showers bring no flowers
January in New England does not bring to mind gardening, except to those die-hards impatiently waiting for the first hard melt. These frosty days January is a time where we fanaticize about gardens to come stimulated by the appearance of seed and gardening catalogues in the mail box. For us, it’s Christmas in January with […]