Crow's Nest

Grasping Water

2009-07-10T23:05:00.005-04:00

Children must surely have a right to play in clean water. I sometimes wonder if Toot will grow up in a world where she will have a reasonable expectation to have children of her own that will be able to play in water. And I do mean play. Will clean water be plentiful enough for play? Let us hope so and then work to make it so.

The Sock Monkey and the Weasel

2009-07-06T23:57:00.003-04:00

I've got a sock monkey that lives in a box.
He only comes out when the weasel goes pop.
Now a box is not a box if it hasn't a top.
And a sock is not a sock till it's been to the hop.
But a weasel's a weasel from start up to stop.

When I Grow Up

2009-07-06T02:40:00.004-04:00

When I grow up I wanna be a sycamore tree. Or a crow. Or both at the same time.

Mop Junky

2009-07-06T02:29:00.002-04:00

Toot has a thing for hair. Can't go to sleep without being in contact with it somehow. These are my girls as I'm leaving the house most mornings.

Poly Culture

2009-07-06T02:08:00.007-04:00

It is increasingly clear to me that we would be well served to consider plants in "community" more than in single species plantings. And although I know this is a design aesthetic opinion, I think that community plantings look much better. As climate change rears it's ugly head I think that monoculture will become the luxury of fools and the childless.

New New Harmonists

2009-07-06T01:48:00.006-04:00

On the way back from St Louis we stopped in New Harmony Indiana on the banks of the Wabash River. It was a Sunday so most shops were closed up but that may have been for the best. The roofless church was an interesting part of the visit. Would love to create something like that out at Bernheim. The town had an odd feel. Everything felt like it was just shy of wonderful. Great ideas that nearly came together perfectly. From what I can tell that might be the history of the New Harmonist communal experiment. Nearly came together. Toot loved playing in the fountain near the labyrinth.

Finger Lickin St Louis Food Tips

2009-07-06T01:25:00.005-04:00

We were in St Louis of recent for the American Public Gardens Association conference and had an opportunity to check out some restaurants. Quite luckily we stumbled upon a little Vietnamese place that boasted "the best spring rolls in St. Louis." A few friendly locals inside the joint confirmed it. It's the Vietnam Kitchen of St. Louis. It's called Bahn Mi So #1 and it's located at 4071 S. Grand Blvd. Try the Palestrinas Delight (#27) or the Tofu Xao Xa Curry (A4) Even if you are not that fond of tofu. Then we had Ted Drewes frozen yogurt which was a little further south down Grand Blvd. Next time I'm getting the black walnut. The next day, following a tip from some locals we met at the Bahn Mi So we tried a persian restaurant called The Majestic. Don't think we could have done better.

Mindful of Mycellium - Rain in May

2009-05-08T22:23:00.006-04:00

All found in the mulch under one Chinese chestnut tree on May 6th.
Can you imagine the interconnection of mycellium running around beneath the surface. We give little credit to these things but I am convinced we work for them somehow. Not the other way around.

Water after Planting

2009-05-08T22:14:00.003-04:00

Parenting has afforded me a few new gardening tricks.

1. Plant seed.
2. Place daughter astraddle planted seed.
3. Wait for five minutes of drool.
4. Repeat.

Gardening is slower this way. But the water content of drool is sufficient for initiating the germination of newly planted seed.

You may need to click on the picture to see the quantity of drool provided.

Hornbeam - October 08 to May 09

2009-05-08T21:47:00.007-04:00

In chronological order:
October 1
November 9
November 23
January 29
April 12
April 19
April 27
May 3

Thawed But Bent

2009-05-08T21:38:00.004-04:00

A heavy load of ice on January 29th has this birch still bent on May 7th. Likely a storm it will never recover from. The character of a tree is shaped by moments in time. That is surely true for us as well. But character is what defines us.

Mobility Envy

2009-03-28T23:06:00.004-04:00

For the first time today at a family gathering I could really see Toot contemplating mobility as she watched an older cousin cruising around, showing off, entertaining the adults assembled. I could almost hear the notions in her head, thinking to herself; "I could do that. Look at how all those big people get a kick out of her. Just cause she gets around. I'm gonna do that too one day and then she won't be the bees knees. I can take her."

Tres Ojos

2009-03-28T16:45:00.004-04:00

Tres Ojos sits on the ocean floor.
His three eyes seeing one-third more.
But just which third he will not say.
It’s a secret for some other day.

(Another in the slowing growing series of Ruby's toys in front painted canvas.)

Playin with the Toot

2009-03-26T22:55:00.001-04:00

Workin on crawlin. But not quite there yet.
Drooling? Got that down.

Big Burn, Little Burn, Flicker

2009-03-25T18:15:00.004-04:00

Bernheim uses fire as a tool to help re-establish native grasslands. In my backyard I'm doing the same thing on a smaller scale. Little bluestem, Indian grass, prairie dropseed, Virginia wild rye, bottlebrush grass, river oats, and a bunch of native wildflowers do very well with periodic burns.

To be clear about this... burning like this is ILLEGAL in the city. I have no idea who set my native grass patch on fire?

I'd like to make a formal complaint.

A Most Excellent Afternoon

2009-03-23T20:21:00.006-04:00

Went to the zoo with Carmen and Little Toot. What fun. Then I came home and continued working in the garden. I can feel my age a little. The first really hard day of gardening was yesterday and today I'm sore. I used to not feel so sore after that first spring day in the yard. The digging gets my shoulders now.

I potted up some longhandled dipper gourds and some luffa sponge gourds and put them in the cold frame. For you few folk that actually read my blog here's a prize for you. I'm giving the first person that comments on this entry a choice of luffa or dipper gourd, and the second can have what's left. And if no one comments...I'll just plant em. And when you come pick em up I'll pour you a bourbon.

Germination on the luffa is 7-14 days.
Germination on the dipper gourd is 10-14 days.

So in two weeks you should be able to come get your plants. That will put us right at the average last frost date. Ready to go out in your yard or nurture a while longer in their pots.

Then we can all stand out in the rain and scrub each others backs with luffas come fall.

Curious Garden Indeed

2009-03-23T11:19:00.006-04:00

A new favorite book.
A little boy named Liam (cool name) lives in a nasty ole town with not much going for it in the way of green spaces or gardens. He explores an elevated railway track and finds a struggling little garden there and takes it upon himself to become the gardener of the little patch. The little patch begins to grow and expand. A moderately reasonable story of succession involving mosses is communicated. (As a bryologist this gave the book a bonus point.)

Evenually the garden takes over the entire rail line, then rooftops, then every abandoned thing ends up as a little oasis. But more importantly, more gardeners begin appearing. The once dreary landscape is transformed.

This book provides some important lessons:

Start where you are with what you have.
Start small but dream big.
Nature wins. Even in our abandoned industrial spaces.
Succession is your friend.
Gardening is contagious.
Transformation is possible.

Buy this book for the kids in your lives. But more importantly, take them out to plant something. There is even a package of seeds in the book. Personally, I would never plant them because it doesn't say what seeds are in it. But it makes a good book mark.

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Little, Brown and Company, Books for Young Readers
New York, Boston
(c) 2009
$16.99

Paper and Coffee

2009-03-23T11:06:00.002-04:00

The rewards of working on a Saturday...paper and coffee on a Monday. Even IF the news is mostly bad or worse it's still a good morning.

Change of Plans

2009-03-22T18:06:00.004-04:00

It was such a nice day I ended up with a different plan. (top photo)
Here's how it turned out. All scrap wood from mayors big trash day.
Bless that holiday.

Plan for the Day

2009-03-22T11:19:00.002-04:00

This is what I'm working on today. If I can get this accomplished I'll feel like I've done a good days work. I'll let you know how it goes.

Social Not Working

2009-03-21T23:49:00.005-04:00

I suppose I have been on hiatus. A hard drive crash is a nasty thing.
Not so great with this computer stuff.

Exploring FaceBook. Not sure yet. Addictive to a degree.

Started two group pages:

Professional Porch Sitters Union - Founders Page
Louisville Chickeneers (look for the above photo)

But blogging may be the most fun. I'll get back to that.

One Hundred Thirty Seven and One Half Degrees

2009-03-21T23:41:00.003-04:00

Spring gets me to wanting Summer.
I am impatient.

One hundred thirty seven and
one half degrees. Exactly.

Rust, met by air
or blood, empties on the roots
of the helianthus.
Blood does good for roots.
Carmen bends low to pick
a tomato. Then nine.
Curlers in her hair and a dress
that fits loose upon her hips.
Income for the next generation
of kitchen scraps. Then chicken feed.

In late summer sun
the dropseed begins to cede.
I could dig it up and plant
it near the Indian grass. Or the
river oats.

137.5°

Iron and oxygen combine.
Hemoglobin. That thing they say
is thinker than water.
Is sweat thicker than water?

I’m watching an orange beetle on
the milkweed. Saddle
bags of pollen caught in anthers must
be the invention of sex.
Carmen calls me in for dinner.
She will give me five of
the nine tomatos.

Zen Cow Story

2009-01-07T20:31:00.006-05:00

Here's a new project. I guess I needed one. Gonna paint backgrounds as oil paintings, photograph toys in front of them (a plastic cow from Little Toots' nativity scene in this case) and then manipulate the photos to make little children's stories. Each story is one page. Micro children's literature. Not for micro children necessarily though. If you click on the photo it's better.

Burned Into Memory

2009-01-06T22:39:00.011-05:00

Children's book illustrators literally colored the way I perceive the world even today. One of the really surprising things about having a child is that it has returned forgotten memory to me. On the first day of the year Carmen and I purchased some children's books for Little Toot. In looking through some used books I came across The Magic Story Tree - Fifteen Favorite Fables and Fairy Tales illustrated by Lucille and H.C. Holling. I was surprised by the memory that flooded back when I started looking at the illustrations. I had this book. Not the same one mind you, but one just like it. I still see the world in these colors and with the same little hash mark shading.

Want some cheese little fellow?

Six Shots in a Winter Wood

2009-01-04T21:19:00.009-05:00

(Shot with iPhone using "camera bag" application set on Lolo)

Sunday, January 4th. Sixty degrees.
Old Headquarters Road.
Overcast, damp.
Bernheim.
Alone.
Quiet.