Grafting Magic

 

The end of February, no matter the storm system, not matter the thermometer reading, is when our Northern California fruit trees decide it is time to put on a show.  I recently helped worked on a biographical play about Johnny Appleseed, and, as extraordinary as he was, I believe his fundamental desire to celebrate and spread the wealth of fruit trees is alive and strong in many of us.  I stopped by the Indian Valley Organic Farm last week just in time to see Steve and Wendy model the mysterious and magical process of grafting.  Nature helps us to help ourselves in so many ways, and here is an exceptionally useful and glorious one.  The class had the beginnings of 50 new trees by the end of the day.

 

  

  

  

  

 

Wendy Johnson - Dharma Talk at the Zen Center, Sunday 2/28

Here is the link if you'd like to hear Wendy, this Sunday 10:15   http://www.sfzc.org/ggf/display.asp?catid=3,78,92&mode=c

Community Garden Forum : Feb 25, 7-9 PM

Steve Quirt will moderate a forum on building a community garden from the ground up, this Thursday eve. (February 25) from 7-9pm at the Novato Unified School District offices, 1015 Seventh Street, Novato.  The event is sponsored by the Novato Live Well Network. 

Reading, Writing and ... Gardening? An Anti-School Garden Writer Rants

Many educators and activists are abuzz about writer Caitlin Flannigan's Atlantic Magazine piece lambasting school gardens. My impression is that Flannigan has done a service to the School Garden movement, inspiring debate and asking us to articulate better why we believe in teaching Gardening, Nutrition and Environmental Science outdoors.

Flannigan is one of those writers who likes to get a rise, which is why she is popular. She might as well have said "Music has no place in the schools!"

Here is her article:

Cultivating Failure

and here is the Center For Eco-literacy response:

The School Garden Debate: To Weep or Reap

I will simply say it is very satisfying to see a student who has declared "I would never ever eat spinach!" chow down on the leaves he has sewn and harvested himself (being physically active all the while), then ask his mother to contact me to get the recipe for the spinach salad he helped prepare...So many reasons this matters, but especially satisfying at a time when obesity is a national crisis.