Interpretation, gardening, and programs

In my trajectory as a garden educator, interpreter, and teacher, I've found a couple of basic truths. (I had a lovely experience this morning doing a program for 20 graduating Master Naturalists).

It's not about the information, rather it's about connection.

It's about engagement, not content.

It's not about what you know, but how you teach.

And taking advantage of teachable moments, where ever they happen is key.

We saw a Cooper's Hawk today in our morning walk, probably attracted by migrants coming through the Garden. I certainly hadn't seen one in the Garden before.  It first sat on a fence rail above the Duck Pond and then swooped below one of the ginkgoes up the slope, trying to nab something beneath a Salvia clump.

We couldn't see if the hawk was successful, but s/he then perched on top of a nearby sign for awhile.

A teachable moment, for sure.  I wouldn't have known that it was a Cooper's Hawk, but a naturalist from a local state park was part of our group (he's one of the regular teachers).

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Wind, vegetables, and falling leaves

Apparently, the winds here and in the mountains of North Carolina are secondary to Hurricane Sandy.  Amazing.  There's been snow around Asheville already at high elevations, with more rain and wet snow to come.

The lows in Asheville (located in a mountain basin) are supposed to dip to 31° on Wednesday and keep those overnight lows through Friday.

Hmm, that'll take care of the pizza peppers!  I haven't been there to tend the mountain raised beds for quite awhile, because traveling and then staying home with Woody, recovering from knee surgery (no stairs for him!) has limited my mobility.

I'm thinking that we might be able to get up to the mountains this weekend, if Woody's cleared for stairs, or maybe I'll just scoot up on my own, to check on things. 

I had pulled out all of the remaining tomatoes, beans, and tomatillos in September, so happily won't face a lot of clean-up (aside from the peppers!)  Some might actually be still OK, if I process them them right away.

I'd sown lots of greens, not anticipating Woody's surgery, in late August, so may have beet, turnip, and mustard greens to harvest, depending on how hungry the woodchuck that Tim (my gardening companion) spotted on his last visit has been.  I sowed lettuce and spinach seed, too, in a bit of late season enthusiasm.  It'll be interesting to see what's doing well.

Here's a view of one of the front beds from two years ago.

October, 2010

I love how leeks will sail through (even) tough winters looking great.

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Storm time

I've been reminded again today, as Sandy approaches the northeastern U.S., of the power of storms.

We've had nothing but some strong winds and a bit of rain today, mainly from a Gulf-based system, not Sandy.  But leaves blew off, raining down on the lawn and mulched beds. I wish we'd got some more rain, as it's been dry for weeks.

But, it's been a glorious fall so far, and the reds have deepened on the dogwood leaves, the sassafras and persimmon leaves are striking, and the hickories and oaks are holding forth, too.

No yellows in our ginkgos yet -- they're late.  I just searched ginkgo in previous posts and these came up, all mentioning the clear yellows in November!

This image was from Nov. 20, 2010.

Ginkgo biloba, SCBG

It's one of a pair of ginkgos near the nature center at the South Carolina Botanical Garden planted at the same time (one is a lot larger than the other).

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Evening porch view

A wonderful September day (in late October) found the porch a perfect spot for dinner.  It's still normally nice at lunch, but at dinnertime -- how pleasant (although a bit unnerving, too).

evening

The reds and purples have been deepening noticeably over the last few days, along with the yellows and oranges becoming more evident.

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Fall color

 A beautiful fall day had me admiring the purples in the dogwoods and the exuberance of the (non-cut-back swamp sunflower) in the border that we see from the porch.

from the porch

Normally, I would have reduced the stem height in June, but didn't this year.  The tall stems are now flopping dramatically, but are really quite pleasing.  And the buddleia to the right continues to host an abundance of butterflies, including the last push of monarchs, as they're moving south.

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Fall saffron crocuses

It's been busy, trying to keep Woody calm (ha!) and tidying and planting as I can.

But I was glad to see the first saffron crocus in flower.  I'd noticed their foliage a couple of days ago, and made a mental note to watch.  The fun of having a blog is I can search and realize that I posted in previous years, too, about them.

I snagged the stigmas (the 'saffron') of this flower to dry.  There will be more to come.  These are plants were established quite a few years ago.

Here's a photo from 2008, from a post on Oct. 26 of that year.

Saffron crocus (2008)

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A tidier garden

Happily, even with a recovering Golden in tow, I've managed to clean up quite a few more of the seedling/sapling volunteers (think redbud, magnolia, sassafras, Althea, lacebark elm, American holly, Chinese privet, nandina, English ivy, etc.)  Not to mention the runners - Bermuda grass, vinca (major and minor), air potato vine, and morning glory.

And the entrance to the front door actually looks like a flagstone path again, and not the entrance to a mysterious house in the woods.  Woo-hoo!

Hmm, there's still LOTS to be done, but I'm feeling better about it.  Geez, nothing like talking about and showing images of your garden in better times to help kick-start things.  And a dear friend's suggestion that we visit together while we garden was encouragement, too.  She's the original energizer bunny of mulching and weeding, so her suggestion helped me out of my gardening funk!  Major garden cleanup involving pruners and heavy cutting is NOT on my list of favorite gardening activities.

I'm hoping to get out and get my garlic in the ground in the next couple of days. It's the perfect time, and my beds are ready.

The satellite vegetable garden is being nibbled on by some sort of herbivore (deer? rabbit?) I managed to harvest the turnips ahead of it, but didn't get a chance to check on the arugula today.  I don't think it's a woodchuck, because, next to my potting bench, all the Tuscan kale in a tall ceramic container was eaten, right next to a container of cilantro, which has been a favorite of woodchucks in the past.

Thankfully, none of the normal nibblers care for garlic!

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