I remember one day in a Waldorf school in a big city where I worked as a class teacher, finding my way down long hallways and flights of stairs to a basement room, with a door, that held a couch, a bookshelf, and a small table with coffee supplies. A colleague was sitting on the…READ MORE >
Farming
SPRING while homebound
The daffodils are in full bloom, and that means it is time to get the garden ready to plant. Some weeks ago Michael tilled leaves into the beds of rich red clay that we are enticing along on the journey to rich brown humus. Then he hauled wheelbarrow load upon wheelbarrow load of compost…READ MORE >
A Glance into the World of Gourds
My interest in gourds began when I was introduced to the axatse, a rhythm instrument used in West African drumming ensembles. The axatse is a dried gourd that has been emptied of its seeds and covered in netting with small shells attached. When the gourd is shaken, the shells rattle and make a loud…READ MORE >
BACK FORTY REPORT
Afternoons I wear many hats, but mornings I get to be a farmer. The job pays nothing, indeed it costs money, but the rewards are priceless. Yesterday, glimmery, gloriously light and cool, and the sun smiled on the work of many spiders. They must have been working all night, creating mystical magical receivers in…READ MORE >
Teaching Moments in a Desert Garden
When I arrive at Las Milpitas de Cottonwood community gardens, Josh Banno and a group of students are already working. They had taken the city bus from their downtown high school as they do every Friday afternoon as an after school option activity to work on their small piece of ground in the larger community…READ MORE >
11th Annual Mesquite Milling, Pancake Brunch, & Fiesta – A Neighborhood Event
Nov 26, 13 Pedaling quietly down tree lined streets in the crisp autumn morning, we round the corner into Dunbar/Spring Community Park and meet the sounds of gasoline engines driving mills grinding mesquite pods. It is the 11th Annual Mesquite Milling, Pancake Brunch, & Fiesta at the Dunbar Spring Community Garden, Orchard and Mini Nature park in…READ MORE >