Oh, Monday, I wasn’t ready!

...Passiflora edulis

First of all, thank you so very much to all of you for your kind words of praise for the last post pairing featuring Ruth Bavetta’s poem, “Autumn Harvest.” It was a pleasure to be able to break open my very first pomegranate and I can’t wait for next year’s harvest. Stayed tuned for more of Ruth’s talent featured here in the months to come.

...Muir Woods, California

Also, for those of you who requested seeds from my ‘Black Hollyhock’ plant, I will be picking up the padded envelopes today, packing and mailing tomorrow. There are still some seeds available, so don’t hesitate to speak up if you’d like some. And now, I’m off to get busy on the remainder of the year. There are three papers to write, the final to prepare for, lots of year-end business to attend to at work and the big bad holidays are coming. It’s a busy time for everyone so, however you choose to celebrate, avoid, or survive the holiday season, I wish you all the very best of winter cheer…until we meet again.

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Autumn Sacrifice

Ladies and Gentlemen, please help me welcome back our dear friend and talented poet, Ruth Bavetta. Her poem “Autumn Sacrifice”, which originally appeared in Spillway, is the perfect way to show off the first pomegranate to come from my fledgling tree. Thank you again Ruth, for sharing your talent.

...Punica granatum - November 2011

Autumn Sacrifice

~ By Ruth Bavetta

When I bring the pomegranates into the kitchen,
already my hands are stained with red.

The bruised globes, with their gaping wounds,
ooze crimson onto the white tiles.

The hard dry skins resist my knife.
A slip, and my blood mingles with the fruit’s.

Cooked with sugar, thickened, poured into jars,
the jelly is both sweet and bitter.

(Previously published in Spillway)

...A plate of rubies

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Black Hollyhock Seed Giveaway!

...dark chocolate, almost black

It’s one of those rainy winter weekends when I get to catch up on those garden tasks that do not require my presence in the great outdoors. So yesterday, I sat and pulled my black Hollyhock seeds out of their capsules. There are quite a few! So, I’m going to share them with you. How awesome would it be if next Summer my little flowers, which originally came from Andrea, were spread about the country making someone else happy?! If you’d like to try some in your own garden, please make a comment here with your address in it and I’ll mail you an envelope of Alcea rosea seeds – most likely ‘Nigra’ or ‘Watchman’ cultivars. All comments are approved by me before going public, so I’ll just keep it our little secret and then let everyone know when I run out. Not to worry though, because next fall there will be more, that’s the beauty of plants and seeds.

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A Walk in the Park

Hello. I hope this brief post finds you all happy and well. Things have been a bit intense lately, at work and school and especially in my head. There is a team presentation due in class today and another test on Thursday. After that, maybe I can breathe a little bit for a couple of days and think about something else. In the meantime, I wanted to share some photos with you. These were taken in the canyon just North of our home on Sunday. It had been raining and the canyon was beautiful, all the leaves are turning too. Funny, Tom and I wouldn’t have gone on that hike, but I needed some photos of poison oak for the class presentation and it forced us out there. We were both so happy and vowed to go again this coming Sunday. Enjoy:

...Fall colors: Toxicodendron diversiloba (Poison Oak!)

It stopped raining just long enough for our hike, and the blue sky was beautiful.

...blue sky through a Sycamore tree

We found some juicy looking mushrooms growing on an oak tree.

...fungus on oak

I really really LOVE Sycamore trees.

...California Sycamore

This one is surround by a carpet of Poison Oak, which is also growing up the trunk – beautiful and very itchy.

...it really needs a tire swing.

Sometimes, when I’m in this canyon, I forget that it’s right next to the highway.

...a place to rest on the way home.

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