Report From PIA – September 21
We are constantly planting seeds. The key is to remember to sow seeds for things we want to grow. That sounds obvious, but as I look around this dear world I see many people flinging seeds of fear, hate, distrust and anger around. Example? Fox News.
I spread some seeds myself today, in and out of the garden. In the part-shade bed along the driveway, in front of a Rubus cockburnianus “Aurea’ and among a group of hosta, I sprinkled seeds for Perilla frutescens.
Yes, I know that this Perilla will self-seed around the garden. I love that about this plant. It grew in the back yard at my former garden in Osterville; it’s one of the few self-seeders that didn’t hitch a ride in a flowerpot, and move itself over to Poison Ivy Acres.
Several other seeds were scattered to the winds today:
1. A group of promotional sheets for this blog were put in the mail. I have no idea if they will germinate or not, but perhaps they will take root and help me grow what I want. If I didn’t send them out I’d never know.
2. I gave some ideas to a consultation customer, such as: It’s OK to take out, and throw away, some of the plants that the former owner of the garden planted. And, it’s a good thing if you can keep your yard waste on your own property somehow: mulch with chopped up leaves, make brush and compost piles… all is better than using fossil fuels to haul this organic matter to another location.
3. An update was needed on the Barnstable Education Foundation Website. (I’m the Public Relations officer.)
4. I sent an email requesting that people from states other than Massachusetts send post cards to Liam’s class. Liam is in a local elementary school, and they are studying the United States. The teacher requested that the parents put out a call for postcards from as many states as possible to be sent to the class…sort of a “six degrees of separation” thing. If you want to help, pass the word. Send a postcard from your state to: Mrs.Keenan’s Class, Barnstable Horace Mann Charter Public School, 165 Bearses Way, Hyannis, Ma. 02601. If you mention Liam and classmates on the card he’d be really thrilled.
5. I packed a couple of things to take to people at the Garden Writers meeting this week…some fun, feel good items that I think friends will enjoy.
6. And finally, I picked up chicken for a harvest dinner for my husband and I tonight. All ingredients except the chicken have come from our gardens, so we’ll celebrate the growing season in a most delicious way.
I am very sure that all of the seeds I’ve planted today are for things I want to grow… Perilla frutescens, consultation common sense, an education foundation, a child’s curiosity/knowledge, good will, and a tasty, home grown, home cooked meal.
This is what I know: We’d all be better off if we started out each day knowing what we want to grow, and noticing how our actions are seeds for that growth.
This is where Perilla, AKA beefsteak plant, will grow: ANYWHERE!
This lovely statue is at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. Today, it seems to me that it represents how I'm likely to go into my day if I'm not careful. No, not thin and naked.... but with head thrown back with swirling thoughts, and not looking where I'm going... not considering what seeds I will plant and what I want to grow.
