Transplanting - The Little French Bistro

Transplanting - Art journal
mixed media

If you are a gardner like me, you know that every once in a while you must pull up a plant and move it. Early in my gardening career I needed to learn how to pair a plant with its sun needs. Sure the nursery is kind enough to give you a plant stake in the pot to help with placement but what do they really mean by part sun/part shade or full sun. Is that spot in your yard which gets some shade really partial shade or not? It is only by getting to know your yard do you discover how to nurture your garden. Kind of like your own soul.

But things change, nothing stays the same and that is true of your garden and soul. Trees grow and cast new patterns of shade. Soil needs to be amended. Plants grow larger and need to be pruned and moved about. The same happens to us, we change, we grow, we stagnate, we allow fear to overwhelm us, and the next thing - if we are lucky enough - we find ourselves desperate for change, and that's where Marianne of Nina George's The Little French Bistro finds herself.

Marianne is a sixty year old, German woman who finds herself in Paris the famous place of light, love, art, food and she is desperate to rid herself of her husband and her old way of life - desperate enough to throw herself off a bridge and into the Seine hoping to end her misery. She is furious when a homeless man witnesses her suicide attempt and jumps in to save her. A night in a psychiatric hospital, one counseling session with a doctor, finds Marianne stealing a painted tile from a nurse's desk, on which is depicted a scene of a French port where she has decided to travel in order to end her life. SPOILER ALERT - She doesn't succeed.

Marianne, however, does succeed in finding herself. The lesson here is that we can begin the search for our inner beauty, for our passion in life through work that brings joy, we can make like minded friends, we can find love and sexuality, at any time whether it be our twenties, forties, or sixties. It's never too late. Better yet it is important to start sooner rather than later. The pull of our old ways of thinking, that miserable stinking thinking, is strong. Even Marianne is fooled and trapped by it when her husband comes to find her. Luckily her internal sense that her soul is dying in this man's presence and that she doesn't want to experience that for a day longer sends her fleeing from him once more.

What is it in my life that makes me feel dead inside? For that is a clear sign that life needs changing. And like a plant or a Marianne (I spell my name with a y by the way - coincidence? I wonder.), I can be transplanted. Dig one's self up out of the soil carefully not to damage roots, shake free those roots so that they will be free to absorb water and nutrients from its new location. Perhaps there is some pruning to be done to encourage new growth. Maybe some extra babying with frequent waterings and a shot of good fertilizer. Then that plant or person can stretch out their roots and become a new member of the garden community, playing a key role that can only be filled by them.

Books - food for the soul

I am no where near finishing the current book I'm reading (G.M. Malliet's A Demon Summer), but I came across this quote that struck me to the core: Books are to the soul what food is to the body. Let the sister in charge of the scriptorium be alive to the rare sanctity of her duty. - The Rule of the Order of the Handmaids of St. Lucy (p. 120). Maillet has placed her character, Max Tudor former British spy turned vicar turned amateur sleuth, in a fictitious abbey run by the Order of the Handmaids of St. Lucy (also fictitious and not to be confused with the Liberal Catholic Order of St. Lucy). Max is making the rounds of the abbey meeting each of the sisters and learning about their role in the order. I haven't even read the chapter about the librarian from which the quote above heads, but the idea that books are food for the soul is such a powerful one I needed to stop and reflect on the thought.

Nourishing the soul can come in many forms I am learning. Just the other day while waiting with my mother for her most recent test results following her cancer treatments we went to the Boston MFA just blocks from the Dana Farber cancer center. There we immersed ourselves in the beauty of the American Impressionists. We spent a good hour and a half in just one particular gallery soaking up the color and emotions that the artists had expressed in their work. Scenes of nature - farmland, forest, seascapes, morning, noon, and sunset. Scenes of everyday life - dressing, caring for the home, children at play, the sharing of a cup of tea with a friend. Scenes of grandeur - city streets, the opera, the aristocracy dressed for coronation ceremonies. Each and every one food for the soul.

Yesterday afternoon working in the garden tending to the plants was another form of nourishment for my soul. I pruned plants whose blossoms are spent and foliage is withering. I transplanted day-lilies and irises to sunnier locations for next spring. I began the task of digging countless holes for spring blooming bulbs. The immediate results are an aching lower back, but the long term results will be the riotous colors I will enjoy from my favorite writing spot.

A good long walk can also be good for the soul. Time to contemplate life in rhythm to my steps and swinging arms. My breath finds a pattern to the motion. My eyes take in the beauty around me. I can either empty my mind of thoughts, or focus on them to find solutions. The endorphins do wonders for body and soul as well.

That brings me to books - the whole reason for this post. Over the course of my life books have been nourishment for my soul. I've lost myself in stories when I needed to escape from the challenges of my own. I've learned from textbooks and in return I teach others using them. I've gotten tips from self-help books on how to organize, exercise, meditate, or cook. I've found comfort and encouragement from books with spiritual or uplifting themes. Books have been there for me and will continue to be there for me to fill my soul. What a duty and gift it is to share books with others. It is one I take seriously.

Agatha Christie, Sackville-West and Gardens

Garden and Household
bric-a-brac

 I'm listening to Agatha Christie's Postern of Fate, one of my favorite Tommy and Tuppence mysteries. In this novel, the last that Christie wrote, Tommy and Tuppence are retired and have moved to the suburbs as we call them here in the US, and are remodeling and settling into the house and garden.

The story opens with Tuppence trying to organize her collection of books. I can sympathize with her. I've got loads of books and I'm always trying to figure out the best place and way to organize them. Down in the family room I've placed a large dining room hutch purchased at a second hand store which serves as a bookcase. There I have the fiction books. Upstairs the bookcase in "the office" contains the non-fiction and "work" books - science: biology, chemistry, and ecology. The hallway bookcase contains more fiction books, and the some of the kid's books that didn't fit on their bookcases. In my bedroom I have a small shelf devoted to what I consider inspirational books, and the current bedtime reading is stacked on the bedside table.

Tommy and Tuppence have their faithful henchmen Albert with them and an even more aged gardener, "Old Isaac" helping them. In the passage I'm writing about Tuppence and Isaac are burrowing through a box of tulips that have been ordered and planning how to plant them so as to make the best effect. This made my mind immediately jump to the section of Vita Sackville-West's, In Your Garden, that I have currently on the bedside table for gentle reading to settle me down for a good night's rest. She advised her readers on the best varieties of bulbs to purchase, their color, price, and seller.

Hutch filled with vintage
silver and odds and ends

Now I love tulips and their vast variety of size, color, and shape, unfortunately, so do the white-tail deer that inhabit the woods that surround my yard. I tried planting tulips the first Fall we lived here and in the Spring they dutifully came up and were promptly eaten. I was heartbroken. I did my research and discovered that daffodils were poisonous and deer resistant and I decided to invest in them. It turns out that Brecks has a wide variety of daffodils not just your average yellow ones. They have managed to bloom and double over the years. Still wish I could have tulips to brighten my springtime garden, but I buy some to place in the house, safe from Bambi.

Garden Reading Installment #2

Garden walk in progress

 Reading can be like eating potato chips, you can't eat just one, but if you know better you occasionally will put down the bag and come back to it on another day; so too is Katherine Swift's The Morville Year which I've written about previously. It's a book to go to when you need just a quick fix of gardening wisdom. Today it was her column entitled "Not a Bed of Roses" where she describes what happens when she took a week off from the garden. She returned to plants in need of water, attacking plant blights and pests, and weeds. She quickly through herself back into the work and only came in when her husband called out to her at 11:30 pm.

The pile of  bark mulch waiting to be
spread.

I too took some time off from the garden this weekend. It is the curse of the gardener that you can't be in two places at one time. You are either indoors cleaning or outdoors gardening, you can't do both. The house was in need of some attention so I broke down and gave it some. Tonight after dinner I went out to finally plant the marigolds before they die in the garden center pots. The sprinklers got run as we've had a couple of sunny and warm days. I plucked a few weeds but there are plenty more awaiting my wrath. Then there's the bark mulch that still needs spreading, and the garden walkway which I am building is but a pile of bricks. Swift was my inspiration, like a little garden angel sitting on my shoulder and encouraging me to get out there and get to work. Pretty soon it will be summer vacation and I will be able to work out in the garden every day if I want and have time to get some of the indoor projects done as well.

Reading in installments

Ranunculus

While in England on my April vacation, I had the opportunity to pop into some book shops for a browse. There was a charming one on the high street in Broadway where I purchased Katherine Swift's The Moreville Year  a collection of columns that she'd written for The Times. Swift takes her readers on a year long journey through her garden in Shropshire, describing all the work and enjoyment that goes with its creation and maintenance.

Anemone

One of the key things I wanted to do while in England, besides drink tea and eat scones, was to visit the gardens. My sister took me to visit several of the local National Trust Houses and Gardens in the Midlands area where she lives. One especially lovely property was Charlecote Park where they have their very own Garden Center. It was there that I spied a couple of the plant varieties that Swift featured in her writing. The ranunculus are not that popular in my area as we have much harsher winters here in New England for their liking. The anemones however can be found around here and I have since purchased some for my garden.

The best part of Swift's book is the fact that it is a collection of articles allowing for one to sit and read a bit at a time; a couple before bed or over a morning cup of coffee. Best yet is reading while sitting out on the patio over looking the kitchen garden with a glass of chilled wine after a long day of work (the paying job or the garden chores). I do so love to work in my garden, but I also love to read about other people's gardens and there are plenty of books in my collection and I'm so happy to add Katherine Swift's to the shelf.

The Sweet Life

Bee food - Bee Balm

Very often when we are so caught up in trying to get the "big picture" we can over look the tiny bits. For example, my love of gardening. My garden wouldn't be nearly as beautiful and abundant if I didn't have the assistance of my little pollinating friends the honey bees. My vegetable garden certainly would be empty without them. Let's face it so would the supermarket shelves. We humans often forget the work that nature must carry out in order to provide us with sustenance.

Millions and millions of years ago, angiosperm plants (those that flower) evolved a form of reproduction that required a little help. The gymnosperms had been using the wind for years, but that doesn't always work effectively. Flowers began making nectar as a way of tempting bees and other pollinating insects, birds, and even bats into helping with their sexual relations. The pay off for the pollinator was the delicious nectar, the plant got genetic variety. With time both flowers and their pollinators co-evolved to have a special relationship. Along comes the human who begins to care for the honey bee and our sweet tooth is satisfied. Over the years humans have developed all kinds of tricks for "raising" bees and harvesting their product.

Hannah Nordhaus's The Beekeeper's Lament, was a fascinating read. As a biology/ecology teacher I had been keeping an eye on articles that described the concern over the death of so many bee hives over the past few years. Nordhaus follows the path of John Miller a bee keeper who trucks his hives from one field to another in aid of pollinating major fruit crops. He's not alone. The food industry which is worth billions depends on many people like John to provide bees in order to pollinate vast quantities of fruit and nut crops: almonds, apples, oranges, blueberries, cranberries, to name just a few.

The European honey bee first made it to the shores of the United States with the colonists who needed pollinators familiar with the crops they were bringing with them. The native pollinators had not evolved to pollinate these new and unfamiliar plants. It didn't take long for the European bee to expand its territory from sea to shining sea. Talk about a melting pot. Not only are we a mix of races and cultures, we've brought plants from all over the world to our country.

But it is a tough world out there for the bee. They can be victims of bacterial and fungal infections for which they receive antibiotic or fungicide treatments. Then there is the varroa mite which can over run a hive. Beetles, skunks, and bears will all take their turns raiding a hive. Bees are very susceptible to pesticides and herbicides. And the worst is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) where bees just abandon the hive for no reason. Many blamed genetically modified crops.

What's so important about this issue? With seven billion of us on the planet and growing, we need a lot of food. In order to get a lot of food, we will need a lot of bees. So what can we do? A growing concern not just for bees but for plants themselves is monoculture. Raising large amounts of a single crop by which we are losing the biodiversity of plants. It turns out bees like variety in their diet, we could probably benefit from the same. The growing number of lawns (pun intended) results in very little food for the bee. What we need to do is to plant meadows with lots of flowering plants to encourage pollinators, and watch out for the amount of pesticides that are applied to our yards. That will benefit the quality of our ground water as well.

What we need most is to regain a sense of our role in the natural world. We spend too much time in the city, in our houses losing connection with our environment. No wonder apocalypse games and movies are so popular - people fear the end when nature will work to over come the damage we've inflicted upon it. Instead let's get out there and repair the damage we've done. As consumers we can help the shift of current agricultural practices by purchasing organic products. Even better learn to grow a vegetable or two in your yard, on the patio, or even your windowsill or front stoop. A tomato plant, cucumber, pot of fresh herbs, it's a thrill to cook up something that you've grown yourself. Nothing like it in the world. Share those excess tomatoes and zucchinis with friends and neighbors. There are plenty of tasty recipes out there on the Internet. Let's be old fashion again and get back to the soil, tend it, nurture it, and love it.