le Bonnaroo

For the second year I will be returning to Bonnaroo, a large music festival in Tennessee, to run gardening workshops at the Bonnaroo Victory Garden. I'll be joined by a great team of gardeners, artists, and herbalists who will all be teaching workshops at the garden throughout the festival. It is an overwhelming experience but one that I value for the contrast and introspection that a massive crush of humanity can bring. Nothing makes me appreciate potable water, privacy, and silence like Bonnaroo.

I hope the garden and our workshops will be respite and an inspiration for the people who attend. One of our team, artist Chatham Monk, sent in the zine she produced for her workshop and it got me fired up for plants, people, and teaching. Onward and upward and into the light!

Propagate This

This fig branch made it through the winter and now produces fruit in Nashville.

We're propagating this Saturday from 3-5 pm at Three Rivers Market and celebrating the end of Urban Land Spring. We'll start fig trees from cuttings and talk about the importance of propagating your Urban Land Scoutedness throughout your lands, wherever you are and with whatever is at hand.

I've got plans in the works for future Urban Land Scout workshops for families and for middle school students this summer and fall. Please stay tuned. In the meantime go outdoors land scouting and be attentive to the land where you live.

From the Vaults - Dana's Field Book

Below are images from Dana's lovely field book from this past summer at (what is now) the Nashville Food Project.

Reclaiming Your Roots

I met Rachel this year through Urban Land Scouts. She is a knowledgeable plant lover and herbalist. She is also a generous teacher and will be hosting a series of medicinal plant classes over the next couple of weeks. Reclaiming Your Roots: Plant Medicine for the People will take place at Malcolm Martin Park (in Mechanicsville) or at Campbell Station Park (in Farragut).

The classes are designed to help empower you "to reclaim your own healing through exploring medicinal plants as preventative medicine" and will focus primarily on herbal tonics and edibles. In her flyer Rachel encourages people to come to whichever location or day of the week works best for you.

Rachel's experience comes from her six years of studying herbal medicine and working with various teachers across the country, including a year-long apprenticeship with North Carolina community-herbalist Suki Roth.

There is a suggested donation of $ 6 - 12 for each class with the option to "pay what you can." That's pretty reasonable tuition.

Contact Rachel at reclaimingyourroots(at)gmail.com for registration or further questions.

Class Dates and Locations
Malcolm Martin Park (2247 Western Ave. Behind Beardsley Community Farm.)
Sunday, 2-4 pm - April 29, May 6, 13, 20, and 27
 - or -
Thursdays, 6-8 pm - May 3, 10, 17, 24, and June 7


Campbell Station Park (405 N. Campbell Station Rd. At the Farragut Library.)
Tuesdays, 6-8 pm - May 8, 15, 22, 29, and June 12


Class Topics
1. Herbal Medicine Demystified
2. Herbs for Stress: Adaptogens
3. Herbs for the Nervous System
4. Growing and Using Your Own Kitchen Medicine Chest - Part 1
5. Growing and Using Your Own Kitchen Medicine Chest - Part 2

HABITATE

Summer berries in Grundy County, TN.

Oh spring. Oh, throbbing chlorophyl and flying things. This is the season when I have to rein in my plant fantasies and come back to earth. Part of that grounded garden planning for me involves shifting my efforts from annuals like tomatoes and root crops to edible and beneficial perennials. Perennials are a group of plants that return for at least two seasons. If growing in a good location many will last for several years. Perennial plants are like old friends and a great tool for building soil health, habitat, and space within your landscape.

If you live in Knoxville and want to learn more about perennials, please join us a the next Urban Land Scout workshop, Saturday, April 21st from 3-5 pm. We'll be discussing several plants in depth, learning some basic tools to use in garden planning, and making individualized maps of future planting sites. Workshops are $4 for Members of Three Rivers Market and $5 for non-members. You can sign up at the Customer Service Desk at the store.

Full Circle

Congratulations to Kat who is the first person to earn all ten Urban Land Scout badges! She completed her final badge by growing a fruit tree and sharing her harvest. Shown below are her Meyer Lemon tree (a good option for the urbanest of urban land scouts as it can live indoors in the winter) and a picture of Daniel who received some jam (marmelade?) made with the lemons.

While Kat has earned all the badges, her practice of stewardship will no doubt continue, growing deeper and more firmly rooted in the land where she lives. Congratulations Kat!

Worms!

Our last workshop at Three Rivers Market focused on zines, but I'll wait until later to post about those. In the mean time, here are some photos from our DECOMPOSITION workshop in which we made vermicompost bins. If you're in Knoxville and interested in getting set up with some worms, please give me a ring-- I am rich with these amazing invertebrates and in awe of their form and function!

Thanks to Prentice for these photos.