Healing Gardens

Body:

week 1

Date:April 3,2007

Time spent: 4 hours

Moist Forest Edge Activities: I spent some time watching and observing the site. I feel as if the moist forest edge is harboring much more leaves than necessary so i spent a lot of time raking leaves. Allie met me and we discussed plans for the future. We observed many snails in our endeavors of removing leaves and identifying new plants. I also took many photographs of the site.

Learning and Questions:I learned that many snails live in the bottom of our big leaf maple trees. They appear to live in the molding mossy leafy subtances that build up around both the alive trees and stumps.

Cumalitive hours:4 hrs

week2

Date:April 10,2007

Time spent: 1 hour

Moist Forest Edge Activities: I photographed the site more. I started clearing leaves again but became daunted with the task and decided to wait and see if Marja thought it was a worthwhile ambition or not. Our site is so abundant and beautiful. There is so much to it. I tried to just take it all in and allow my perspective to notice new plants and new energy. I just felt happy though, i didn't really connect with any one part in particular.

Learning and Questions: I am not sure if this plant popping up all over the front of our site is vanilla leaf or not. I am also uncertain if i should focus more of my energy in the front part, where it is exposed, or in the back, where it is left more untouched. I am drawn more to the back where it is more secluded and wild, and there is that interesting cavern where a tree has become uprooted. I hope to eventually see frogs in that wet space where water trickles down. I was excited to see two different kinds of fungi. I tried to identify them in my book of mushrooms of the pacific northwest, but there are just so many mushrooms around here. My personal learning goal is to learn more about the fungi, lichen, and mosses in my site. They are such critical elements to the moist forest edge.

cumaliive hours: 5 hours

Week 4

Date:April 21,2007

Time spent: 3( not counting the other 3 hours of time spent in class)

Moist Forest Edge Activities: Removed LOTS of leaves from the site. Allie planted some ginger and large leaved avens.

Learning and Questions: I was happy to get the okay to go to town removing leaves. It was good for me to have Marja direct me to remove the dead parts off of ferns. Because there are just SO many leaves in our site and it was starting to feel like a neverending mission, I decided to make my goals smaller and go from there. I decided to focus on leaf removal all around the edges where people look. When this is complete I will uncover all the many ferns in our site and prune their dead parts. This in itself will be quite an accomplishment. I FOUND A SALAMANDER! It was really cool looking, really light in color, almost see through, with an orange tail. About an inch away from the salmander grew a mushroom from the tree. There was also a snail nearby. To see so much life in such a small area, barely hidden with leaves was magnificent. Donna photographed it for me-(thanks honey.)

cumative hours: 8 hours

Date:Aprill 22,2007

Time spent: 5 hours (7 including hours at the organic farm)

Moist Forest Edge Activities:Because it was such a beautiful day out i decided to spend the whole day outside at school. I went to an event related to synergy at the organic farm. It was on herbs for womens health and making plant medicine with one of the guests that works at Radiance, we just had in class. Today was very productive. I planted our evergreen huckleberry (i finally realized it has been by the compost all along). I put in a fern at the entrance to our site that will no longer be a path soon. I realize i probably will have to put a couple more in too. I also planted both of the Solomons seal, which i am very excited to have. After this, i went crazy with gathering leaves again. It absolutely blows my mind the abundance of them. I am now confident that over half the leaves in our site, are not necessary to keep the habitat happy. Because the compost bins are already overfull from yesterday's leaf removal mission, I filled the back of my truck with them and took them to a generous friend's house. I still feel i have much to do, especially with leaf removal, but i am proud of the huge jumpstart I have made so far.

Learning and Questions: While removing leaves I noticed that i should leave the ones piled at the base of trees. These areas make mycelium and fungi grow under the leaves. Snails have made homes in these areas too. I don't want to destroy their homes, so i will avoid clearing much leaes from both stumps and the bases of trees. I learned a lot from the activities at the organic farm. I had no idea that the leaves and stems of Angelica can be eaten like celery. I also hadn't known that process of harvesting plants and removing leaves and such is called "garbling". I learned that most astrigents have anti-inflammatory properties. I learned a little more about Mugwort and decided I want to get to know it better.

cumalitive hours: 15 hours

week 5

Date:May 2,2007

Time spent: 2 hours

Moist Forest Edge Activities: I did a little leaf removal and clean up of the area. I tried to uncover more of the ferns in the back of our site. I spent some time just sitting and listening to the birds and wind rustle the branches of trees.

Learning and Questions:

cumalitive hours: 17 hours

week 6

Date:May 10,2007

Time spent: 5 hours

Moist Forest Edge Activities: I planted a few western trilliums that anne had left for us. I spent a while sitting with vanilla leaf that is abundantly growing all over. I drew false solomon's seal and true solomons seal, but i was not very proud of my drawings. i kept retrying to draw them, but couldn't capture the stark differences as well i as i had hoped. I spent a lot of time comparing Pojar and Mackkinon to plants in my site. I sat down and really thought about the plan for the trail and i think the very first thing we must do is transplant the vanilla leaf that is growing where our path will be. I must plan a day in advance for allie and i to meet again to get that part done before we simply move the logs that border the trail. It was awesome to be able to spend time in the sun beeing productive. I sat with the lush moist forest edge in awe just remembering the different ways i have seen it; with sun, snow, and how my understanding of this place and the changes occuring around me has affected me.

Learning and Questions: I think I have come a long way in identifying plants. I am pretty proud of how much i have learned this year through my site. I can identify most of the plants in it and can remember when i first recognized and learned about them. I am sad that the solomons' seal we recently planted is getting eaten by something. I was wondering what animals eat it and how i can prevent this from happening again but after talking to Marja, i believe it is deer eating them, which there isn't much i can do about.

cumalitive hours: 22 hours

week 7

Date: Mayu15,2007

Time spent:3hrs

Moist Forest Edge Activities: Allie and I met and we transplanted Vanilla Leaf from where we wanted the trail. We cut up a huge log to border our new trail. We realized there were still some plants behind the long house we needed to plant. We watered the many plants we have recently planted this quarter. 

Learning and Questions: We were amazed with the large, creeping, long roots of Vanilla Leaf. 

cumalitive hours: 25 hours

week 8

Date: May 28, 2006

Time spent: 2 hours

Moist Forest Edge Activities: I watered the many plants we have recently planted. I sat with the huge False Solomon's Seal that we just planted. I tried to draw it but wasn't proud of my drawing compared to the real thing. I sat and meditated and tried to allow myself to feel the energy around me on a deeper level. I planted a few ground covers on the empty spots where our trail used to be.

Learning and Questions:

cumalitive hours: 27 Hours

week 9

Date:6/3/07

Time spent: 5 hours

Moist Forest Edge Activities: Pruned ferns, planted more strawberry, photographed site for presentation, thought about which plants would be nice to have signage for, watered newly transplanted plants, drew

Learning and Questions:

Cumalitive hours:32 hours