Week #1
1. In Kruckeberg’s book, he discussed several ways of determining ecosystems or zones. A couple of the ways he divided them included based on altitude, or based on dominant trees. In his discussion of trees based zoning, he went on to divide based on companion plants. Like the Western Hemlock/ Sword Fern zone, and the Western hemlock/ Oregon Grape Zone. This was because they Western Hemlock zone is potentially very large and where it is predominantly paired with the sword fern varies in other attributes to that of the Oregon Grape growing areas.
In the Turner and Deur book they also discussed the same ways of zoning and defining ecosystems. However they went into beautiful detail of four “biogeoclimatic zones” (Turner & Deur: 9). They define the zones by vegetation, climate, and topography. The dominant trees within them and the plant communities living around them often characterize the zones. Turner and Deur also do some zoning based on elevations.
2. The native cultures have tended to live around the natural ecosystems that are abundant and helpful to them. That is why they seem to have congregated around the water sources in the Northwest Coastal areas. Maritime and fishing has been fairly important to the cultural systems of the first peoples. Also, they have used the natural resources of plants around them for trade and economy. Such as, if community A has lots of camas they might harvest and trade with community B who has an abundance of salmon. They have used their natural resources daily in many more ways than we can imagine. They specifically used the Western Red Cedar in numerous ways, ceremoniously and otherwise.
The native cultures have used great respect toward the natural system around them, and have taken care not to purposely harm it.
3. Plants from the reading that I could Identify!
- Sword Fern
- Trailing blackberry
- Garry oak
- Rhododendron
- Salmonberry
- Thimbleberry
- Scot’s broom
- Horse-tail
- Douglas fir
- Sitka spruce
- Western hemlock
- Western red cedar
- Licorice fern
- Red alder
- Huckleberry (evergreen and red)
- Madrone
- Grand fir
- Salal
- Oregon grape (although I cannot tell the difference between the two types)
- Big Leaf Maple
- Vine Maple
- Deer Fern
- Twin Flower, Linnea borealis (Linnea is my sister’s name!)
- Western Trillium
- Wild Ginger
- Cascara
- Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica
FROM The Sweet Breathing of Plants
- Rose
- Lavender
- Geranium
- Jasmine
- Skunk cabbage
- AND MORE!
4. The reading made me think that it would be beneficial to work on understory and the community of plants living in the forest. The Sweet Breathing of Plants made me want to add more flowers and such to the forest.
Week 2
This week I fell behind on readings, due to an unexpected emergency. So this posting will be made ASAP
Weekly Reflection #3
Plants have an identity unique to each, even within a family of plants. Differences between them make each unique. Humans have tried very hard to categorize a plant and make it fit a certain mold. However, even then it is not perfect. Deciding what is a shrub or a tree is a great example.
A vine maple can be either a small tree or a large shrub. But it is the same plant. It doesn’t fit very well into our categorizations.
Just like people. We love to make judgements and place people iinto groups, but it never works out very well. People rarely fit all the criteria of a certain label. But still we try to explain who they are un terms that do not really desctribe their identity.
Even beyond plants and people, we try to define the identity of a geographic area. We do so by looking at its ecology, its formation, its histories. But there is still so much grey.
Basically, through all my learninng this quarter, the abundance of grey area is becoming more obvious. But apparently humans despise grey area and want everything to fit into clear cut (black and white) criterias. This is said all the time in nearly all conversations of big topics, ideas or questions. There’s never a definitive answer. At most it leads to “most of the time…” or “with exception of…”.
I personally enjoy the grey, as long as I’m not forced to try and make it clear. I enjoy the mystery and find it to be magical. I don’t want everything to be explained deeply to me.
If I truly understood how a seed grows into a plant, it would lose its magic to me. But I want to keep that feeling of the special moment when my seeds grow shoots. It is magic, and I don’t need or want a better explanation.
Reflection #4
Winter has been very draining on me this year. I have been low on energy, and motivation. Usually I am very punctual, and good at managing my priorities and tasks. This entire quarter I have been feeling behind, with no motivation to catch up.
I am looking forward to the spring season, even if it is associated with anger. At least it will have energy!
I feel like I have no relationship with my journal. It is not deep or fulfilling. I have not been drawn to journal in it at all this quarter. However, I am definitely not drawn to be outside in the cold weather, so journalling about nature is harder to do.
I have spent the last few days spending more time with my journal, and trying to think of more entries to make. As long as I keep notes of ideas to put in my journal later, I do alright.
I have been spending more time with friends lately, which has been very cozy and nice. It is helping draw me out from my den. Although I just want to curl up and hibernate, these breaks are refreshing and help time go by quicker.
Just like I wrote last quarter, a garden is whatever you feel it is in your heart. If you see something and you feel like it's a garden it is. Medicine is nourishing to your soul, at least it should be. Just like, laughter is the best medicine. It nourishes the soul. When the soul is nourished and refreshed the whole body is healing.
Reflection #5
Alina Kretz
2-13-07
Healing Gardens
Reflection #5 Keep It Living: Chapter 2
The second chapter of Keeping it Living discussed the important of word choice when referring to the time period between hunters and gatherers to agriculture. He also discussed differences between agriculture and domestication. Basically, he writes about the discovery of a middle ground in coastal tribes, where they had elements of agriculture and domestication. However, these elements do not fit into the European/Western definition of these words.
If one is going to discuss the practices of food harvest and use of resource in the native cultures, word choice is extremely important. In order to find a word, the practices must be identified and perhaps categorized. However, like most things, nothing can be clearly categorized.
History makes it harder to define their practice because of the way it is looked at. Since it is assumed that every culture would eventually move from hunter/gatherer to agriculture those that do not fit into the European/Western view of agriculture were immediately placed into the lesser position of hunter gatherer.
Today it is known that the native cultures have influenced the way plants grew and multiplied. Finding a word to define the work that they did is very difficult because many words already have common interpretations that do not fit them. So the author suggests many possible terms, but ultimately negates all of them for many reasons. He concludes that the best term to use is, Low-level food production.
Response to Reading
I was disappointed with this reading. I had assumed it would be about the practice of low-level food production and would be full of examples and practices. However, it was mostly about choosing the right wordage to describe the middle ground.
The author gave very little support on the practices of coastal peoples. This made it very dry and hard to read.
I understand why he put so much emphasis on word usage, since it can be extremely important. And it makes sense that this is a very sensitive subject that should be approached very carefully.
After learning that this book was based off a conference, the reading seemed more reasonable. I can see how this would be an opening speaker, who was making clear what the rest of the conference would be about. It would also make one more aware of the historical issue behind the rest of the speakers’ subjects.
Connection to my LHG site
This was hard to connect to my LHG work. However, it can be applied in respect to word choice. When we will be writing and planning our signage we will have to be very careful to write our signs correctly.
I doubt that we will dissect our word choice as in-depth as the author did in this reading, but it is still important that we keep in mind the importance of words.
Reflection #6
This last week was very relaxing. It was very nice to have a long weekend and time to visit my family.
Last week I was very, very sick, I think I may have had the influenza. I don’t really know but midway through my sickness I was having trouble breathing. I was using my lemon balm tincture for a while, but felt it was making it harder for me to sleep.
I thought this was odd because to be calming, but it made me wake up several times during the night. It might have been because it can help encourage fever, and I was really warm when I was waking up. So I stopped using the tincture before bedtime.
I kept taking it in the mornings for the anti-viral properties of the Lemon balm. It might have helped because overall I got better pretty quickly. Instead of two week I was only sick for 6 days.
I was able to avoid taking decongestants for most of the time. I only had to take it twice. Instead I was drinking lots of organic teas. The tea I took for breathing and congestion worked very well as long as I drank it very often.
It was actually a pretty interesting experience. The illness I was suffering from changed drastically from day to day. I could tell that it was moving along quite quickly.
I am incredibly happy that I was well by the time the weather cleared up. Today’s clear sky and sunshine was absolutely wonderful. I was in Seattle and it was 51º outside! As I was driving in my car the sun began to permeate its heat into the car and making me to warm. I actually rolled down the window!
Reflection #7
Response to Keeping it Living
I find the discussions and arguments over defining the Northwest Coastal peoples strange. Thinking back to my previous ideas of the native peoples I realize that perhaps my original view was different than others.
I never thought they were hunter-gatherers. I knew that they had an elaborate history of trading, and I assumed that this was a sign that they were an advanced culture. If they had enough abundance of plants and nature resources to create tradeable items I assumed that they were not just lucky, but had maintained the well being of these resources.
Also, the Northwest Coastal First Peoples’ were not nomadic. If they had permanent structures, they could not be a primitive culture. Why would they build and use structures if they had to constantly move to find food? This is also a way to recognize if a culture is primitive.
Perhaps I was taught early on the characteristics of civilized cultures, but I also knew that the presence of an art form is crucial in defining a civilized people. I know that I have always been aware of the beautiful and unique artwork of the Northwest Coast.
I think that the European/Western people really had to be stubborn to name the Northwest Coastal people as primitive and hunter-gatherers. I am not sure if they had a written language, which can also be important to defining a civilized culture.
Even when discussing whether or not the culture was in the middle, or almost agricultural, seems moot. The conclusion discusses this, and states that they could have lived for millennia without a structure agriculture system.
My personal presentation
I am not very certain as to what I will do for my personal presentation. I am not feeling particularly inspired at the moment. I think that I might write and read a poem about the plants having been hibernating like myself, and are now preparing to burst out in energy.
I’m not entirely sure what is expected from the presentation. What does “meanings made this quarter” mean? And I don’t really feel like my tiny (yet useful) salad garden reflects my identity.
I hope to get some ideas of what others plan to do for their personal presentations, and maybe be inspired from others.
Weekly Reflection #8
3/7/07
Reading The Sweet Breathing of Plants this quarter was very nice. It was nice to read how others connect to the natural world around them. Some connect in smaller ways and some connect in very large ways.
In one of the first readings we read about the orchids. I know very little about orchids and in general have little interest in them. However, this reading really pulled me in. I can understand how one can become addicted to collecting and finding orchids. This was a very intense relationship to nature, but in a small way. The relationship is basically secluded to orchids.
In “My World is Out There”, Linda Yamane describes an experience in her life that exemplifies her connection to nature. While she was at a party she realized that experiencing the New Year inside with all the people was not where she belonged. She needed to go outside and be in her world, nature. She had a fairly big relationship with nature.
In this last reading I enjoyed the poem about Mount Index. I have driven past Mount Index hundreds of times in my life. It is one of the first mountains I learned to identify (after Mt. Rainier). I was able to envision the journey she describes, driving through Gold Bar and Sultan. I never really gave much thought to the mountain itself, it just meant that I was about halfway to Steven’s Pass.