Reflections

Reflections week 2

Gardening in my family was the only time things were not in an uproar. I can remember gardening being a time of peace and content and necessary for its survival. We spent a lot of time in the garden , in many ways it brought us together like nothing else could. I have lived in different areas all of over the world and there always seemed to be a garden wherever I went. That was why my family and I co-exsisted as long as we did.

Went to fund raiser to help raise money to send marja's daughter to India to dance in a festival.I enjoyed all the young ladies and their beautiful dresses.They danced so divine.I wish them the best in India.

reflections week 3

What purpose do gardeners serve?

Gardens serve many purposes.One purpose of a gardener is to nuture the soil and incurage life through plants that give life back to us.Through the sale of produce the gardener suports the aconomey in the community.

Reflections week 4

Went and helped plant violets and weeded out plant boxes for the prairie restoration project.The violetes we planted are very important to the servial of the animals that live on the the prairie.I was very cold and wet but enjoyed the work.It was suppose to rain but did'nt it was a good day to weed and plant.We were also suppose to meet to work on our garden site but no one showed.

Reflection week 5

Reflection week 6 

Winter Quarter

Reflection week 2

The readings this week gave descriptions of the NW eco-systems. They include “Keeping it Living” edited by Douglas Deur and Nancy Turner and “The Natural History of Puget Sound Country“ Ch. 5. In “Keeping it Living” they break down the NW into 4 zones based mostly on elevation and forest types. These include The Coastal Douglas-fir zone (Puget sound, Willamette Valley, and Vancouver island areas), The Coastal Western-Hemlock zone(along coast, mid-elevations), The Mountain Hemlock zone(mid to high elevations where there is snow), and lastly The Alpine Tundra Biogeoclimatic zone where it snows year round and no trees can grow. “The Natural History Of Puget Sound Country” went into quite a bit more detail on the lowland forest, Puget sound, and specifically the Western Hemlock zone described in the latter. There were charts and pages of details on trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, herbs, moss, lichens, and right down to the fungi commonly found in the area.

 Keeping it Living” on page 10 describes that, “human settlement and land tenure on the north west coast reflected the regional biogeography” They had permanent winter shelters but also “frequented a wide range of specialized habitats in all biogeoclimatic zones.” Culturally land was divided by tribes and they used all resources wisely. There culture was as diverse as the land they livedSome ideas that came to mind that I could apply to the Long-House Garden while doing this weeks readings include the use of mulch for preventing weeds on the plants we transplant next week described in the “Sweet Breathing” poem Mulch, and also ,when in “Keeping it Living” they mention that there are 300 known plants traditionally used by first peoples, I thought of signage. How cool would it be to create a database, or maybe a map of where to find those certain plants on the list. Then there could be signs near groups of plants with more information. Last Saturday’s class also gave me the idea to inoculate further areas of the forest, damaged by the storm and otherwise. I can’t wait for the weather to change so I can again see this areas diversity and take action on the Long House Garden

Reflection 3

As we have been discussing the botony of plants and roots, reading " The Sweet Breathing of Plants", and working in the longhouse garden it has made me thik about my own root system and where it stems from. We read this week in "The Sweet Breathing of Plants" that the lady in the story talked about when her mother was a small girl in Illinois. She would wat for the gardener to arrive each day and then help him in the garden. This reminded me of the time I spent with my grandfather {my mother's father}. I would wait for him to arrive home from work each day. I would sit on the steps of the back porch and watch down the street anxiously waiting to see the headlights of his car. I knew that once he arrived home we would go work in the garden. After we would finish the daily chores we would pick some tomatoes, then sit on the steps of the back porch and eat them like a ripe apple with a little salt. This became a special time I spent with my grandfather. The T.E.K. that my grandfather handed down to me, the tradition that he started, this is why I plant tomatoes in my garden today, To keep alive that moment in time that I spent with my grandfather. This is part of my identity and makes up who I am. In the pamphlet on the reserved shelf, that we read this week, it talked about a root system that was over three hundred miles long. This moment in time that I spent with my grandfather makes up a part of my root system and who I am today. Now today when I plant, I think about that time I spent in the garden as a child. Planting helps keep me connected with a part of my past. I think of and use the traditional ways shown to me by my grandfather, and always plant tomatoes as a way of keeping the tradition alive.

Reflection 5

      

The way I see it , The things I take from this chapter (4)is as follows-

and baskets. This was a time of rest and these things took time to make so th

is was the time of year when these chores were completed. In the reading on page 140 talk about Low elevation meadows which directly relates to the LHG prairie site. It talks about blue camus beds burned over, weeded cleared, selectively harvested and intentionally seeded and own by i I read in chapter 4 , that red elderberry occurs in wet areas. In the LHG prairie site we had planed to plant a red elderberry but now that we changed the soil to drain better I’m not sure if a red elderberry will grow successfully.

As we read on in chapter 4 it mentioned how time scheduling of plants were very important to the Native . For instance now is winter .At this time of the year they would gather up the material needed to put together tools, mats , ndividual member or family. Individual species that correlate with camus prairie include ; Chocolate Lilly , Hooker’s onion , falts onion, Bracken Fern, and Tiger Lilly. Evidence suggests burnings seemed to occur in almost all other environmental zones.

         

Reflection 6

           As we read about Barbara Mc Clintock and all her discoveries and awards and all her accomplishments,there was one thing she did'nt do. She never had a child. Right now, during this time of year, when things have died and are at rest, I think of my grandmother, and how this may be her last winter. She is 85 years old and has a very bad illness that will take her life in the next month. I think about what she accomplished in her own life. I have so many questions for her and there is so much distance between us. One thing I know about grandmother's accomplishments is that she had three children and was married 63 years to the same person. But Grandmother is at the end of her seasons. She will probably only have two out of the three kids close to her. It has been years since my mother has talked to her mother. And now no one in the family knows where to reach her at. It just makes me sick to think she might die and my mother will never know or have a chance to say "goodbye"or "sorry". I pray daily that things will change for the family.

Kimberly Uribe
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