Greenbelt Restoration Work Party: February 26, 2018 Planting Day

Monday, February 26 was an exciting day. On that day, 31 enthusiastic employees from Silver Creek Capital Management came to plant trees, shrubs and ground covers in our Greenbelt site. Our staff consisted of Nicole from Forterra, Claire a master gardener, and two Green Seattle Partnership Forest Stewards- Peter from Mt. Baker Park and me. Claire and I also belong to GreenFriends, the environmental arm of Embracing the World.

During the three-hour work party, we planted 17 trees, 75 shrubs and 77 ground covers! Every new plant is native to the Pacific Northwest. We spread two buckets of wood chip mulch around each plant to reduce weed growth and retain water. (The burlap we place on the ground after removing blackberries and ivy from the land also helps with weed reduction and water retention). At future work parties we will be covering any exposed burlap in the planting areas with wood chips.

(Click on the gallery above to enlarge the photos.)

Towards the end of the event, part of Nicole’s team cleared more land. They dug up some huge blackberry root balls.

A few days later I weighed the biggest one. It weighed almost 10 pounds!

When the work party was over, we cleaned and put away the tools and celebrated all we had done. I think everyone had enjoyed their experience.

Later, I took another look at what we had accomplished. Once again, I was awed by how much the land had been transformed by a single work party.

Douglas Fir

Oregon Grape

Red Columbine

Wild Ginger

Oregon Stonecrop

Sea Thrift

Newly planted field

Photos by Laurel Webb, Nicole Marcotte and Karuna Poole

Greenbelt Restoration Work Party: Tree Planting Day!

For many years, Amma has been encouraging us to plant trees as a way of healing the Earth. This year, devotees in the Pacific Northwest decided to honor Amma’s 64th birthday by planting trees. We asked everyone to let us know how many trees they would plant and to complete the planting by November 5^th. We were hoping at least 64 trees would be pledged. At the time I am writing this post, the pledge count is up to 211!

Seattle Parks Department gave us 37 trees to plant in our Greenbelt site. That work party was held last Sunday, October 22^nd. Thirty-two GreenFriends members participated. Many of them had never seen the site before and others hadn’t been there for a long time. I enjoyed seeing and hearing their reactions to the work we’ve done over the last year.

The work party began with an orientation to the site…

and then Pujarini Meera conducted a series of rituals asking Mother Earth for permission to plant the trees and to nurture and protect them after they are planted. I thought it was a beautiful ceremony. (Click on any of the galleries to enlarge the photos.)

After the rituals were over, Ananya and I gave planting instructions…

and then came the fun of planting the trees.

Amma’s birthday project will be over on November 5, but our work in the restoring this Greenbelt site will, of course, continue. We will finish preparing nine planting areas at a work party on November 11 and then will plant 360 shrubs in those areas on November 15!

The Will to Live

I used to have repetitive dreams of being in a house that had a lot of secret rooms. When I walked down one hallway, I would inevitably discover a new hallway that led to rooms I hadn’t seen before. The house went on and on and provided me with a never ending adventure.

That is what it has been like for me to work in the Greenbelt. I enter one area after another that is covered by blackberry vines, ivy and bamboo. I never know what I will find on the other side of them.

One day my adventure started here.

As I cleared a path, I saw many downed trees.

Soon, I came across this tree. It looked as if a maple tree that had fallen had birthed a new tree.

I discovered that another part of the tree had traveled north and it too had become a maple tree.

Other parts of the tree had traveled to the west and to the south. There was a new tree at the end of the western portion. I haven’t reached the end of the southern part yet so I don’t know what I will find there.

It is mind-boggling to me that a tree which has been so beaten down by the environment has such a strong will to live, and due to that will has accomplished what seems impossible. I look forward to the day when all of the invasive plants have been removed and the trees can reach for the sky without being hindered.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Against The Odds

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The Amazing Kapok Tree

he kapok-pod

One of the trees in Amritapuri’s Saraswati Garden is a Kapok tree (Ceiba pentandra) I have learned that these trees can reach a height of 200 feet. My guess is that the one in the Saraswati Garden is 125-150 feet high. It is the tallest tree in the garden.

When I looked for photos of Kapok trees on Wikimedia Commons and Google Images, I saw that the trunk of the trees can be gigantic, such as the one in this photo:

Photo Credit: Wikipedia — Photo Credit: Wikimedia

They can also be small like this one in Amritapuri.

I stood by the Kapok tree in the Saraswati Garden and looked up. Notice how the building’s metal roof has been cut away so that it doesn’t impact the tree.

I looked for a place to take a photo that showed both the bottom part of the tree and the part that was above the house.

I still couldn’t see the top of the tree from where I was standing, so I found a different vantage point.

Seed pods, like the one at the top of this post, drop from the tree when they are ready. Inside, there is a substance that is very silky. It also bears resemblance to cotton and wool. Notice the seeds that are scattered throughout the silky material.

A Rainforest Alliance article said this about the Kapok tree:

The majestic kapok tree has many uses for humans. Its wood is lightweight and porous; good for making carvings, coffins and dugout canoes. The silky fibers that disperse the seeds are too small for weaving but make great stuffing for bedding and life preservers. Soaps can be made from the oils in the seeds. Other parts of the giant tree are used as medicines. In ancient times, the Maya believed that the kapok tree stood at the center of the earth.

In Amritapuri, the pod contents are being used to stuff meditation pillows. I look forward to telling the devotees who are working in this garden that the oil in the seeds can be used for making soap and that pillows stuffed with the silky filaments will float!

To look at previous posts in this Amritapuri series, click here.

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Song Lyric Sunday: Little Trees

Helen’s direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to share lyrics from a song that has something to do with nature.

Since a major focus in my life right now is freeing trees from invasive plants such as blackberry vines and ivy, I decided to look for songs that talked about trees. The first one that drew me was Michael Mitchell’s song “Little Trees”. While I liked that one a lot, I decided to consider songs from a wide variety of sources. I listened to Bob McGrath (1922) singing a musical version of Joyce Kilmer’s poem- Trees, Metalicca’s- Blackened, Rush’s- The Trees, and Enya’s- Memory of Trees.

These songs varied from hopeful to apocalyptic. I decided to go with the first one I had listened to, one that was written for the purpose of teaching children about trees. Michael Mitchell wrote “Little Trees” for Sesame Street. It is part of his album Canada is for Kids: Volume 1.

Lyrics

LITTLE TREES

I’d like to take a walk in the woods
Come with me, do you think you could
We’ll find a tree that we can climb
We’ll have fun all afternoon

Chorus:
Little trees need a chance to grow
It takes time and care
They’re a lot like us you know

So many kinds of different trees
They look like one big family
Big ones, short ones, baby ones too
I’ll name this one after you

It’ll be a long time before he
Is tall and strong like a grown up tree
For now he’s just a kid like us
Playing out in the woods

For the video, I picked Phantom Ember singing the song. I didn’t have much luck finding out information about Phantom Ember. From what I’ve read, I’m wondering if it is the ghost of Ember McClaine from a Nickelodeon animated television series Danny Phantom. Am I right?

My “Frame” Adventure

When I walked into Seattle’s Lincoln Park for my Tai Chi class yesterday, a dark green tree caught my eye. (It looked MUCH bigger in reality than it does in the photograph.) I wondered if the tree might be a possible subject for this week’s The Daily Post challenge- Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame. After the class, I returned to that area to take a photo and see what was on the other side of the foliage.

What I discovered when I walked into the foliage was that the dark green wasn’t from a single tree, it was from many. And there was indeed a frame. The frame made a complete circle, a circle that included the dark green foliage as well as the leaves from many trees that had lighter leaves.

Walking inside the frame was like walking through a magical land.

Soon, I noticed that there was a frame within the frame. It was comprised of a group of trees surrounding a pile of raked-up needles, branches and leaves which in turn were framed by the green foliage on the perimeter.

I continued to walk the magical land. Moments later, I found another frame in a frame. This time it was a tree that was being framed by other trees.

And then I saw another tall tree that was framed by smaller trees.

After leaving that segment, I saw a sight that took my breath away. I felt like I was viewing the Mother/Father/Guardian of the whole area. It stood like a giant, towering above all of the other trees.

(As I write this post and remember the experience, I think that the name Guardian fits the best.)

My journey had come to its end. I looked around the magical land, feeling very grateful for this blessed adventure.

After walking out of the outer frame, I turned around and saw that the Guardian itself was framed by the greenery.

I gave thanks to the Guardian.

Endless Beauty

Every year, I am awestruck by the beauty that surrounds me. Some views I marvel over each year. Other sights have been in front of me for years and I have never noticed them. For me, the glory of nature feels ever-new. (Click galleries to enlarge pictures.)

A block from my house:

Looking down my block:

In my front yard:

Looking across the street:

A closer view of my neighbor’s tree:

Power and Mystery

There is a block close to my house that I love to walk down. It is lined by six huge trees that feel sacred to me. I experience the sense of their power and mystery every time I walk under them. (Click on gallery to enlarge the photos.)

Opening My Eyes

I have often said that photography is opening my eyes to a whole different world. This tree has been inches from my upper deck for 40 years and I never noticed the blooms.

How could I miss them? They are so unusual. (The first two pictures were taken about two weeks apart…. by two different phone cameras.)