Green Tribe of Belonging

It was a warm day here in Iowa yesterday, in the mid-thirties. The sky was a light gray, no sun visible. I needed to go to the bank, so I drove across town, through city streets. And as I drove along, I was riveted by the trees. In a city, as opposed to a forest, there are thousands of trees that have had plenty of space to spread out in their own way. Every tree is different. Every tree has a personality of its own. And yesterday there was something radiating from the trees that took my breath away. There was an energy glowing around each tree. Really! I know this sounds like I was on an hallucinatory drug. But no, I was totally in my right mind. Actually, I've witnessed this before, mostly in the very early spring when it makes sense that something is moving in the trees, something anticipating spring. Today, in the middle of winter, it was there too. Part of me wanted to somehow warn the trees: don't believe this weather! It won't last! But then I realized that the trees...

 Last weekend, the folks in our Native Turf Helping Circle gathered around a table in the common house dining room. It was time to "clean" all the seeds that were harvested last fall from a variety of native flowers and grasses here at Prairie Hill. The seeds were still connected to the dried parent plant, or surrounded by fluff, or still in hard casings. This is a time-consuming activity made fun by doing it together. After two hours, we weren't nearly finished. But it is only January and we have lots of time before we will plant these little treasures. Working with them made us more aware of the whole story of the seed, tiny little bits of potential, ready to come to life with the right environment. Around a hundred million years ago, flowering plants first appeared on the earth. In contrast, humans have only been here for 200,000 years! It was a huge event when plants were able to evolve and become flowering (and hence seedbearing). Until then, early plants like ferns ...

 I've been doing research on seeds. It's that time of year. I've already sent off orders for scores of native prairie seeds as well as garden vegetable seeds. Even though it's the heart of winter, this is the time we start to think of spring! And from this latest research, it is clear that there are planetary issues about food and seeds, just like there are issues about so many other things. We already know that our home, the earth, is facing a growing number of threats in the near future. And we know that most of them have been caused by human activities and choices. You are probably all too familiar with the tug of war between folks who are trying to save the planet, and those whose short-term gain is more important than long term sustainability. This kind of news hits us in the face every day and it's not fun to think about. In this post and the next one, let's not focus on blame. Instead let's just look at the situation we have now, and use our imaginati...