28 March 2016

With the arrival of warmer than usual temperatures these last few weeks, the garden quickly awakened from its winter rest. Buds overwintering were hastily summoned to burst open and we were greeted by the flowers of:

butterbur, Petasites japonicus

coltsfoot, Tussilago farfara  

snowdrops, Galanthus nivalis  

slippery elm, Ulmus rubra lesser celandine, forsythia, Chinese coptis, yellowroot, rosemary, bloodroot and spicebush, Lindera benzoin .

Meanwhile, wood frogs, primed for mating delights, romped and “quacked” in the pond:and off in the distance, a chorus of spring peepers filled the airwaves. Phoebe, incessantly bobbing its tail and calling its name, returned and is building a nest under the Duke’s deck. The pair of red-shouldered hawks are seen circling overhead or gliding into the yin-yang valley also to tend their nest.

Year after year, these are our harbingers of another season of for The Green Farmacy Garden. 

To witness the stirring of winter into spring, to listen to the calls of amphibians and birds, to smell the organic chemistry of sweet birch, sweet Cicely and spicebush, to feel the cool earth warming, and to taste the wildness of nettles, chickweed, winter cress, and slippery elm bark marks yet another year. The patterns and rhythms of the flora and fauna, and even a fickle March, are all apart of the phenology – observing the seasonal changes of nature.  

With the change of weather and with this 2016 season, we have two new gardeners: 

Jared Gulliford (pruning sweet birch, Betula lenta, that was later made into tea and infused into oil) and Elana Metzman (using a draw knife to remove slippery elm, Ulmus rubra, inner bark that she later dried and will grind for powders)Jim Duke, turning 87 in a week, continues to compile plant data and play stand up bass while sitting on his exercise bike. 

All of us – including the five-lined skink and Eastern mole 

– are gearing up and getting down and dirty while preparing our medicinal plant garden for tours and workshops.

A listing of tours can be found on  https://thegreenfarmacygarden.com/tours-and-events/ Upcoming workshops will be listed ASAP.

If you are interested in receiving notices about volunteer times, tours, and workshops, please email greenfarmacygarden@gmail.com