A TULSI IN THE LOTUS On a visit to Goa, a coastal town in India, I kept seeing tulsi vrindavanas on the streets that I walked. Many of them were lotus-shaped. Tulsi vrindavanas are raised stone, brick or plaster structures, generally placed in the courtyards […]

My daughter developed a decent dose of chicken pox aged 4. Not unwell just a bit sore and itchy…. the poor tolerant child allowed me to experiment. She had baths of oats and just emerged slightly sticky with a warm aroma of ready brek. We […]

  My mother had A garden             She tended it in old deck shoes covered in mud             Supervising her rows in cut offs and a canary bright halter top             The family dog trotted dutifully behind her down the rows of […]

“A Genealogy, Mostly Plants” By Pamela Banting I was born and raised in a place that takes its name from its trees. The name of the village in central northwestern Manitoba is the direct translation of the Swampy Cree name for the area, Wuskwi Sipihk, […]

Where I grew up on Vancouver Island, coming across a Hairy manzanita (Arctostaphylos columbiana) could tell you something about the history of that particular place. It could tell you, for example, that there was probably a wildfire there in recent decades (or centuries, depending on […]

On a sunny July morning some time in the future, a group of high-spirited citizens are arguing with city officials in the gardens of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. The subject of the argument is a tree; a chestnut marked with a big red painted circle, occupying […]

YAM For those who love the earth The yam is a surprise– Versatile starch and tuber. A treasure beyond the red soil, The soul of earth Buried deep within Folds of mud and silt Clinging to her with a million fibrous nerves Feeding on water […]

Poison ivy In Connecticut where I grew up, poison ivy is everywhere. The name pretty much tells you not to go near it. It’s covered with an oily resin that can cause a nasty reaction if you touch it. My mom taught us what poison […]

When I was in second grade, we moved out of our apartment in northern Kansas City, Missouri and moved into a house in southern Kansas City. I can remember having to change schools and change friends, and I felt like my world was ending. But […]

  Two planes. Dad stands on the ladder, I’m lying on my back. His hedge trimmer makes straight lines in the foliage. Meanwhile, my brain is trying to absorb infinity: “ Dad what’s at the edge of the universe?” The hedge-trimmer stops. He looks up at […]