Category: garden

  • paved paradise….

    on the right

    Some of my raw emotions about losing my garden aren’t only about the loss of a plot of land.  I always knew that it was not mine to keep.  I always knew I would move on.

    But maybe I just wasn’t quite ready yet.  And it seems such a slap in the face to lose a magical productive food-growing urban garden to such a ridiculous development project.  (h/t to my Quaker friend the “chard lady” for the video below.  I missed spending time with her at the Quaker fall retreat to clean out my garden this weekend, at a time when I very much needed to be with Friends.  Which made it all that harder….)

  • eulogy, for a garden

    [blackbirdpie id=”603783528710145″]

    As I’ve mentioned on twitter, my community garden plot is set to be bulldozed on Monday morning, to make way for some new high-density housing for graduate students at UC Irvine.  That the current on-campus housing is already under-occupied is not a concern to those who have made this plan, I suppose.  That our garden has been on this ground since the 1970s only makes is easier to put on the chopping block (many newer buildings are also being dozed).  I don’t know if I’ll ever invest my heart so deeply in a plot of earth again.

    The slideshow below is mostly from my garden, with a few images from other gardens that I love, too.  I’ll be capturing whatever other photos I can over the next day or so as I clean out my plot, and post them here.

    If you are so inclined, I really would love some garden poetry in the comments below this post.  I am needing that right now.

    [flickrslideshow acct_name=”pilgrimgirl” id=”72157594574704345″ border_width=”5″ border_style=”solid” border_color=”#cccccc”]

  • dreamy


    IMG_0440, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    The other day I had a cardamon-rose cupcake (sprinkled with real rose petals–so pretty!). I kind of can’t stop dreaming about how much I enjoyed it. But I seem to do the same with just about anything rose-flavored. I think I love the way the sweetness and the scent travel from my tongue to my nose. Just like all those roses in my garden that are so fragrant I want to dig right into them with a spoon! (yum)

  • repose


    lotus, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    The mossy greens in this scene from the Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library are so relaxing and inspiring. The Huntington is not only a place for repose, but also supports my dissertation research. As a Fellow, last Fall I spent nearly every day working in the ‘inner sanctum’ of the Library.

    The Collections at the Huntington aren’t accessible to John or to my children. Someday I hope I can point out my favorite study carrel in the old reading room, or show them some of the manuscripts that I’ve enjoyed (such as a few volumes of Emma N’s journals and other treasures). It’s hard not to be able to share that with them.

    But I am glad that we can stroll the gardens together, anytime.

  • most recklessly


    geranium, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.
    ~Rainer Maria Rilke

    Note: pic above taken in my garden. The colors are really truly this bright right now–no photoshop adjustment necessary. Isn’t it lovely?

  • you are…


    dream rose, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    You are unlimited

    Or so says the note on my teabag this afternoon (love Yogi Tea for Meditation and their thought-provoking teatag quotations). It came at a good time, at a moment when I’m feeling rather finite and hampered by so so so much that need to get done.

    This rose is blooming in my garden right now and has a delicious grapefruit-rosy scent. Unlimited, indeed.

  • green


    on a day that I needed this shade of green, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    This picture could’ve been more artfully rendered, but despite that, I love looking at it.
    Green.
    Some days I just need that shade of green.

    What colors are capturing your attention today?

  • If only…


    peach rose, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    I could take my scanner to my garden….

  • when you are inspired…


    star daisy, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
    ~Patanjali

    What is the great purpose and extraordinary project that is inspiring you today? Me, I am inspired by the beauties (like the one above) in my garden.

    More pictures from my garden.

  • teh awesome


    fuzzy peach, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    fresh peaches + tapioca pudding = teh awesome
    (just in case you didn’t already know that)

    Photo shows my peach tree at night. I love sitting in the garden as the sun sets and darkness spreads across the garden. Typically I am alone there in the gloaming, wholly absorbed in deep thought.

  • the daily catch


    the daily catch (was dinner tonite), originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    This was my garden basket this morning. See those awesome heirloom beans? They were so good (just finished dinner a few minutes ago). Had sauce with the Roma tomatoes that you can just barely spy underneath the beans.

    What did you pick from your garden today?

  • today


    purple lisanthus, originally uploaded by pilgrimgirl.

    Got up early this morning, did some restorative yoga, then a friend took me to see a stray mama cat with a nest of newborn kittens, eyes not yet opened. Mama is dusky gray with bright yellow eyes.

    After that I went to the garden and spent a few minutes watering and getting acquainted with the latest blooms (all the while being ‘buzzed’ by Junebugs–definitely not the sharpest of critters that I find in my garden). My rose “Mon Cherie” has a bud just opening, and I can’t wait to return tomorrow to see its bright face (the first since I planted it in my garden). I met two small lizards who were frolicking in the lavender bushes–stretching out on the hot rocks that border the space and doing little lizard push-ups (why? I wish I knew)…

    Now I am sipping tea, regrouping, making plans for the upcoming week and just enjoying the open-ness of a later-summer Saturday afternoon.

    P.S. I think the blue of the sky in the photo above is my new favorite color.