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Eco-gardening is at its best in The Monday Garden
July 11, 2004, Issue 120

Stamford, CT, is made up of several hills (five or seven, I think). The hill on which I live is called "Strawberry Hill'. It's steep and rocky, with the well-drained soil and sunny slopes prefect for wild strawberries. I imagine that they once flourished here to the delight of the local squirrels and birds; not to mention a bear or two, and the Native American tribes who lived here.

picture: view from the front steps of my condo building

The strawberry patches and bears slowly gave away to farms, then Victorian mansions. These stately homes, in turn, were replaced by the high school and several high-rise condo and apartment buildings. The high-rises are OK by me because a lot of people can live on just a bit of land, leaving more open space for all. The squirrels are still here, using the overhead electric lines as their private highways. Some of the tribes have casinos. I often wonder, though, if there really were strawberries.

The Monday Garden, Eco-gardening at its best

December 4, 2005, Issue 188

Each season, as it comes around amazes and delights the senses anew in some way. In early December, we have not only the purity and hush of the first snow fall but are also blessed with the newly-revealed tree twigs.

PICTURE: Silver gray, furry buds of an ornamental pear of Bedford Street, Stamford CT Winter 2004-2005. Note the short, stubby twigs.

The Monday Garden, December 12, 2004, Issue 142a
Eco-gardening at its best

Taking a walk in the woods or along the water can be wonderfully relaxing, spiritually renewing, invigorating -- whatever you, and the day, feel like. However, how many of us sub/urbanites get to do this every day?

For me, the trick is to find nature to enjoy in our everyday places: in the alley, behind the parking lot, next to the dump, along the highways. So, here’s a walk through parts of downtown Stamford in early December 2004.

picture: A European import, now a “weed”, common mullein growing wild along in the shadow of a high-rise on Bedford Street, a multi-lane highway, Stamford CT, December 2004. Once, probably where this street now runs, Euro-colonists and Native Americans alike used mullein leaves to line their winter foot coverings. Snapdragon family.

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The Monday Garden, January 9,2005, Issue 146
Eco-gardening at its best

A couple of days ago, I came across this file that I hadn’t gotten around to sorting yet of photos were taken in the Hoyt Street Alley on November 1, 2004. It’s hard for me to recall the sensory experience of other seasons, so when I come unexpectedly across a photo file from another time of the year, it’s amazing to me that such other time actually existed and that I was there.

These photos recalled for me the luscious colors of fall, so I thought they’d make a good mid-winter break.

picture: detail of the glorious colors of the delightful infant native chokecherry, Hoyt Street Alley Stamford CT November 1, 2004