dear ms b-a teaching garden

DEAR MS B-A TEACHING GARDEN

once when i was visiting your town
now this was before you were born
but in the last two years
i walked by this school
as i walked by i looked through the high fence with its
bars at the
school garden
now being in your state things will grow all year around
you dont have to worry about cold winters
ok you do have a water issue
but thats not really a limiting problem for that
school garden

as i walk around your city i dont see a lot of dirt
anywhere
except in the city parks
so although i didnt witness it
im sure the kids in that school love to dig in that
garden dirt
get their nails all dirty
plant veggies
and
just watch them grow
learning a lot along the way
and
of course eating food that comes right from the ground

now ms b
i think every school especially elementary schools
should be required to have school gardens

so the phe garden that i consult with ive followed now
for several months
earlier this fall they all planted a three sisters garden
like the native americans planted
squash and pumpkins and beans and corn
a staple for the native americans back when

now i would have just planted what was seasonally
for the fall around here
let the kids enjoy the garden and the produce

now after having followed the phe garden for the fall
now i understand why it was done this way

there was a lot of science teaching history teaching
agriculture teaching math teaching art teaching
writing teaching responsibility teaching
and
ownership of the garden for the kids involved

something that wouldnt have been done in a classroom
in such a creative way
now after watching the kids have fun
i bet they didnt even know they were learning all that stuff
watching them take notes and measure and dig in the dirt
and calculate measurements watch the weather learn about
compost learn about seasons along with some history

then
last week at the finale
after all the produce was picked

some of which was donated to a food pantry
that right there is a lesson probably not taught in most schools
how to give
then
a stew or soup was made of the 3 sisters food raised
all circled around the fire pit
no the fire was not a real fire
listening to every word of a poem written for the event
answering questions of what they learned
yes every kid ate a bowl of soup
many had a second helping
many eating food they had not eaten before
yes i saw swiss chard and kale and spinach get nibbled
from the garden
yes i got a bowl also

so i wonder ms b
which class those kids will remember the most
years later

i think i know

i sure hope you get a school like this

the organicgreen doctor

its a habit at

ITS A HABIT AT

these yards on these houses are a blank slate
for which i get to paint a picture from scratch
my limiting canvas is
lack of money
lack of supplies
lack of knowledge of the new home owner for yard care
lack of desire of new home owners to be left with a lot
of yard work

all these added together is used to decide on a plan
but
one thing i can guarantee
is that whatever is done is done right
is done organically
is done xerically
is done using native plants
otherwise i wont do it

now see that bed in front of the house
i put that in
i approached the rock person that did the rock work
can i have what rock is left over so i can do
the bed in the front
this one said yes
one thing ive noticed is that folks like to give
these contractors dont mind giving back to habitat for humanity

so he left us these limestone bricks ill call them
using what ive learned from stacking rock fences
i did the rockwork for the bed
without mortar
they are tightly fitted together
not movable


into those beds will go plants the homeowner was given
from a family member
called
purple hearts
ive posted a picture of them above
a pretty tough plant


its in the grow green booklet
generally if a plant aint in that book i wont plant it

then this weekend we had a large group
one of my favorite high school groups to work with
to help lay the sod plant the tree and clean off the lot

now there was storms scheduled lots of rain scheduled
so
the habitat for humanity had to make a decision 48 hours
before as to whether to proceed this weekend
since it affected several groups
some doing travel and some providing large meals etc
the decision was made to cancel the landscaping for
the weekend

its like canceling any event
damned if you do and damned if you dont

safety expense liability all went into play

now for myself
ive done a lot of landscaping in pouring rain
even cold rain
you know i just pretend im a football player in
the blowing rain in green bay in the winter
for
when im finished
a nice warm hot tub feels so good
however
not everyone feels that way

so
on sat when we were scheduled but later canceled
i decided to go ahead and plant the live oak tree
in the front yard
to plant the homeowners purple hearts
maybe put out a little bit of the landscape dirt
sod just a little
all until the rains came

so i stopped by the homeowners place to pick up the plants
hey she said
shes anxious to get into her new home
ill come help you
hey
my husband will too
hey
my two kids can at least shovel dirt
so
i said ok

then as she and i are working in a fine mist
up drives the last habitat for humanity homeowner
hey
i want to help
she didnt see the email it was canceled
now she doesnt need any more sweat hours for her house
she was doing this because of the goodness in her heart
and
because she had developed a bond with the newest
homeowner
so
i said ok

then i looking
hey we have 4 adults now
what if i called someone
who is good in a pinch when more help is needed
yes
you got it

my wife she

so she said
ok
ill do it

so now we have 5 adults and 2 kids
i said folks
i know we can do this
rake the front yard
lay out an inch of landscape dirt
lay out these 3 pallets of grass

yes
they said
like the little train that could
we know we can

so off we went
all of us together
as a new team
working hard in the misty rain
wind
well we did all look like we had been in one of
those mud races you see on facebook
where everyone was covered with mud
soaking wet we all were

but
at the end
we all hugged with a smile
all feeling good for what we had accomplished
in
this spontaneous few moments earlier in the morning
and
for myself
i felt real good inside

somehow theres a story and a lesson in all this


then
my wife she and i spent several minutes later that morning
actually later afternoon
soaking
in that warm toasty hot tub

as i was soaking
i was thinking

we had scored a touchdown

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-chip me

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-CHIP ME

everyday i have articles sent to my email on alzheimers disease
most are on new research findings
ive found that i know about alzheimers disease reports
days before it shows up in the news
ive also noticed that i know a lot more about whats going on
with alzheimers than many practicing physicians even
neurologists
heck i even sometimes update the neurologist i see

everyday it seems theres this sad story
about a patient with alzheimers disease that has wondered
off and got lost
sometimes they are found
sometimes they are not
sometimes when they are found the results arent good

i know my younger brother as he got more advanced would
like to wonder
if i remember right he once wondered off into the woods
where he was later found
im sure he was probably thinking he was going hunting
something he loved to do

ive known of folks who wondered off
fell into a river lake or pond in texas they call that a tank
i call it a pond
or
they get hit by a car
or
they freeze to death
or
they die from heat exhaustion

the point i make is that alzheimers patients wonder off
my mom was and escaper at the long term care facility
as
was my younger brother

im sure when my time comes
i will be a big time escaper
i hate to stay indoors
i have to be outside doing something everyday
ive been known to go out even when its raining
a little water doesnt hurt anybody

now i know they have these microchips for dogs
with identifying info on them
run a scanner across them and up pops info on who the dog is

now that would be nice for humans with alzheimers disease
but
they really need a gps tracker


now i know they have bracelets and necklaces and ankle monitor things
that have gps devices
but
if youve ever known an alzheimers disease patient
you know they are houdinis
off those things will go

now they have shoes with them in it
but
those things can be lost or shoes changed


wired.com
so i want an implantable microchip with gps tracking information
in it implanted under my skin
so my wife she can locate me with her iphone

now as of right now that device doesnt appear to exist
apparently there is one in the works for animals
thats patent pending
maybe

no im not worried about and privacy issues here
no hacker taking over my microchip
since
the alternative could be bad
like
death

so
please microchip me with an implantable gps checking device
just dont do it yet
let say wait until my test scores get down in the teens or low teens
then do it

i think i may have found a business model
i want to be the first
customer

the organicgreen doctor