Tending
As fall arrives in the northern hemisphere, the earth changes. It brings me joy to be in touch with those often-subtle changes and to tend my garden accordingly. When I began writing this blog, it was a very different piece of writing. But then Hurricane Helene barreled into the Southeastern U.S. smashing any sense of normalcy for people in that region, including my sister and her family. Now I am called to reflect on the word “tending” in a new way, including the importance of tending one another.
AP wire photo
AP wire photo
Margaret and her family live near Asheville, NC and were hard hit by floods, downed trees, and power outages. For four days the only news we got of them was a brief text from a neighbor’s charged phone saying they were OK. Now I have had a phone conversation from her reassuring me further of the outpouring of community support for one another and that recovery is happening.
Margaret is a gardener like I am. She would give anything right now to have the privilege of focusing on her garden. I devote this column to her and all gardeners and gardens in that region.
Begin with Gratitude
Even in the midst of devastating earth changes, it is important to begin with gratitude. In the case of Margaret and her family the first thing she spoke of was gratitude for neighbors and nearby friends. In our fall situation of relative weather stability, we began with an equinox fire. The day when night time hours and daytime hours are equal in length marks this earth holiday.
Fall equinox fire in our yard
A few neighbors came over to join us. We lit a small fire and offered sticks of harvested, dried lavender from our garden into the fire. Each stick was added to the fire with a spoken prayer of gratitude for the season past or a thought for the shortening days as we head into winter.
Ann in firelight holding Vivi
Migrating birds and fall feeders
Fall is anything but relaxing for migrating birds. They are tending to changes with urgency and an accuracy that still surprises scientists. They must be constantly alert to changes in day length and temperature and ever watchful for big storms. Hurricane Helene hit at the height of the annual fall migration. Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s BirdCast bird migration map documented more than half a billion birds migrating last Thursday night into early Friday at the height of Hurricane Helene. That is billion, not million!
It appears that many birds following the traditional Atlantic flyway veered west to avoid Hurricane Helene. However, one can only imagine many migrating birds died in this storm. Four arrived on my sister’s feeder and were at least temporarily “saved”.
When I was finally able to speak with Margaret, I learned that she had kept busy feeding birds during their torrential two-day, 16.5 inch rain, Sept. 26 and 27. “It is the time that migrants come through on their way south. I had four rose-breasted grossbeaks pretty much staying on my covered feeders during the height of the storm. I can’t imagine what has happened to so many of these migrating birds,” she said.
Meanwhile at my bird feeders, things were calmer enabling me the chance to really “tend” with long range continuity. In early June I take down our bird feeders so birds can forage on local vegetation and seeds. This gives my feeders and surrounding areas a chance to be cleaned up of any mold or disease from concentrated feeding over the winter. After the fall equinox fire, I once again put out the suet and seed feeders hoping to also be helpful to any fall migrants.
Flickers are the first birds that arrive at my feeder once I have put the suet back out.
The squirrels and cover crop
Gray squirrels have pretty much commandeered our garden as their personal feeding ground. (Margaret has the famous white squirrels of Brevard that are also challenging to her garden.) Purchasing seed and suet feeders that effectively thwart their efforts has been satisfying. But they persist. This year I grew beautiful seven-foot sunflower plants (shown in the photo) in part for kinship with my Ukrainian friends. As the equinox approached, I noticed the squirrels paying more attention to those flowers as the flower heads turned to seed.
The day after the equinox fire several squirrels gathered on the fence rail and jumped onto the plants. By the end of the day the plants were in tatters and a few stalks completely broken—an abrupt end to the flower’s beautiful season. Probably a good use for the seed, though.
However, when the squirrels started eating my cover crop seeds before they even sprouted, a new level of “squirrel war” was launched for the preservation of my garden.
Every year from September/October to March/April I grow a cover crop on each of the harvested beds in my garden. This cover crop protects the soil from winter rain compaction and puts nutrients back into the ground taken out by the summer crop.
Cover crop seed mix for the Pacific Northwest
Before the gray squirrels moved in, I would just scatter the seeds on the harvested bed and the new crop would begin to grow. Now I must cover the seeds with weighted chicken wire to keep squirrels out of the beds and allow the seeds to germinate and grow.
Cover crop growing under chicken wire protection
I know the red clay soils of my sister’s gardens will be too saturated to do any cover crop planting for some time. In a few weeks I will plant my garlic for overwinter growth. Margaret’s climate is warmer than mine, so I am hoping her beds might dry out enough that she is able to get her garlic in before winter freezing temperatures arrive.
In conclusion
This is a shout out to gardeners everywhere—northern and southern hemispheres. No matter the season you are in, delight in the small subtle changes that you are privileged to witness, know that things can change too rapidly. Share your observations and joys with others. Keep us all tuned into the ever-changing planet we are privileged to live on.
And when big storms and other natural disasters occur, watch how the earth heals. The healing is usually slow and subtle, but the healing does happen.
Margaret and Ann after an August paddle together on Whidbey Island—sisters, gardeners, bird watchers, hikers, and mutual lovers of nature.
What a beautiful juxtaposition of experiences, yet with gratitude underpinning them both. Thank you.
Thank you for this comment, Jennifer. It felt important to me to weave together two very different fall experiences. Ann
I enjoyed this writing immensely! Thank you ♡ much love to you and especially to your sister and her community there ♡
Yes, much love and good wishes to all people in the SE U.S. right now and, oh my gosh, those in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, the list is too long. Let us focus in on how and where we might be able to make connection and offer help. Ann
always inspiring, good reminders, teachings from a lover of earth and her wise ways and so much more. Thank you dear friend. Please keep these coming….. love… Anne
Thank you, my friend. I will keep writing! Ann
Your post bears witness to how we all are connected through family, shared activities, shared values and beliefs, and common hopes and dreams. This felt especially comforting to me in the face of so much devastation through a natural disaster. I admired you creating a healing ritual of remembrance at ths Fall Equinox. This also reminds me that in addition to the devastation of natural disasters we also mourn the on-going devastation caused by our human, yet inhumane, actions– especially in Gaza and other war-torn areas. “When will they ever learn?”– Pete Seeger. Yes, when? Thank you for your perspective!
Thank you, Dot, for this most thoughtful reply. Can’t answer the question, “When will WE ever learn?” Been moved by Pete Seger’s song since I first heard it in college. My journey has always been to try and connect, learn, and be of service wherever I find myself. Ann
I found your post, Ann, plus the comments made by other folks so very insightful.
The mention of the song, “Where have all the flowers gone?” fascinatingly encouraged me to wander through Youtube this early morning, finding it sung by Marlene Dietrich (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kveooWmqqr8).
Comments by 2 people on Youtube … “she is singing like she is sorry, furious and about to cry” … and sharing how she entertained troops during WW II behind enemy lines, touched me to the core.
I so appreciate you having mentioned you “try and connect, learn, and be of service wherever I find myself” … things that I humbly find I’m also trying to do.
I’ll never forget my very positive experience at a Circle Way gathering on Whidbey Island a few years ago, hosted so wonderfully by you & Christina.
Thanks so much for your calm, insightful wisdom, Ann!
Thank you for taking the time to write, Pete. I was at a campfire last night with many younger members of the Wilderness Guides Council. It was wonderful listening to them sing, but the old folk songs are not part of their repertoire. Yes, nothing quite like the old songs and “where have all the flowers gone”? is a staple for me. Thank you for bringing this forward at this challenging time in the world. Ann
Thank you so much for always remembering me.
Well, Larry, thanks for subscribing to the blog. Ann
I love this so much Ann. My very best to Margaret, her family and community as they find peace and healing.
Appreciate hearing your voice here, Jen. As one whose job is about creating connection and community, thank you for strengthening the bonds between humans and the earth that we depend on for everything.
I’m so glad our families are safe. I need winter garden lessons. And, apparently, bird feeder lessons. I don’t have a wide variety at mine, but plenty of whatever is “in season,” eating as much as I put out, fast. But the last few weeks, they are all MIA.
OK, Gretchen, come on up for garden and bird feeder sharing. We will have fun!
Dear Ann,
Thank you for teaching me about the birds migrating through the Southeast of the US. The lack of birdsong would be devastating to me. My heart and prayers are with all of the people there who are suffering in this storm. I loved the garden care. I enjoyed such a bountiful harvest this year of tomatoes, carrots, beans, cucumbers and the amazing zucchini! I’m preparing the beds for next spring’s planting. Gardens symbolize such hope of renewal. So good to read your words. Love, CW
Appreciate the way you tend your corner of the earth. Yes, the absence of bird song would be devastating to all of us . . . and that is why Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was such an important book! It was really important to me to learn that at least some migrating birds found a way to cope with a powerful hurricane.
Thank you Ann, and blessings on the gardeners…including your sister, and our mutual friend Ruth Pittard, in Black Mountain, NC and also a gardener I am anxious to hear more from soon.
A troubled few days and she has been busy, helping with sourcing clean water for neighbors, am so waiting with sighs and prayers.
Blessings on the Helpers of all sorts and sizes!
Thank you, Judy, for word of Ruth Pittard, a friend with strong ties to Whidbey Island. Of course, she has been busy helping neighbors. Ann
Hello Judy! Just got this message from Ruth after she read your comment:
“By flashlight, In black mountain in a small house magically untouched by Helene, I am recalling a visit with you and Christina in a hospital room in Ashevillle
I am a gardener and my community garden space is mud whipped by wind and water into red froth
Reading your words awake alone and exhausted by a day of “recovery” on day six of Helene I exit from my own mental froth to Whidbey times with you and Christina and say thank you
Love Ruth
Thinking of Margaret and many friends in the Asheville NC area. The devastation and all that is ahead boggles my mind and hurts my heart.
Thank you for writing in, Laura. Just heard from another friend in the area mentioned by an earlier reader, Judy Todd. Ruth Pittard paints a daunting picture of the slow recovery that lies ahead. Really, I don’t think we can fathom what they are living through. Ann
What a thoughtful post. I am not a gardener at all. I marvel at friends who are such good stewards of this earth. When it comes to my yard I keep the trees tended by skilled arborists and I hold fast to the idea of “do no harm”. My bird feeder is still out and the juncos and house sparrows are in all of their glory. Last week a pair of scrawny house finches came and were feeding for long periods, undeterred by my presence. They looked young but not unhealthy. My front yard got torn up pretty good by raccoons so it might be time to clean up the feeder after all. Blessings to everyone recovering from the latest hurricane. Most stories I hear are of people stepping up and helping one another. It hasn’t totally restored my faith in humanity, but it is definitely moving that needle. Sometimes these tragedies have a way of refocusing our attention and recalibrating our hearts. May it be so now.
Thank you, Bonnie! Appreciate the in depth yard report and the comment on having our faith restored in our fellow human beings by extraordinary acts of helpfulness in times of huge challenge. That is my story and I’m sticking with it. Ann
Thanks, Ann, for sharing some of our story here in your notes on tending. I would add that tending gets us through things. Tending the birds and butterflies definitely helped with the craziness of the past two weeks. Still trying to grasp what has happened to our region.
Thank you for your thoughtful response, dear sister. Likely it will take a very long time to grasp what has happened to your region, but please know we are still tracking! Love,Ann
Ann, Thanks for the insiteful blog. It is hard to find gratitude in the wake of the devastation of the hurricanes. Thank you for helping us do that. I live in northcentral Wisconsin. We watch from afar of this type of devastation. I pray for all the people in the region. I am a gardener and a nature lover. Please keep on giving the world your wonderful encouraging words. Thank you. Debbie
With appreciation for your words, Debbie. Yes, it is hard to find gratitude in times of devastation, especially when that devastation directly affects you. I have no easy answers to that challenge only an ongoing search for what the earth has to teach us day by day and also in the long run. Be well. Ann