"and as your hands unfold you release your gifts to the world"

http://storycorps.org/listen/albert-sykes-and-aidan-sykes-150320/

"In the U.S., neonicotinoids are currently used on about 95 percent of corn and canola crops; the majority of cotton, sorghum, and sugar beets; and about half of all soybeans. They are also used on the vast majority of fruit and vegetable crops, including apples, cherries, peaches, oranges, berries, leafy greens, tomatoes, and potatoes. Neonicotinoids are also applied to cereal grains, rice, nuts, and wine grapes."
on NEONICOTINOIDS via wikipedia

"Mulch"
Linda Hasselstrom

A mulch is a layer of organic matter
used to control weeds,
preserve moisture,
and improve the fertility of the soil.
You will not find naked soil
in the wilderness.

I starter cautiously: newspapers,
hay, a few magazines;
Robert Redford stared up
between the rhubarb and the lettuce.

Then one day, cleaning shelves,
I found some old love letters.
I've always burned them, for the symbolism.
But the ashes, gray and dusty as old passions,
would blow about the yard for days
stinging my eyes,
bitter on my tongue.

So I mulched them:
gave undying love to the tomatoes,
the memory of your gentle hands to the squash.
It seemed to do them good,
and it taught me a whole new style
of gardening.

Now my garden is the best in the wilderness,
and I mulch everything:
bills; check stubs;
dead kittens and baby chicks.
I seldom answer letters; I mulch them
with plans I made for children of my own,
photographs of places I've been
and a husband I had once;
as well as old bouquets
and an occasional unsatisfactory lover,

Nothing is wasted.

Strange plants push up among the corn,
leaves heavy with dark water,
but there are
no weeds.

in _ The Sweet Breathing of Plants _
Women Writing on the Green World
Ed. Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson

"...that of the children interviewed in flower-growing regions [of Ecuador], 78 percent began working by the time they were fifteen years of age. Of those who reported that they worked, roughly half had jobs in the cut flower industry... Some of the children also received a medical examination as part of the study. Thirty percent had headaches, 32 percent had tremors, 27 percent had migraines, and 15 percent had experienced some kind of fainting or blackout. The results of these diagnoses and bloodwork "suggest that contact with neurotoxic substances" could be the cause of health problems among the children."

"And the alternative-no flower farms at all-is worse. " If you go home and buy California roses," one grower told me, " you are no supporting an American worker. You are supporting a Mexican worker who is away from his family. If you buy Ecuadorian roses, you are allowing an Ecuadorian family to stay together."

-Amy Stewart  _Flower Confidential _

SLOW FLOWERS PODCAST 
with Debra Prinzing

Edible Infused Bouquet  tutorial!

by Floret Flowers based in THE Skagit Valley

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

-Leonard Cohen
 "Anthem" lyrics
shared by Jillian at M.gathering

http://www.americasgardencapital.org/

I looked in my heart while the wild swans went over.
And what did I see I had not seen before?
Only a question less or a question more;
Nothing to match the flight of wild birds flying.
Tiresome heart, forever living and dying,
House without air, I leave you and lock your door.
Wild swans, come over the town, come over
The town again, trailing your legs and crying!

(Wild Swans by Edna St. Vincent Millay)

on Netflix!
5 stars!

TerranovaHandwovens

via NPR
marissa nadler

"By Heart is a series in which authors share and discuss their all-time favorite passages in literature."

via The Atlantic

"mr. gabriel garcia marquez has been my favorite writer for so long, ever since the first time i cracked open a dusty copy of 'leaf storm' when i was seventeen skipping class to hang at the library and drink milkshakes. he effortlessly carried me to sun-drenched lands, dusty storytellers, juicy green leaves, tiny golden fish, what love looks like in your imagination and the surprises it holds in practice. i've read him stretched out on a sunny blanket, ankles crossed, thinking of the ways that 'magical realism' exists in the outside world, wondering when things like this really happen, thinking that maybe i just haven't seen them yet. i remember drinking all of 'love in the time of cholera' almost in one sitting at my brother's house one christmas, like holy water. i can't say enough what light and beauty and strangeness his words have brought to our universe. rest in peace. i hope that you too levitated to your death in a cloud of butterflies. thank you, my friend!"

via  s.bandy ette

SONGBIRDS Forever Stamps issued