Have You Ever Wondered What a Plant Knows? (A Free MOOC Course)

There is a really interesting course, What a Plant Knows and Other Things You Didn’t Know About Plants, being offered at the free MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform Coursera.  This course explores the question: Do plants have senses?  The course topics include how plants sense their environment; how scientists study plant senses; and classic and modern experiments in plant biology. The teachers suggest that we may even start to question what defines us as humans.  The course has already begun but is still open; however, you will need to register by Tuesday, Oct. 8, if you would like to register for professional credits (a fee is associated with that option.) Find this course by visiting https://www.coursera.org/ and search for the course using the keyword: plants. Not to sound loopy, but I have wondered if carrots feel anything when we chop them into pennies, so count me in!

Which Fruits and Vegetables are Super Toxic and Which Are Safe?

Photo by Evan-Amos Vanamo Media

It is helpful to know which foods are especially laden with toxic chemicals, so that we can be sure to grow these organically in our gardens* or buy them organically grown. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is dedicated to ensuring the safety of our food supply and home products. Their produce shopper's guide is super handy!

EWG's 2013 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ | Summary

*Fortunately, most vegetable gardens include cherry tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini!

Horticultural Therapy Session Planner

Here is a handy sheet to keep track of projects for horticultural therapy sessions. I designed it to fold in half vertically with the right-hand side up. By placing this folded sheet in the right-hand side of a 3-hole punched plastic sheet protector, I can slip all the supporting material regarding the project behind it. See the second image below. By filling in all of the information on the sheet, I know which projects are ready-to-go, what supplies I will need to gather before heading out, records of applicable horticultural therapy goals, and much more. When a project is all ready to go, I color the star in the bottom right corner bright red. Click here for a blank PDF of this planner.

Please comment below if you find this planner to be useful, or if you have suggested improvements to it.

Horticultural Therapy Professional Registration Documentation

Here are two PDF forms that I created to document my hours and activities performed during my internship as I work toward professional registration as a horticultural therapist through the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA). Please feel free to use them.


Internship Daily Log

The daily log is useful for recording activities throughout the day. For example, the following could be penciled in across the first line: 9/16, 10:00-10:30 Setting up for first HT session, .5, 108, and .5 entered in the column marked "Program Planning/Preparation". The results are then tallied and summarized on the hours and percentages form below. Note that neither form is computerized to calculate. 



Internship Hours and Percentages

Although I could get by using only the daily log format form and tallying each sheet as they fill up (which would provide a grand tally by the end of your internship), I find it clearer to have my hours summarized using the hours and percentages form (also shown here). The hours form also helps me to monitor if I am getting my hours in the correct ratio of direct client services, non-direct client services, and horticultural services.

Click on either form to get its PDF version. Post any questions you may have in the comments below.

Iris Total Recall: A Real Winner in the Garden!

The bearded iris Total Recall is an amazing iris. Not only is it a gorgeous explosion of yellow and white in the spring along with the other irises, but it also bloomed in August; and, now again in mid-September! Check it out!

On top of all this, it's proven to be a prolific grower in both Virginia and Pennsylvania. In a year or two, I should have plenty to share, so let me know if your would like some!

If you have a favorite iris, please let everyone know what it is by commenting below. I, for one, would love to add it to my iris collection!

Beets: A Super Healthy Food, But Tasty? Yes!

On a rainy day last spring I dutifully planted beets despite having had little previous success with them. This year was different--I had a bumper crop! They formed big round spheres that, now in September, continue to maintain their sweetness and ideal texture. Perhaps this was due to the variety, Red Cloud Beets (F1 Hybrid; 50 days; Pinetree Seeds), or maybe it was the cooler August temperatures. At any rate, a new problem emerged, how does one eat so many beets?  I came up with this recipe that I find delectable! Now I'm a beetaholic!

Beet, Apple, and Wild Greens Salad

1/3 beet (3" diameter), peeled and grated, grown or bought
1/3 apple, not peeled, grated
1/3 c wild greens: dandelion, lambsquarter, miner's lettuce (Claytonia), etc., chopped OR any green: arugula, kale, etc.
1/2 t ginger, fresh, diced (optional)
2 t  lime juice
2 t  olive oil
8    cashews, raw or toasted, chopped
dash salt

NOTES: Serving Size: 1. Expand by multiplying quantities. Use organic ingredients, if available. Using scissors makes quick work of "chopping" the greens. All quantities can be adjusted to what you have on hand.

I would love to hear if you like this salad in the comments below. 

Pokeberry: A Valuable Food Source for Wildlife

Pokeberry (Phytolacca americana), also commonly known as pokeweed, is considered by most gardeners to be a weed*--a very large one at that considering that it grows up to 12 feet tall! Yet, if you can find it a spot in your garden to allow it to grow in its full glory, you will be richly rewarded with its architecturally elegant branches adorned with clusters of berries that ripen to a rich purple. Reminiscent of grape clusters, the beauty of these berries is only half of the gardener's rewards. Pokeberries are a favorite food for songbirds, so much so that birds may even become intoxicated from this avian delicacy.

In my gardens in both Virginia and Pennsylvania I have encouraged pokeberries near screened windows where I often sit. In late summer and early fall I am treated to close-up views of phoebes, mockingbirds, brown thrashers, bluebirds, cardinals, gray catbirds, and cedar waxwings    Less common birds that I have only ever seen because of the pokeberry are the Eastern Wood-Pewee (VA & PA) and the Blackpoll warbler (or one very much like it! VA).  In the book, American Wildlife & Plants, Martin, Zim, & Nelson (1951) note that pokeberries also attract thrushes, vireos, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, and other treasurable characters of the bird world.

If your pokeweed berries are ripe, please comment below as to what birds you have spotted!

*Pokeweed shoots--not the berries!--are edible for humans; however, these greens must be processed properly to eliminate the toxins.

References

Martin, A. C., Zim, H. S., & Nelson, A. L., American Wildlife & Plants, 1951, p. 392. Now available as a Dover reprint, this in an invaluable resource for creating wildlife-friendly gardens!