It is in this spirit we celebrate Earth Day ‘the old fashioned way’, by picking up along the road and the water, and maybe planting a tree. That is what I did.. planted a tree.
The tree I chose was abandoned at the Green Connection in Scituate Massachusetts. That’s right, I recycled a discarded tree. Tim Lopes runs the Green Connection in a win win relationship with the town of Scituate.

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We take our yard waste to the Green Connection lot and dump it off for free, Tim and his Green Connection crew composts, and grinds the yard waste into mulch and loom, then sells it back to us. I asked him why loom is brought in, he says we buy more than he can compost. (By the way.. What’s the difference between loom and loam? Tim calls it loom, I have always called it loam.)
Back to the tree planting. This Balsam Fir was discarded at Green Connection, Tim says someone pulled it to make room for a patio. Tim saw me eyeing the tree, he said..”you have a place for it?” (That’s Tim tossing the top of the old tree I am replacing.)
Yes, I have a fir that has taken beating form northeast winds over the years, maybe this one will have more luck. I can plant this recycled tree, then put some tall grass and Hydrangea behind it, to block the salty northeast wind. Ornamental grass and hydrangea seemed unfazed by cold, salty, snowy northeast wind off the bay.

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First, I had to get the tree in the Jeep, to our surprise, it fit in back. This new tree must weigh 200 pounds, Tim helped me get it in the Jeep, then I dragged it up the hill using this tarp. The old tree should be easy to remove. so it would seem. But there are always unexpected surprises when we dig into the earth.

My first obstacle was the old heavy gauge wire basket used to transport the old tree. The basket went in the ground with the tree. So I had to dig all the way around the basket.

Then there are all the rocks and roots. Every shovel full came with the sound of shovel hitting rock, root, and wire.. nothing worth doing is easy. After and hour, the old tree was free. But the root ball was full of clay and rock, much too heavy to heave out by myself. I pulled the old tree down to the ground, exposing the root ball.

Then I poked the old clay soil and rock out, bit by bit, rocking from one side to the other. After another half hour the old tree is ready to be pulled out. At least it left a nice hole for the new tree to slip into. The old tree still has some life, so I transplanted that one too. I love to recycle, and can not trough away any living thing. The fun part is watering the tree and giving the TLC with hope that we have a healthy future together. Few things in life are more gratifying than planting a tree, especially one you save from the compost heap. This tree is now like a child, I will nurture and care for until death do we part, or I move away .

The earth is tough, this simple tree planting proved that to me. We have a great relationship, the trees and the humans, and the earth, and the birds and the bees, and the flowers, and the trees. Oops, already said trees.
Our earth’s flora flourish thanks too photosynthesis, CO2 + H20 + Sunlight. Photosynthesis yields plants which return O2 (Oxygen) to the atmosphere. Trees inhale what we exhale and we inhale what trees exhale. It’s a beautiful relationship. CO2 is essential to life, and any impact our CO2 output has on the temperature of the earth is negligible. We are smart enough to have cleaned up our air and water over the past 40 years since that first earth day. For this we give thanks. Let’s not call CO2 pollution, that goes way too far.. Go ahead out and get your hands dirty, it’s good for the body, good for the soul, good for the planet. The four most important resources for living are
1. Clean Air
2. Clean Water
3. Clean Food
4. Love

I Love my new tree.

Just Add Water Garden Early September

As you know, I started the season with seed suggestions and a 10′ by 10′ layout from the great gardeners at Johnny’s Selected Seeds here in Maine. For the most part, their varieties and succession planting ideas worked well, but I will make a few changes next year based mostly on personal preferences. (Click on layout to the right if you’re curious about what I grew.)

A Bouquet of Carrots, Red Lettuce and Chard.

I had bad luck with some transplants. Neither my cuke or basil seedlings fared as well as the plants that were sowed from seed into the garden. Next year, I won’t bother starting those indoors.

The peas, beans, lettuces and spinach have all been delicious. All will be invited back.

Thanks to the confines of the 10′ by 10′ space, I found I was much more disciplined about succession plantings. In the past I tucked veggies all over my garden beds and sometimes forgot about them. Not this year. Even in mid-September, every inch of the Just Add Water garden is still producing. Beans are coming up in the tomato graveyard. New rows of lettuce and spinach are launched next to the beans. I tucked in some discounted celery and cauliflower seedlings where the peas once grew. Those will be harvested in the coming weeks. The buds on my brussel sprouts are starting to swell. And the chard, carrots cucumbers and squashes are growing like gangbusters.

Cauliflower On The Way

What lessons does your garden have to share? If you’re like me, you won’t remember them in February and by then your garden won’t be in the mood for conversation.