More Gardening

Joe Reynard and myself went exploring this past weekend on his uncle's land. The goal was to transplant some Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel to our homes here in Asheville. Mission accomplished! I have a stand of old pines in the backyard that have created the perfect soil for such wonderful plants. I have no idea what color the blossoms are going to be, but apparently some of the Mountain Laurel in the area that we were digging in have flame orange flowers! Very cool.

It is so weird how age and circumstance can totally change your appreciation for things that have been apart of your life forever. My mother and father are master gardeners and can turn any landscape into the envy of the neighborhood. I always enjoyed going back to my hometown in Asheboro, NC and just walking around the yard looking at all the wonderful specimens my parents had planted. Any gardener would have thoroughly enjoyed walking in this wild American creation.

My mother's roots in gardening definitely started growing at a young age (sorry). Mary Annie Harris, my grandmother, could throw a hand full of seeds in a field and have enough vegetables to feed the entire street. Mary Annie had ever Lilly and Iris know to man and probably a few only seen by close relatives. Apple trees with three different types of apples on one tree! What a great little mountain farm! I remember one time pulling in Puttman Road and smelling my grandparents farm miles away. Mary Annie was drying apples for pies, turnovers, and preserves, but that beautiful smell couldn't rival the stench from dozens of five gallon buckets filled with rotting grapes. Each bucket would receive a five pound bag of sugar and presto! Soon you would be drinking the sweetest wine to ever touch your lips.

This brings me to my next project in the garden. My wife Jessica doesn't have many vices, but she does have a certain summertime addiction: Muscadines and Scupadines. Last summer was amplified with little Sophia in her belly, so when I arrived to the Far Side Farmer's Market they knew exactly why I was there. With help from mother nature, I intend to grow this wild fruit?!? Maybe. Or maybe I will just grow Concords. I am going to grow some form of grape!

Gene Ween Band

Click image for gallery. The Gene Ween Band played at the Orange Peel last night and it was all that and more! Gene was on his "A" game and the supporting cast (band and fans) was on fire as well! Great energy all night! Stallion pt 4 and lots of other rare treats. If someone gets the set list/recording, please send it my way!

March Gardening

I heard somewhere that sticking your hands in the earth during early Spring is some of the best medicine out there. I do not have the biggest area to work, but it is big enough for me to get a taste for gardening and landscaping. Me and my buddy Craig Fender put a fence around the backyard and I have recently started getting rid of all the privet, brambles, and vines. I managed to salvage some lilies and a couple native trillium plants as seen here.

The vegetable garden so far has the following:
• Various Lettuce species (Butter crunch, Red sail, Hell Cat, etc.)
• Irish Cobble Potatoes
• Yellow Onions
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Boc Choy
• Garlic

The Rabbiteye Blueberry bush has also found its way into my backyard! Very exciting! I am a little anxious though, because Asheville is right on the border for this species of blueberry. I have also learned that more fruit can be produced by cross pollination. I have two of the same bushes, so hopefully they will produce some fruit. Apparently a single Rabbiteye Blueberry bush can produce up to 20 lbs a year! Another interesting fact is that blueberries actually help in the creation of new brain cells. Mmmmm....

Thank You Mr. Williams

I made a brief comment about Ted in my previous post, but I wanted to write more about Ted and I also wanted to mention a few things about my past that I feel are relevant. Ted Williams is a five-time world champion in disc golf and all these titles were obtained after the age of seventy! He passed away at the age of seventy-six from intestinal complications. I feel honored to have met Ted and also to be able to call him my friend.

The first time I walked through the woods with Ted, six Pileated woodpeckers flew right over our heads. Rare? Yes. Ted threw up his hands and said something in Tuscaroan, he smiled, laughed and looked at me as if he were the happiness child on the planet. (Later I asked him what he yelled at the birds, he said to the birds, "Many Thank Yous!!!") He always talked in riddles and it seemed he had this stream of conscious dialog always murmuring under his breath. I did not realize who Ted was outside the world of disc golf. I did not realize I was walking with a Buddha, a Chief, a trumpet player, an Airborne ranger.

A close friend of Ted's joined me for a casual round of disc golf at Richmond Hill. We talked about Ted the entire time and things were good. As we approach the biggest tree on the course, I heard an owl. I thought this was a bit unusual since it was the middle of the day, and we all know owls enjoy the night sky. I looked in the tree and I just could not find the owl. Then the owl's partner started hooting too! Two owls hooting and I can not see either of them. I looked to Ted's friend and he just smiled. By this time there was a chorus of owls and I could not think of anything. I simply looked to the sky and embraced the most spiritual moment of my adult life.

As we get older, most of us are unwilling to accept magic and we dismiss things that we can not readily understand. When I was ten years old, I watched a lightning bolt destroy a mature oak tree. As I was standing with my family on the second floor, a piece of the lightning came into the room that we were in. The lightning paused in the middle of the room, just long enough to feel a resounding peaceful silence before it exploded into nothingness.

When things happen, they happen for a reason and they will foreshadow things that can be changed. We must listen and open our hearts and minds.

Ted has many wonderful stories about spirits, gifted people, and accounts from his own life. Read the book, laugh, and follow the instructions.