A Trillion Trees
07/04/2019 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaOn Friday I went on a grand adventure to the outer suburbs in search of a community nursery because this is the time of year for planting.
Recently they held a workshop on how to attract wildlife to you your garden and to basically turn your little patch into a paradise for critters. So Izzie was of course all ears especially as the event was free.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch. Some one always has to pay the piper but I like an organisation that thinks this is the sort of thing to sponsor.
I loved their place and their devotion to all things green and gorgeous but had one giant problem. There is no way that I would ever sign up for membership of a mob that calls itself “Men of the Trees” because the name itself declares that I am simply not welcome.
Then there is the not so minor matter that most of the men I know cannot even think of a tree without reaching for a chainsaw.
I will not have a bar of any of the usual “But of course you are included my dear. Man/ Men etc is a generic term that embraces women” to which I usually reply along the lines
“Can you spell? Then write down the word ‘woman’ and the word ‘man" and then tell me who embraces whom”
It also goes without saying that just about no man would ever join an organisation that called itself “Women of the trees” and they would whine all day about the awfulness of being an excluded and oppressed minority etc etc
That ability to put themselves in some one else’s shoes seems so often to be very sadly lacking
But recently some one had the inspired idea to just totally give up all the arguments about the inclusiveness or otherwise of the M word and simply suggested a completely new name “Trillion Trees” which not only solves the gender problem but also preempts the question “Well what exactly does your organisation actually do?”
Of course the title is so over the top and ridiculously ambitious but there is something so adorable and inspiring about such hairy scary audacious goals.
The thought of so many trees would fill the Grinch with horror and that too brings a giant smile to the serpent dial.
I first set foot on their hallowed ground back in November 2009 for a Festival of Trees. There were plant stalls, demonstrations of pruning, espalier, making compost and of course tours of all the trees on the property and the nursery and I left the place with a big bag of baby trees to plant.
At the same time I was also participating in Nanowrimo for the first time and had spent the first week wondering what total stupidity possessed me to sign up for such complete craziness. The inner serpent answered every hissy fit and temper tantrum with the relentless reply.
"Have as many pity parties as you like but not until you have first written 1,666 words for the day."
By the end of the week, the inner saboteur knew that this was dead serious and simply slinked off to find some one else to bother. And lurking around all those trees was the location where other numerous muse-like creatures were tossing around so many ideas that I simply could not keep up with them all.
Petunia also visited the place with me once and got a stash of horseradish, herbs and other weeds for her garden.
So I signed up and made a point of telling the lady at the counter that the new name finally made me feel welcome. She said she also hated the old name but every time anyone tried to bring up the idea of changing it, the pale stale male old guard would get very indignant and shut down all debate on the subject
There was what looked like a bit of an obstacle. Apparently a present member has to vouch for the good character of any potential newbies.
I said that this is a bit of a problem since I don’t know anyone here. She said that she remembered me from the habitat workshop last month and would sign for me
But for all you know I could be the Texas Chainsaw Killer.
She laughed and replied “Oh of course you are not.”
Never missing a chance to do a hatchet job I added “But my dad most definitely is”
In fact one of the main reasons I wanted to join is to sort of make amends for his evil ways. And of course it is also a two fingered salute to him too.
I was disappointed by the selection of plants in the retail nursery. There had been a lot more in the online catalogue. It is possible that they are still ramping up for May and June which is the peak planting season as well as the fact that most of their customers buy not 3 or 4 tree seedlings at a time but more like 3,000 or 40,000 so that is where all their effort goes.
I was curious about the cafe down the back of the property and wondered how anyone could make a living selling coffee in a location so off the beaten track.
I was half expecting either a small van or rust bucket shed with a bloke wearing a hat, shorts and singlet brewing up cheap and nasty dark roasted concoctions and serving it in nasty paper cups.
Instead what I found was that the old fruit tree and oak orchard where the compost heaps used to be were now sharing the space with lots and lots of tables and chairs and that there was a big shed with proper coffee in proper china cups and mugs where they roast their own beans and where they also serve ice cold water with proper glasses and jugs.
Since by 2pm the mad morning rush was well and truly over, the place was quiet except for the sounds of birds cheeping and tweeting and the air was filled with the aroma of trees and freshly roasted beans.
And while they stopped serving coffee at 2pm and locked up the shed, the chairs and tables were all staying exactly where they were so it was possible to linger as long as I liked until the staff from the main building locked up the main gates.
I had originally planned to visit another cafe in the afternoon in the same area. It is by the river near a gorgeous old historical house and is a 30 minute walk from the plant paradise. But I figured why bother going looking for something that I have found already. It made more sense to lurk and enjoy the present moment than to go running off chasing something else which could always wait for another day.
And since I had just become a newly signed up member, in some strange way I now had a stake in the place and it could be a sort of home base in this part of the planet.
I had fun filling a bag with lots of fallen leaves and then went in search of acorns but ended up finding macadamia nuts instead. There were a lot of oak trees but surprisingly few acorns which must mean that there are a whole bunch of creatures lurking there that nibble and gobble them.
There were 6 varieties of oak tree and each one had its name written on a piece of wood near the tree so that when I went looking amongst the leaves picking them I made a point of writing on each acorn with a sharpie pen so that I knew if it was an English, Japanese, Hungarian or Portuguese oak. The few acorns that I could find on the ground would be a sort of lucky dip.
In the end I stayed there until nearly 5pm listening and watching the kookaburras and parrots and smelling the coffee beans.
It was a most magical day indeed. The first of many. Maybe it was the lure of the trees or the aroma of the acorns and freshly ground coffee that finally provoked this python into finally booking a long weekend in the other most sacred of serpent sites - Eden Vale.
I did stay near the town once when my sister came to visit in 2014 but that is now 5 years ago. A far cry from the years when I went down there every November for the Festival of Country Gardens and tossed in the odd extra visit in May now and again. But that was when I had a proper paying job and a pair of boarders in the house so it was an affordable indulgence.
So I have 3 nights booked in May. The exact same days and dates as in May 2013 and probably the very same room too.
I now need to book the train and bus to get there some time this week and I can then already start looking forward to a long overdue visit. Of course I will make sure I do not leave without making a booking for another stay in November in the Green Room at the gorgeous old bed and breakfast by the river instead of the little budget room upstairs in the spooky old hotel that looks uncannily likes something out of a Lovecraft novel. In fact the whole town looks like it could be in one of those novels. Just another reason to love the place to bits.
Recently they held a workshop on how to attract wildlife to you your garden and to basically turn your little patch into a paradise for critters. So Izzie was of course all ears especially as the event was free.
Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch. Some one always has to pay the piper but I like an organisation that thinks this is the sort of thing to sponsor.
I loved their place and their devotion to all things green and gorgeous but had one giant problem. There is no way that I would ever sign up for membership of a mob that calls itself “Men of the Trees” because the name itself declares that I am simply not welcome.
Then there is the not so minor matter that most of the men I know cannot even think of a tree without reaching for a chainsaw.
I will not have a bar of any of the usual “But of course you are included my dear. Man/ Men etc is a generic term that embraces women” to which I usually reply along the lines
“Can you spell? Then write down the word ‘woman’ and the word ‘man" and then tell me who embraces whom”
It also goes without saying that just about no man would ever join an organisation that called itself “Women of the trees” and they would whine all day about the awfulness of being an excluded and oppressed minority etc etc
That ability to put themselves in some one else’s shoes seems so often to be very sadly lacking
But recently some one had the inspired idea to just totally give up all the arguments about the inclusiveness or otherwise of the M word and simply suggested a completely new name “Trillion Trees” which not only solves the gender problem but also preempts the question “Well what exactly does your organisation actually do?”
Of course the title is so over the top and ridiculously ambitious but there is something so adorable and inspiring about such hairy scary audacious goals.
The thought of so many trees would fill the Grinch with horror and that too brings a giant smile to the serpent dial.
I first set foot on their hallowed ground back in November 2009 for a Festival of Trees. There were plant stalls, demonstrations of pruning, espalier, making compost and of course tours of all the trees on the property and the nursery and I left the place with a big bag of baby trees to plant.
At the same time I was also participating in Nanowrimo for the first time and had spent the first week wondering what total stupidity possessed me to sign up for such complete craziness. The inner serpent answered every hissy fit and temper tantrum with the relentless reply.
"Have as many pity parties as you like but not until you have first written 1,666 words for the day."
By the end of the week, the inner saboteur knew that this was dead serious and simply slinked off to find some one else to bother. And lurking around all those trees was the location where other numerous muse-like creatures were tossing around so many ideas that I simply could not keep up with them all.
Petunia also visited the place with me once and got a stash of horseradish, herbs and other weeds for her garden.
So I signed up and made a point of telling the lady at the counter that the new name finally made me feel welcome. She said she also hated the old name but every time anyone tried to bring up the idea of changing it, the pale stale male old guard would get very indignant and shut down all debate on the subject
There was what looked like a bit of an obstacle. Apparently a present member has to vouch for the good character of any potential newbies.
I said that this is a bit of a problem since I don’t know anyone here. She said that she remembered me from the habitat workshop last month and would sign for me
But for all you know I could be the Texas Chainsaw Killer.
She laughed and replied “Oh of course you are not.”
Never missing a chance to do a hatchet job I added “But my dad most definitely is”
In fact one of the main reasons I wanted to join is to sort of make amends for his evil ways. And of course it is also a two fingered salute to him too.
I was disappointed by the selection of plants in the retail nursery. There had been a lot more in the online catalogue. It is possible that they are still ramping up for May and June which is the peak planting season as well as the fact that most of their customers buy not 3 or 4 tree seedlings at a time but more like 3,000 or 40,000 so that is where all their effort goes.
I was curious about the cafe down the back of the property and wondered how anyone could make a living selling coffee in a location so off the beaten track.
I was half expecting either a small van or rust bucket shed with a bloke wearing a hat, shorts and singlet brewing up cheap and nasty dark roasted concoctions and serving it in nasty paper cups.
Instead what I found was that the old fruit tree and oak orchard where the compost heaps used to be were now sharing the space with lots and lots of tables and chairs and that there was a big shed with proper coffee in proper china cups and mugs where they roast their own beans and where they also serve ice cold water with proper glasses and jugs.
Since by 2pm the mad morning rush was well and truly over, the place was quiet except for the sounds of birds cheeping and tweeting and the air was filled with the aroma of trees and freshly roasted beans.
And while they stopped serving coffee at 2pm and locked up the shed, the chairs and tables were all staying exactly where they were so it was possible to linger as long as I liked until the staff from the main building locked up the main gates.
I had originally planned to visit another cafe in the afternoon in the same area. It is by the river near a gorgeous old historical house and is a 30 minute walk from the plant paradise. But I figured why bother going looking for something that I have found already. It made more sense to lurk and enjoy the present moment than to go running off chasing something else which could always wait for another day.
And since I had just become a newly signed up member, in some strange way I now had a stake in the place and it could be a sort of home base in this part of the planet.
I had fun filling a bag with lots of fallen leaves and then went in search of acorns but ended up finding macadamia nuts instead. There were a lot of oak trees but surprisingly few acorns which must mean that there are a whole bunch of creatures lurking there that nibble and gobble them.
There were 6 varieties of oak tree and each one had its name written on a piece of wood near the tree so that when I went looking amongst the leaves picking them I made a point of writing on each acorn with a sharpie pen so that I knew if it was an English, Japanese, Hungarian or Portuguese oak. The few acorns that I could find on the ground would be a sort of lucky dip.
In the end I stayed there until nearly 5pm listening and watching the kookaburras and parrots and smelling the coffee beans.
It was a most magical day indeed. The first of many. Maybe it was the lure of the trees or the aroma of the acorns and freshly ground coffee that finally provoked this python into finally booking a long weekend in the other most sacred of serpent sites - Eden Vale.
I did stay near the town once when my sister came to visit in 2014 but that is now 5 years ago. A far cry from the years when I went down there every November for the Festival of Country Gardens and tossed in the odd extra visit in May now and again. But that was when I had a proper paying job and a pair of boarders in the house so it was an affordable indulgence.
So I have 3 nights booked in May. The exact same days and dates as in May 2013 and probably the very same room too.
I now need to book the train and bus to get there some time this week and I can then already start looking forward to a long overdue visit. Of course I will make sure I do not leave without making a booking for another stay in November in the Green Room at the gorgeous old bed and breakfast by the river instead of the little budget room upstairs in the spooky old hotel that looks uncannily likes something out of a Lovecraft novel. In fact the whole town looks like it could be in one of those novels. Just another reason to love the place to bits.
no subject
Date: 2019-04-08 06:34 am (UTC)Yay, congrats with discovering yet another magical place to visit! The cafe sounds good, even if it's just coffee and no bacon ;)