Guest post by Arthur.

When I asked him why he titled it, Pun with Gardens instead of Garden Pun, he said "well… you have to have some pun with your garden."

Santa Cruz, CA 10/21/11

Today is beautiful in my community garden. I missed the farmers market yesterday by going to San Fransisco, so my kitchen is bare. It's sad really. I celebrate delicious food every week I'm in Santa Cruz by buying too much food at the farmers market and cooking a feast. So, on my way home from commissioning a new purse/mobile office, I swung by my garden. Now, it's near the end of the season and the garden is winding down, but I still managed to harvest a handful of vegetables, carrots, bok choi, zucchini… Just enough for dinner. The mint is starting to really take off, which means mojitos for drinks. Yay!! That will definitely be a nice surprise for Arthur.

So now instead of being sad, I'm quite excited.

I live out of my purse, for those of you who haven't seen it, my entire office fits into my purse, so getting a new one is a pretty big deal to me. Luckily, at Open Studios last weekend, I found a textile artist, Dawn (http://ribbonstreet.com/), who lives near my garden. Fittingly I found a fat quarter of a garden print fabric so the new bag will be vegetable themed.

Last night after a busy day in San Fransisco with Mom and Grandma, I joined Jen at The Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. There was a special talk to tie in with their Wicked Plants exhibit, on The Fine Art of Poisoning by Dr. Olson, Medical Director, San Francisco Division, California Poison Control System.

The talk was very interesting I enjoyed learning that it's safe for kids to eat a few beans from the Castor Bean plant (ricinus communis), especially if they don't chew them too much. Ricin poison derived from these beans can cause serious poisoning, mostly when it's been extracted and then injected or inhaled. Overall, the thesis of the was that while several plants are hallucinogenic or can make you pretty sick, it's unlikely that you'll die suddenly by eating any plant, even ones that are poisonous.

I think that the very best part of the evening though was simply enjoying the plants. The air was humid and still inside the greenhouses and smelled like damp earth. The recessed lighting highlighted the plants in a beautiful, mysterious way. I could easily sit alone in that conservatory for the whole evening just breathing in the plants.

If you haven't been to the Conservatory recently, definitely go check it out!
http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/atconservatory

I'm on my way to Sacramento to visit Grandma, on my way through San Jose I met-up with Jen for a walk through the park. Not far from Diridon Station was Guadalupe River Park. Jen has been playing with a new copy of A Californian's Guide to the Trees Among Us by Matt Ritter, so as we walk we are looking at the trees more closely along the river. An umbel shaped flower gone to seed smells like anise, but the leaves look more like fennel. I scratch and sniff a tree that supposedly has bark that smells of peanut butter. 

On the train now attempting to draw the fun, wavy shapes of this oak branch, I'm thinking to myself that doing botanical illustration on a train is like practicing calligraphy while riding a bull.

You can check out Lynn's studio at: http://heartandsoulgallery.com/

And for more information about Open Studio's in Santa Cruz: http://www.ccscc.org/index.php/open-studios.html
This is an annual event in Santa Cruz, come check it out next year!!

In yet another chapter of My Friends Are Amazing, John and Eric performed tonight as part of a celebration to mark the inauguration of a new NVC (Non-Violent Communication) Community in the dorms of UC Santa Cruz. John and Eric are my litter mates from an NVC Immersion Program we took together a few months back. I have fond memories of them experimenting with music and words, so now seeing them in this dimly lit, open air cafe I feel warmed with gratitude. I am hopeful that this program will be inspirational to new students in building intentional communities.

To learn more about Rumi's Field: http://www.mercurynews.com/central-coast/ci_19010275?source=rss