In Celebration of Arbor Day: Plant a Tree (Seed), Find a Sit Spot, and Create a Recycled Paper Postcard.

Arbor Day is a holiday celebrated throughout the world with the planting and celebration of trees. Initially celebrated in 1594 with a tree planting in the Spanish village of Monodonedo, the first Arbor Day observed in the United States occurred on April 10th, 1872 in Nebraska City, Nebraska, thanks to Julius Sterling Morton, the editor of the local paper, the Nebraska City News. Just as Edward Bok, the editor of the Ladies Home Journal,  created a sanctuary for birds with the creation of Bok Tower Gardens, Mr. Morton saw the refuge trees offered humans and animals alike.

A New York City school celebrates Arbor Day 1908 by planting trees. Looks like fun! Photo by George Grantham Bain, courtesy of The Library of Congress.

Traditionally, millions of trees are planted on Arbor Day by school children and families around the world, however, due to current safety guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid 19, there are no groups gathered to plant trees. Most of us are not prepared to plant a tree at home with our families. Not to despair, you may have tree seeds from the foods you eat. Apple seeds, orange seeds, avocado, cherry, plum, and more are all seeds that grow into trees.

Sprouting mango seed on the left. Sprouting avocado seed on the right.

I planted some tree seeds in pots of moist soil from fruits that grow at Bok Tower Gardens,  Jaboticaba. These fruits grow right on the trunk of the tree and taste similar to lychee inside with a skin like a muscadine grape.

I will let you know how it goes, or should I say grows.

I am so grateful to work at Bok Tower Gardens. Even on a day I wake up feeling achy I know the hammock of oak trees in Hammock Hollow will soothe me and smiles of school children will lift my spirit.  Edward Bok not only created Bok Tower Gardens as a sanctuary for birds, but also for people. 

Where Edward Bok is Happiest: In His Garden, possibly Bok Tower Gardens, Florida, still open today, but the book seems to be unclear about the location of this picture.

I love this excerpt from a rough draft letter handwritten  by Edward Bok in 1928, (typed by Helena B. Caldwell in 1985) in which Mr. Bok discusses the purpose of Bok Tower Gardens, at the time named Mountain Lake Sanctuary and the Singing Tower:

“First: As a place of quiet and repose for the electrically-driven people of America. In the olden days, a sanctuary was a retired spot for those who were persecuted and who found there an asylum of safety. We have no persecutions in free Americas as in those days. But we do need the sanctuary as a place of quiet refuge for those who are in the rapid whirl of modern life and can find repose and a place to think. Man needs the quiet moment every once in a while to take as it were an inventory of himself. To consider where he is going and if the goal is worthy of the effort. Some place where he can peacefully think and where he can sit among the beauties of nature and let the realization of the existence of God come to him. Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have the quiet moment where he can withdraw from the rush of life and try to understand himself. As John Burroughs has so beautifully put it, which is the motto of this Sanctuary: I come here to find myself. It is so easy to get lost in the world.”

Like so many of us, staying safe at home has left my soul earning, weighed with concern for loved ones, neighbors, friends, and strangers alike.  Our need for the healing balm of nature is greater than ever. Thanks to my wise education co-workers, Stephen and Cissy, I learned about the practice of using a "sit spot," a place close to home where you sit, relax, and observe nature. There are many awesome and in-depth online resources about finding and using a Sit Spot. I found Brian Merten's Complete Guide To Using A Sit Spot to be extremely thorough and helpful.

It can be easy to over-complicate such a simple thing as finding a place to sit and observe nature. I finally settled on a spot I had already been sitting on regularly, a stump under an oak tree in my yard where my doggie, Luna, likes to play. It was when I observed her resting next to me, relaxing and observing the world around her that I knew I had a sit spot. I worried it was too humble, not majestic enough, but the eggshell found on the ground, the lizards hopping about, the views close and far showed me otherwise. So for this Arbor Day, do yourself a favor and find your sit spot.

Luna, helping me find my sit spot.

And if it happens to be rainy, spend some time making a recycled paper postcard. 

1. Cut a rectangle of lightweight cardboard, such as a cracker box, that measures about 4 inches by 6 inches. 

2. Using a glue stick or thinned liquid glue to cover the cardboard with old magazine, used office paper, junk mail, and any used paper.

3. Add leaves or other elements from nature. Be sure to gather natural items respectfully.

4. Add a message inspiring others to care for and connect with nature, and as Edward Bok's grandmother taught him, "Make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it."

Happy Arbor Day!

Slow Down with Snail Mail:

Create a card using colors pounded from flowers.

Letter writing is a bit of a lost art form today with text messages, email, and various online chats. I tend to have a swirl of insecurity around the idea of writing a letter, especially in my own handwriting. Where is spell check? How do I backspace?

I shall look to Edward Bok for encouragement. Since he was a boy, Edward Bok wrote letters to famous people asking questions in the hope of a reply. Of course he is also known for Bok Tower Gardens, and spreading the message his grandmother taught him,  to "Make the world a bit better or more beautiful."  It is in this very spirit I decided to make Grandpa Bob a card.  Edward Bok was an immigrant from the Netherlands with English as a second language and he wrote letters to Mark Twain and Theodore Roosevelt, I can make a joyful card for Grandpa Bob.

These are my sisters, Suzanne and Lisa, with my mom, "Mimi" and stepdad, "Grandpa Bob."

Mimi has passed on, and sometimes I still feel sad and miss her. I am sure Grandpa Bob misses her so so much. Whenever I see a Black Swallowtail butterfly, I think of my mother and the butterfly that emerged from its chrysalis in my kindergarten classroom on the day of her passing, and I feel happy.

My mother was a wonderful person who had a beautiful yard and planted so many flowers. I hope Grandpa Bob enjoys his card and time outside with the flowers and butterflies.

To make a card with pounded flower color :

1. Gather flowers and leaves and set up a workspace. You will need a hammer or stone that is easy to hold as well as cardboard to protect the floor. I set up my workspace inside because of the rain but it would be nice to do this outside on a sidewalk or patio.

2. Choose the paper you want to use. I often bring home pictures from Hammock Hollow Children's Garden to reuse and share with my worms. I found some lovely butterfly drawings and a cute picture of a man in a garden that made me think of Grandpa Bob.

3. Be sure you are working on a stack of cardboard. Place flowers on your paper, cover with another piece of scrap paper and pound lightly with a hammer or stone.

4. Keep working it. Move the flower mash around. Try rubbing it on the paper or pressing a ball of smashed flowers on to your paper like a stamp. 

Here are the pictures I may use for my card so far.

5. Save your scrap paper along with the pictures you are adding colors to so you can create a collage. A glue stick works well for this, or liquid glue thinned with a little water and applied with a brush. 

6. You can also cut out letters and other details to add to your card. It is a good idea to lay things out before you glue.  Be sure, if pieces overlap, to glue the ones closest to the card surface first, and then the next layer up and so one.

I saved my flower stained papers to make more cards for family and friends.

How about a butterfly bonus!?

Chicken Moe wants to know, where did these strange butterflies come from?

A fun flower pounding TP core butterfly project!

Just fold your paper in half to create a more symmetrical wing design. Use torn flower stained paper to decorate the TP core, cut out wings and glue to TP core. I used grapevine tendrils for the antenna, but you can make them from paper, or something else. Use your imagination and have fun. 

Thank you for making the world a bit better or more beautiful for a special person in your life. 

Keep spreading the love.

Check out these links to find out more about Edward Bok, his love of letter writing, and letters shared with Mr. Bok and his wife, Mary Louise Curtis.

Bok Tower Gardens Digital Archives

Excerpt from "The Americanization of Edward Bok," Personality Letters.

Beauty in Discovery: 
An Easter Eggsperiment

Sometimes we have to find a new way,

 which may really be an old way,

to do something that's been done for many centuries,

something that has been done in many, many different ways

to celebrate new life and new hope,

oh! the fun springtime activity of dying Easter eggs!

Meet my chickens: Joe, Morgee, Moe, and Jenner.

My hens lay brown eggs in

so many beautiful shades, and one is speckled.

I have no Easter egg dye. Hmmm, what to do?

Did you know that many of the plants we eat and that grow around us can be transformed into natural dyes? Spices like turmeric, drinks like teas and coffee, juice from berries, and boiled vegetables can all be used to dye eggs, paper, cloth, and more. 

I decided to use roselle tea leftover from the Fall, purple cabbage currently growing in my garden, Spanish needle flowers- sometimes referred to as weeds, and brown onion skins from my pantry to dye my brown eggs.  

Oh yes, this is an experiment. Experiments test a hypothesis, predicted answer to a question. What were my questions? I had three wonderments, three things I hoped to find out:

• Will natural dye show up on my brown eggs?
• Is it true that vinegar is needed for natural dye to color eggs?
• Since roselle and cabbage change color when the acidity is lowered with baking soda, will this result in more Easter egg dye colors?

My predicted answer to my questions, my three "hypotheses:"

• Natural dye will not make much of a difference in color on my brown eggs.
• Vinegar is not necessary 
• Since roselle and cabbage change color when baking soda is added and not vinegar, this will result in more dye colors.

How you can make naturally dyed eggs:

1. With the supervision of an adult, simmer the plant material in water on the stove. The more plant material in the water, the more color the dye will have. Observe the dye to decide when it has simmered long enough. Some plant dye will go from purple or green to brown if over boiled. 

• For roselle, I used frozen peels from seed pods. Zinger Tea can also be used.
• For purple cabbage, I only used the tough stems and insect nibbled leaves, so I could add the rest to my stew.
• For onion, I only used the brown papery skins, so the onion can still be used for food.
• For Spanish Needle, I used the flowers and was sure to leave plenty of flowers for the bees.

2. After straining the plant material from the colored water, add vinegar to the dye. Apparently dye adheres better to eggs in a solution that is acidic. Let cool.

Sidenote: I got curious. I know baking soda changes the color of both roselle and purple cabbage, so I made a jar with vinegar and with baking soda for each. What can I say, I was raised by a scientist. 

3. You can use crayons to draw designs on the hard-boiled eggs. We tied a couple of eggs in the mesh bag the onions came in, adding leaves to one- hoping for a cool design.

4. Place hard-boiled eggs in cooled natural dye. We let ours soak for more than an hour, which caused some color to flake off the eggs that were in the very acidic roselle dye. Experiment. Longer may not be better, as I learned.

See how my brown eggs turned out.

Let's take a closer look.

The purple cabbage dye with vinegar had a red color and the dye with baking soda was green. Interestingly the vinegar cabbage dye changes the eggs to a greenish color, whereas the baking soda cabbage dye did not change the color of the eggs at all.

The roselle dye with vinegar was also red, and the roselle with baking soda was green. When I added the baking soda to the roselle dye it bubbled and fizzed. Wow, that was cool. The eggs came out of the vinegar roselle dye with darker green hues with bits of color flaked off.  I wonder if that dye was too acidic. Unlike the cabbage baking soda dye, the roselle dye with baking soda did dye the eggs a green color and did not damage the shell. Hmmmm. I wonder why?

An interesting observation of the brown onion skin dye and the Spanish needle flower dye, they were both orange before I added the vinegar. After adding the vinegar, the Spanish needle flower dye turned yellow. That was a fun surprise. Both dyes added an orange color to the eggs, but to me the onion skin dye was the most beautiful with the variation in rusty hues.

What a fun Easter "Eggsperiment!"

See what cool dyes you can create from plants.

Enjoy the process and keep an open mind about the outcome.

Use the link below to download a worksheet to record information about your natural dye "eggsperiment."

Natural Dye Eggsperiment Worksheet

Making it a bit better for butterflies.

Take a look at this Giant Swallowtail Butterfly!

This butterfly sure is thirsty. 

Look how fast wings flutter as the butterfly sips water at the River Walk in Hammock Hollow at Bok Tower Gardens.  

I wonder if you and I can do something at our homes to help these butterflies and other important pollinators?

Let's make a pollinator water station!

It's easy!

Get a saucer, bowl, or anything that is shallow and will hold water.

I used the bottom of a chicken waterer that my chickens were no longer using.

Now it is for butterflies and bees!

Fill the shallow container with shells and stones to give the bees and butterflies a place to stand while drinking.

Set outside and add water.

 Remember to freshen the water often.

This is a place to give pollinators a break, not a nursery for baby mosquitos!

Helpful tip: Instead of filling the butterfly water station at the tap and carrying it to where butterflies will enjoy it, set it in the desired location and fill it using a watering can or cup.

Thanks for making it a bit better for bees and butterflies!