Potluck in the Garden

This is Earth Day and in celebration the Jonesboro Community Garden in Bessemer is having a Potluck dinner beginning at 5:00 on Saturday. This will also be an Easter Celebration. It's all about rebirth so the two make a good combination.



You are welcome to come, just bring a covered dish. You can get an idea about what others are bringing and get more information, and post what you will bring, on the Potluck in the Garden Facebook page (where these photos came from).

You will meet some great people who want to improve Bessemer, and are doing so. And there will be Easter Egg hunting for kids, and maybe volleyball for those who are interested.




Also you can pick up some helpful information about making Bessemer and your home a greener environment.




Come and join us and celebrate our Earth and Easter.

A rose story

Those of you in the Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association have heard this story, but since many who read this blog are not, I will repeat it here.

This past weekend we had a workday to Jonesboro Community Garden and among the new plantings were four Peggy Martin roses donated by the BHHA president.

I was told the roses had come from Petals from the Past. Being a friend of Jason Powell, who owns Petals, and knowing how he feels about antique roses, I decided to do some research on this one.

Come to find out, it's not an old rose, at least under this name. But Jason played an important role in its recent history.

The story

Peggy Martin was a resident of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana,when hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. Her house and gardens were covered with 20 feet of water, and she lost her parents in the flood as well. When she was able to return two weeks later, the only plants remaining in her garden were this climbing rose and a lily.

In 2003, Bill Welch, a landscape horticulturist at Texas A&M, had taken some cuttings from Peggy Martin's rose and rose enthusiasts, including Jason, took cuttings from his and propagated the rose. After the tragedy of Katrina it was decided to let this rose become a fundraiser for the Zone IX Horticulture Restoration Fund and it is now available commercially at select nurseries, with some of the proceeds going to the Greater Houston Community Foundation, with the purpose of assisting in the task of garden restoration projects in New Orleans, Beaumont and other Gulf Coast locations.


Peggy Martin rose from the garden of Bill Welch

"Since then, it has been introduced into commerce in the United States and has become a symbol among gardeners and rose lovers of a tenacious plant associated with a spirit of renewal and regrowth in the aftermath of a devastating blow of Nature against those living and gardening in the Gulf Coast area."

The Peggy Martin rose is available at Petals from the Past and other nurseries, listed on the web site.

The Jonesboro Community Garden is open to the public. Two couples have exchanged vows in the Garden, political campaign events have been held, and this year the Garden will host an Earth Day celebration this month with a potluck dinner and get together on April 23. I hear that an Easter Egg hunt may be part of the celebration.

Friday Five

1) At the Pensacola Teabagging Party at least one person told the truth. Watch.



"back in 2000, there was a budget surplus in the country [lukewarm cheers], and then the next eight years, it was destroyed by the profligate spending of the Bush administration."

"Your taxes are going to be cut under the current budget—congratulations!"

"So let’s remember that if you’re going to argue about lower taxes and less spending to place the blame where the blame belongs—and that’s squarely in the hands of the Republican Congress and the Bush administration."

Did the guy make it out alive? (Thanks Kathy )

2) See whats developing at the Jonesboro Community Garden and view pictures. Bessemer Science and Nature .

3) What a surprise. The day that I promote my friend Malcolm Marler's web site, he comes out!
Malcolm's Coming Out. I kind of suspected.

4) Be safe this weekend. Be aware of your surroundings. If anything seems unusual, be suspicious.

5) Be sure to read what I had to say about Legion Field in The Western Tribune. It follows this post.

Gardens and Farms

Be sure to check Bessemer Science and Nature where yesterday I began to document the saga of a family of Robins, and today we travel to Mars.

There is a new sign in the Jonesboro Community Garden.

In case the photo is difficult to read, the Garden is giving thanks to Vulcan Materials, Bessemer City Schools, Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association, Bessemer Rotary Club, Trey Tarrant and the Horticulture Students of Lawson State Community College, Building Science Department of Lawson State Community College, New Light Baptist Church, American Community Garden Association, and Alabama Cooperative Extension.

All of these groups have contributed in various ways to the Garden. The Garden is there for you to enjoy. If you want to bring a lawnmower...

There are also new directional signs as you approach on Owen Avenue.

Near Bessemer near McCalla is Fig Leaf Farm.

At Fig Leaf Farm, Joe and Sara use sustainable methods to grow fresh produce and flowers, some of which will be sold this year at Pepper Place Market .

Here they are preparing the soil for planting.

Click on the "Methods" tab in the site and see how they improve the soil, what amendments they use and how they manage insects and pests. There are many things those of us with gardens can do to improve our yields without harming the earth. Here's a quote from their site, "We firmly believe in the message behind the oft-quoted command Don't Treat Your Soil Like Dirt."

One neat thing is a link to this Web Soil survey where you can learn what type of soil you have using the USDA's Geospatial Data. For instance, Fig Leaf Farm's upland is primarily Tupelo silt loam and the bottoms are Sullivan-Ketona complex, a "loamy alluvium derived from sedimentary rock."

We are fortunate to have growers nearby who care about the land and are willing to share and promote sustainable use of the land.

Spring Time in Bessemer

The dwarf double flowering almond is one of the first things to bloom in our yard each spring, and it never disappoints. Except the flowers don't last long enough. But isn't that true of most flowers (and most other good things)?


In our little Zen Garden the maple tree is putting out blooms and leaves at the same time. People often comment that the leaves of these ornamental maples look like marijuana leaves. Speaking of (medical) marijuana, Loretta Nall had a great letter printed in the Montgomery Advertiser (although I can't link to it) about HB434, the Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act. Here is a link to the letter at her site.


I'm hoping my cousin or someone else can tell me what's going on with this leaf. I found it a couple of week's ago in the back yard while preparing to plant a grape vine. I searched around and did not see any others that looked the same. Plant virus? I don't know.



The first Jonesboro Community Garden workday of 2009 was held Saturday, and several members of the Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association showed up to dig and plant and gossip about those who were not there. Not really, you know we wouldn't gossip.

We planted a dogwood tree, a magnolia, four fruit trees and several vines and other plants. But gardening is not just planting. Here the old growth is being trimmed from some ornamental grasses, and crepe myrtles were trimmed as well.



Five camellias were planted. Notice a couple of things about this picture. Near the center, behind the camellias, is a redbud tree. There are several redbuds and pecan trees and nandinas along the fence that we are going to save to be part of the garden. But the fence will be cleaned up as well, and this has begun to the left. The old chain link fence is there because this was a school yard and it kept the kids in. Or the creeps out. We still want to keep the creeps out.


The Bessemer School Board will meet Tuesday, September 24, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the board room at their office at 1621 5th Ave N. The fate of Arlington School is on the agenda. Let's hope they save it, and let's be there in support. If they choose to destroy it, in a few decades will progressive neighbors be working to create a garden on the site, like in Jonesboro? We have enough vacant lots crying out to be tended as it is, and we think we can have both significant historic buildings and beautiful gardens.

Redbuds and Scott Avett

Redbud trees are blooming. I know I probably say this every year, but they were a favorite of my mother. To her, they were a signal that spring was, indeed, here.

Look at the flowers closely. Often we just see a splash of pink along the roadside or at the edge of the yard, but never take time to notice the intricate details of the things that we appreciate.

There will be a workday at the Jonesboro Community Garden on Saturday, March 21 beginning at 9:00 am. We will be planting some new things, trimming some old things, and just getting the garden ready for Spring. come and join us. Look for an announcement soon of an Earth Day event at the Garden (maybe).

I keep hearing this song by the Avett Brothers, so I guess its time to post the video.



Singer Scott Avett is also an artist. Here's a link to his work. Scott was born in Wyoming but raised in the Piedmont of North Carolina.

Scott has been described as an "Artist Hobo, for his methods of collecting subject matter, inspiration, and time to work, expresses his ideas through multiple artistic mediums. These mediums include illustration, printmaking, painting, sculpture, songwriting, recording, and performing."

"Conceptually, Avett’s work involves self critical analysis and awareness of one’s mental strengths and weaknesses such as phobia’s and talents, fears and courage."

Speaking of art, I just got permission to use an author's photos of petroglyphs from Nevada in a project I am working on with UAB. This is gonna be fun.

Bessemer This, Bessemer That and Raven!

On Monday February 25 at 7:00 the Bessemer Neighborhood Association will hold a meeting for city residents who are interested in the Bessemer Water Service, GUSC and the future of our water supply. The meeting is at Food World on 9th Avenue in their community room and all are encouraged to come. Care about your water rates?

On Saturday February 23 from 10 to 2 there will be a work day at Jonesboro Community Garden. This day is being sponsored by the Bessemer Rotary Club and the Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association. There will be planting of trees and shrubs and spreading of gravel in the parking area.

February 23 of each year commemorates the anniversary of Rotary International as Rotary World Understanding Day. 2008 marks the 103rd birthday of Rotary. Contributing to the Jonesboro Community Garden contributes to an outstanding effort in the Jonesboro community that includes residents, churches and the Jonesboro Elementary School. Thank you Rotary for your interest and contribution to this project.

The Garden is located at the corner of Owen Avenue and Wellington Street.

Many of you know Raven, the Goddess of Entertainment, who is well known in Atlanta but also performs frequently here in Birmingham. She graced Jonathon and Kyle's "Christmas at the Castle" party in Bessemer this year, with this performance. Who says we don't know how to party and have fun in Bessemer. Thanks for this video, Alex and thanks Jonathon and Kyle for bringing both style and entertainment to new heights in our community.



No doubt this is Bessemer: you can hear the train in the background during the performance.

Weekend pictures

Today I am not thinking so I won't write creatively. I will just post some pictures.

Yesterday I was watering the plants in Jonesboro, when I noticed a lot of robins and a dove enjoying the birdbath I had just cleaned and refilled with water. Here is the dove. At least the birds are coming to see the developing garden.

This is a weeping willow that we have planted. It's hard to take a picture of a scrawny tree with little leaves against a green background...nothing showed up, so I got low to use the sky. I just wanted to show this tree because there is some trepidation by some people about us planting it. Seems the legend is that when it gets tall enough to shadow your grave you die. Well, from this picture, you can be sure that it is already tall enough to shade a grave, so hopefully we have bypassed the weeping willow death knell.

This flame azalea is great. It is supposed to be native, but I have not seen them in the woods in this area. I have seen them in the mountains of Tennessee. Come over soon if you want to see it in person.

This is columbine. These just sprout up in various places, and over the years I have herded most of them up to surround these stone foundations. They are one of my favorites, they move so freely in the wind. There are orange ones also, but their pictures were not in focus, so maybe next time. I like these muted more natural colors much better than the bright columbines you see at the nurseries nowadays. That's just me.

The Alabama Capitol and Free Rosetta Stone

Saturday we had a good day at Jonesboro, and established the initial planting of the Jonesboro Community Garden. It’s a little odd to see shrubs and young trees scattered across the vacant lot, but soon the areas will be mulched and a walking path established, trellises will be built, and during the summer a gazebo is going to be built by the Lawson State folks. Our city council person Earl Cochran joined in, along with neighbors and Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association members. Here Earl and Adam are digging holes.


Now we need some rain. Linda, I know you do a snow dance…can you do a rain dance?


Looks like my relatives are good supervisors. Actually, everyone did their share.













Free Garden Tour. Speaking of gardens, Alabama First Lady Patsy Riley has worked on beautifying the grounds of the state capitol in Montgomery. The building was restored 10 years ago, but nothing much has been to the grounds until she undertook the project, planting (or having it done) hundreds of bulbs, azaleas and roses.

Free tours of the grounds and the 1853 building will be next Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 pm. Experts will be available on the Monroe Street side at 2 pm each day to give special presentations on the landscaping. Tours will begin every half hour at the Union Street entrance. These tours are replacing the annual Governors Mansion Spring Garden Tour because now the mansion is undergoing renovation.

For more information see www.800Alabama.com, or call 800 252-2262.

For those of you who can not make the tour, but would like to see what the capitol looks like, here is a pictorial tour by the Alabama Historical Commission:
http://www.preserveala.org/capitoltour.htm

You will notice that the virtual tour says “from 1846”. The first building in Montgomery burned, and this one was built in 1853.



We cleaned our fountain yesterday…the water had gotten kind of icky, and I have never seen so many happy robins. There were at least 4 that kept flying to the edge to drink, and would try to figure out a way to bathe. One (maybe more, I couldn’t really tell them apart) finally perched on the edge of the top tier, and realized she could jump in the shallow water and bathe without getting splashed like happened below. They had not been bathing in the yucky water. Here’s a shot of the fountain at night.



Some of you were here in December and saw the fountain in its frozen state.

Free Language Instruction

The Jefferson County Library System is offering the Rosetta Stone foreign language program for FREE online. Bessemer is one of the 9 (out of 18) funding libraries for this, but the program is available to anyone who has a Jefferson County Library Card. Twenty nine languages are available, including Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Swahili and Vietnamese. For the complete list, and to sign up, visit www.jclc.org. There is a Rosetta Stone button on their home page. The program is only funded for a year, so get started. And encourage the libraries to continue the free service. Voy a volver a aprender mi español de la High School secundaria.

Speaking of birds, here’s an interesting story, a little something to put things in perspective. An article in National Geographic several years ago provided an interesting picture of God's wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesque on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." (Psalm 91:4)

Garden Work Day and Episcopal Inclusion

There will be a Garden Work Day at Jonesboro Community Garden on Saturday from 8 to 2. The garden will be at the corner of Owen Avenue and Wellington Street in Bessemer. We will be planting a wealth of shrubs and flowers and plants, creating a walking trail, installing benches and more. Please bring gardening gloves, shovels, picks, post-hole diggers, wheel barrows and whatever.

Also, Bobby and I will be cooking hotdogs for everyone. Remember the fun day and good dogs we had at this site last summer. Well, no volleyball this time, but later on in the summer? Who’s in?

The site is a vacant lot today, where a school building and school yard used to be. For those of you not from around here, I will post pictures of the garden as we progress.

Thanks to Vulcan Material Company Foundation for supporting this project in a big way, and thanks to Lawson State and the Bessemer Board of Education, and the City of Bessemer. And thanks especially to the Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association and Erica Young in particular, for leading this effort.

A few weeks ago I wrote about the Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori’s predicament regarding the ultimatum put forth by the conservative Anglican bishops to cease confirming openly gay bishops and to not bless same sex unions. Episcopal Bishops rejected this ultimatum and affirmed their support for gays, and rejected a key demand that they give up some of their authority to theological conservatives outside the U.S. church.

The bishops released a message yesterday, part of which said, “Finally, we believe that the leaders of the Church must always hold basic human rights and the dignity of every human being as fundamental concerns in our witness for Christ. We were, therefore, concerned that while the Communiqué focuses on homosexuality, it ignores the pressing issues of violence against gay and lesbian people around the world, and the criminalization of homosexual behavior in many nations of the world.”

The fact that the dissenting bishops are focusing on the way people are created rather than how those people are treated bring this verse (Titus 3: 9-11) to mind:

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

My tip of the bishop’s hat today goes to the Episcopal Bishops who are standing up with integrity and strength against the bullying bishops of the minority. And who are more interested in continuing to do the work of ministering to those in need rather than judging and excluding part of the church community.

And speaking of inclusion, the Birmingham City Council is set to adopt (hopefully) a resolution next week affirming the inclusive policy of the city and celebrating its diversity. The resolution condemns racism and homophobia, and calls for swift investigation of acts against people on the basis of race and sexuality. This resolution is being introduced by Valerie Abbot and is sponsored in part by Equality Alabama and the National League of Cities and their “Partnership For Working Toward Inclusive Communities.” If you are interested in reading the entire resolution email me and I will forward it to you.

To support this effort show up at 9:30 am on March 27 at the City of Birmingham City Council chambers, third floor of city hall, 710 North 20th Street.

Would this type of initiative fly in Bessemer? Let's find out.

Maybe Bessemer is Making Progress

Those of you who remember my campaign for city council will recall that I wanted to connect the citizens to the city government, and vice versa. "Get Connected" was my campaign theme. One of the issues I was promoting was city wide wi-fi access. Since the election, I have read articles in the Birmingham News about Hoover and Birmingham looking into wi-fi access. Someone with access to our city government told me that a few years ago a plan was devised to bring wi-fi to Bessemer, but at present there is no talk of advancing on this. I still believe it would bring new business to Bessemer, and I know it would increase opportunity for students. Now I am not naive enough to believe that all Bessemer students have computers in their home, but with city wide wi-fi, more students would probably get computers, in fact, I believe we could probably get some corporation to donate computers for our students.

Also during the campaign I gave a speech in which I made reference to the clock on the tower at City Hall being stopped, and our city government being stalled too. Well, both are still at a standstill. Not that the council hasn’t been working, but its hard to get excited about finally passing a budget or debating a lodging tax. Even talk of upgrading street lights doesn’t do a lot for me (it might if they were in residential sections). Well, I take it back…this article in the Birmingham news a couple of weeks ago caught my eye:

Recycling plant looking at Powder Plant Road site

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
ROBERT K. GORDON
News staff writer

The principals who want to build a 200,000-square-foot recycling plant in Bessemer have scrapped plans to build near the Rock Mountain Lakes community and instead are considering a site near Powder Plant Road.
Waste Not Technologies plans to not only build the plant, but also construct what is being called Bessemer Green Park. Plans include the recycling plant and eight mini-mills, which would turn the recycled material into usable products.
The new plan would bring 1,200 new jobs - with an average salary of $27,000 - to Bessemer in addition to eliminating the needs for landfills, company president David Bennett said.
*****************
The article goes on to say the project could generate as much as $800,000 a year in property, sales and occupational taxes for the city. I promoted recycling in my campaign also, and I certainly support this project. It is this kind of progressive thinking that we need in Bessemer, and I commend the mayor for pursuing this. I was afraid the project would die when the company at first tried to locate near Rock Mountain Lakes, but they realized that they did not need to be near residential areas and the new site would put them closer to the Northern Beltline (oh yeah, I talked about that in the campaign too!)

So there is hope for progress. I would expect a progressive government to challenge its citizens to improve their selves and their city, and I would expect a newspaper to do the same. Instead of using their limited space to print editorials that express the views on Atlanta’s Sunday liquor sales and the opinion of someone in Michigan regarding Hillary’s presidential bid, try printing editorials that challenge city leaders to improve city services, or promote the Jonesboro Garden project, for example. For those of you who do not know, the Bessemer Historical Homeowners Association is partnering with the Bessemer School Board and Vulcan Materials to build a community garden at the site of the old Jonesboro School. This will be a place that will bring people together, and a place for relaxation, exercise and education. This project is moving forward and site preparation and planting should begin within a few weeks.

Please leave a comment or email me with your ideas for progress in Bessemer. There are lots of issues, what is important to you? And check out the comments others have left on these topics, and add your own.
Joe
Metrocat10@aol.com