A Garden is a Promise
by RACHEL HAYS
by RACHEL HAYS
The poet, artist and gardener Ian Hamilton
Findlay wrote “A garden is not an object but a process”. A garden is a process,
a daily ritual moving through shifting seasons. It is, as Findlay expressed,
something beyond secular ecology or aesthetic. My garden is a communion between
myself and the land I have chosen to work with, an act of faith, a promise.
The first summer I moved to Detroit I found a summer garden abandoned by a high school. Big blooms were going to seed. I collected handfuls of the dried heads and stored them in a cupboard. The seeds were planted in the warmth of spring, in my first garden. Each bed I built, each seed I cast, was part of an ongoing conversation between me, soil, nematodes, goldfinches, powdery mildew. These seeds are as much a part of the garden as the fruit and flowers I harvested.
I have created this library of saved seeds to share. Each packet contains a mix of marigolds and zinnias, the first generation of flowers from my original saved seeds. The zinnias will continue to open-pollinate and blend colors. The marigolds will come on slowly and grow to waist high.
The first summer I moved to Detroit I found a summer garden abandoned by a high school. Big blooms were going to seed. I collected handfuls of the dried heads and stored them in a cupboard. The seeds were planted in the warmth of spring, in my first garden. Each bed I built, each seed I cast, was part of an ongoing conversation between me, soil, nematodes, goldfinches, powdery mildew. These seeds are as much a part of the garden as the fruit and flowers I harvested.
I have created this library of saved seeds to share. Each packet contains a mix of marigolds and zinnias, the first generation of flowers from my original saved seeds. The zinnias will continue to open-pollinate and blend colors. The marigolds will come on slowly and grow to waist high.
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If you’d like to receive seeds, send a self addressed & stamped envelope to:
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Taxonomy Press
327 Newport Street
Detroit, MI 48215
