May 10, 2012 by The Sopris Sun

The Green Thumb Guide

The Green Thumb Guide is printed the second Thursday of each month. If you’ve got a farm photo or tip to share, let us know at news@soprissun.com.

Some gardens tell stories if we’ll just listen To me, gardens are stories, not just a colThe following autumn, running the dogs lection of plants. You visit somewhere and on their stretch of Thompson Creek, I saw there’s an ineffable quality, an invitation that the remnants of an old car — nothing left then moves into you. It is obvious it’s special but the rusted shell just aging in the brome. and you want to stay, to bask in the atmos- What an opportunity; two stories came to phere. I think it’s time mind. One is grand, that of and history, the stories installation artist, Andy behind gardens, that genGoldsworthy, and the erate this multi-layered, sapling around which he soul-grabbing richness. built a stone cairn. The Few places have this other takes place right here By Geneviève Joëlle spirit; most do not. in Carbondale, involving an Villamizar Friends of mine live old car. I don’t know on a working ranch. Their little boy gets to Goldsworthy’s story, but I do know hints of grow up in the same home his daddy did. the old car’s. They still have manuals for farm impleIt was three or four decades ago, at a ments that are now lichen-covered artifacts “woodsy,” a secret party in the boondocks, returning to the very earth they worked. when an old man told a young girl the story After six generations, the place is a legacy. of a Model T, sentimental only to him. He Last summer, honor of all honors, the had planted a crabapple in it so no one mama asked me to help with the design of a could ever move the car. Years later, explorfront yard around their new decks. So when ing the banks of the Crystal River with her I visit, be it a toddler soirée or marg-soaked children, they stumbled upon it. She had adult play date, I’m harvesting . . . gleaning forgotten the shared moment with that old the details of not just her aesthetic preferences, man all these years, until just then. but how they live and play; the family stories; Yesterday, my own little one, Juniper, the history of their ranch. As a landscape de- and I went to ﬁnd it. signer, I get to help create new stories; through It was magniﬁcent. The crabapple was our friendship, I get to become a part of those now gnarled and in resplendent full bloom. stories. How righteous is that?! White petals drifted down on us, stirred by

Getting Grounded

ranch history. By the swing set? Parked in front by the fence? I already see the new tree, spreading a lacey canopy above; beneath, the grassy floor, so cool and inviting within the sun baked metal walls. I see daffodils in May, heady roses in June. I imagine the silken rustle of Big Bluestem blowing outside the passenger window and honeysuckle in a head on collision with the fender. I see our children playing games, sharing a first kiss; their future kids climbing Legend has it a man planted a crab tree in this carcass that tree and sneaking of a car so that it could never be moved. Photo by their first sips of bourbon “behind the wheel.” Genevieve Villamizar A sense of place, the the afternoon breeze. Juniper walked in the rootedness of a history. We spend our time driver’s door and explored the grassy floor, retelling stories and planning events to bring touched the tree trunk, grabbed the steering about new ones. My friends are terrific; rock wheel. She and her Minnie Mouse got lost steady and solid. Visiting their place feels so quickly in that enclosed little world. like coming home to me nowadays. In deLeaving, I knew we would be back. signing their garden, I’m thrilled to be a part I look forward to working with my in the creation of new tales … in a place alfriends, placing their own rusted shell of ready dense with them.

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OPEN HOUSE May 10th, 5:30-7 p.m. Our Annual Spring Open House is the ideal setting for all parents to meet the teachers, tour the classrooms, and have the time to ask all of your questions in a relaxed, open forum. This is your opportunity to explore the difference a Waldorf education can make in the life of your child! Perhaps the ultimate allure of a Waldorf education is this: the sense one gets from walking into a Waldorf school that this, at last, is a place that has its priorities right regarding children and education. ~ Jeremy Schosberg, Author

Please RSVP to 963-1960 970.510.6610 osmiaorganics.com find us on facebook monday - friday U 11-5 2607 Dolores Way, Carbondale

18 • THE SOPRIS SUN • MAY 10, 2012

Childcare provided with RSVP.