Cross Quarter Club: September Garden Walk

On a Friday evening in late-September, we had our last Garden Walk at Little Farm Flowers East for the year. The garden was showing off its beautiful autumn colors and textures. The weather was perfectly crisp but not too chilly. The firepit was roaring and the s’mores and herbal sodas were delicious.

Like every garden walk so far, the main event was the opportunity to take a meditative, self-guided tour of Sharon’s gardens as the sun sets. It’s amazing how much the garden changes from month to month, and this quiet time to relax, reflect, and ground into nature is the perfect way to kick off the weekend.

We start and end the evening in circle, first with our signature Cross Quarter Club introductions: your name, where you live, how you spend your days, and what you’re excited about this season. After last month’s garden walk, I did end up ordering a Soulflower Oracle Deck for club use! We passed the deck around the circle and anyone who wanted to could pull a card for a message inspired by the wisdom of plants.

After everyone completed their walk, we made s’mores around the firepit and the conversation wandered wherever it wanted to. Some highlights include:

The wonders of chipdrop.com, a source where gardeners can sign up for FREE wood chip mulch from local arborist companies delivered to your home.

North Central Station in Seven Valleys, PA - a local gem of an antique store that is priced like a thrift store, and now on all of our “to-visit” lists!

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Wisdom of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a truly life-changing book that was featured in my Winter 2022 Midseason Journal.

“Mommunes”, i.e. single moms moving in together to share costs and childrearing duties), "Two-Parent Privilege" and what the village (or lack thereof) really looks like for parents raising children in America.

The upcoming Glen Rocktoberfest at Ruins Hall in Glen Rock, PA

Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion by Gabrielle Blair (also known as Design Mom), a book that makes the compelling argument that men cause 100% of unwanted pregnancies, and therefore it is men, not women, that should carry the burden and responsibility for preventing unwanted pregnancy (and thus abortion) in the first place.

The tribulations of growing luffa squash, shared by Melanie Peck who had no idea that one plant would take over her entire garden and produce upwards of 40 squash!