Animal Estates 9.0: Port of Rotterdam video still

…footage from a winter visit to the ‘new land’ of the Port of Rotterdam, and the weather here today is not seeming different enough from the chilly scenes we are editing.

gathering leaf litter in the Hammel forest

…just steps from the site of Edible Estate #14 at the Pederson residence is one of my favorite things about the site, so down the street a few houses we go, entering into the dappled spring green shade with wheel barrows and bags in hand to gather things for the garden – long branches for wigwam plant structures, semi-decomposed leaf litter for plant mulch, logs and rocks for retaining the beds, stumps for sitting – bringing parts of the forest back in (and as we were hauling our last big load a neighbor passing us on the street made a comment with a sweet face and a smile – later translated for me, she asked “…and are you taking the whole forest?”)

Pedersen Family, Aarhus, Denmark

…outside of Aarhus, was selected selected as the site for Edible Estate #14 – with a family already growing food in the back, two little girls ready for a big garden, and a surrounding suburban development of similar homes ready for something different – and today I meet them for the first time to discuss the garden plans, soon to be carried out with the help of an army of 65 students from the school architecture.

a Saturday walk in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm

…in Stockholm this afternoon where everyone is soaking up the rays after a long winter, and though it is still a bit chilly to my sensitive LA constitution, the sun is already leaning towards it’s summer solstice here with sunset at 9:15 and sunrise at 4:15.

the conservatory Victoriahuset at Stockholm’s Bergianska Trädgården

…are a helpful to see today, both in preparation for a June project here, and also planting in the similar climate of the Twin Cities in just a two weeks of for Edible Estate #15, so today we are at the extensive botanic gardens, Bergianska Trädgården, at the university, where in particular it the simulated rocky alpine mountain, some espalier apple trees, miniature raised beds of compacted peat moss, the endless berry varieties, and a visit to the Victoriahuset conservatory – which I can imagine would be quite a welcome tropical refuge in the depths of Swedish winter – that impress most.

Upplands Väsby woods panorama

…this morning in Upplands Väsby north of Stockholm with Swedish nature illustrator Bo Mossberg as our guide in preparatory research for the wild foragable rocky/woody landscape installation I’ll be constructing just out the doors for the central Väsby shopping mall in June.

The Schoenherr residence and site of Edible Estate #15

…can finally be announced, after pouring over almost 100 email applications and visiting a few of the most promising last Saturday, the Schoenherr residence in Woodbury, MN will be the location for the next and final Edible Estate garden, and after reading their story here, I’m sure you’ll agree the house and family are perfect for the project – taking this sort of gardening and visible food production activity to a neighborhood where it would be least likely to otherwise happen and to a family ready to take their food gardening to the next level, while sharing their stories and activity with the public. (more on the Walker Art Center post)

planting the Foraging Circle at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

…has continued gradually in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (commissioned by the Walker Art Center) over this week that started with snow and sleet and is ending with sunny summer weather – and though the wild plants, trees and shrubs (like asparagus, apple, mint, strawberry, rhubarb…) are little and struggling to occupy our mound of fertile soil, I’ve found that a few strategically placed – locally gathered – rocks, logs, branches, and leaves can suddenly evoke a landscape without anything even growing yet.

Visits to the nine most promising front lawn locations around the Twin Cities

…ends today with a road trip circling my hometown, visiting the nine most promising front lawns – of the almost 100 submitted with stories and photos – taking us to Apple Valley, Bloomington, Richfield, Edina, Hopkins, Saint Louis Park, Brooklyn Park, and St. Anthony…and in a few days I’ll post pictures here of the lawn where the last edition of Edible Estates will be planted – then many more pictures to come as the story of the first season of growth is presented at the Walker Art Center from Aug 8 – Nov 24.

breakfast with Michael at Birchwood

…one of my favorite local food places in Minneapolis-St. Paul, bringing my writer friend Michael Pollan and food/garden story hero (‘Second Nature‘ was an big inspiration in my early gardening days) for a taste of the city – and an interview to be published soon – while passing through on his book tour for ‘Cooked‘ the night after his mobbed talk with 1500 in the audience.

laying of the Foraging Circle slate pavers

…in the Walker Art Center’s Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (for ‘Fritz Haeg: At Home in the City‘), where we laid the massive local slate pavers, surrounded by seating logs, surrounded by an 8′ radius of mounded fertile soil, ready to be planted with wild native foragables next week.

Pugliesi olive tree trimmer showing the exact age of each of various sections of the branches which he can determine just by their color

…kicked off at first light on my last morning on the farm, to the sounds of the crew of Pugliesi – who specialize in this very particular work – moving trough the fields with chain saws and then long trimmers followed by small clippers, getting rid of anything that the tree doesn’t need that season to produce and support it’s olives, transforming hundreds of trees in hours.

the last days of Domestic Integrities E02 rug & garden

…here on the Pollinaria farm in Abruzzo, Italy have reached their peak spring moments and final installations as we prepare to leave after a few weeks of living with them. (see lots of new pics posted here)

transplanting to the circle

…all of the wild spontaneous plants we can find growing on the sprawling sloping expanses of the farm that have some domestic use, like borage, mustard, dandelion, chicory, chamomile, mint, cardoon, wild rose, fennel, blackberries, nettles…but our wish list of as yet unfound delicacies includes wild asparagus and native grapes.

preparing for the planting circle

…by farmer Luciano on his big tractor gets the compacted clay soil ready for our planting circle.

the early spring fig trees at Pollinaria

…that consumed me – and I consumed so many of – during my summer chapter of Domestic Integrities at Pollinaria, and now just wishful little buds that I won’t be around to taste in a few months.

pausing at the Tiber heading from Testaccio to Trastevere

…on the way from Amsterdam to Abruzzo for the final seasonal chapter of Domestic Integrities at Pollinaria is warm sunny summery deep breath of ancient urbanism before we head East for the hills.

Lucky Dragons & UFO 2012 on the rug

…landed on the rug at Human Resources tonight – punctuating the first day of Sundown Schoolhouse: At Home in LA activities – with listeners gathered in big cozy circle on the floor surrounding seven crystal bowls, various technical equipment, laptops, some cables, and the performers making some entrancing soundscapes.

setting up ‘At Home in LA‘ at Human Resources

…the ten day series of domestic activities on the 22′ traveling rug – fresh from the Hammer Museum – is installing today…

Human Resources, 410 Cottage Home Street, Chinatown, Los Angeles / March 26th to April 4th, 2013 (closed Monday) / free, drop in, open to public

“Art is sort of an experimental station in which one tries out living” – John Cage

The traveling Sundown Schoolhouse comes home to the east side of Los Angeles for ‘At Home in L.A.,’ an installation housing a series of activities with local materials, topics, and collaborators involving knitting, reading, napping, moving, talking, smudging, flower arranging, eating, garden fresh herbal tea drinking, music and yoga. We make ourselves at home on the massive expanding crocheted rug (fresh from the Hammer Museum and previously MoMA – before heading to the Walker Art Center) of discarded textiles serving as a charged field for trying out L.A. living. A typical daily schedule looks like this:

…11am-1pm: open yoga – all levels
…1pm: tea
…3-6pm: knitting & crafting (bring projects)
…6-8pm-ish: scheduled music, performances, readings

Featuring Lucky Dragons, Maya Gingery, UFO 2012, Dawn Kasper, LA Fog, Natural Curves, D Tibereo, KCHUNG, Katie Bachler, SK Kakraba, Sam Davis, Gabie Strong; activities lead by Fritz Haeg, Jen Doyle, Chiara Giovando, Eric Kim; more to be added…

Domestic Integrities at the Hammer Museum

…wrapped up it’s eventful four day marathon session at the Hammer Museum this evening, and tomorrow the (ever expanding, now 22′ diameter) rug travels to Human Resources in Chinatown for an intensive 10 days of morning to night Sundown Schoolhouse activities. (see more info and photos here)