“A Forest Garden 2016”

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Our 2016 garden calendar is here, and we are thrilled with how very beautiful the finished calendars look.  The joy of actually holding it in our hands, and turning the pages one by one, is beyond words.

I work on our calendar for the entire year, always mindful that the photos we take each day might end up published in its pages.

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By early November I’m pondering what theme will guide the quotations we select and the photos we include.   This year, I spent the better part of a week on research and photo selection.

A calendar is a very special thing.  It helps us mark the passage of time, yes.  But it also helps us make sense of those cycles which repeat with the regularity of the rising sun.  It helps us anticipate the changes and the celebrations of our lives week to week, month to month, and year to year.

Our A Forest Garden 2016 calendar does all of those things, and more.  In addition to dates you might expect, like first and last frost dates in Zones 5-9, the moons, daylight savings time and major holidays;  there are also notes of special celebrations like ‘Husband Appreciation Day,” “The Great American Smoke-Out,” “World Kindness Week,” “The Great Backyard Bird Count,” and “Faerie Day.”  There are web references for some of the special events and observances listed.  Major saints days are noted along with other holidays special to many faiths, the solstices and equinoxes and the Native American designation for each full moon.

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There are gardening tips and reminders for each month of the year.  There is a reminder to set out feeders for hummingbirds on their annual spring migration.

And there is a quotation to ponder each month.  Our theme for 2016 is the power of gratitude to work miracles in our lives.  We hope this is a theme which speaks to you, as it speaks to us.  Each of us certainly needs a miracle or two, and we all grow stronger and wiser as we focus on what is good and beautiful in the world around us.

Each month’s page features those seasonal animals, trees, flowers, foliage and landscapes which bring us joy.  We’ve included some of our favorite photographs taken in December 2014 through early November of 2015.

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We compile these calendars each year as gifts  for our close family and our gardening friends.  But we have a few extras to share, should you want one to enjoy during the coming year.  Please write to me at woodlandgnome@zoho.com to request a calendar for yourself or a loved one.  I’ll put one in the post to you as soon as I receive your check for $15.00, which simply covers my costs for the calendar and the postage.

This is a labor of love, and we are happy to share the fruits of that labor with those who will enjoy it.

Younger folks say to me sometimes, “I have a smart phone.  Why would I need a calendar?” 

For those of us who still love real books, photos printed on shiny paper, and a lovely calendar hanging in the kitchen;  the answer to that question transcends any words we might offer in explanation.

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Woodland Gnome 2015

About woodlandgnome

Lifelong teacher and gardener.

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