Special Interest
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Following a full day of soil science education and information exchange with consultant Eric “T” Fleisher, Swarthmore College’s Organic Lawn Care Initiative is one step closer to implementation. As I discussed in my last blog post, I am spending my summer internship helping the Grounds Department and Scott Arboretum transition the five-acre Mertz field into an organic lawn, and Monday, July 12 was a critical day in this process. T’s visit is the first pass toward a feasible and effective detailed program design.
We approached T after hearing about his work on Harvard University’s Soils Restoration Project, upon which our program…
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Thursday, July 1st, 2010
As Sam Keitch enjoys the last weeks of his curatorial internship, he was called upon to create the latest addition to the Arboretum’s ephemeral art using dead or dying trees. Many may remember the “blue tree” created by another curatorial intern, Todd Rounsiville, out of a Maackia chinensis suffocated by construction compaction. Marty Long carved the intriguing Bender oak sculpture out of a dying Quercus x benderi. Fashioned in the same vicinity as Sam’s masterpiece, artist Patrick Dougherty shaped the ephemeral art sculpture “Abracadabra” on a dying Tilia ameicana.
Sam Keitch, curatorial intern, painting the lower portion of the bur oak with the…
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Monday, March 15th, 2010
With spring coming forth in the garden, and a few more visitors to the Arboretum, I’ve noticed more photographers capturing moments of early spring. So I thought it might be helpful to go over how I prepare my gear for a photo-shoot with fellow photography enthusiasts.
First, I often scout out an area months or days ahead of time to anticipate the lighting conditions I might like to have or take advantage of for a given image. But we won’t go into that level of preparation here since the methods you can use vary greatly. The night before a shoot, I…
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