05 December 2009

Moss Garden.

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Every year, at the start of December, we make a moss garden.  For each of the four weeks of the month we add some little treasure to it representing the mineral kingdom, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom and then, human kind.  It is so nice, as the days get more and more blustery, and we spend more and more time indoors, to have some time to think of these grand kingdoms of nature.  Like forcing bulbs, it is another wonderful way of bringing a lush, green, living thing into the home. It is also nice to know, that at the end of the month, the moss can be brought back outside and planted once again onto a rock, even under the cool snow.  We are just borrowing it for a time.
So, a few days ago, after a heavy night of wind and rain, my son and I slid into our rain boots and headed into the forest in search of our moss.

Before we left, I readied a container to hold the moss once we got it back home.  This year, I decided to make a smaller garden than I have in the past, and used a lovely, blue pie plate gifted to me by a dear family friend.  I put a thin layer of sand on the bottom to help a bit with drainage and then covered it with some moist garden soil.

Then we picked up our big, red bucket and headed into the forest.

Soon, we came upon this magical, mossy rock.  Amongst the muted color of fallen leaves and gray branches, it shone the most brilliant green.


I gathered some moss and put it in our bucket as my son splashed in rain puddles and investigated some mushrooms.


With a bucket full of moss, muddy boots and pant hems, we walked back home silently, stopping only to throw pebbles into the brook.  We held our dirty hands with one another and I felt quite blissful as they stuck together with sweet-smelling pine cone sap.

When we arrived home, I pressed the moss into the soil and gave it a good misting of water.  We put in two stones to celebrate the mineral kingdom.  One, a pebble from our land and the other a special, healing crystal that had been gifted to me.
Then, my son fell asleep.
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9 comments:

  1. ok, this is just cruel, there is a foot of snow of the ground! I hope I can find this next fall...

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  2. I love your moss garden. I've always been fascinated with the precious details in a patch of moss. This is a great idea. I'm going to make one too!

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  3. I love moss
    me encanta el musgo también, está muy bonito¡¡
    thanks

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  4. Hello,

    I magically happened upon you blog!
    and may i just say that you are a beautiful soul ;] ??

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  5. Wow! How wonderful you live so close to such an awesome place! Nothing like that here in Louisiana or at least in my part! Loved the project and the story!

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  6. So awesome! I would love to do this! I had read a recommendation to put harvested moss in a plastic zip lock with some organic insecticide overnight to avoid bringing forest insects into your house. Did you notice any creepy crawlies in your bowl garden? The insecticide has been the one thing keeping me from going moss hunting. Thanks for the how-to!

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  7. So awesome! I would love to do this! I had read a recommendation to put harvested moss in a plastic zip lock with some organic insecticide overnight to avoid bringing forest insects into your house. Did you notice any creepy crawlies in your bowl garden? The insecticide has been the one thing keeping me from going moss hunting. Thanks for the how-to!

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I read and cherish all of your comments! It really feels like such an honor that you stopped by this little space of mine. Thank you so much! Cheers!
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