Category: Urban Nature + Foraging (Page 7 of 13)

Yesterday when I went to the alley to spread out some too-fibrous-to-eat winter squash seeds for the squirrels, I spotted this little prize waiting for me next to the dumpster! It seemed to say “I thought you’d never come!” so I scooped it up and back into the house we went. I surprised F with it when he got home from work — he loved it! If you get really close it has a heavenly smell, just like a grown-up evergreen. F wants to re-pot it into something larger and nicer.

I sometimes have a hard time identifying evergreens, so I pulled out my Grandma Helen’s book, Hardy Evergreens, from 1934. Helen was my dad’s mom, and sadly I never got to meet her; from what everyone says about her, though, we would have been two nature-loving peas in a pod. Anyway, it’s pretty hard to tell, but our tree might be some kind of fir (from the flattened needle shape, needle growth habit, and bud shape). At first I was thinking spruce, but the needle cross section shape suggests more of a fir. Ah well, it doesn’t really matter.

I’m not sure if it likes to be inside in the warmth… I’m thinking outside against the south wall would suit it better; does anyone have experience with these?

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