Jul

Crossing Cultures in an Urban Garden

by Meredith Mullins on July 20, 2020

A cultural exchange via the sweet potato
© Meredith Mullins

A Tribute to Satsuma-imo: The Mighty Japanese Sweet Potato

“In Japan, in autumn, it is customary to collect fallen leaves, put sweet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the leaves, and light the fallen leaves to bake them,” remembers Chiharu. “When I was a child I did this at my grandparents’ home. It was a special time of cooking and eating together.”

“Instead of ice cream trucks circling the neighborhoods to offer treats, we had stone-roasted sweet potato trucks,” says Midori of her childhood in Japan.

Stone roasted sweet potatoes
© iStock/kendoNice

Manami remembers planting sweet potatoes in elementary school and being excited when it was time to harvest the tiny schoolroom crop. And Hisako looked forward to sweet potatoes at snack time. “They warmed my body and my spirit,” she recalls.

Memories of the traditional Japanese sweet potato snack
© iStock/LewisTsePuiLung

Sweet Memories

What unites these memories of sweet potatoes is more than just nostalgia for Japanese culture. This team of Paris-based Japanese garden-lovers are all working in “Le Nid de l’Ortolan” — crossing cultures in a community garden in the heart of Paris.

A team of community gardeners at the rooftop Le Nid de l’Ortolan garden
© Jean Auvray

And thanks to an innovative, cross-cultural idea from garden organizer Julien Chameroy, sweet potatoes are the focus of the moment (as well as a unique opportunity for a Japanese/French liaison project).

Patate douce/Sweet Potato/Satsuma-imo
© Julien Chameroy

Julien, too, had memories of sweet potatoes from his time living in Japan—hearing street vendors hawking grilled sweet potatoes and seeing people hurrying through the streets while taking bites of the warm, sweet treat.

Satsuma-imo: the delicious and nutritious Japanese sweet potato
© iStock/kuppa_rock

More than those memories, though, the Frenchman believes the sweet potato is a nutrient-rich vegetable that should have a place in the Paris community garden. And, he believes that learning about a plant—how it grows and what it needs in order to flourish—are all a part of the connection to nature.

Does food taste different when you grow it yourself?
© Meredith Mullins

His garden mantra: “The more you know about a vegetable, the better it tastes.”

Thus, the Satsuma-imo project was born, with a group of passionate Japanese amateur gardeners at the ready.

The team is ready for the life cycle of the sweet potato (satsuma-imo).
© Meredith Mullins

But First Some History: Le Nid de l’Ortolan

The site of the Satsuma-imo project, Le Nid de l’Ortolan, is a community garden born in 2017—a “nest” perched atop a gymnasium in the 5^tharrondissement of Paris (near rue Mouffetard).

The shared garden idea was seeded a few years earlier when founders Julien Chameroy and Joyce Sasse were working in a community garden in the 4^tharrondissement and realized there was no such jardin partagé in the 5^th.

The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye (well, a small elephant).
© Meredith Mullins

They found the unused plot of “roof” land and went through all the phases of joining the Charte Main Verte (literally translated to Green Hand, but, in English, think Green Thumb).

This city organization of now more than 70 neighborhood gardens in almost all the arrondissements was created to encourage urban gardening, to support education about nature and the environment, and to bring communities together in a more social way.

The “Nid” sits on a gym rooftop and is guarded by a retirement home,
whose residents also participate in the garden activities.
© Meredith Mullins

All of these goals also support Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s ever present plan for the “greening of Paris.”

The “Nid” has about 50 members divided into teams that rotate each year so everyone gets to know everyone. Since the “Nid” sits next to a retirement home, the members of that community are invited to participate also.

The teams decide in January what to plant, and the 240-square-meter space currently hosts beans, chard, squash, spinach, cucumbers, sunflowers strawberries, potatoes, artichokes, rhubarb, peppers, garlic, lettuce, broccoli, herbs of all kinds, and much more.

The telltale signs of squash to come
© Meredith Mullins

The Satsuma-imo Japanese Team

Each member of the Japanese sweet potato team seems to share the overarching goals of the community garden. They all want to see more green spaces in urban areas, particularly in Paris. And they all want to spend more time close to nature.

In the process of the Satsuma-imo project, they are learning about the variety of plants grown in France and the different ways these plants are consumed in France and Japan.

The Paris garden is growing crosnes, also known as a Japanese artichoke.
It’s a forgotten root vegetable that some chefs call the homely tuber.
© Meredith Mullins

You could tell by watching them work that they love touching the earth and feeling a part of the growing cycle. As Chiharu says, “Just thinking about this garden brightens my heart.”

Feeling a connection to the earth
© Meredith Mullins

The Sweet Potato Project

The satsuma-imo project began at a challenging time. Just after the start of the project, France went into a two-month corona confinement period. However, the timing proved serendipitous, as sweet potato seedlings must grow for at least a month to become ready for planting.

Chiharu shows off her sweet potato seedling “children.”
© Meredith Mullins

The seedlings were closely watched in the homes of the gardeners, a small pleasure during a time of little external stimulus.

“They took care of those seedlings as if they were their own children,” Julien says proudly. “And, when it comes to a plant, that makes a difference.”

Midori’s “confinement” seedlings were finally ready.
© Meredith Mullins

The Garden After Lockdown

When lockdown was finally lifted, the garden needed serious tending. First, the battle of the weeds took place (the weeds lost).

The battle of the weeds (the weeds lost)
© Meredith Mullins

Then, it was time to ready the soil for the planting of the sweet potato seedlings.

Choosing the best spots for the satsuma-imo seedlings
© Meredith Mullins

All systems were go. “The team was exceptional, always positive and humble,” Julien said. “It was not a case of ‘me, myself, and I,’ it was ‘what can WE do together to make this work.’”

The plants are now settling in to the warmth of the summer sun and will be ready for a late September or early October harvest.

The sweet potatoes have been gently planted and are now settling in for summer sun.
© Meredith Mullins

The Next Chapter

Aside from having the chance to speak in Japanese for a few hours every week and have a sweet potato harvest party in September, the real raison d’etre of all the Japanese community gardeners is to be close to nature.

“We need to re-create the bond we lost with nature as a whole and between ourselves. Nature has an incredible power to heal.” Julien believes. “We must work with nature, not against it.”

Working with nature, not against it
© Meredith Mullins

And so, after the sweet potato harvest in September—and a celebration of Satsuma-imo memories past and present—the team will plant fava beans immediately—to give back to the soil what the sweet potatoes needed to take.

Oh, I see. Crossing cultures continues on many levels . . . for humans and nature. The cycle continues in this urban garden, and life goes on.

Part of the Satsuma-imo Team (Julien, Manami, Midori, Hisako, and Chiharu)
© Meredith Mullins

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

For more information about Le Nid de l’Ortolan, visit their Facebook page. For more information about the Paris urban gardens, visit Charte Main Verte/Jardins Partagé.

Meredith Mullins 2 Comments

Crossing Cultures/France/Japan/Nature Discovery

Jul

An Audible Feast for the Global Community

by Joyce McGreevy on July 13, 2020

Hands painted to show a world map remind the author that as our global community celebrates World Listening Day, we have a world of sounds at our fingertips, online and in our physical environment. (Image by Pxhere)

Lend an ear to the world of sounds at your fingertips!

Have You Heard? World Listening Day Honors the “Hear” and Now.

Listen…do you hear that? It’s the sound of your world. From a cat’s purr to an elevator’s hum to human voices, sound is an important element of our natural and cultural environment. Shh…do you hear this? It’s the sound of people across six continents inviting you to World Listening Day, an annual event that will unite the global community this Saturday, July 18.

World Listening Day? What’s that?

I’m glad you asked. Listen closely and I’ll tell you.

A sign for Quiet Street in Bath, England sets the tone for mindful listening with the global community on World Listening Day July 18. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

The soundscape emerges when we still the noise within.
© Joyce McGreevy

It started—quietly enough—in the 1970s with a Canadian composer named Raymond Murray Schafer. His World Soundscape Project developed the fundamentals of acoustic ecology, the study of the relationship in sound between human beings and their environment.

“When you listen carefully to the soundscape,” said Schafer, “it becomes quite miraculous.”

Schafer’s ideas struck a chord with so many people around the world that in 2010, World Listening Day was founded. It falls on July 18 to honor Schafer’s birthday.

A jackrabbit with ears alert to the least sound reminds the author that listening to nature is one aspect of the mindful listening celebrated by the community on World Listening Day July 18. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

How alert are we to the sound of our world?
© Skeeze/ Pixabay

Now Hear This

This year, communities around the globe will be participating in listening events hosted by the World Listening Project. This year’s theme, created by Wildlife Sanctuary Vice President Katherine Krause is The Collective Field.

“Current times have asked each of us, individually and in concert, to retreat, reflect, and rethink the world we thought we knew,” says Krause. And so, on this international day of awareness, Krause asks us to still the noise in our head and to listen—really, listen—to the “collective field” of overlapping environments:

the natural world of animals, plants, land, water, and weather.
the human-built soundscape of traffic, machinery, and even architecture.
the cultural environment—the voices we hear, and the voices we “tune out.”

Soundwaves evoke the soundscapes that the global community will tune into on World Listening Day July 18. (Image by Pixabay)

What enhances or hinders our ability to tune in to the world’s wavelengths?

Say, What?

We’ll look at—I mean “listen to”—each environment in a moment. But first, I swear I can hear what you’re thinking: Isn’t listening something we do every day?

Yes, but mostly we hear passively. Most sounds blend and wash over us, whether we’re on a conference call or a beautiful island. At other times, we focus on one particular sound, whether it’s the warble of a bird or the whine of a leaf-blower. Sound experts call this directed listening.

Active listening is when we notice how sounds affect each other, our environment, ourselves, and others. During a “quiet” walk on a beach, for example, we might hear not only seagull cries and the whoosh of the waves, but also the light drum of our footfall on firm sand, the jingling collar of a playful dog, and in the distance, scattered outbreaks of faint voices and car radio music.

Listening as a Global Community

On July 18, thousands of people around the world will participate in a wide variety of listening activities. Here are just a few suggestions.

Take a soundwalk. This is any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are.

People taking an urban soundwalk, one of the best ways the global community can celebrate World Listening Day. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Wherever you live is the perfect place to take a soundwalk.
© Joyce McGreevy

Before COVID, cities from Chicago to Sydney regularly offered guided soundwalks for small groups. Today you can still glean much from a solo or shared soundwalk of your own.

Walk in silence in an area that you think you know well, such as your own neighborhood. Listen attentively for as many sounds as possible. If walking with another, pause occasionally to compare what you’ve noticed. (Consider using breaks to jot down lists and exchange them in silence to stay in “listening mode.” )

Map the sounds of nature. Listen to the sounds of nature—even if you’re self-isolating. Nature Sound Map (see screenshot from website below) lets you travel the world, discovering soundscapes of our planet’s wildlife, oceans, and other natural phenomena.

Map of Australia with pinpoints of recorded sounds made accessible to the global community by the Nature Soundmap website.

Hear the sounds of morning in Capertee Valley, Australia on the Nature Soundmap website.
© Wild Ambiance

Be sure to check out World Sounds (see screenshot from website below), too. This global archive offers both human-built and natural soundscapes. What would you hear on a walk through a market in London—or in Kampong Cham, Cambodia? What does the Eiffel Tower sound like? Find out on . . .

Screenshot from the World Sounds website that makes soundscapes recorded around the world accessible to the global community

Hear the sounds of urban life, markets, religious centers, and more nature soundscapes
on the World Sounds website. © World Sounds

Describe your day in sound. We each have a unique soundtrack that plays behind our day. As I write in my apartment, I hear the tapping of the keyboard under my fingers, the click and clink of ice in a thin glass of water, the murmur of an old refrigerator.

Sounds of the neighborhood filter in through the open window: the flute-like call of a western meadowlark, a breeze rustling Ponderosa pines, delivery trucks pulling into the parking lot, two girls discussing ice cream, and one block away, the cheers of peaceful protestors as passing drivers sound their car horns.

These sounds encapsulate not only nature and the built environment, but also several clues about the time, place, and culture in which I live. What does your day sound like? Describe it in a brief social media post or email and invite friends to respond with the sounds of their day.

Listen to others. Part of honoring the “hear” and now is to listen mindfully to people around us, gaining insight into each other’s experiences, viewpoints, and insights. This isn’t always easy. When we’re too reactive, too dismissive, or simply unaware, it’s as if the noise of our own conditioning drowns out what others are trying to say.

A crowd at a busy airport in various modes of listening or tuning out remind the author why we need World Listening Day to reunite our global community in the act of mindful listening. (Image by Pixabay)

What do we miss when we tune out?
© Joyce McGreevy

The good news is that we can change this in a moment. We can break a “loud” habit by simply listening. We can quell the urge to instantly shut down a different opinion. We can stop one-upping a friend’s account of a significant personal experience with an oft-told tale of our own. We can refrain from retorting defensively, “Well, I’M not like that!” when someone opens up about experiencing racism, stereotyping, or other forms of bias.

Oh, I see: To hear the world clearly, we must first reckon with our own interruptions.

A man sits by the water, listening but also wearing earphones, a reminder of why we need World Listening Day to reunite our global community in the act of mindful listening. (Image by Pixabay)

What are we listening to? What don’t we hear?
© Mircea Lancu/Pixabay

Listening to the World

Wherever you are this Saturday, July 18, you can take part in World Listening Day. Whether you listen to nature, the human-built soundscape, the environment of cultural discourse, or all three, you’re sure to experience an aha moment. Now that’s a sound idea.

Find events specific to your country and join the global community for World Listening Day, here.

Sound expert Julian Treasure shares 5 ways to “re-tune” your ears for better listening, here.

“Being Hear,” by Emmy-winning acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, is a 10-minute treat for the senses, here.

Comment on the post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy Comments

Crossing Cultures/Nature Discovery/Worldwide Sites

Jun

Wanderlust in Waiting

by Joyce McGreevy on June 29, 2020

People walking in Piazza Trento e Trieste, Ferrara, Italy, a vibrant place recommended for a visit in the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Travel Planning Tips for Italy (& Other “Delayed Gratification” Destinations)

You can take the girl out of the travel, but you can’t take the travel out of the girl. Like many people today, I’ve put international travel plans on pause, but that hasn’t changed my love of journeys. My wanderlust for Italy is simply waiting in the wings.

Make that on the wings, whether those of a spacious Dreamliner or a petite Britten Norman Islander, a plane so small you basically wear it.

Perhaps you, too, have postponed overseas travel for a year. Or two. However long it takes for a vaccine to be developed and your dream destination to re-open its borders. If so, consider planning a “delayed gratification” vacation.

Why plan now for a trip that may be far off in the future? Firstly, science has proven that the pleasure of anticipation benefits your brain. Secondly, time in abundance presents unique opportunities to enrich your travel experience.

Here are a few of my favorite plan-ahead (way ahead!) strategies. Mine are travel planning tips for Italy, but the general approach works for almost anywhere.

A food market stall in Bologna inspires wanderlust for Italy and is part of the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © by Carolyn McGreevy)

Educate Your Taste Buds

If your experience of Italian cuisine is based outside of Italy, then the real thing will surprise you. Surprises are good, but first-time visitors are often so flummoxed by unfamiliar dishes that they end up sticking to what they already know. What’s the fun of that?

Several varieties of cookies, pasta, and sandwiches in Mantova, illustrating why learning about the regional food is part of the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Instead, make tasty test-runs before you go. The culinary gems I’ve found online include illustrated and in-depth guides to food by region, online cooking courses, recipes, and interactive food maps. For links to these and other great travel resources cited in this post, download “Italy Online,” our free travel planning tips for you (see link at end of post).

A gelato shop in Italy inspires wanderlust for Italy and illustrates why learning about Italian cuisine is part of the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © by Carolyn McGreevy)

Conquer Tricky Details Before You Go

Ladies and gentlemen, signore e signori, I proudly present . . .la logistica! OK, even in Italian, “logistics” isn’t as appealing as la spontaneità. Yet thinking through trickier aspects of travel in advance will free you to be more spontaneous.

Case in point: Arriving in Milan, you head to the train station, a head-spinning hive of hyperactivity that makes utterly no sense to the uninitiated. By the time you’ve cracked the intricacies of buying tickets, finding the platform, validating tickets, and decoding the Italian for train class, carriage, compartment, and seat . . .you’ve gotten on the wrong train anyway and are hurtling back toward the airport. Enjoy your jet lag!

You know what’s more fun?

Relaxing at home with a multimedia guide to trains that walks you through the process.
Finding an app that makes it easy to buy train tickets worldwide.
Knowing all you’ll have to do is board, sit back, and enjoy the scenery.
Celebrating—spontaneously—because you found a nonstop train with elegant carriages and services. At a discount. Evviva la logistica!

Evening in Comacchio, Emilia Romagna, awakens wanderlust for Italy and is a place recommended for visit in the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Take Time to Amass Travel Treasures

Official tourism sites often offer a range of free goodies. For instance, I’ve found maps, screen savers, audio guides, calendars, recipes, language lessons, and even virtual reality tours.

While you’re at it, stop by your local library to gather a stack of books. From travel books that you can spread out across the coffee table and leaf through while sipping your favorite Italian beverage, to novels and nonfiction that will transport you to Italy from your sofa.

Far from spoiling the thrill of discovery, getting lost in a good book makes it even more fun to get lost in the actual country, because it illuminates aspects of place that pique one’s desire to know more.

A visitor photographing one of the many gardens in Italy recommended for a visit in the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Get Comfortable with Another Language

My obsession with language-learning began as a teenager in Milan. I can no more resist language lessons than I can resist Italian food. It’s not about mastery—in some countries, I speak like a kindergartener—but about experiencing places at a more intimate level. But give me a week and I’ll at least do a crash course. Now imagine what you can do with several months.

Convinced you’re too busy? Start by setting the bar low. “Phrase a Day” calendar? Perfetto! Five-minute podcasts of “Coffee Break Italian”? Va bene! Ten minutes a day with an app? Le possibilità sono infinite!

Eventually you’ll wade in deeper. Meanwhile, you’ll be amazed at the big difference a little learning can make. The secret is to make it sustainable over time.

A young author in Italy showing off her first published book illustrates why an important travel planning tip for Italy is to learn some Italian before you travel. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Reason #738 to learn Italian: In line for a bus, you meet a young historian
who’s just published her first book.
© Joyce McGreevy

Save for Travel the Easy Way

Even at home, “travel” is part of my budget. To make saving painless, I automate it using an app or online banking program. This lets me stash a specific amount each week or round up to the nearest dollar with each transaction.

Because I “set it and forget it,” I’m used to living on less. On a tight budget each amount is small, but over time a little becomes a lot.

A sign in Italian advertising a half-price sale in Ferrara, illustrating why an important travel planning tip for Italy is to learn some Italian before you go. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Explore the Cultural Scene—Online

It’s never been easier to access the world’s great museums and popular media. I often tune into online radio stations from Italy. Do I understand every commentary or lyric? Heck no, but the ambient sound alone evokes a rich sense of place.

While Italian movies have long been available worldwide, Italian TV programs are harder to find. MHz Choice and public libraries are your best bets, and some cable companies will add Italian channels to your line-up.

Should you bother? Consider this vignette from the Olden Days before Internet.

On an extended visit to Italy as a single mom, I and my then 13-year-old son fell in love with an Italian miniseries—about a single mom and her 13-year-old son. Every Tuesday, we’d make supper with fresh ingredients from the Mercato Centrale. Then we’d watch L’avvocato delle donne (“Lawyer for Women”). Filmed on scenic locations, the series inspired many side trips—to the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna, the Trastevere district of Rome, and more.

Even a frivolous show boosted our conversational skills. In Colpe de Fulimine, (literally “thunderbolt,” the Italian expression for “love at first sight”), a roving host pulled two young strangers off the street and got them talking. While the responses were as varied as the individuals, the conversational framework stayed the same, making it easy to learn authentic Italian expressions.

A view of the rooftops of Rome inspires wanderlust for Italy and illustrates why Rome is a recommended destination in the author's travel planning tips for Italy. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

The Joy of . . .Travel Delays?

For now, my wanderlust for Italy (and a dozen other destinations!) will have to wait. Yet, following my own travel planning tips for Italy while I wait to travel will only deepen the excitement of my eventual journey. In other words, don’t let the need to postpone travel dishearten you. Instead, make the most of having added time to plan a trip to Italy, or wherever your wanderlust calls you.

Oh, I see: When life puts your travel plans on hold, turn “wanderlust in waiting” into a travel advantage.

A stone window in Ferrara, Italy reminds the author that wanderlust for Italy and a well-organized travel plan for a trip to Italy can inspire a whole new perspective on the world. (Image © by Joyce McGreevy)

Download our free travel planning tips for Italy to help you get to Italy eventually and to bring Italy to you right now!

Comment on the post below.

Joyce McGreevy 2 Comments

Art of Travel/Italy/Language & Culture

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