Marlena Hirsch
@marlenahirsch.bsky.social
I am a grandma and gardener now. I used to teach high school science. We built a house on more land, so my garden has expanded to allow donations of small bouquets to the food pantry and care homes.
Mistletoe tied in ribbon makes a good holiday gift when our flowers are scarce. Two people in our flower team live near mistletoe. The big balls of it are in this tree. With a pole pruner, it can be cut down. We will use it this Thursday along with making dried flower bouquets.
December 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Mistletoe tied in ribbon makes a good holiday gift when our flowers are scarce. Two people in our flower team live near mistletoe. The big balls of it are in this tree. With a pole pruner, it can be cut down. We will use it this Thursday along with making dried flower bouquets.
The fall flowers of cosmos, chrysanthemums and dahlias are bountiful in our gardens. We were able to make 130 bouquets plus 25 arrangements to give away to those who can’t get flowers. Two people happy to see me are workers in a windowless office at a nursing home. They just love their flowers.
October 24, 2025 at 2:14 AM
The fall flowers of cosmos, chrysanthemums and dahlias are bountiful in our gardens. We were able to make 130 bouquets plus 25 arrangements to give away to those who can’t get flowers. Two people happy to see me are workers in a windowless office at a nursing home. They just love their flowers.
Picking flowers in the morning to make into bouquets to give away at the food pantry and nursing homes. A lovely day!!
October 17, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Picking flowers in the morning to make into bouquets to give away at the food pantry and nursing homes. A lovely day!!
This young chicken likes to get on my shoulder.
October 10, 2025 at 1:05 AM
This young chicken likes to get on my shoulder.
I got to visit Ft Bragg with friends. We saw whales’ plumes of exhaled breath and amaryllis blooming while a storm was moving in.
October 3, 2025 at 3:03 AM
I got to visit Ft Bragg with friends. We saw whales’ plumes of exhaled breath and amaryllis blooming while a storm was moving in.
Our arrangements to donate at two nursing homes and a homeless shelter. We have both the fun of growing flowers and giving them to others.
October 3, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Our arrangements to donate at two nursing homes and a homeless shelter. We have both the fun of growing flowers and giving them to others.
Flowers being made into bouquets.
September 26, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Flowers being made into bouquets.
The chicks have a bouquet of arugula flowers, but Fluffy wants to come over to my lap.
September 26, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The chicks have a bouquet of arugula flowers, but Fluffy wants to come over to my lap.
Today’s bouquets! I woman at the homeless shelter thanked me several times for the flowers. She said, “I live here.” She wanted to make sure I knew her sincerity.
September 19, 2025 at 12:02 AM
Today’s bouquets! I woman at the homeless shelter thanked me several times for the flowers. She said, “I live here.” She wanted to make sure I knew her sincerity.
Today is weekly flower day. We pick our flowers and make bouquets to give away. Here are some.
It was a good day.
It was a good day.
September 12, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Today is weekly flower day. We pick our flowers and make bouquets to give away. Here are some.
It was a good day.
It was a good day.
A praying mantis on milkweed for monarch caterpillars. Mantises are highly regarded as garden helpers, because they catch and eat insects. There are no pesticides in this garden, so mantises can live here. This is the sign of a balanced healthy ecosystem. (The root ‘eco’ means home.)
August 26, 2025 at 10:49 PM
A praying mantis on milkweed for monarch caterpillars. Mantises are highly regarded as garden helpers, because they catch and eat insects. There are no pesticides in this garden, so mantises can live here. This is the sign of a balanced healthy ecosystem. (The root ‘eco’ means home.)
This swallowtail butterfly had a blue patch on each lower wing-a stunning bright yellow color. It is visiting some volunteer flowers. This visitor appreciated an untidy garden.
August 15, 2025 at 12:43 AM
This swallowtail butterfly had a blue patch on each lower wing-a stunning bright yellow color. It is visiting some volunteer flowers. This visitor appreciated an untidy garden.
The baby chicks are starting to go outside. They scratch in the compost and find bugs. They know to come inside where the warm brooder is there for them. They are only about two weeks old.
August 11, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The baby chicks are starting to go outside. They scratch in the compost and find bugs. They know to come inside where the warm brooder is there for them. They are only about two weeks old.
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
This was published in Hebrew in an Israeli newspaper. It implores Israelis to consider the larger humane meaning of “never again”.
This was published in Hebrew in an Israeli newspaper. It implores Israelis to consider the larger humane meaning of “never again”.
A betrayal of the victims of the Holocaust
A view from Israel
open.substack.com
July 30, 2025 at 12:35 AM
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
This was published in Hebrew in an Israeli newspaper. It implores Israelis to consider the larger humane meaning of “never again”.
This was published in Hebrew in an Israeli newspaper. It implores Israelis to consider the larger humane meaning of “never again”.
I got three day-old chicks today. One followed my grandchildren through the house.
July 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I got three day-old chicks today. One followed my grandchildren through the house.
The snapdragons near the tomatoes and alyssum have no rust, yet snapdragons elsewhere in the garden have rust. I wonder why that it.
June 25, 2025 at 2:59 AM
The snapdragons near the tomatoes and alyssum have no rust, yet snapdragons elsewhere in the garden have rust. I wonder why that it.
These pretty sparkling circles are to prevent birds from flying into the sliding glass doors. The last light of day made the rainbow colors. My grandchildren stuck them on after a bird flew into the glass. I ordered anti-collision stickers on Amazon. The bird flew away.
June 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
These pretty sparkling circles are to prevent birds from flying into the sliding glass doors. The last light of day made the rainbow colors. My grandchildren stuck them on after a bird flew into the glass. I ordered anti-collision stickers on Amazon. The bird flew away.
June in this 2025 garden in Sonoma County California zone 9. The 2nd summer of using regenerative farming practices on rocky soil. Many of the hardy spring flowers volunteered. I am amazed at the bounty out here. Hummingbirds frequent the garden when they were rarely here before the garden.
June 7, 2025 at 12:54 AM
June in this 2025 garden in Sonoma County California zone 9. The 2nd summer of using regenerative farming practices on rocky soil. Many of the hardy spring flowers volunteered. I am amazed at the bounty out here. Hummingbirds frequent the garden when they were rarely here before the garden.
The Goodspeed Trail in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, Sonoma County, CA is over serpentine rock which favors certain plants. This low chaparral burned in 2017. See branches of Manzanita bushes. Now wildflowers are blooming among new bushes. The mature Manzanitas looked like a manicured garden before.
May 21, 2025 at 2:23 AM
The Goodspeed Trail in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, Sonoma County, CA is over serpentine rock which favors certain plants. This low chaparral burned in 2017. See branches of Manzanita bushes. Now wildflowers are blooming among new bushes. The mature Manzanitas looked like a manicured garden before.