Urban Gardens to Urban Forests

“The Pinkest Salvia” – Chix in the Hood Tour – Pittsburgh, PA – This last Sunday was the annual Chix in the Hood urban chicken tour… This tour is centered around the city of Pittsburgh… Featuring over a dozen coops… Many of them also happen to have beautiful gardens… This is a photograph of a pink blooming Salvia officinalis… One of my favorite photographs of the day…

“Reddest Dahlia” – Chix in the Hood – Pittsburgh, PA – This Dahlia is located in a hilltop urban garden located in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh… I have many more photographs of the gardens than I am posting in this series… I will be camping until Sunday… I had hoped to have a tour specific series completed before I left… But gardening is my business… And business is good…

“Rat Snake” – Chix in the Hood – Pittsburgh, PA – A rat snake getting some sun along a fence… This particular snake has made its home along the allegheny river at what is one of my favorite homes on the tour… Choderwood… More on that to come…

“Choderwood – Veggie Garden” – Chix in the Hood – Pittsburgh, PA – another photograph from Choderwood… This is the vegetable garden… Shot through a perfect circle… A circle that is among a fence of squares… Looking into a garden of raised bed squares…

“Eggs like Eyes” – Chix in the Hood” – Wilkinsburg, PA – I chose this photograph for two reasons… As always… To take a moment to plug one of my favorite places on earth… Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery right here in wild and wonderful Wilkinsburg… And because the shadows from the basket made perfect eyes out of the eggs… Perfect photo…

“Beetle Among the Captive Floaters” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – From the Urban Gardens of Pittsburgh… To the urban forests of Pittsburgh… These next couple of shots are from my favorite park and watershed… Frick Park… And Nine Mile Run… This is a Dandelion waiting to come alive… And a small beetle taking advantage of the cover… I snapped a few photos and then left him alone… A moment so perfect I had to leave it in the hope that someone else might notice…

“Common Milkweed” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – The first of the Milkweed blossoms in Frick Park… Many more will follow… I found these in a small patch that gets some morning sunlight between valley walls… Blooming well before the others even show buds…

“Young Buck In Velvet” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – Photographed on my way out of the park… Of course I was sans-telephoto lens… This deer didn’t seem to mind… Allowing me to,walk right up to it… Then dancing in circles around me… Almost as if it wanted to play…

“Sunday Evening” – Frick Park – Pittsburgh, PA – the light was low… The creek a touch high… The recent rains have deposited a few new stones… Tempting me… It was not long before I was stacking a pair… Creek side cairns waiting for the next rain… Waiting for my next visit… Waiting for me… To stack them again… My prayer to nature… Meditation… Mediation… Me…

plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello

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