Festival of the Trees 44 Now Online at Treeblog

The Festival of the Trees 44 is now up at treeblog, compliments of our UK host Ash. He’s discovered new paths for us to explore and provides a personal tour through the woods! Try not to get lost.... you may want to pack a pocketful of breadcrumbs!

Our next hosts for Festival 45 will be Jeremy and Heather at The Voltage Gate.

To participate:

1) Blog about trees
2) Email a link to: thevoltagegate[at]gmail[dot]com
3) Wait for March 1st to read, share, and enjoy!

Would you like to host The Festival of the Trees? We are always seeking volunteers for future Festivals. Visit The Festival of the Trees coordinating blog to learn how to submit, volunteer, and help us spread the word.

Looking for more plant carnival fun? Berry-Go-Round Issue #24 is now online at The Phytophactor. Now your only real dilemma is: where do you start?

Have fun!

Festival of the Trees Returns to Via Negativa

I'm pleased to share that I have been invited to join Paul and Dave as a coordinator for The Festival of the Trees.

Most of you know how much I love this project, and I am excited to have the opportunity to contribute even more - all for the love of trees.

This month we return to Via Negativa where Festival of the Trees co-founder Dave Bonta will once again host your blog posts, podcasts, vlogs, photographs, and other tree-and-forest-related creations.

Here are a few words from Dave to help inspire you:

You remember the Once-ler, right? The bummed-out old narrator in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, who gives the boy the last remaining truffula-tree seed at the end of the book? I’ve been feeling a lot like that lately. Probably many of us do, watching the world’s forests burn or succumb en masse to new insect pests, new diseases, and stronger and more frequent storms. Will the kids “care a whole awful lot”? Will they care at all?

The next edition of The Festival of the Trees will return to my blog Via Negativa for the fourth time, and while I’m not suggesting themed submissions — all tree-related blog posts are welcome — I do expect that my gloomy, yet still desperately hopeful outlook on the future of trees and forests will color my presentation. A lot of forest activists like to cast themselves as the Lorax: “I speak for the trees!” But I’ve never presumed to do that myself. For one thing, the trees are quite capable of speaking for themselves, if we were only inclined to listen. And also, like the Once-ler, I have no illusions about my own culpability in the desperate state of the global environment.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

You don't have to be a nature blogger to participate in The Festival of the Trees. Create a story, poem, article, photograph, or any other tree creation, post it online, and send us the link. It's that simple!

You can also send us links of other tree-related goodies that you find online. It doesn't have to be your own.

Email links to: bontasaurus [at] yahoo [dot] com – or use the Contact form.

Deadline: November 29, 2009

Important! Put “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line of your email.

Have fun!

Secrets Among the Trees: The Festival of the Trees Returns to Arboreality

The Festival of the Trees 39 will be hosted here at Arboreality on the theme of Secrets.

But first, the current Festival of the Trees:

The Festival of the Trees 38 comes to us from Chennai, India compliments of Arati at Trees , Plants and more. Highlights for me include a peek at the Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), so beloved in my former Pennsylvania home, the evergreen Christmas tree farms of North Carolina, and the Jack Fruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus), a tree whose equal I have never seen. And then, there’s the mango tree reputed to be “3500 years old [and] bears fruit of a different taste in each branch.”

Thank you, Arati, for bringing us such arboreal diversity and splendor!

Coming up next:

The Festival of the Trees 39 brings this green blog carnival back to Arboreality.

This month’s theme: Secrets

Forests, farms, gardens, urban trees, and ancient-rock-clinging-wind-whipped Bristlecone pine stands can be an escape, a place to hide, a space to rest, a home for buried treasure. This month, I invite you to reveal a small glimpse of a secret among the trees. Consider the quiet spots you go to sit, the trees which have stood in silent observation of the events of your life, the aromatic memory of the garden from a place you have visited. With word, image, sound, or otherwise inspired creation, give us a peek at what you see, or what you can imagine.

Gather your tree-materials, post online, and send me the link:

trees[at]brainripples[dot]com

Deadline for submissions is August 28, 2009.

Questions, comments, suggestions? Drop me an email.

PS - We're still seeking volunteers to host The Festival of the Trees #40 and beyond! This is a great way to broaden your audience, and of course - have fun in the trees.

To learn more, contact Dave (bontasaurus[at]yahoo[dot]com) and Pablo (editor[at]roundrockjournal[dot]com), and visit the Volunteer to Host page for details.