植物與節慶plants and festivals

Dragon Boat Festival means more than rice dumplings and dragon boat race. Do you know many plants play very important roles at this festival? Mugwort, calamus and/or banyan branches are hung to dispel evil spirits. 

Bamboo or shell ginger leaves are the most nature-friendly food package. 

For an even before Dragon Boat Festival, we introduced various usages of mugwort in our daily life and led participants to sew mugwort sachets. No wonder Ms. Kent (HTM) emphasized the importance of festivals and holidays for planning of therapeutic horticulture programs. I can see from the enjoyment and satisfaction on every participants' faces.

 端午節前夕跟著小黃老師在貓空山上，和台北市民享受一段與艾草的親密之旅。見證動手做對人們有多大的魔力。不管男女，不論老少，大家都認真地認識艾草的種種好處。上至七十好幾的爺爺，下至四、五歲的黃毛小兒，人人不畏細針努力地縫著香包。老奶奶和上班族先生認真的作筆記，植物可是養生之道不可或缺的。能夠讓更多的人認識植物的奧秘，真是棒到作夢也會笑。以前在加拿大上園藝治療課程時，就時常聽到Ms. Kent(HTM)提起園藝治療活動與節慶結合的重要性。果然，透過節慶把植物重新帶回人們的生活，真是再自然也不過了。

 五彩繽紛的花布，搭配上艷艷的繩子，五感之中的視覺肯定被刺激到了吧!

 再加上艾草令人安心的香味，嗅覺好像來場SPA。 對蚊子來說，可是失魂香。今天作的艾條不當灸條。

Dried mugwort is usually in moxa but we made mugwort rolls to repel mosquitos.

 菖蒲就是我們的劍，看招。

Calamus symbolizes swords to protect people from evil spirits but does not encourage fighting. Make sure to hang it downward . 

南瓜的千姿百媚Fall in love with squash!

I was very surprised to know that squash, cucumber, melon, bitter gourd, calabash and luffa are all members of the Cucurbitaceae family. No wonder, some of them taste bitter to a different extent. As an interpreter of the 'Squash Festival", I had a great chance to experience the wonder of squashes and the fun of diversity i the nature. I believe squashes can be a great material for horticultural therapy since they provide fantastic stimulation of five senses.

南瓜和葫蘆家族居然都屬於葫蘆科!!!!!!!其中還包括了黃瓜、甜瓜、苦瓜、西瓜、冬瓜、絲瓜和佛手瓜!!!!!!要不是擔任南瓜節的解說員，我可能一輩子都不會知道這些瓜瓜們竟然都是一家人。只能說它們的外型實在是大有逕庭。

Squash這個南瓜的英文字源自於印地安那拉甘西特族語，意思是"可以生食的青綠食物'。其中台灣人常吃的又甜又滋養的澱粉質"冬南瓜"(winter squash, pumpkin)，更是早在公元前5000年就在北美洲栽種。對印地安人來說，南瓜是生命三姐妹(Three Sisters)之一。他們先種上玉米，等玉米拔高之後，旁邊種的豆子就可攀延直上穩住玉米桿度過強風的日子，同時在根部提供氮肥。地上種的南瓜藤蔓則負責保持土壤的濕度和避免雜草叢生。

相傳哥倫布從美洲帶南瓜回歐洲餵豬開始，南瓜環遊世界的巡迴演出也就展開序幕了。中國明朝的李時珍說南瓜種出自南番，後傳入閩、浙等地。客家話稱南瓜為番瓜，也應該由此而來。

南瓜!南瓜!真的超好吃的。短短兩天就品嘗了好幾種不同口感的南瓜。這次的導覽經驗告訴我，開放的心是樂趣的來源。把心裡的籓籬撤去，就能盡情享受世間萬物的相同與相異。黃瓜含了苦味的葫蘆素就不是那麼爽口了，而苦瓜的葫蘆素卻讓人滿口回甘。

 南瓜可以重達一百多公斤，聽農夫說大發的時候，一個晚上就漲了幾公斤，真不可思議。