Have you heard the musical tree?

Well, the wind blowing through pines often sounds melodious, but this is a tree that becomes a musical instrument (two, really: percussion and "violin").

That may sound like a the premise for a children's picture book, but it's really a creative musician's idea that turns out quite well.

You can read all about it, see the video, and hear the "tree song" by clicking here.  Diego Stocco of Burbank, Calif., first "tuned" the twigs of a tree in his yard with a pencil sharpener. Then he attached microphones and used a custom stethoscope.

"All the sounds come from playing the tree, by bowing the twigs, shaking the leaves, playing rhythms on the cortex and so on," he says. In other words, this music is all natural.

It's a delightful experiment. And you can download the tree music by clicking here.

More gardening news
In the what-will-they-think-of-next category, here's a link to an article whose headline tells the story: Thieves 'using Google Earth to steal koi carp'  (thanks to @gardeningnews).

Do fresh, ripe tomatoes bring out the poet in you? If so, Nashville has a Hot Tomato Haiku Contest you may want to consider entering. There are five categories, including "plum humorous" and "fried green haiku."

Red, yellow, green, black
Round orbs of deliciousness
In my own backyard.

You can do much better than my quick effort, right? Do give it a whirl.

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