Now… eat the fruits of your labor !

If you’ve considered a more sustainable way of living, then consider your own green garden at home.

We all love the farmer’s and green markets, truly, because in any Saturday it is a very entertaining walk ( for most ) to find the best vegetables, home-baked goods, home-made spreads, and other wonderful items like delighting old aged cheeses ( yes i did find a 10+ year-old cheddar last time i went ) … so if you are into the fresh, into the best…

why not begin your own garden ?

In the last few months I’ve found a couple of people that are very advanced, highly intelligent sustainable beings, that with their efforts everyday have amounted to beautiful fruitful gardens in their backyards.

Christina’s Garden :

I went to high school with Christina, many years ago, and since finding her again she has truly impressed me with her sustainable farmer’s and at home crafter’s spirit.

From her home-made composting device

To her small little helper

Christina’s garden is truly an inspiration… that amounts to some beautiful harvest.

If you want more, and other beautiful things by her… you can visit her etsy store. She does make some awesome organic soaps !

Christina on Etsy ( link )

Nicki’s Garden :

Nicki and I met through my work at Duke University. As a matter of fact she runs the Duke TIP program.

She is a PhD in education, and very proper/polished when at work, so I did not expect what I encountered in her back yard.

While at the “Sustainable Architecture” course, it occurred to us to present the students with a real life problem (and client). Their task was to improve their water collection system at home. I thought  –  water collection? ..You? –

Anyhow… what we found was stunning, from her re-purposed children’s playground into a chicken coop

And her use of old car tires to plant various roots

Her backyard surely made for a great setting for the class project, and had wonderful variety…

So, in talking to Nicki about planting a garden indoors, being that we still ‘rent’ for a living… she told me that she started in potted green gardens in small apartments as well. While she lived abroad, she always did this. I thought

Great !

So…

Target sells these little potted plants (sometimes) to get started, 99 cents each, and we’ve taken steps to begin our very own green garden with tomatoes, parsley, and cucumbers.

We will add to our garden, but this is what we managed to accomplish this morning.

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+ it was fun to watch the very compressed soil expand (rapidly) !    :)