is inspiring.  educational.  and downright fun.

My hometown of Savanna, Illinois had a garden walk this past weekend and it was fun to be a part of it all.  I  gave a presentation that celebrated some of the things I’ve learned about through our new season of b. organic, met some incredible people and made several deposits to the knowledge and idea banks. It inspired me to come home and take action on a few of my own garden tasks on the always-growing, to-do list.  Keep an eye out for one in your area and if you have the chance, mosey around. It’s an excellent way to get ideas, to learn and to meet cool people with similar interests.  Gardeners love to share! Read the rest of this entry →

Apparently, these fishing excursions my dad has been going on in the Chicago area with the state of Illinois over the past couple of months have been a big deal. This past Tuesday, my dad (Ron Brown) and his fishing partner Shawn Price did catch what they were hired to go in and try and catch — asian carp.  Only, I guess you could say nobody  REALLY wanted them to catch any. Read the rest of this entry →

Rain is good.

Too much rain.  Not so good.

The garden is beginning to resemble a creek.  The plants look…..miserable and sad.  My strawberries were cut short, the cats are losing their lush bed of catnip…and all the plants in the garden have that look on their leaves that says “please, get me out of here!” Well, I can’t exactly uproot all of them and give them a new home at this point in the game, but here’s what I CAN do: Read the rest of this entry →

We visited with a few people last week that go about their landscaping a bit different than most.  They let nature lead the way and have chosen to surround their homes with native plants.  A yard that’s FILLED with plants that are allowed the freedom to grow.  The homeowners aren’t slaves to their lawnmowers. They don’t concern themselves so much with what ‘the neighbors’ think, because a lot of their neighbors in this particular housing area are embracing the same idea.  It was SOOO refreshing to see a (truly beautiful, peaceful) neighborhood doing things differently.   Some homes in the development are more wild than others, some aren’t wild at all…and that’s all OK.  There’s really a harmonious balance between them all. Read the rest of this entry →

This year has reaped our best crop of strawberries ever, so I’ve been playing around with some of the different ways to preserve them.  My first round of experimenting was with some strawberry jams.  My daughter loves a wholesome PB&J made with a homemade honey roasted peanut butter and when you pair it with her favorite strawberry fruit spread…she’s one happy little girl!   Read the rest of this entry →

Good grief, when I planted up my seeds a few months back, I may have been a bit overzealous (as I am with most things on a daily basis).  What in the world was I planning on doing with all this cabbage and kohlrabi?  When you love growing things and there really isn’t a vegetable you DON’T like, it’s so easy to get carried away.  I start every season wanting to plant everything and when you start busting into those seed packets, (and everything is small and it doesn’t really cost anything and it never really ‘looks’ like you’ve planted much) you just keep going and going.  I don’t really go by any sort of ‘count’, I just start a few these, of few of those.  When you get to transferring things into the ground and accommodating for their growth and that..well let’s just say that’s when I start counting.  Things still looked ‘minimal’ in the cold frame, but as I got to planting, I realized I was running out of room quick and had to expand outside my normal planting areas.  I certainly couldn’t let the ‘extras’ that I planted go to waste so it’s either give them away or plant them somewhere.  In the past I would’ve tried to map out another ‘area’ where I could add a raised bed to accommodate the extras but I’ve changed  my ways over the years and have a less ‘confined’, less restricted approach to it all.  It has really freed up how and where I garden because I just pick new spots to try in the yard, double dig my holes and start planting.  

At the same time, it kind of feels like I’m breaking some sort of unwritten landscaping rule when I start sticking cabbages randomly by the studio, zucchini around the rain garden, and this year tomatoes smack dab in the middle of the yard.  Who says everything has to be in a designated garden space?  Isn’t it better to get as much growing as you can handle on whatever bit of land you have available?  Why do we make such a big deal about having to have official ‘garden’ areas and then feel confined to them?  Pick a spot in the yard that gets some good sun, break ground and plant it.  I’ve got vegetables mixed in with my perennials, herbs line the walkways.  The pumpkins out by the front door will be a beautiful pop of color in the fall.  This year, it was the tomatoes that sent me scrambling for new space . They’re my favorite and I wanted to try some new varieties, so I somehow have ended up with 44 beautiful plants stretched from one end of the yard to the other.  It’s okay though, I’d rather take care of tomato plants/edibles over grass any day!  Not to mention all the wonderful produce I’ll have to share with everyone in a couple months…..hopefully! ::)  The fun will really kick in around harvest time when I have to make good use out of it all…I will be one busy gal! 

(…….and a very loud, proud shout of thanks to my mom for always helping us get things planted up each year….Love you!)

Cheers to getting carried away…anyone else overzealous in their gardening efforts?

michele.

Completion.  Is a Beautiful Thing.

BEFORE

AFTER

As promised, here are a few of the pics from the kitchen project we completed a month back…..We embarked on the adventure by challenging ourselves to work with what we had, repurposing and salvaging whatever we could; doing everything ourselves.  It was an incredible experience that gave us the opportunity to experiment with a LOT of new techniques as well as to try out a few of the newer eco-friendly products.   And I can honestly say that we are PLEASED with them all!   Read the rest of this entry →

My motto is one of it’s better to work with something than against it…at least with design/art/aesthetic type things. ::) All mishaps, mistakes, and other unexpected outcomes can be turned into opportunities.  

The most recent ‘opportunity’ was in my front yard.  A couple of years ago I planted several ornamental grasses and one of them turned out to be a vigorous spreader.  It is unruly and heading everywhere.  Normally I like that kind of thing, but with where it is located it was really just starting to look like a big old mess!  What to do, What to do.  

Read the rest of this entry →