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Gardenerd at the LA Garden Show this weekend

It’s that time of year – garden tours (like the Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase last weekend, and the Venice Garden Tour this weekend), and garden shows
abound. This weekend, April 30, May 1 & 2, we are participating with a Gardenerd booth at the LA Garden Show at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens.


There are plenty of things to see and do at the Garden Show, including design …

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Woolly Pocket Wall Garden

In preparation for this weekend’s Mar Vista Green Garden Showcase, I wanted to create a display that demonstrates how wall gardens are yet another way to grow
food in small spaces. So I took up the challenge of figuring out how to hang Woolly Pockets on my backyard fence that is completely destroyed by termites and is hanging on by wishful thinking
and wire.

Ordinarily Woolly Pockets can be attached to any wall, …
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2010 Gardens of Gratitude

It’s almost time for the 2nd Annual Gardens of Gratitude event. It takes place on April 24th and 25th, 2010 in
Los Angeles, and if you have a space that you want to transform into a vegetable garden, this is your chance to get help from your community (not to mention compost, advice, and a chance to
make new friends).


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Front Yard Veggies in Manhattan Beach

We got one step closer to our goal of replacing all lawns in Los Angeles with useful growing spaces. The Winship family had a front lawn that
wasn’t serving them, and it was the only area of their property that had full sun for growing vegetables (as is the case with many homes).

I met with them to discuss what they wanted in a vegetable garden: raised beds, enough room to grow herbs, and something they could …
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Field Trip: Napa Valley

Before we launch into a new year, I want to share another aspect of the Grow BioIntensive workshop that I took in Willits last month. It isn’t really about
the workshop, but about the drive back home.

I am of the ilk that, as an important part of the traveling experience, one must buy what is made locally when traveling through a region – like picking up some lavender oil while in Provence, or
grabbing some balsamic vinegar …

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Malibu Vegetable Garden Delight

I had the good fortune to be introduced to Shalane Respondek and her world of LEED certified property development. She brought me in to design a vegetable
garden for her new Malibu property over the summer. They were still finishing the house and major landscaping projects, so it would be awhile before we could start on the garden, but the ideas
were flowing from the beginning.

I saw …
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A Visit to the Solar Living Institute

Back in my early college years, all I wanted to do was make bread and swing in a hammock all day.  I dove head-first into environmental issues and
chose
recycling as my personal passion.  Along with the strong desire to sort trash came an awareness of solar power and all its benefits.  It was then that I discovered Real Goods.

Real Goods had not yet been bought by Gaiam.com when …
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Woolly Pocket School Garden Project on Dwell Magazine Website

I just got word today that we’ve been mentioned in an online article for Dwell Magazine. 

Miguel Nelson brought me in as the garden expert for the project and we partnered with School Nutrition Plus to create the Woolly Pocket School Garden Program back in early Summer 2009.  So far, we’ve installed 5 school gardens and we’re about to venture into Arizona to reach other schools. 

Here’s a chance to see what goes on in Miguel’s head when he invents these great ideas for our participating schools:

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Adventures at the Theodore Payne Foundation

We landscaped our front yard last year and, as with many things in life, not all the plants made it.  We found the Convolvulus to be lacking in heartiness, so to speak.  It fried and died basically. So after much research and advice we decided to go with Mimulus Aurantiacus as a replacement. 

Now, mimulus may be a native California species and it may be drought tolerant, but it has proven to be almost impossible to find at nurseries, including my wholesale nursery sources.  What’s up with that?! 

Enter the Theodore Payne Foundation.  They specialize in …
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Telluride Farmer’s Market

For those who don’t know, Telluride, CO is one of the most active and environmentally aware communities in the U.S.  Not only do they host countless festivals, like the Telluride Film Festival, MountainFilm Festival and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, but they have a weekly farmer’s market that brings out the best of the town. 

My husband and I wandered through on Friday morning when the sun was shining and the mountain was clearly in view.


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