Garden and Food books by Gayla Trail

Local vs Certified organic

Guest post by Christina Radisauskas Last week I went to a film and discussion series entited “Label Me Confused: What organic, free range, and all those other words really mean” at a local theater. Several organic farmers gathered to discuss the benefits of choosing to eat locally produced and/or organic foods rather than typical supermarket

Der Blumenladen

How ingenious is this: a flower shop where rather than buying cut flowers, you buy photos of plant bits that are then constructed into 3-Dimensional arrangements. Wolf Klein’s Der Blumenladen (The Flower Shop) is part old-school flower shop, part mad take-out menu, and part wacky flip book with a splash of conceptual art (at least

Earth Day: Toronto

Come out to Earth Day Spring Festival events this weekend at Budapest Park here in Toronto! When: Sat, April 22. 2006. 10:30 am – 4 pm Where: Budapest Park (on the waterfront at the bottome of Roncessvalles Ave., just east of Sunnyside Park and west of the Palais Royale.) Stop by the You Grow Girl

Paper Houseplants

As if gardening with living plants isn’t enough to keep me occupied, I’ve recently become obsessed with plants crafted from paper. Download and construct your own garden of indoor houseplants, from the Epson Hong Kong site. Patterns include ivy, lucky bamboo, saguaro cactus, and a cute barrel cactus.

Plant Me!

Guest post by Emira Mears I’m a pretty big fan of Branch the currently online/soon to also be a physical store in San Francisco that bills itself as a purveyor of Sustainable Design for Living. They have a pretty great gardening section that seems to be a combo of novelty grow-in-one containers and some graceful

Phase 1 Complete

Phase 1 of “Project Deck Garden 2006” was enacted yesterday afternoon. It was inspired by a sunny day and a headache that wouldn’t quit, which not surprisingly, was abated after a few hours in the fresh air. I won’t bore you with the details as Phase 1 involves large helpings of gardening’s lesser joys; clean-up,

A Different Kind of Professional Gardener

Guest post by Renee Garner Most people would agree, gardening is an art form. Artist Paula Hayes takes this statement literally, but intensive devotion elevates her gardening into gallery worthy, fine art. Her delicate glass terrariums depict an idealistic quest most gardeners can relate to, but the interaction of plants to their tiny biosphere evokes a

Birds and Blooms

Guest post by Amy Urquhart I disovered a cool magazine when I was visiting my grandmother a couple of weekends ago. It’s called Birds and Blooms (Beauty in Your Own Backyard). It’s an American publication dedicated to showcasing…well, you guessed it: birds and plants (and butterflies too). My interest in gardening extends back a few

How to be greener

Guest post by Christina Radisauskas I work at a university that has finally decided to develop a “sustainability initiative.” Because I am a librarian, I was asked to create a bibliography of resources to enhance our faculty’s understanding of the concept and how they might incorporate it into their departments’ curricula. While I worked on

Pop Bottle Pots

So they’re not very stylin’, but these self-watering planters made from junked pop bottles are pretty handy for the well-intentioned but forgetful gardener. The bottom watering system keeps cuttings and seedlings on the right side of moist without the discipline (and hassle) of routine dampness patrol. There’s more talk and experimentation with this concept in

Don’t have room for a garden? Knit Your Own!

Guest post by Kelly Gilliam So besides being an avid gardening, I’ve an avid knitter. That means I’m always looking for cool new things to knit up. Today I got the idea in my head “hey, what about knitting plants??” So after a little searching I found these awesome knit plants that you can make.

Chicago Apartment Therapy

– From Chicago Apartment Therapy (April 2006.) “Speaking of Spring, You Grow Girl is an amazing website that will inspire both the novice and experienced gardener (and no, you don’t have to be a girl). Our friend Roni turned us on to You Grow Girl a couple of weeks ago, and we have been daydreaming