On Monday, my dad and I continued fixing up the old shed in my mom's backyard; we put in some flooring and painted. The yard used to be green, delightful, and full of life. But in the past few years, it's been taken over by weeds and is now merely dirt and trees. I've been thinking a lot about how we're going to redesign the garden and yard, so I've been looking through garden design books, reading through the first issue of Green Gardening magazine (an offshoot of Fine Gardening magazine), which is an incredible resource that I came across at Lowe's, and trying to come up with visuals in my mind of what our possibilities are.
We don't want too much grass because it sucks up water, but our yard looks nice with grass, especially with the green trimming on the shed. We want a vegetable garden and I am hoping we get a compost bin going sometime soon. We've planted some petunias in the window boxes of the shed, but that's pretty much the extent of the greenery that is currently flourishing (besides a pink flower bush and the trees).
There's definitely something to be said for the calming effect gardening (or in my case, the planning of gardening) has on a person. And when seeds sprout, it brings about an even more exciting, creative calm that makes you feel you've accomplished something.
Last night I was stressed over some homework, and then my mom told me that the sweet peas we planted had sprouted--three little green shoots! Instantly, I felt better knowing that they were alive. (The basil, foxgloves, and columbines have yet to make an appearance--I'll let you know when they do.)
On another note, today I rode my bike to school and then rode to the small bookstore in our downtown to purchase a book I'd ordered--Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living by Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill. I cannot recommend this book highly enough--it has been the inspiration and resource for many of my blog postings and for a lot of the things I've been changing about my environmental impact lately. I found it at the local library and just had to get a copy of my own to highlight and use as a resource.
And, finally, I just want to inform you about an awesome team I've recently become a part of--Be the Change Cyclists. We're a group of people who are being the change we want to see in the world (Gandhi, we're following your wisdom!) and riding our bikes rather than driving to reduce our carbon footprints. It's a local group, but if you're interested, why not start one where you live? Check out our blog at http://BetheChangeCyclists.blogspot.com.
Green Gal
---
Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes, ignorant perhaps of the messages buried in its long history. Let us hope that we are still in the early morning of our April day.
--Stephen Jay Gould, "Our Allotted Lifetimes," The Panda's Thumb, 1980
We don't want too much grass because it sucks up water, but our yard looks nice with grass, especially with the green trimming on the shed. We want a vegetable garden and I am hoping we get a compost bin going sometime soon. We've planted some petunias in the window boxes of the shed, but that's pretty much the extent of the greenery that is currently flourishing (besides a pink flower bush and the trees).There's definitely something to be said for the calming effect gardening (or in my case, the planning of gardening) has on a person. And when seeds sprout, it brings about an even more exciting, creative calm that makes you feel you've accomplished something.
Last night I was stressed over some homework, and then my mom told me that the sweet peas we planted had sprouted--three little green shoots! Instantly, I felt better knowing that they were alive. (The basil, foxgloves, and columbines have yet to make an appearance--I'll let you know when they do.)
On another note, today I rode my bike to school and then rode to the small bookstore in our downtown to purchase a book I'd ordered--Ready, Set, Green: Eight Weeks to Modern Eco-Living by Graham Hill and Meaghan O'Neill. I cannot recommend this book highly enough--it has been the inspiration and resource for many of my blog postings and for a lot of the things I've been changing about my environmental impact lately. I found it at the local library and just had to get a copy of my own to highlight and use as a resource.And, finally, I just want to inform you about an awesome team I've recently become a part of--Be the Change Cyclists. We're a group of people who are being the change we want to see in the world (Gandhi, we're following your wisdom!) and riding our bikes rather than driving to reduce our carbon footprints. It's a local group, but if you're interested, why not start one where you live? Check out our blog at http://BetheChangeCyclists.blogspot.com.
Green Gal
---
Human consciousness arose but a minute before midnight on the geological clock. Yet we mayflies try to bend an ancient world to our purposes, ignorant perhaps of the messages buried in its long history. Let us hope that we are still in the early morning of our April day.
--Stephen Jay Gould, "Our Allotted Lifetimes," The Panda's Thumb, 1980
Love the Gould quotation!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.