(Say in creepy voice-over actor voice:)
- Have you always wanted your own Versaille-style parterre but can’t afford the maintenance staff?
- Do you love the idea of a bouncy castle but lack children to justify the purchase?

With Tjep’s Urban Garden you get both parterre and bounciness all in one! The go-anywhere, inflatable Urban Garden can be used for sitting, lounging or jumping on.

(Inspired by Versaille, it’s part of a travelling installation called Tribe Art. The functional art piece will be used for a diversity of events.)

Via MoCo Loco.

I’m not big on logic. For example, I simultaneously reject the idea that there is a divine order to things, that we are “destined” to live out our lives in a predetermined way, yet I also somehow believe that everything happens for a reason. I fully acknowledge that I can’t defend this position.

I’ve had a week where this dichotomy has been made apparent once again. It’s been a crappy week I can find no greater reason for; one of disappointment and frustration. So I’ve been trying to turn this set back into a catalyst for positive change – but am struggling to overcome my own anger and sense of failure. Sigh.

Anyway, today I’m checking my visitor stats (Welcome, Wish Jar readers!) and see that Keri Smith has linked to my seedball post. This is where I think, “this was meant to happen,” because Keri’s blog is full of all the goodness I needed to hear today – like a passage from Hesse’s Wandering, stuff on guerilla art, and lots of inspiring creative ideas. I’m not sure how I never came across it before, but I’m so grateful to have found it now.

The kicker? I’ve had some of Keri’s writing, a piece called “How to be an explorer of the world” set as my desktop for the last month, without knowing where it came from. Let’s call it happy connectedness.

Love it: Laura Secord School’s Mr. Burns: “Excellent! The more power you fools use, the richer I get!”

I met Karen Wik one rainy night just over a month ago. I’d ducked into Famous Foods, the grocery store just a few minutes’ walk from my house (which, by some miraculous coincidence, is also an amazing organic/whole food market). It was a wet, miserable night, and I was a sopping mess – which made it easy to hone in on Karen’s boxes of chocolate for sale.

As I was deciding between mint chocolates and caramel melties, Karen explained that the chocolates were a fundraiser for her daughter’s school, specifically, the Earth Day celebration being planned – a Laura Secord Elementary School Tradition now in its fifth year. In addition to selling chocolates, Karen had helped to organize the event and was planning on leading some workshops. Of course, I was immediately on board, and asked her to tell me all about it.

“It is a wonderful day full of lots of learning and creating awareness about ‘caring for the environment and caring for each other’ and ‘making a difference in our world,’” Karen explains. “I love being a part of teaching kids about sustainability.”

A mandala made by a Grade 4/5 class (nine and 10 year olds) during last year’s Earth Day event.

This year, the theme is “We Can Make a Difference.” The kids will be singing a song of the same title on the front steps of East Vancouver’s Laura Secord (on the corner of Broadway and Lakewood) at 10:00 am on the day of the event (Wednesday, April 25).

The street in front of the school will be closed off and children will be introduced to Dr. Junkology, take part in Pedal Play, plant the school’s garden, make mosaics, and perhaps even get their hands dirty making seed balls.

Hanging baskets and flats of flowers will also be for sale – both on site and available to be ordered for Mother’s Day pick up. I encourage Vancouverites in the market for hanging baskets to support Laura Secord’s Earth Day – and help keep this fabulous event going for another five years!

And Karen – may I suggested that you make sure you’re on that Mother’s Day order list? I know it would be well deserved.

I love the brilliant simplicity of John Arndt’s master’s thesis project, the Flow Kitchen. John designed the kitchen workstation to utilize natural processes (like gravity, evaporation, decomposition and growth) and create a symbiotic little ecosystem. The dishrack drains onto the herbs or other edibles stored below it. Food scraps go into a little cup that flips over into a worm composter, which – you guessed it – produces compost for the herbs. Nice.

The dishrack.

The composter.

Via Apartment Therapy LA.

Happy Earth Day, dolls! How are you marking the occasion? (Yes, I know, we’re gardeners. Everyday is Earth Day. Right.)

I’m heading down the road to the MOBY garden to do some cobbing.

Let me explain. MOBY, or My Own Back Yard, is a very cool community garden project near the Commercial Drive skytrain station (at 11th and Commercial). It was started by a guy named Jason who lived next to the site and was tired of the garbage and ongoing drug use in the area. Jason petitioned the city to create a community garden, and now, four years later, it’s finally starting to gain momentum. Last year the site was cleared and raised beds were built and planted. This year, the MOBY group is working to build a cob shed and a children’s playground.

So, what is cob? Similar to adobe, cob is an easy-to-learn earthen-wall technique using a mixture of clay, sand, straw and water to build walls. Cob is extremely durable, lasts for centuries and creates no pollution or disposal problems for future generations. It’s an old technique creating renewed interest in environmentally-minded communities.

Come get your feet dirty! 10:30 am – 1:30 pm at the MOBY Gardens.

Normally I don’t have the time for most of the nonsense the Martha Stewart cartel cooks up. But I came across this “good thing” in the May 07 issue of Living and thought this little stone herb marker project might actually be both realistic and useful.

I’ve never quite understood the need for herb markers. I mean, unless you’re a beginning gardener (fair enough) or have fourteen types of mint, herbs are easy to distinguish. Or so I thought. But my husband, the resident chef in our household, claims to be confused by coriander, baffled by basil, muddled by… well, you get the idea. (By the way, dear husband, I find this to be an extremely peculiar deficit on your part. Not only are you one of the most intelligent and proficient people I know, but you’re also a highly-accomplished chef. I am highly suspicious that this herb dyslexia is a cheap ploy on your part to avoid schleping outside. Which, I suppose, is fair play, and a small price for me to pay for amazing meals.)

But back to Martha. She advises to find “flat, smooth stones and label each one with the name of a plant using alphabet stamps and dye-based (permanent) ink (both available at craft stores).” I suppose you could also use a thin Sharpie – although it might not look as nice, you could avoid purchasing yet another craft item. There’s no reason why this couldn’t work for labeling veggies or perennials too.

Just be warned, dear husband, that the next time you try to claim ignorance of the subtleties between say, chives and thyme, you’ll find I’ve helpfully labeled them for you.

I led my first workshop yesterday! It was a Moss Graffiti Workshop for my guerrilla gardening group.

Following a brief slideshow and discussion about moss, graffiti, and moss graffiti, we made a yummy moss ‘starter’ (see the recipe after the jump). I had planned on brainstorming potential tags and artwork ideas, but everyone was raring to go and apply the frothy green mixture, so we just fanned out in small groups and pretended we were hooligans.

The moss starter goes on pretty much clear; in the top photo, Tim is simply embellishing someone else’s handiwork.

Highly recommended project – I can’t wait to see how all our designs turn out!

The energy cost for an electric mower (like the Black and Decker model shown above) is typically no more than $5.00 per year – and costs far less to the environment than gas-powered versions.

As gardeners, we like to think we’re pretty “green.” But did you know that gas lawnmowers and trimmers release about 80,000 tonnes of emissions in Canada every year? And in the US, the EPA estimates that gas-powered lawnmowers account for up to 5% of US air pollution. Yikes.

Want to reduce your footprint? A Canadian non-profit organization called the Clean Air Foundation runs a lawnmower and trimmer recycling and rebate program called Mow Down Pollution. Now in its seventh year, Mow Down Pollution has retired and recycled 12,191 gas lawnmowers and trimmers, resulting in the reduction of 270 tonnes of greenhouse gas and smog-forming emissions.

To participate, drop into any Home Depot location across Canada from April 19-29, 2007 to return your higher polluting gas lawnmower or trimmer. You’ll receive an instant rebate off the purchase of a cleaner alternative lawncare product including reel, electric or low-emission gas mowers, blowers and trimmers. They’ll even ensure your old lawnmower is recycled responsibly – free of charge. Sweet!

Heavy Petal has been shortlisted in the first-ever Mouse and Trowel awards. In fact, Heavy Petal is a finalist in two categories – Best Design of a Garden Blog and Best North American Garden Blog – which is truly humbling.

Thank you to all who took the time to nominate this little blog! I feel grateful and truly honoured. Now go vote for the finalists! Voting is open until May 11.

Do you keep a garden journal? If so, what do you use it for?

I have kept a garden journal in the past, but really, it’s far too organized of me – I abandoned the exercise a couple of years ago. I did use mine for recording the varieties of seeds planted – and their success or failure in the garden – as well as sketching out design ideas. One thing that worked well for me was to include a rough site plan, with existing plants and trees marked, and then whenever I acquired a new plant I’d mark it and glue in the plant label. See – far too organized!

Photo from House & Garden: Eden Personal Organizer from Kate’s Paperie.