I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of guerilla gardening. Of resisting the concrete sprawl and challenging the ownership of vacant lots. It’s not a new idea; the movement started in New York’s Bowery district in the 70s with a landscape painter named Liz Christy. She spearheaded the reclaimation of the streets by turning vacant […]
Green Gardening & Living
Come again some other day
It’s definitely autumn in Vancouver. I can tell because my biceps are becoming nicely toned from constantly carrying an umbrella, the bottom of my pant legs are always damp, and all I feel like doing is staying inside, curled up by the fire with a book. We’ve entered monsoon season, and while I hate it […]
The Hundred Mile Diet
Never thought I’d say it, but I’ve found a diet I can fully endorse. Fellow Vancouverites Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon are halfway through their one-year committment to the Hundred-mile Diet. No, it has nothing to do with the town named for the hundredth mile on the gold rush trail (my mom, whose parents dragged […]
More reasons to RIP OUT your lawn
The lawns in the United States consume around 270 billion gallons of water a week – enough to water 81 million acres of organic vegetables, all summer long. Food Not Lawns is an organization dedicated to encouraging and supporting people in replacing their lawns with edible flowers, fruits, vegetables, and other useful plants. “Or,” they […]
Natural lawn care
I don’t believe in lawns. At least in principle. Or is it just that I don’t like the over-manicured, green-even-in-summer, weed-free lawns we gardeners are supposed to aspire to? It just seems so… wasteful. But it doesn’t have to be. And, let’s face it: lawns serve their purpose: they (can be) easy care; they provide […]
Communities in Bloom
Vancouver’s boulevards and traffic circles, in recent years, have just exploded with greenery and blossoms. Ever wonder who plants and maintains these public gardens? It’s people like you and me. Gardeners who’ve recently divided perennials. Who see a bare patch of dirt and think, “I have just the plant for that spot!” It doesn’t take […]