Living Jewelry--Garden Necklace by Colleen Jordan

  This beautiful, elegant necklace holds tiny plants!  Take a garden with you!  For more designs and information on where to buy a necklace by artist Colleen Jordan visit her website: http://www.colleenjordan.com/ or find her on etsy.com



Photo by Colleen Jordan



Off the Grid! DIY Bio-Char Clean Burning Stove

Sea-Char.org is working to change the world one stove at a time! Bio-char stoves create charcoal which can be sold and clean burning heat which can be used for cooking.  After attending a workshop this weekend I've decided to post a series of instructions on this blog.  Please keep an eye out for more information and visit Sea-Char.org for more info!

Photo by Compost This!

DIY --Indoor Container Gardens

I have to give credit where credit is due, and I just want to say that my sister, Shannon, always sends me the coolest links.  For example check out this really cool looking ULTRA CHEAP if not FREE indoor container garden idea.  Soda bottles for the planter, CD for the base!  Whalla!

Or how about this idea with wooly pockets on the walls!  Check out the awesome site Re-nest.  For more tips on indoor gardens of all shapes and sizes check out gardenguides.com


Photo by Re-nest.com



Green Goodbyes

Did you know that each year the United States entombs over a million tons of concrete and nearly a million gallons of embalming fluid most of which is highly toxic? See Mark Harris's Grave Matters (Scribner, 2007).
Earlier this month Time Magazine posted a news article "Rest in Fleece." Instead of pine wood, plastic, or metal a British designer has created a wool coffin made of sheep fleece. These coffins are not only soft, they are ecologically safe and biodegradable over time. The British company Hainsworth, and their Natural Legacy line of coffins are "suitable for cremation and all kinds of burial." They have coffins for pets too.

Final Footprint designs eco-friendly coffins out of natural materials such as banana leaves, willow branches, and bamboo.

Arko Ecopods are made out of recycled paper and are biodegradable. They are a product of the Natural Burial Company based in Eugene, Oregon.

To find a green/ecologically safe burial company near you visit The Natural Burial Council website.

Another eco-sensitive, and fiscally responsible idea is to purchase your coffin ahead of time and re-purpose it as furniture: pool tables, kitchen cabinets, or shelving see:

Shelves for Life by William Warren

Eco-Warrior Lingerie

Gardening is sexy!  Check out this eco-warrior outfit!  The cups are a recyclable pot that comes apart to create the bra and the belt holds water! Triumph Lingerie Rice Growing Kit Bra-Set.  Watch a video (In Japanese) all about how it was made! How about a solar-panel bra!

Photo by: Asiatown

Organic sources for under-things:
Kick Ash Expose Coal by Changing your underwear--PACT underwear
Natural Living for Women

Ecoland
Gaiam Intimates
Ecobody Wear

Save the Date! Blues for Food Festival

BLUES FOR FOOD FESTIVAL!

Come on down to Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington for an amazin' time!  Blues music!  Muscians from the Washington State Blues society come together with the P-patch Trust and the local food bank to create beautiful music and tons of fresh produce!
P-patch chefs create PIES that we auction off!  Last year we raised over $800 in PIE!

2011 BLUES FOR FOOD FEST SATURDAY SEPT 3 MAGNUSON PARK 6344 NE. 74th St. Seattle, Wa. 98115

Garden beds on Cement!

Gardening on cement?  It CAN BE DONE!  Pretend that the driveway is actually slate, or clay or something else that is impermeable.  

COMPOST THIS! suggests that ANY cement area can become a garden! My outdoor patio--covered in cement-- has become a garden oasis in the city!   Beds only need to be 6 inches deep for most plants!  For details check out Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work.  Mel Bartholomew suggests setting the bed on soil that hasn't been tilled. 
COMPOST THIS! suggests that urbanites can utilize the many acres of cement we have in the city by making raised beds and placing them directly on cement (no need for a liner). If you want to grow edibles on a driveway that has shared the space with automobiles, you may want to line the bottom of your bed with a plastic liner to keep chemicals from leaching into your soil.  Remember to add nutrients to your soil by adding fertilizer and compost.  Compost your weeds and cuttings!  Check out COMPOST THIS! Low/No Cost DIY, Apartment- sized composter. 
I've found that my plants prefer the room and drainage provided in raised beds versus plastic or terracotta containers.  

Garden Everywhere! Garden Anywhere!

Arbor Day April 29th PLANT A TREE!

The last Friday in April is ARBOR DAY!  You can get free trees to plant in your backyard or in your neighborhood!  Visit the Arbor Day Foundation, sign up and get 10 free trees!

I'm actually doin' a bit of Johnny Appleseed planting in a public green space!  Shhhhh.....be very very quiet..... it is a secret!  I camouflage myself in an official looking bright orange and yellow safety jacket, and come prepared with chicken-wire and orange flagging tape, so they look like the city put them in (hee hee) and so the fruit trees don't get run over by the mower!

Check out these great organizations to find out how YOU can plant a TREE!

Treepeople --great organization offers free fruit tree programs.
Anarchy in the Garden--"Keeping it punk by growing your own" 
City of Albany, CA -Free Trees Anyone from Albany, California?  Albany residents can get free fruit trees from the city! 
Seattle "Re-Leaf" Program --plant trees, trees, and more Trees!!
The Fruit Tree Planting Foundation -- Johnny would be proud!

 

Low Cost Wall Garden

Photo by Happy Sleepy & Apartment Therapy ( By the way Happy Sleepy is a great artist and photographer! Apt. Therapy is a GREAT site ! Check it out!)

I have a huge cement wall on one side of my garden.  I'm thinking of setting up a series of tin cans.........perhaps I'll paint little garden scenes on them, or silhouettes of birds!   Low or no cost!  Be sure to poke some holes in the bottom for drainage. 
For more info check out Apartment Therapy!

Some books on the subject:

Rooftop Nature Trail---Honolulu Convention Center

I just got back from my trip to Hawai'i yesterday and have to say that the rooftop garden on the 4th floor of the convention center took my breath away.  Palm trees reaching 20 to 30 feet or more were part of a nature trail that wove along the one side of the roof.  On the other side was a lily pond area that stretched from one side of the building to the other with lilies blooming in purple and white.  Gardening on rooftops doesn't have to be restricted to containers............