plant in the earth, well, ok some pots...

in honor of earth day, i made a seeds purchase for my burgeoning veggie garden.  i found some great organic seeds through the cosa verde blog, which highlights eco and green merchants on etsy.  {another fave green blog i should have added to my list...}

i got the butter crunch lettuce {my favorite} from etsy seller fluffn flowers and okra {yum} from seven acre woods.  i want to plant these in some more pots on the patio, or maybe some cool recycled wine crates...

{photos from here and here.}

happy home-maker: {recycled container gardening}

i'm loving all of the innovative gardens and gardening i'm seeing out there in the world.  from the amazing raised veggie beds from adriana at victory home & garden to rachel's innovative use of old wine crates, transformed and repurposed into gardening items over at heart of light.  and of course it's old news now, but the veggie garden at the white house is such important news, what a great example to set for the rest of the country...i certainly don't have the space that they have, but that's where all of these cool containers and creative uses of objects are so inspirational. 

today over at vintage indie, i spotted these great recycled mobile gardens from etsy seller semper nova.  i love that they rescue old items and transform them into something living and beautiful.

{photo credit:  semper nova via vintage indie}

ps.  adriana at victory home & garden is working on a punk rock gardening podcast.  how cool is that?  go over there right now & ask her your burning edible garden questions.  {and i'm sure she'll field a question or two about the clash or the germs if you ask nicely.}

happy home-maker {beginning the veggie garden}

we started the veggie garden this weekend.  patty helped me put together the self-watering containers, which erik recommended and filled them with organic soil.  our local nursery had a bevy of organic seedlings to choose from, so we picked:

red romaine

brussels sprouts

cauliflower

onions

celery

tomatoes

beans

we also bought some seeds from seeds of change:

butter lettuce

carrots

kale

i know seeds of change can be controversial, but they were the only organic option at the nursery.  i planted the seedlings directly in the containers & used the little crates from the seedlings to plant the seeds inside.  i tried to put similar veggies together in the separate boxes.  once the seeds sprout, i should have enough room to plant them in the boxes. 

the self-watering containers seem like a great idea, but the one i put together seems to be leaking.  i suppose i should have double checked it before i filled it with dirt.  i can't really move it or take them apart now.  i'm a little bummed about that, since the last thing i want to do is waste water.  i'll have to water that container "traditionally."  live and learn...

my only other concern is sunlight.  we have a huge yard, but it's all concrete and brick, with a few shaded beds.  so i decided to put the beds on our dining room patio, which also is easy access to the kitchen.  it doesn't get sun all day, only in the morning, so we'll see how the veggies fare...i'm just winging it!

i also planted some herbs in a small container on the patio.

so we'll see how it goes...hopefully we'll be eating some of our own veggies soon.

happy friday

happy friday!  patty promised she's going to help me put together the veggie beds on the kitchen patio this weekend...cauliflower is her favorite veggie, so we have to plant some of those...

still not sure if i'm going to plant from seeds or not, there's a nursery that sells little starter plants near us.  but first step this weekend is to put the beds together!  we'll see how it goes...

my old neighbors, erik and kelly, have written a great book with lots of advice about home gardening {and other punk rock, diy advice for living a self sufficient lifestyle in the city}.  erik has recommended some raised beds that we're going to put together on the patio.  we're also going to get some organic potting soil from the nursery down the street.  i'll report back...

happy weekend!

{photo credit: flickr}

hold the honey {moon}

since oona's surgery we've had to reconsider the eco honeymoon in mexico we'd been dreaming about...

maybe we just need one of these for the backyard instead...

{photo credit: lama via more ways to waste time}

reduce, reuse, recycle: {fluttery paper hanging trees}

i'm loving all the fluttery, flow-y, paper garlands and hanging decorations i'm seeing all over...what a fun diy project and reuse of paper, sheet music, magazines, sewing patterns, old books, memories, etc?  great for a garden wedding or party...

{photos 1,2: one love photo via a practical wedding; photos 3-7: royal buffet via oh so beautiful paper; photo 8: flickr via green wedding shoes; photo 9: flickr; photos 10, 11: everyday beauty via two brides}

happy home-maker {victory veggie garden}

i'm trying to get motivated to create a vegetable garden on the patio deck outside our kitchen.  i started the project at the height of our wedding planning last year and well, it sure fell by the wayside!  i've been really inspired by a new blog i discovered via my favorite magazine, sunset.  victory home & garden is all about urban gardening.  she blogs about her raised beds, her beautiful bounty and her dog.  i love her punk rock attitude and her diy bent.  plus i've also discovered many new vegan recipe blogs that i'm excited to delve into...

{photo of raised bed from victory home & garden.}

garden & delight

meg had me when she put the words "garden delight" in her title...the wedding she featured today is simply magical.  please, if you haven't already, go see.

{photo by one love photo via a practical wedding}

wedding details: {potted moss centerpieces}

i've been seeing a lot about potted centerpieces around the blogging world.  earth friendly weddings wrote about lovely moss & over at 2000 dollar wedding, sara posted some beautiful potted herbs as centerpieces.

while ours were much more simple than either of the above, i love what kate did.  she found beautiful, green, lush pots of moss & placed them in the middle of the table.  that was the centerpiece.  nothing else.  i loved how it looked--it was simple, green, lush and beautiful.  and some folks took them home...the rest we planted in the garden.

garden transformation: coming along...

the garden is coming along.  kate helped me pick out a bunch of plants & we had them planted last week.  it's getting there. but, wow, so overwhelming!  there's a lot of yard.  we still want to finish it with some wood chips around the new plantings, take out the rose bushes & plant succulents & get a BUNCH more potted plants to break up all the concrete/brick area.

garden wedding inspiration

check out this wedding at a botanical garden in england.  so beautiful.  i love the pink & greens (just add brown & you've got our wedding), the mis-matched chairs and of course all of the plants.

voile bunting in the garden trees

here's another cool idea from peonies & polaroids.  voile bunting in the trees.  maybe if they were ivory instead of white?

flowers in the backyard

kate is really helping me out with the landscaping & the flowers for the wedding.  tomorrow we are going to get some lily-of-the niles (agapanthus).  i'm thinking of just planting the 2 beds full of agapantus & putting some other more exotic plants around in pots.

garden transformation: {before}

We have began to transform the garden for the wedding.  Here is the "before" photo.  Georgia is my fabulous wedding planner & helping with the garden transformation.  Last week, we went to Sunburst Rock in Baldwin Park and chose some decomposed granite (DG) for the seating area for the wedding.  After the wedding, it will become Patty's dog run.  Georgia also had her handy man, Mario come over.  He painted the laundry room, cleared out the backyard, trimmed the trees and laid the DG on the seating area/dog run.  We ordered 7 square yards and there was a HUGE pile left over.  Thankfully, our neighbors took the rest of it and made some nice paths.  Now, the next step is choosing the plants for the backyard...