Hedgehog Plantings

As I've blogged about before, my quirky daughter loves all things hedgehog (random, cute, scrappy - just like her).  She and her 2nd grade friends even have a little hedgehog club going, complete with ID badges backed with duct tape (the latest rage in little girl crafting).

So when I saw them in online gift guide, I had to snap up these stoneware Anthropologie hedgehog measuring cups... I mean, how cute?  Too cute to actually use (or accurately measure with)...

So I decided to plant succulents in them for the window sill in my revamped kitchen.  A trip to the nursery garnered me these....

... and this....

 ... and a few minutes later, this...

Have a great day!
Deb

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Edible Schoolyard

Yesterday we updated our family's little vegetable garden, pulling the last of the salad greens, and planting the new round of veggies - beans, peppers, and kale.  I hope the girls are taking it all in, but truthfully they spent most of the time digging for inchworms and what they call "rollie pollies" - some other little bugs we seem to have a lot of.

It is great to see their excitement though, when they see the first tomatoes on the vine, or when they're given permission to cut some herbs or lettuce for dinner.  It's gotten me to thinking about the (kind of decrepit) courtyard at their elementary school.  I'm not sure if it gets enough sun, but it sure would be great to get some raised beds going in there!

Chef and restauranteur Alice Waters has provided a remarkable example in her work establishing The Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King, Jr Middle School in Berkeley, California.  Many years ago, Waters lamented publicly about the school's unloved outdoor space.  When the principal asked for her ideas and help, Waters stepped to the plate majorly - and today the school's grounds feature over 100 varieties of seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, and more!

Unsurprisingly, there are myriad ways that the students' experiences in the garden translate to learning in other parts of the curriculum...

Amazing!

What's for lunch, boys?

Check out the original project, and how it's evolved, here.

Deb

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Interpretations in Chain Link

Chain link fences are among the most hideous, everyday fixtures of our landscape - coming in heavy in the "function" and super low in the "form" within the framework of the whole form/function formula.

Well, not anymore.... thanks to identical twins Joep and Joeroen Verhoeven, who along with Judith de Graauw are founders of the Dutch firm Demakersvan.  Among their products are the most exquisite interpretations of traditional chain link fences...

Look at the detail... perhaps best described as "industrial lace"...

via Beyond the Doily

I love this photo - I think it best captures our associations with this kind of fencing (hostile, prison yard, animal gate), and then turns it on its head with something intricate and beautiful.

What a great way to be fenced in!
Deb

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Monet's Gardens on Display at the NYBG

Local New Yorkers and visitors are in for a real treat this summer.  The New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx (where I spent several years studying landscape design) has an exhibition running through October 21 that features recreations of Claude Monet's Giverny Gardens.  The gardens Monet so impressively painted, he created from scratch and the team at the NYBG has locally recreated!! Monet was an avid gardener who experimented with color palettes in his gardens long before committing them to canvas.  I always knew he was ahead of his time, but damn that is impressive.

You can read more about the exhibition in the New York Times article.

 

Talk about "Art in Bloom"?!?  WOW. I may just have to plan a little jaunt to NYC to see this incredible display!

Cheers!
Becky

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Building a Raised Veggie Garden Bed

Mother's Day is a lovely time to celebrate "Mom" and all the things she does throughout the year. Some might celebrate over brunch, some might take a day and spend it at the spa or shopping, but Deb and I had entirely different agendas. While Deb spent her Mother's Day up to her eyeballs in little girls, tutus, buns and 5 costume changes, I spent the day with my boys, a trip to the hardware store, power tools and dirt.  Quite a contrast no? Seriously though, I really wanted a vegetable garden and Mother's Day seemed to be as good as any day to build it!

I am almost too embarrassed to show you where the raised bed is going. This is a back corner of the yard that no one sees - which is probably why it is so lame. But it is also the place that gets the most uninterrupted sun through out the day,  so here is my chance to spruce it up a bit! 

Yep! Nothing says "Mother's Day" than a hard working husband and power tools. (Please tell me you can hear the irony in my voice!)

So we started out with 4 rough cuts of Fir (Pine rots too easily, Teak was too expensive and apparently you can't use pressure treated wood for a consumption garden...who knew?!? ) and trimmed them down to two 4' lengths and two 6' lengths.  We fastened them together at the corners with 3" screws and then covered the bottom with chicken wire - to prevent any unwanted critters from burrowing up into the vegetable garden.

The results of a mid-project romp to our local garden center!!

We then attached 4 posts to the corners so that we can wrap it in "poultry" mesh, again to keep the critters out. And then came the hard part. We had to dig out some of the garden bed to be able to set the new veggie garden bed in place.  I am not going to lie, this part was a pain in the neck - which is probably why I only have an "after" photo.

We used top soil blended with "Coast of Maine - Lobster Compost" and "Chickity-Doo-Doo". And then planted it with peas, spinach, arugula, lettuce, beets, carrots, chive, cilantro, and broccoli.  The tomatoes are destined for those pots that are currently against the wall.

We have more to go to get this bed in shape, but it is certainly coming along!

And on another note, I discovered the most adorable thing on Mother's Day!! 

Yep! Three little baby robins in a nest on my rose trellis! 

A belated Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's out there!!! And to my little Robin!

Becky
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Gentleman Farmer...

...and I mean that in the best way possible!!  It seems like in the past few years there has been a shift back to basics when it comes to food consumption.  Whole Foods posts gains year after year, CSAs are gaining in popularity, and local farmers markets are on the rise.  Most recently, I have had several people ask about creating and planting a family vegetable garden.  Now, I might remind you that we live mere miles outside of Boston. We are not talking the mid-west here folks!!!

Even Deb's throwing her hat in the grow-your-own-food ring via a collaboration with Green City Growers, Everything Old is New (Age) Again Blog, and WinCam (more on that later!).

  

So when I saw the new Williams Sonoma catalog with the back cover featuring their new "agrarian" line, I was thrilled. In fact the last ten pages were dedicated to this new line which features everything you would need to create a garden, harvest food from it and preserve it.  Check out some of the amazing pieces from their new line!

Looks like it is time to get dirty!!!

Becky
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Cherry Blossom Shopping

A couple of weeks ago, we blogged about the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C.  The daily shopping site Joss & Main has decided this milestone is worth celebrating, with a full collection inspired by the Japanese gift of friendship to the U.S. a century ago.  Chances are if you love cherry blossoms, you'll find something to love in this collection!

Hope you had a great weekend,

Deb

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