gardening

  • Composting is a fun and easy way to live a little greener and boost the nutrient value of your soil. Start with a compost bin. This can be stationary or rotating. The key is to periodically turn the materials inside to aid the decay process by providing oxygen. The more the bin retains heat and moisture, the…

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  • Tulip Tales

    tulip

    Last spring I had the opportunity to visit Holland when the tulips were blooming. It was beautiful!  My journey began in Vienna. My husband gave me a single tulip. With the tulip along for the ride, we started our journey. The first stop was in western Austria. Not a tulip in sight but beautiful primroses.…

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  • Kid plays outside

    It is always important to provide opportunities for children to spend unstructured time with nature. Here is a book I suggest for parents, grandparents and those who are concerned about our children Richard Louv’s book Last Child in the Woods. The book looks at the concept of nature deficit disorder. The theory is that our…

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  • Wisteria….

    Wisteria

    Springtime in Georgia is magical. The wisteria winds through the trees along the roads and in wooded areas. It looks like a ribbon of purple intertwined among the trees. The sweet heady scent floats through the air. A thing of beauty to all but those with allergies and those who know how that wisteria is…

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  • guineas

    Have the grasshoppers, beetles, ticks and other insects taken over your yard and garden?  Get rid of them using a natural way – get Guineas!  Back home on the ranch there are several Guineas that wander freely around the house and farm buildings and there are few, if any, grasshoppers.  To keep the Guineas from…

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  • flowers

    Back home in Athens I ventured out to the UGA Trial Gardens Open House. As always, the gardens were amazing and retiring professor Dr. Allan Armitage leading the garden tours was entertaining. The UGA Trial Gardens are essentially a giant research lab located on the Athens campus and open to the public. They were started…

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  • Mother’s Day is just around the corner.  What plans have you made?  How about going GREEN this Mother’s Day. Here are a few of my favorite ideas. Spring is here and all thoughts go to gardening, how about making a special garden just for mom.         Here are some suggestions:  Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden, Cutting…

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  • butterfly

    It is springtime in Athens, Georgia. When days are soft and sunny folks start to move out-of-doors.  So what are some green outdoor activities that are low cost and low impact, but high on the fun index? We all want play and live greener without spending our shrinking “greenbacks.” Walk. One of the healthiest and…

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  • St Johns community garden sign

    Lenah Links brings together community members from Lenah Valley, New Town and the surrounding communities to share their ideas on sustainability, transportation, local food production, and community dialog. The community members say the most important part of Lenah Links is that people are getting to know their neighbors. Lenah Links is a subgroup of Lenah Valley Community Association. The community…

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  • Map of Australia

    Cohousing and ecovillages are one of the ways Australia is addressing the housing crisis. Issues such as affordability, ecological impact of new (and existing) housing developments and creating communities that embrace the human need for connecting with whom we live with and nearby are important elements of sustainability. Cohousing and ecovillages embrace the small home movement, and encourage homes that…

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  • Hobart community garden

    We visited so many spectacular spaces throughout our trip, and this Community Garden in Hobart, Tasmania was certainly one of them.

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  • Biophilic Design suggests that suggests that there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. We heard much at the Healthy Building Conference about the need to rethink our living spaces – beyond community gardens, bike paths, and public transport – though each idea is important it is about an holistic approach…

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  • Melbourne St Kilda garden

    St. Kilda’s “Veg Out” Community Garden is built on the site of the old St. Kilda Bowling Club in the Port Phillip Council area. The facilities are also home to artist studios, rented on a month to month basis, with garden plots are rented for a $100 annually. The site is overseen by the Local…

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  • Northey Street City Farm is a non-profit community organisation situated on the banks of Brisbane’s Breakfast Creek in Windsor. More than 1500 exotic and native fruit trees, bushtucker plants, shrubs and ground covers have been planted on the four hectare farm site since its inception in April 1994. The farm has been developed for people…

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