Kids have fantastic design sense and even great drawing ability. I am discovering this as I layout my new garden plans for 2011 with my kids, rather than on CAD in my office as I would normally do for a client. Both my son and daughter have churned out various plans for our garden and … Read more
I find the idea behind Jerry Sohn’s desert garden rooms unbelievably inspiring. Wanting a place in the vast landscape of the Mojave Desert (where he owns a small house), he commissioned Architect Arata Isozaki to create rooms in this place — one for each season. Jerry likes to sleep outdoors with his family and enjoy the night … Read more
Folly Builder. Can you think of a better business card title? I wonder if anyone in the US has that title? Folly’s are much more common in the UK where Paul Taylor runs Alchemy Gardens– a specialist folly building company. I’m updating this post as I just came across this new project by Alchemy Gardens. … Read more
When colorful bits start falling from the sky – and everything on the ground starts to shrivel, it makes sense that you might need to strategize on how to make the most of the autumn garden season. My autumnal garden is covered in the first shed of yellow pine needles that precede the big leaf … Read more
It’s late July/ August, and it is officially ‘late season’ for plant shopping at the nursery and this is your guide to getting cheap plants at one of the best times of year for planting. (Don’t worry! – you get another chance for regular-season planting in the early fall – come September). In many … Read more
As a recovering software engineer, I sometimes miss geek culture. So, when Mike (the software engineer who keeps bees in my garden) showed up with Pavel (a Moscovite comp sci guy, legendary apiarist in Russia, and budding pumpkin growing champ) and Gregory (a certifiable pumpkin champ), I was sucked into discussions of homemade experiments, grand schemes, … Read more
If you live along the east coast of the United States and especially in New England, you are probably ready for spring. As I type, it is a balmy 12 degrees outside. Thankfully, we have had a few weeks without snow and with enough sunlight to begin melting the snow. We even began mulching and … Read more
We’ve made Easter eggs with onion skins, cabbage and turmeric and I’ve always found the warm muted earthy tones more appealing than the results achieved with your average Paws color kit. But until I saw this recent story on NPR, I had never considered using those techniques with any other project. Derived from plants, natural colors (many … Read more
This past Sunday, I had the honor to attend Maine’s TED conference, TEDxDirigo. The Treehouse Institute organized this TED event in our state. Dirigo is the state motto for Maine, which simply means – “I lead.” Maine is regarded by some as having one of the oldest populations in the nation. It is a major … Read more
My apple repertoire was limited before I moved to New England. I grew up in Colorado, so I think I’m excused for not knowing there was more than Red Delicious. (which I never liked). But New Englanders (and I suspect those who live in other heirloom and heritage apple growing regions as well), all know … Read more