I have to spend time in the open air with green growing things. Wild spaces tend my soul.
I love tending plants, and I love visiting gardens, parks and farmers markets.
I’m a member of The Nature Conservancy, The Sequoia Natural History Association, and Descanso Gardens.
I also enjoy visiting the Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County Arboretum and the Huntington Gardens.
my garden
I’m currently living in an apartment with only the opportunity for indoor houseplants (Christmas cacti, at the moment, though I’d like to have a spider plant as soon as I figure out the best way to hang the pot from my ceiling) and a small container garden on the balcony.
At various times, I’ve grown herbs and flowers there…
- spearmint
- rosemary
- chives
- succulents
- chrysanthemums
- geraniums and a Martha Washington (aka regal pelargonium)
- daffodils, tulips, irises and other assorted spring bulbs
I have also tried growing the following, but parts of the balcony get too hot and one year a nasty whitefly infestation took over…
- oregano
- basil
- dill
- parsley
- different pepper varieties
- different tomato varieties
farmers markets
The next best thing to growing food yourself is shopping for it at a local farmers market.
- California Federation of Certified Farmers Markets
- LocalHarvest “maintains a definitive and reliable “living” public nationwide directory of small farms, farmers markets, and other local food sources.”
- AMS at USDA has a list of farmers markets by state.
- Farmers Market Online has an open air market directory, too.
- The Chef2Chef portal has a directory of farmers markets by state, too.
- An interesting behind-the-scenes look at farmers markets: ATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service’s Farmers’ Markets Marketing & Business Guide
my dream-garden
In the garden of my imagination, I have a yard filled with beautiful plants, flowers, herbs, fruits, vegetables, trees… I count the following online suppliers among the wishbooks of my dreams… (but before I order anything in reality, I’d check out a forum like The Garden Watchdog to make sure there’s no recent history of trouble with the companies order processing or products!)
- Gardener’s Supply Company
- Dutch Gardens
- Schreiners Iris Gardens
- Smith & Hawken
- Gardens Alive!
- Van Engelen, Inc., John Scheepers and Kitchen Garden Seeds
- Breck’s
- Burpee
- Park’s Gardens
- Spring Hill Nurseries
- Henry Field’s Seed & Nursery
- Seymour’s Selected Seeds
- Pepper Joe’s
- Heirloom Seeds
- Victory Seed Company
- Seeds Trust
- Wildflower Farms
- The Heirloom Vegetable Gardener’s Assistant
- GreenPeople.org