It's Earth Day

Today is Earth Day and to honor that day ( a day which should be celebrated everyday really), I offer up a few pics from our garden taken just a few minutes ago.   Also, on a whim and realizing I had leftover redwood from the carriage door project, built this lattice shade/trellis over the old brick patio.  The yard gets full sun this time of year and we needed someplace that didn't let us cook under the sun.

We would like to say thank you to the following for helping us make our home and garden more of a reality.

-Bill and Sylvia Beckerley
-Lois and Lenny Paul
-The Temescal Tool Library 

I expect nobody to respond to this blog because....you should be outside celebrating Earth day not using the Internet like me! lol

So Enjoy!

Stain glass through Window

New garden arbor/trellis with growing Honeysuckle vine, antique blue tea lamp and recovering bouganvillea in hanging planter.

California Poppies just keep coming back here every year.

The dark wood framing connecting beam to back wall is actually from an old sofa bed.  Chair courtesy of in-laws.

Andrea's recent artwork masterpiece is hidden among the poppies and growing 4 o'clocks.

Clematis?  We thought you dead but you came back out of nowhere this Spring.

Andrea's new vegetable box with recent plantings of zucchini and other veggies.

The mint looks, smells and tastes great.  I'm trying something new by growing Morning Glories and Sunflowers in an old copper colored pillow case. lol

We recently attended a W. Oakland Community Garden event and showed some support by purchasing a few starters, including this Chamomile plant.  W. Oakland hopes to build a big health food store and great a large urban farm just a few blocks from us.  Hope it happens.

The pink rose bush that came with the house continues to flourish despite the fact that I do nothing else but throw our coffee grounds at it.

Also, one of our neighbors in the hood is Novella Carpenter, author of 'Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer'.  She continues to do very interesting work with food production in vacant lots and is an inspiration to many urban farmers.  I learned about her about 2 months after we moved here and was encouraged by her efforts.  Check her out!
http://ghosttownfarm.wordpress.com/