A Rolling Stone Occasionally Stops to Gather Moss and Other Vegetation

As much as I would like to explore each nook and cranny of the Mid-Atlantic region during my every waking moment, there are times that I need to remain home and get things done. I miss the adventures when I don't wander but the silver lining of staying close to home is that I get to work on some of my other hobbies.

Tomatoes grown indoors after frost

In addition to hiking, camping, and sight-seeing, I dream of living a sustainable and small lifestyle somewhere off-grid.  Currently, that dream feels as though it will always remain a distant and hazy vision. A fantasy.  Then when I spend time “gardening”,  it suddenly feels as though my dream of taking the middleman out of feeding myself is closer to being true than I had thought.

For the past two weekends, I have spent a bit of time preparing my balcony for this season’s vegetable garden.   I moved here in the heat of the summer last year but even so, I started a balcony vegetable garden almost immediately.  

Cold weather came quickly and I moved my tomatoes indoors. Luckily, I had great success with the inexpensive kitchen garden lighting I chose. 

I am so excited that another growing season has arrived and I am working hard to make more space for vegetables by going vertical.

If you are interested in gardening (either in the yard or in containers) I strongly recommend that you search out our gardening experts on Squidoo. I am only listing four links to Squidoo gardening experts here.  However, there are many, many more garden gurus in our writing community.  

• AnnaMKB has excellent tips about balcony gardening. 
• JaguarJulie is the backyard garden contributor.    
• A list of 5 gardening lenses of various Squidoo contributors 
• A fantastic garden planter idea from angelatvs 

I hope you enjoyed my brief break from wandering across the mid-Atlantic.  I would love to hear from you, how does your garden grow?

Image Credit: Images are mine ©Dawn Rae – All Rights Reserved (Click on photo for larger view)

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Cultivating Green

Window Farm Photo by Josh Kalish

In a world of constant change, there are some things that remain with us over the course of our lives.  In my case, two of those enduring things, which aren’t really things at all, are a love for words and farming.  Since I was a young girl, I have had an abiding need for planting words and seeds.

Though I live in the country now, that wasn’t always the case.  For much of my life I lived in some of the largest urban centers in our country (Chicago, Houston, and San Antonio).  I never imagined living or thriving while surrounded by vast acres of concrete.  It seems one does adapt when necessary.

As Squidoo’s Green Living Contributor, I often receive comments on my articles from those who yearn to live as I do—off the grid, in the country, surrounded by wide, open spaces.  I often hear it said that it isn’t possible to live green at the moment.  Sometimes it is a matter of needing to be near family or work.  These green yearning souls have set their own longings aside, having deferred their dreams (perhaps indefinitely).

What I have learned, though, is that urban farming is not only entirely possible, it is a hugely popular phenomenon that could ultimately be one of the most important movements of our generation.  Without much more than eight square feet of light, these city dwellers, known as “window farmers,” have found a way to cultivate their green (both an inner and outer greening).

This week, as I read Paradise Lot, a book about two plant geeks who converted a desolate city space into an abundantly thriving garden of Eden, I thought of others who have created their own means of cultivating green wherever they happen to dwell.

My friend Dawn Rae shows you can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.  She gardens in a big city apartment. LindaJM presents the possibilities of Window Farming 101.  Kari Spencer, of the Micro Farm Project, demonstrates how she turned her small urban yard into a true showcase.

As I sit here by the window tapping away on my laptop, nurturing little wordlings, still just tiny sprouts, I am cultivating the kind of green that makes my life a garden paradise.  How will you cultivate your green today? 

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