I’m going to be interviewed live on “The Artist’s Lifestyle” talking about You Grow Girl, gardening, and the art.
When: Tuesday, Jan 30. 5:30-6:00pm
What: 93.3 FM CFMU
To listen online: Go to the website and click on “webcast” [left sidebar].
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Last week I took 4 boxes of gorgeous, warm, handmade, winter items (and one You Grow Girl book) to The Redwood Women’s Shelter here in Toronto. These boxes were the result of this year’s You Grow Girl Warm Winter Wear Drive. I tied each item with a pretty string of yarn and added a gift tag. Some of the handmade tags were donated by Renee. Please don’t mind me as I get sappy but I was really pleased and proud to deliver such a fine collection of warm gear. Really. I’ve particpated in charity drives in the past but this just felt really good knowing that so many people from this site took the time to make such fabulous scarves, hats, mittens, and even baby blankets!
Here’s the full tally of items:
You can see more photos of the items donated to the drive here.
Leave a commentThe Recycled Garden Contest has come to a close. Myself and a team of impartial judges have voted and decided on two entires that have each won a copy of Tsia Carson’s book, Craftivity.
Just to refresh, here are the details:
This time around the contest has a theme in keeping with the spirit of the prizes. Submit a photo that shows a thoughtful and unique way that you are using recycled materials in your garden.
And now, The Winners:
Becky used cardboard boxes rather than the typical newspaper as a mulch to smother weeds and eventually compost her way into a new and imporved weed-free garden bed. We unanimously loved this idea because while it has no aesthetic value, the parts that are recycled literally break down to become a part of the garden. It’s recycling at it’s finest in that the objects being reused never make it to the garbage dump but are disintegrated and contribute to improving the soil along the way.
We couldn’t resist Renee’s simple, but brilliant birdbath idea made using an old bowl and some pieces of rusted rebar. Renee submitted a bunch of great ideas including this miniature border made of thrifted plates with a flowery pattern.
I want to add a special shout-out to Chris Chang who submitted this grow bag contraption that feeds condensation from an air-conditioner through a tube and into a plastic bag holding petunias. Okay so I’m not a big petunia fan since they’ve the Parks & Rec “flower gun” plant of choice for the last 3 decades, but the contraption is a pretty darn awesome idea that demonstrates both the concept of “self-watering” and grey water collection simultaneously.
I have a personal soft-spot for Green Wellies concrete planter made by digging a chunk of concrete out of the ground! It’s kind of like the hypertuffa containers I make although I pour the mix into the ground on purpose and have the benefit of placing all the required holes where I want them.
Don’t forget to join the mailing list (right side, top of homepage) to be notified about the next contest to be announced very soon.
Leave a commentI’ve recently become interested in photographing the decaying garden. It started in the spring when I spent an hour photographing a garden while it was still brown but on the verge of exploding into green. I’m starting to appreciate both the garden and nature’s seasons on the whole. I’ve always had such a block towards winter because of the cold, but photography is bringing me around simply because I need to be out there in it in order to take pictures of it.
And so now that the garden season is over I am turning my attention to the way things look as the plants prepare for dormancy. I love the bare structures; tomato cages, and homemade trellises that are left behind; the look of the plants as they break down to architectural skeletons and stringy vines bearing floppy leaves. I am discovering that I had spent so much time focussing on the garden through the summer months that I had lost sight of the fact that it stays alive in it’s own way through the remaining months of the year. I am starting to see it and appreciate it in new ways.
Here are a few examples:
I’ve started a new contest on the site. The prizes are copies of Tsia Carson’s book, “Craftivity.” I tend to make contests that are simple to enter but thought it would be fun to do one that is more interactive. I love to see the inventive things you are doing in your gardens. I also think it’s important in a gardening media that is saturated with images of pricey, hyper-perfect gardens to get as many images of gardens by you and me out into the world as possible. Your little pot of basil set on the stoop is just as valid as anything seen in the glossy pages of a magazine.
So in the spirit of Tsia’s book I thought it would be inspiring to see how you are making use of former tin cans, plastic bottles, and other items from the roadside economy in your gardening practice. And to get the ball rolling I’ve tagged a bunch of my own images on Flickr so you can see that we’re not looking for over-the-top submissions here (although those are great) but simple and creative solutions to recycling and reusing.
Visit the contest page for more details and submission details.
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