Happy Halloween

The crows are out in full force, scavenging fallen fruits and nuts.

I love it when grape vines go crazy and climb up trees. I missed my grape arbor this year.

Cool Coop

Mitchell Snyder and Shelly Martin are setting their hens up in style in this fabulous coop designed by Mitchell. Via Dwell.

Wired's Guide to "Domestic Terraforming"

Nice garden plans for various plot sizes from Wired.

Can Contact with Soil Improve Your Well Being?

Some would argue so from an experiential point of view, but a new study has found a link between Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria found in soil, and intelligence and happiness in mice. Read about it at Science Daily.

Found Some

Ecola State Park

Luke Bartels

Luke Bartels is a San Francisco-based artisan furniture maker who works primarily with locally salvaged and sustainable woods. His sculptural approach celebrates the natural beauty inherent in his materials. I love these branch antlers.

They're Here.

A big thanks to Jessyca for sharing photos of her fab fungus score. Hopefully I will find some tomorrow.

How do You Grow Food when You Don't Have any Land?

Truck Farm!!! It's a mobile environmental advocacy project as well as an actual working farm that will deliver food on a subscription basis. Keep your eyes open for the documentary film produced by Wicked Delicate. Be sure to check out the film clips.

Black Plants

Wow. I can't wait to get this book! Next year will definitely entail a lot of refinement of color in the garden. There have been some areas of utter color madness (admittedly some of it was my doing). I want to have one area that is black and white. I must get one of these black hellebores shown on the cover.

Black Plants by Paul Bonine via Beyond Garden Design.

Garden Update

This fig tree was just a wee twig with one little leaf a few months ago. I wonder if being situated at the site of the old compost pile has anything to do with it's success.

This pepper just insists on living in the past.

The 8' sungold plant toppled over. There are still so many tomatoes. I just can't keep up with them all. If anybody knows how to get rid of that dastardly little oxalis, please let me know!

Farm Together Now

Farm Together Now: a portrait of people, places, and ideas for a new food movement—a book by Amy Francheshini of Future Farmers and Daniel Tucker will be coming out soon through Chronicle Books!

We want to change the way the food system works! Farm Together Now meets with people across the country who are challenging the conventions of industrialized farming and exclusive green economies.

Jealous!

Dang. Look at all the pumpkins my cousin grew over in Ireland.

Back in July she scored all of these wild strawberries while walking her dogs in the forest. For real.

More food

Thanks to Danger Garden for reminding me about roasting tomatoes.

More food I grew. I love these squash with their edible skin. And, proud moment—two Meyer lemons! They are slated for Meyer Lemon Budino later this evening.

Night Photography by Justin Carrasquillo

Beautiful work by LA based Justin Carrasquillo.