This week I had the fortune, luck, pleasure of being featured on the uber-cool Daily Candy for gogo.  What a treat!  By 7:15am I had five emails and by days end about 40ish from hopeful gardeners in Seattle and beyond.  I even got a few 'Ask the Gardener' type questions, which I loved.  Everyone seems curious about growing their own food, but not necessarily sure how to tackle the project.  Enter gogo green garden.  If you haven't seen the piece, check it out. 

(And, yes, I know my arms are totally ripped - thanks to a bit of hard work and a whole lotta Dillon.  gogo see her - you won't be sorry!)

Well, well, well....... when the New York Times writes about something, it sorta becomes instantly legitimate.  On the cover of today's Sunday Styles section (and, yes, it's my favorite) is a whole big fat article on young-in's going green and moving to the country to farm.  Once considered city slickers, these folks have traded in their Manolo's for tractors.  Okay, I know I'm exagerating, but I think this officially seals the deal that we're on to something good in Seattle.  We might not all be heading out to the Puyallup Valley and buying up farms, but there is a keen interest in growing our own vegetables.

With so many people interested in backyard edibles, I hope this remains a 'movement', as opposed to fading into merely a trend.  Why not grow veggies in your backyard?  Why pay $2.49 for a bunch of sage, when you can pay the same price for a seed-packet full??  You don't need to be fancy about it - grab your pitchfork, turn over that soil, and start plantin''!   

Be sure to check out April's issue of Martha Stewart for the Wild Edibles article.  I've been singin' the praises of wild edibles since I met Arthur Lee Jacobsen - a local plant expert (yes, of course I have a crush).  Most of the 'weeds' highlighted can be found in the NW. Particularly delicious is a weed called "Chickweed".  Nearly every garden I've seen thus far this year has this plant.  Not only is Chickweed a healthy soil indicator, it's pretty delicious.  Sorta like if arugula and grass had babies - at once earthy in flavor with a bit of bite.  Get 'em while they're small!  The longer the grow, the more bitter they become.  Everyone's been talkin' about Urban Farming.........I'm moving on to an Urban Salad.

I had a meeting last night with a new client who wants a "GREAT backyard and vegetable garden".   Included in this is what will forever-more be called The Great Garden Rebuild because basically, his garden patch sits on a sloping hill.  That means, we have to build the soil up and create steps into the hillside - you know like you see in foreign countries on National Geographic.  Oh - and part of that retaining wall, will be a sitting area/bench.

Here's the catch......he wants it by Memorial Day weekend.  Now from a quick calculation, that's about 10 weeks away.  Which means, I have to hustle!!!  Seed starts are being planted as I type (ok, not really, but you get the idea), grow lights have been purchased and a garden walk through with a saavy builder-friend is scheduled.

Can she build it??? Yes, she can! 

My sister told me today that she was on the hunt for old coolers to use as a container garden.  I'm sorry......what?

Doesn't that sound ugly?  Or at the very least untraditional.  Big yummy greens sprouting from a big blue plastic container?  I suppose, in theory, it would be good because it is an insulated container, and it does allow for leakage.  It just sounded to odd, and so it got me thinkin.........