Blocked In

From the moment we toured our prospective home, the little gears in my brain began turning with ideas on how we'd finally come to have the vegetable garden we'd always dreamed of. But as any new homeowner quickly learns, there is much to be done before one can bask in the luxuries of daydreams.

I've had my eye on a particular parcel just to the east of where our house sits. Outfitted with a sprawling Meyer Lemon tree (a hybrid of orange and lemon that is to die!), it has already established itself as the ideal spot for our inspired edible garden.

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This my friends, is desired state. Raised wooden planters with convertible screens that will not only keep out unwanted visitors, but yield basketfuls of vibrantly colored produce to grace our plates throughout the coming year.  Just call me farmer Erin.

But as with any project, I am throwing myself into it whole hog with online and book bound research that has started to spark a plethora of ideas to mull over.

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The last photo comes from Linsey Lewis Hasenbank of LLH Designs. I love this execution because not only is it eco-friendly and beautiful, but because she dove into it just as I would and learned as she went. Check out her process and more project photos here.

Green with Envy

I'm crushing on these green curtains. We may have to add another room onto the house as I don't have a free window from which to hang them.

Source: Unknown

Food for Thought

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” 

― Ira Glass