Sustainable Living
It’s Summertime. Full-fledged, middle of July no-going-back Summertime. The days are warm, the sun is up longer, the crickets are in full concert mode after dark. And I love it!
Although, after the Fourth of July, there seems to be that big exhale, kind of like a little bird on your shoulder reminding you that something will inevitably end. Already the sun is going down earlier. When I was growing up, the three months of summer were a blissful eternity filled with bike rides, trips to Pacific Beach and the sound of my friends playing in the street. I was so lucky to have grown up in San Diego and to have a pocketful of memories about Summer.… Read More
A Little Something About Paying It Forward with Plants
Besides Valentine’s Day, when was the last time someone sent you something out of the blue? Like flowers, or a Hallmark card or a little gift? Didn’t it make you feel special?
While doing some social media tidbits on our colorful orchids, I was struck by how many people commented on how beautiful our orchids are and how much they would love to have one on their desk. It reminds me of how fortunate I am to have a demonstration garden and shade house full of plants and flowers. Granted, some of it gets rotated out for delivery, but on any given day I can take a few minutes and get inspired just by walking around the “nature” we have here.… Read More
What do you think of our new look? GEP/GSB New Website!
What do you think of our new look? Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings launched a new combined version of our website this weekend. Since we designed our original websites for each company, we’re into a lot of new things and there is new technology letting us share it with you. The timing was just right.
The new website also allows us to bring together our two branches in one place: Good Earth Plant Company and GreenScaped Buildings. The businesses will continue to focus on their specific areas of expertise, but our clients can find all the information they need about every aspect of what we do in one place.… Read More
Our National Parks
This month, Sunset Magazines’ front cover made me do a quick double-take….was that a painting or a photograph of the Grand Canyon? If you get up really close you’ll see it is an amazing photo complete with the Colorado River cutting a serene blue path through the base of the park.
That photograph reminded me of all the wonderful vacations I have had the privilege of taking in and around our National Parks. Warm, nature-oriented memories of when I was a kid when everything seemed so big. Then later, taking my own kids to see the wonders of Grand Canyon and fishing in Yosemite and the Sierras.… Read More
Imagination and The Possible
One of my daily joys is reading our local newspaper, UT San Diego. On May 13, 2013, there was an intriguing front page article by Gary Robbins about science fiction and imagination, as seen by four authors. Robbins wrote about the late Arthur C. Clarke who authored “2001: A Space Odyssey” in 1968. And while we might look at some of the ideas in the book and movie as shocking, it sure shook up readers to think that someday we’ll be communicating with extra-terrestrials. Who could imagine?
How do these super-smart guys come up with these ideas? And how do we use our imagination to see what is POSSIBLE, rather than IMPOSSIBLE?… Read More
It Starts Today – Let’s Help Our Environment
It feels like every news broadcast I watch has been filled with more and more tragic news, from devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma and Texas, to school shootings and terrorism attacks all over the world. I feel so helpless to do something to help or change the situation. Some of the heartbreaking news is man-made, and some of it beyond our control.
In particular, the weather has been so crazy. Nightly weather broadcasts have taken on a sometimes frightening appearance. Happy broadcasters used to point to smiling-faced sun cutouts and cheerfully report holding an umbrella during rainy days. No more.
The weather around the world has seemingly taken on a harsher quality.… Read More
Dining Out Differently With Sustainability In Mind
When I was a kid, going out to dinner was a big deal. It usually meant getting cleaned up, which for me was a big deal because I truly believe dirt was part of my skin. After the outer layer was scrubbed, it would be clean shirt and shoes and my “table manners” for a couple of hours spent counting down the seconds until the bill came to my dad.
Even if it was a family pizza parlor night, dining out was a special event. Menus were bigger than me and in the fancy places, French names like coq au vin or escargot seemed daunting.… Read More
Sustainability
There’s so much talk today about the becoming sustainable. If you aren’t in the “green groove” or an Eco-Warrior (like me!) that term can mean a whole bunch of stuff, mostly confusing.
In Eco-speak, “sustainable” means that the process being used can be repeated without using too many (if any) resources. And that it is a self-perpetuating process. Keep that carbon footprint as small as possible while building it and use as few resources as you can utilizing the system. Keep everything possible out of the waste stream. We can’t continue to use up our natural resources without replenishing them somehow.… Read More
Underground Living
Once upon a time, humans lived in caves. Over the years, futuristic science fiction books and movies quite often depict humans living underground. But underground living is not just the past and the future. In the form of a green roof, it’s here now.
Think of the Teletubbies and Hobbits, clearly residing underground, which apparently is nothing new because Hobbits have lived underground for eons. Everyone knows that. Cool houses, too with windows that frame a green grassy knoll and carved earthen archways.
This is by far the one of the coolest ideas I have seen. I may just make one for myself!… Read More
Another Opening, Another Show
“Another Opening, Another Show… ”
I know that’s a line from a Broadway show, but also how it feels around here after our Open House and Plant Sale last Friday.
We had such an outstanding response from clients, former and new. This place was jumping with people asking about Tower Gardens, Living Walls and AquaPonics. Our event made the calendar in the San Diego Union-Tribune so we had a lot of folks that came that would have otherwise had no idea what we are up to. It was a treat to meet so many new people. And we sold a lot of beautiful plants and containers.… Read More