I thought I had good color sense before I began gardening. I’m an artist, a designer. I can paint. I know how to combine colors for aesthetic or emotional effect. I have good visual intuition about color relationships. But it’s only now, after I’ve begun gardening, and spending hours in Nature, that I realize myContinue reading “Gardening and Synesthesia: How Nature Can Improve Your Color Sense”
Author Archives: Josie
Thinking Like Nature
Straight lines– why do we do straight lines in gardens? Is it because it feels more organized? More proper? Easier to manage? I think there’s a time and place for straight lines in gardens. The long-rowed rectangular vegetable garden must be easier to harvest. A tidy formal garden feels right in a brick-walled city backyard.Continue reading “Thinking Like Nature”
Painting with Nature
I originally trained as a painter, so I often find analogs with painting whenever I learn a new discipline. Lighting Design, for instance- something I did for work at a concert hall during my twenties, was a lot like painting— layering colors to effect emotion— but painting fast, and from a distance. Satisfying, but ephemeral:Continue reading “Painting with Nature”
Start a Compost System
It’s very worthwhile to start your own composting system, and the compost doesn’t have to be unsightly or smelly. Step 1: Compost Prep: Inside Small closed container in the kitchen. Line the inside with a bit of paper bag. When you dump the compost outside, the lining can go in with it. Do put in:Continue reading “Start a Compost System”
Two Principles of Good Design
I trained as a painter, and I think I have pretty good design and color sense. That said, aesthetic sensibilities are subjective. People follow different principles which determine what they consider to be good design. When I planned which flowers to plant in which beds this spring, it helped me to articulate the two design principlesContinue reading “Two Principles of Good Design”
Why We Should All Garden
Like most people, I found myself reassessing a lot during the past few months. I finally had to confront things I’d put off thinking about- difficult things from the past and anxieties about the future. For a good while, I was gripped with constant sadness and unease. But something good was stirring underneath the surface. Continue reading “Why We Should All Garden”
4. Plant
All seeds will have their own individual instructions on the packet, but generally, you’ll take these steps: Soak the flower bed. Sow the seeds. (The packet will tell you how deep and how far apart.) Firm the seeds. (Press lightly into the earth.) Mist the flower bed. After planting: Cover the bed with mulch toContinue reading “4. Plant”
3. Nourish the Soil
Note: I’m going to purposefully oversimplify this topic, because I don’t think you need to know more than this to get going with your first garden. References below if you want to learn the unsimplified version of this topic. All the books say that soil quality is the most important thing for your plants’ wellbeing.Continue reading “3. Nourish the Soil”
2. Prepare the Land
Have a rough plan for the size, shape, and location of the garden— but be willing to change it as you start digging. You might encounter unexpected tree roots and unmovable stones along the way. Why destroy the root, or force out the stone, when you can change the shape of the bed to workContinue reading “2. Prepare the Land”
1. Getting Started
If you’re a total beginner, as I was this past spring, and you don’t even know what you’ll need to start– here are the essentials. You don’t need a lot of equipment, and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to start gardening. Here are the absolute essentials, and what I use everyContinue reading “1. Getting Started”
From the Garden 