The universe works in mysterious ways

On Saturday, Jack and I were sitting at Brewer's Hill, a local pub, talking about our plans to build a raised flower bed in the backyard. I asked him if he thought we could get the 10 bags of rocks and the 16+ bags of dirt we were going to need into my car or if we should just rent a truck. Suddenly, one of the guys sitting next to us at the bar, chimes in: "You need dirt? I have a truck-bed full of it that I need to get rid of."

With that, we paid our tab, bought the guy a six pack of Coors Light and pointed him to our house. He pulled his pick-up into the alley and we (by we, I mean he and Jack) shoveled the dirt from his truck into a pile just outside our yard. This saved us about $100!

The very next day, we built this lovely raised flower bed.

Eco-warrior, part 2

Taking the city by storm! I am on a mission to beautify my city through a little act I like to call "renegade gardening." Here's how it works:

I scope out a patch of unkempt land, like this grassy patch behind my house:


Then, I sprinkle wild flower seeds onto the ground and hope for the best!

After my weekend renegade mission to beautify my own block, I set-out spread blossoms across the city. I hit a couple of wild, weed- and garbage-covered hills of West Baltimore while I waited for the train this morning......Where next?

Eco-warrior, part 1

Last weekend there was a festival in my neighborhood,
Go Green! Baltimore.

I became a "block leader" for a neighborhood beautification project.
Jack won a huge basket of green cleaning products.
We planted lettuce to grow in the backyard.
And we won a rain barrel.


We will use the water we collect from our roof to water
our tomatoes, herbs and other plants.



Next, we are going to build a raised bed and connect a drip irrigation
system to the barrel. (By drip irrigation system,
I mean a hose with holes poked in it!)