Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), an American social reformer and democrat, was the instigator of the design and creation of numerous central city parks and is considered the founder of landscape architecture. He was highly regarded as an environmental planner, and won the competition to design Central Park in New York. His concepts of landscape planning and design not only continued to develop, but were regarded as the standard in North America.

Olmsted’s his claim to fame: woods, fields and water. These features became the principles of urban landscaping, designed to offer the practice of leisure and the rediscovery of nature, as a counter current to the chaotic nature of cities.

One could argue that early city planners for Boulder Colorado followed Olmsted’s great accomplishments in landscape architecture by making Chautauqua, Flatirons Park and various other parks around our small city the central focus to life and well being here. The continuous purchasing of open space makes this such an outdoor oriented and pleasant place to reside. These pictures offer some proof to the tranquility.

The abundant cherry tree in front is exploding with bowls and bowls of scrumptious sour cherries. Besides freezing many for supreme cherry pies, I am going to do this and this with them! Happy 4th!

So excited to go to the First Annual Denver County Fair this July 28-31st. This won’t be your grandmothers County Fair (although that would be alright too)–this fair will be mixing up a batch of tradition with a current flavor!

10 indoor pavilions, each with its own exhibitors, vendors, stage demonstrations, entertainment and open competitions will satiate your fix for a little something country chic.

Pavillion themes are: 4-H, Animal, Kitchen, Craft, Backyard Farm & Garden, Fashion, Fine Art, Green, and Holistic. There will also be an outdoor Carnival and Sideshow.

There are plenty of amazing open competitions for anyone in the Denver and surrounds to enter for ribbons and cash prizes, so check out their site: Denver County Fair. Mark your calendars and show Denver what you’ve got people! Compete with food, crafts, housepets and more!

Chickens are the new black! Urban homesteading, backyard farming and healthy cooking have more fans than you can shake a stick at. The Denver County Fair will be raising the bar!

Natalie Jeremijenko is an artist whose background includes studies in biochemistry, physics, neuroscience and precision engineering. Jeremijenko’s projects, which explore socio-technical change, have been exhibited by several museums and galleries, including the MASSMoCA, the Whitney, Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt. A 1999 Rockefeller Fellow, she was recently named one of the 40 most influential designers by I.D. Magazine. Jeremijenko is the director of the environmental health clinic at NYU, assistant professor in Art, and affiliated with the Computer Science Dept.
Natalie and her colleagues have created a health clinic – like those that humans and animals might employ when we are sick – for the environment.  With this view, they prescribe remedies for problems ailing our planet and our environments.  On the ailments of degraded water quality and overflowing  and polluted storm drainage, west nile virus, pedestrian sidewalk slipping hazards and excessive dog pee on sidewalks, they have prescribed NoParks.

No Park description from Natalie’s Environmental Health Clinic Website:

NoPark returns “no parking zones” (mostly associated fire hydrant placement) to low growth mosses and grasses. These micro engineered green spaces prevent storm water run off, use foliage to stabilize the soil, and to provide a durable low maintenance surface cover. These microparks continue to provide emergency parking space for fire trucks and exasperated Fresh-direct delivery persons (emergency vehicles can still drive over them as needed and they will re-generate). But the other 99.9% of the time they now do something more. For all the same rationales that apply to green roofs, greening the no-standing zones is a good thing. Practically, noPARKS capture more water than green roofs (not being limited to carrying capacity of the 2″, 4″or 6″of soil that roofs require). These no parking/standing zones are often situated where water collects, capturing the oily runoff from the road before it runs into the river. noPARKs recharge and replenish soil moisture on the block important to trees — even yards away — to help them dilute the gallons of uric acid poured on city trees plots each day by friendly neighborhood dogs. Less water puddling decreases pedestrian slipping hazards. Lastly, the noPark reduces the number of standing water pools that are left for days, which are the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. In this way, the noPark may reduce the need for widespread fumigation to combat West Nile virus in New York City.

In her TED presentation (which you can see here) — fast forward to about minute 7 to the the bit about NoParks  – Natalie describes how No parks could mathematically eliminate all runoff pollution.  (Aggregated, with 2-3 fire hydrants on every city block, if each were converted, the emergency parking system could infiltrate all the road borne pollutants for up to a 7 in rain event)

Working on getting my own garden up to speed right now, and so inspired by these recycled garden art ideas from the following sources:

metal wheels

Rancho Reubidoux

Austin Art Yards

Typewriter Planter

Follow these very simple instructions at The Bulb Project for a modern art take on spring blooms!

Instructions:

1. Go outside to your garden or on a walk and gather a bouquet of spring blooms and leafy foliage.

2. Lay them on your scanner face down, layering and arranging as if it was a flower arrangement.

3. Cover the whole arrangment with a dark background of some type (a large black piece of fabric).

4. Scan the image onto your computer. Voila!

Photos via Beau-Allen, Gardening Gone Wild & Ellis Hollow

For more inspiration see Ellen Hoverkamp, her vignettes are amazing!

Fantastic unassuming and practical garden potting shed by Seattle Architecture firm Shed Built complete with green roof.

Urnatur translating to ‘essence of nature’, is a Swedish forest getaway, where visitors can stay in cabins and spend time reconnecting with nature. The unique hand-crafted cottages and tree-houses are located in the Swedish Holaved Forest, and work in harmony with their surrounding environment.

UrNatur opened the doors to the wood hermitage in 2007. 6-15 guests can fit in the hermitage and can occupy six cabins. Only the conference hall and the tin castle, has access to electricity. UrNatur is perfect for day-long workshops, seminaries, lectures and other activities.

Forester Håkan Strotz and Biologist and Designer Ulrika Krynitz, bought the small farm Sjögetorp in 1993. Håkan worked as a teacher at Omberg’s Nature School, while Ulrika founded a textile design company ‘Qualle’ in 1999. during many summers they organized a handcraft festival called ‘ragnarök’. with strong shared interests in design and crafts, but also nature, ethno-biology, self-sustainability and cooking, the UrNatur project slowly took form.

The owners wanted to be able to offer a fantastic experience – similar to those of our parent’s generation – for city people who spend too much time far from nature. Houses are built from the storm-felled trees and are designed and built from scratch by Håkan.

Guests cook on an open fire and a single 12 volt lamp is powered by solar cells on top of the bath house roof.

All food offered at UrNatur is local, wild crafted or home grown. The bath house is the largest of all the houses, it contains a wood fired sauna, which heats two generous wash rooms.

via designboom, video from the Anthropologist via Kristin

I am very excited to have just received a subscription to Sunset, especially with all the new modern ideas that the magazine is featuring. My mother used to receive Sunset when I was little, and I am very happy to see that they evolve and have staying power as relevant then as they are now.

All of these DIY ideas were recently in the magazine, so easy and so brilliant.

Haute Ideas

1. Once was: sewer pipes                      Now is: plant containers

The inch-thick pipes painted a retro color, adds a modern vibe to any garden.

2. Once was: metal goblet                    Now is: Candleabra

Clean goblets with metal polish and a clean cloth. Then fill with Microwaveable Soy Wax for Containers (by Yaley; $6.99 for 1 lb.; from joann.com) and used Pre-Waxed Medium Bleached Wick with Wick Clip (by Yaley; $2.99 for six; from joann.com) to make elegant, long-burning votives.

3. Once Was: Window                         Now is: Garden table

Cut four table legs from an old 2-by-2 and secured them to a window frame (with safety glass*) using door hinges as brackets.

*If you can’t find a window with safety glass, add a sturdy, transparent surface to the tabletop (try tapplastics.com)

4. Once was: Wooden spools              Now s: Garden hose wrap

Bolt three wooden cordage spools, spaced about 1 foot apart, to a backyard fence. Paint the spools, or use a colorful hose.

See more at  Sunset Magazine

Danish artist Morten Flyverbom has created my dream car, the ‘Green Beetle’. Bravo nature!

Visit his site Lomme Kniv.