We bought our new home for the possibilities, projects and experiments it afforded us, in the quiet of the countryside just outside the city limits, but where school buses still stop to pickup our 3 kids en route to 3 different schools. Here, our neighbour walks her horse up and down our street to graze … Continue reading Making a Tiny Forest, the Miyawaki way
I've been quiet. It's a great feeling, because we've been so busy outside this first spring in our new place, with so many ideas and discoveries and projects, and dirty hands with mud-crusted nails, and if you know me you know that means I am happy. We finally got around to starting one project both … Continue reading A purpose-built (future) rain garden
Getting away from my personal life and back to the purpose of this blog, here's an update on our activities and where we are at coming to the end of this short month, and preparing for spring. I don't want to sugar coat anything or pretend we have things figured out because we are soooo far from that, but bit by bit it feels like we are starting to figure out some things. The kids have been amazing through it all.
Why Localeaf? I have a few reasons. Not one of them is extensive horticultural experience or credentials, because really, honestly, I have none. Everything I know about plants and gardening I taught myself, mostly through trial and (a lot) of error. Winter experiments growing rooting plants in fish water I have been growing plants and … Continue reading Why am I doing this? Some TMI and personal shit resulting in a micro-nursery
I've been winter sowing seeds successfully for sever years, and racking up mistakes, learnings and tips from my experiences, as well as those of many others who started winter sowing before me, so by now I'm pretty comfortable with the practice. I found it overwhelming when I started, so I began small, with just a … Continue reading Winter Sowing for Beginners: Easy Steps to Get Started
We grow plants from seeds. That is at the core of what we love to do. Year after year, our collection of seeds grows. This is in part due to our plants growing, us collecting seeds from our maturing baby plants, saving seeds from our existing harvests, foraging the vast unspoiled wild land near our … Continue reading Our seeds, free seeds, shared seeds, and the small seed companies and nurseries we have loved supporting this year
We have moved. I've been meaning to write about our new place but it's been a hectic month. I'm not even sure how to start. This is the view from my bedroom window as I write this sipping coffee propped up in bed on what feels like the first lazy morning I remember. There is … Continue reading New Home… New Views… New Projects…
OMG OMG we are moving! More on where we are going later, today I'm focused on the why. As I re-read what I wrote below I have noticed that this post is very long, and gushy, and riddled with run-on sentences. Maybe you stumbled on my blog and you don't want to read my stream … Continue reading Embracing Change: Our Family’s Journey to a New Home
So you're thinking about ditching your lawn. Do it! We've done it, and we promise you won't regret it! In fact, this whole crazy venture we have embarked on by starting Local Leaf first started with an idea to replace a small part of the lawn in our front yard. We started small (not really, … Continue reading Lawn Alternatives: Create a Sustainable Outdoor Space
Do you dream of walking through your gardens with a steaming cup of coffee in the morning, stopping to harvest fresh fruit and vegetables along the way? We love designing gardens incorporating edible fruit, berries, trees and perennial vegetables into beautiful landscapes. We have defined and carved out unique green areas in our own gardens … Continue reading Edible Permascapes and Mixed Food Gardens
LocaLeaf 