growing local

i seem to have a lot of friends named john. lucky i suppose.

i visited with one today. to talk about school gardens - and how we were going to reinvent the idea at my girls' school. he is one of those people that i liked instantly. (we met when i took this class from him.) and although i haven't known him for that long, i feel like i have known him forever. we share the same politics. the same ex-pat status (though he is irish to my canadian). a softspot for chickens. and the same love of gardens. his is more hardcore. but he is winning me over.

here is the city sidewalk in front of his home.



his front garden is amazing. poppies, western redbud, irises, fuchsia, sages - the usual california dry garden suspects - but also tomatoes, roses, sunflowers, fava beans, nasturtiums and the sweetest smelling sweatpeas ever.





the back garden has chickens, two hives and the makings of a small orchard. by the time i got back there my arms were full of honeycomb, oranges, and fava beans - so no pictures. i will have to go back.

all this less than a mile from me. in beautiful winnetka (a suburb of los angeles).



oh, and he has an organic gardening company called "the woven garden". check it out!