Fascinating case of Jail Time for Front Yard Veggies?!

Watch this video to learn how a woman who plants veggies in her front yard faces possible jail time from the city officials in Oak Park who don't believe in the beauty of a victory garden replacing a lawn.  Check out this international video hit online. As of this posting the city has dropped these ridiculous charges, but is still finding a way to save face and charge her with something (bet their faces are beet red over this silly trumped-up charge!)

Internet Buzz: Concept of Jail Time for Growing a Vegetable Garden : MyFoxDETROIT.com

Inspirational Book - Upcycling!

This latest book is so insiprational, that I had to have it! 

 

It will inspire my next exhibit at the upcoming spring San Francisco Flower & Garden Show.  Check it out, and see if you can tell which ideas we will use in our garden exhibit! 

 

Garden Design Software

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I am often asked whether I use software, and what that software is.

The landscape designing software of choice when I design a garden for my clients is actually not one, but two types of software (at minimum). 

The software that I primarily use to prepare landscape plans is called Dynascape.  It is a vector-based software similar to Autocad and suitable for creating conceptual landscape drawings to present to my clients to communicate the vision of their landscape project.  In this software I am able to create a design from scratch directly in the program without sketching by hand, something Autocad never allowed me to do.  I can go straight from the ideas in my mind to testing them on screen, roughing out the ideas.  From there the process leads directly to a refined drawing. My files are much smaller as a result without layers of tracing paper and sketches fattening up the files, as it is all now neatly stored onto my hard drive in my computer.

However there is one drawback — it is two-dimensional.

For a 3-dimensional representation of the design, I then take my finished drawing and import it (as a raster file) into a second program called Realtime Landscaping Architect, for those clients who need to have the extra step of 3D visualization.  This program is revolutionary in that it allows both rapid pop-up of the terrain, buildings, walls, paving and plantings, as well as a quick rendering of the design.  I no longer have to wait hours to have the computer sit and render slowly.  3D walkthroughs are ready in minutes, not hours, and exported quickly onto a DVD for easy viewing.  3D realtime walkthrough is available at any time throughout the design process so that I can move instantly back and forth from plan view to 3D within the landscape design.  Building the pop-up virtual model is very satisfying, because the design unfolds and the garden is created right before your eyes.  You can walk through the design and get a sense of what it would feel like to be there, even before the project is ever built.

I first use the vector-based program of Dynascape to create a professional drawing, and then, if needed, use Realtime Landscaping Architect to essentially make a fully rendered 3D pop-up of the landscape right over the flat drawing.  I use the 3D software strictly as a visualization tool; designing in this program is not as precise in the 3D environment,which is why I make use of both tools.  The reason that I do not use a product suite such as Vectorworks or Revit is because while these products are professional drafting products in 2D, they take much longer to create 3D models and to render than the little program Realtime Landscaping Architect.  With its ability to import any objects in Google Sketchup, that opens up the possibilities for importing any necessary landscape objects such as a custom arbor, a manufacturer’s line of furniture, etc., etc.  The reason that I do not use Google Sketchbasic up alone is because it is more suited to creating objects rather than complex terrains, instant building envelopes, instant pools, decks, waterfalls, and all the other timesaving features built right into Realtime Landscaping Architect.  Since my time is more valuable than the cost of the programs, I selected Realtime Landscaping Architect for all of my 3D modeling needs.

All-in-all, I generally spend about 8-12 hours designing including site analysis, measurements and computer time entering in the field measurements, then executing the design as a (2D) conceptual landscape plan.

An additional 8-12 hours is required to create a 3D visualization, as terrain must be modeled, buildings and wall heights must be set, colors and finishes must be applied to all surfaces, and plants must be selected, to represent the overall finished look in a full 3-dimensional environment.

My learning curve on software is very quick, since I have over a dozen years of experience using AutoCad in a professional architectural environment.  I was able to invest the time, effort and energy, combined with my computer skills, to quickly evaluate the numerous software applications available today on the market to select those that were the most efficient and cost-effective, while still producing a professional level quality design product.

If you are looking to dabble in software, then perhaps the Realtime Landscaping products are a good solution for you to see what things might look like quickly without investing much time in learning a new program.  Dynascape is for someone willing to invest the time to use a dedicated software program on numerous projects since the learning curve is quite substantial, as it is in any CADD (computer-aided drafting and design) program.  Several hours of tutorials are required to utilize the most basic functions of the program, not to mention a fundamental real-world understanding of landscape site measurements and analysis, to be able to accurately translate it into a computer environment.

After all is said and done, there is something to be said for a simple graph paper tablet, utilizing a scale of 1/8? = 1'-0?, a carpenter’s measuring tape, a straight edge and (if you are really fancy) a circle template for trees and shrubs, for designing a typical residential landscape. you as well.  After all, any tool in the hands of talent can produce great results. 

 

How to Meditate in Any Garden

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My thoughts on meditating in a garden are very basic in a way.  First of all, you must be able to meditate.  Then, you will be able to fully enjoy meditating in a garden.  That being said, here is how I meditate in a garden:

First I remove my shoes and sit on the earth, either cross-legged (aka “Indian style”) or with my feet flat on the earth.  Secondly,  I place my palms on the earth.  I close my eyes.  Entering meditation, I can sense the elements around me.

The earth is very powerful.  It absorbs the negative energy that may be resident in me as a negative mood or thought.

I raise my palms to the sky.  The air wisks away the ambitions that drive me – my motivations, plans, thoughts and egoic efforts — what keeps me perhaps from being still.

The thoughts part like clouds fading away from the face of the broad sky, and I am aware of the stillness that is not as empty as you might fear.  It is full of the garden.  I can appreciate it fully, in the moment, in a thoughtless yet fully aware state.

Everything is crisp and clear.  Songbirds sing more sweetly.  The breeze across my cheek seems so gentle and caressing.  I feel loved.  It is everywhere.  I realize that the plans I make are just thoughts from the future, and the moods I cling to are just memories from the past, but nothing can replace the moment that I am in now.

It helps calm my mood and stabilize me throughout the day.  A garden is a spiritually refreshing place.  A garden is not the mere sum of its parts, but it incorporates the mountains beyond its borders, the sky above it, the earth below, the animals that visit, and everything that thrives within it pulsating to a beat of the cycles of the day, month, season and century.

I close my meditation by placing my hands on the earth in front of me and saying an inward word of gratitude.

Learn to meditate, and the garden can come alive for  you as well.  Each meditation session is a unique experience, just as the garden itself is ever-growing.  

Determining the Value of Place

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Now it might not be commonly noticed, but being aware of how a place feels is a particularly special state of mind. Allow me to ponder this aspect of the human condition; Noticing how a place feels always occurs in a state of mind which is in the present moment. Without this type of awareness, we have of course nothing but the companionship of our mind chatter, a mingling of dry thoughts or triggered emotional reactions. Thoughts/emotions, by the way, are reactions to experiences which accumulate in our memory and are dutifully generated and recalled by the process of our brain, just like our heart pulses in regularity, and thank goodness for that.

But being aware of a new place and noticing how charming or stunningly beautiful it is or how it affects us, or how food is delectable, or how music moves us is beyond our thoughts, and can only be beyond thought, firmly in the realm of pure awareness. Our reactive mind has new thoughts that flow from this experience to describe it, but these thoughts cannot replace the enjoyment of it. Just like this, tasting a strawberry can merely be described, and if two people have both tasted a strawberry they may discuss amongst themselves their experience, but the experience of it can never be transferred to someone who has not tasted the berry themselves. One has to directly experience for oneself, to know what it is really like to ___________ (taste a strawberry, view a sunset, fill in the blanks here).

This phenomenon of direct experience, which can only occur in a state of awareness beyond the mind, such as when one enjoys anything, is of course something every human has experienced. To notice something is to become aware of it, to become conscious of it – it really is that simple, and it is a fundamental part of being human. Such a simple thing as the phenomenon of “noticing” something that is “enjoyable” is worth discussing, however because there is a tremendous distinction between this state of mind and other conscious states, when determining the value of something.

To wit: The mind does not have the ability to discern beauty or enjoyment, because the mind is not aware — first of all, it is reactive, and therefore can never be “now” because it is always “too late”. — second of all, the mind is the construct of all of these thoughts/emotions that are kept within the repository known as the brain, an organ.

Right now is when we experience, and we are aware that we are having an experience, and it is in this realm that we enjoy everything and see beauty and love each other. It is on this level of consciousness that we experience a place. Places are experienced. Our favorite places are enjoyed.

It is said that the spirit is always in a state of joy. To clarify, this is a kind of joy experienced via awareness beyond the mind, such as when we enjoy something, and not the kind of emotional swings of happiness vs. sadness or any other kind of duality. When in the purest state of direct experience, we can perhaps only but enjoy everything. Wouldn’t that be something!

But we also have discernment to be able to notice places, things, circumstances and conditions which are less than enjoyable, and we notice to varying degrees our level of enjoyment. Just as we are aware of experiences we greatly enjoy, we are also aware of things which are less enjoyable, or not at all enjoyable. This experience of enjoyment is something that we notice, we witness, we observe and we are aware of through direct experience; the ability to discern our level of enjoyment is also within this same realm, with the same ability to notice, witness, observe and to be aware.

Once our attention is directed to this enjoyable or less-than-enjoyable thing or circumstance, a healthy brain’s natural reaction is to kick in and respond with all manner of thoughts and emotions about the situation, and some brains may generate more than others. The brain will quite capably integrate the experience into the mind as a memory, as is its function. Our attention may drift between the experience and our reactive thoughts/feelings towards the matter. We may simply sit and enjoy a sunset, or allow our minds to drift off into thoughts or feelings, and this varies greatly from person-to-person as well as from situation to situation. Suffice it to say, that some people may enjoy their experiences and others may more enjoy their reactive minds, or may just get stuck in thought or feeling and may not be able, sadly, to enjoy their present circumstances having become lost in thought or swallowed up in emotion.

The source of value we place upon places, things, situations or circumstances, then, comes not from our minds but is our very awareness of our experience of them. The quality of our experience of places, things, situations or circumstances, must never be displaced by an overactive mental process when making determinations of value, because value can only come from our experiential awareness. And since experiential awareness is the only way we can access beauty and enjoyment, we err as a species when we think it away or indulge in over-analysis or over-emotionalism, because we end up losing sight of the source of our joy.

The enjoyment of a place is naturally then, quite fundamental to how we proceed in valuing place, and by extension envisioning and creating and caring for enjoyable places.

Desire is the prime mover which causes our seeking and longing for places we enjoy. But that is another topic…