HeatherKatsoulis.com

The White House Organic Garden
Michelle Obama dug up a patch of the South Lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first at the White House since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets – the president does not like them – but arugula will make the cut.


and a related site:
The New Victory Garden
You’ve heard of the Victory Gardens and rationing during WWII and how vegetables grown at home helped families and the war effort. Now, amidst a bleak economy and mechanized, nutrient and soil depleting agribusiness, many people are thinking about growing some of their own veggies but are unsure of how to get started. This site aims to be an inspired guide to resources in starting and maintaining a bountiful organic garden for any level of grower throughout the year.

So, this week has really been full of insight from a number or resources.

I first watched What Would Jesus Buy, a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas.

Then, I read The City that Ended Hunger, an article about a city in Brazil recruited local farmers to help do something U.S. cities have yet to do: end hunger.

excerpt
‘“I knew we had so much hunger in the world,” Adriana said. “But what is so upsetting, what I didn’t know when I started this, is it’s so easy. It’s so easy to end it.”

Adriana’s words have stayed with me. They will forever. They hold perhaps Belo’s greatest lesson: that it is easy to end hunger if we are willing to break free of limiting frames and to see with new eyes—if we trust our hard-wired fellow feeling and act, no longer as mere voters or protesters, for or against government, but as problem-solving partners with government accountable to us.’

And today, I came across this video,

I am so into the slow food movement, new organic Victory Gardens, and just plain old slowing down in this culture.

Now, how can I make this my life’s work?

Story from North America (FULL VERSION!) from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.
more at http://www.kirstenlepore.com/

So, today started like most Saturdays with my DH getting an early start on the lawn. Apparently, our green page-a-day calendar had mentioned something my he thought was BS: according to the EPA, Americans spill more than 17 million gallons (Exxon Valdez was smaller) of gasoline annually, potentially contaminating groundwater, posing a fire hazard (July 19, 2008, Living Green Page-a-Day calendar). However, he actually spilled some gas today. And at about 80% done with the lawn, the gas mower motor seizes. My husband took these occurrences as omens to purchase a Scott’s 20″ Reel Mower. Good man; I’ve been urging him to get one for a while, trying to persuade him by committing to mowing the lawn myself, and the like. Finishing up the last 20% was pretty easy, effective, quiet, clean… And it even brought our neighbor over to check it out; he’s going to use it on his lawn tomorrow. New friend, more green.

Anywho, from the quick go I had at it and my DH’s first impression, I would recommend picking one up if you have a relatively flat, smallish lawn (ours may be about third of an acre). PSA: Remember to pick up sticks and rocks…