080 Lessons From the Theodore Payne 2016 Garden Tour

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What’s the good side of our historic drought here in California? Native gardens, of course! In this episode of the podcast Kelly and I share the lessons we learned from a native garden tour put on by the Theodore Payne Foundation. During the podcast we discuss:

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3 Comments

  1. The best quote in response to building or keeping a backyard garden was by Kelly: ‘When you are snobby, not rich AND lazy, what do you do?’

  2. Was walking around my side of LA today, and noticing that what Kelly says about most people being to busy/choosing not to think about their outdoor space really rings true. What it makes me wonder is why that single family home with the yard continues to be what many of us _think_ we want? That UCLA “home in the 21st century’ study suggests that our yards, even in this beautiful climate, are often completely unused, and that the reason is that the size of the outdoor space is too constrained and there are too many fences to allow meaningful play.

    At the same time, in much of LA, we have a housing shortage and affordability crisis, and our land is locked into a single family mode of development that is politically unchangeable.

    I wish we could do a re-think on this model of living.

    • Agree! Most people would probably be more comfortable in a home with just enough yard space for a deck to hold the bbq and a table–and maybe a little side yard space for the dog’s bathroom. This lack of private yards could be balanced with big parks in every neighborhood. And not just sports field type parks, but parks full of flora and fauna so they support our wild cousins as well as ourselves.

      Out west particularly we are all about the single family home, but I keep thinking about Oslo. It’s a very liveable city. I visited there last summer, and most people live in an apartment, in a fairly dense city environment. You can walk everywhere, and the public transportation is outstanding as well. What makes walking pleasant is not only the street life, all the shops and things to look at, but also the green spaces. There’s a park or a square every other block. If you look at Oslo on Google satellite, it’s green. But it’s also super dense and efficient. It’s really cool to see those two factors working together. LA is the opposite. It’s not green from the sky, it’s grey, and it’s the opposite of efficient. The road system doesn’t work. It’s not safe to walk or bike. It’s crazy expensive, too, as you say–for all this joy! No one is happy here, and yet no one wants to change the status quo.

      I’m full of complaints!!!!

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