that is fantastic to read! I love how plants can band people together, and what a great experience for the kids to have!

in case you don't check twitter often, here is Jena in 139 characters: you are a kind, fantastic woman, filled with talent, an unusually good eye for design, pace setter, & are all around awesome.

Some sites list them as needing lots of sun. In my experience I've put my succulents in a sunny room but not direct bright light and they've done ok.

Mist the soil/reindeer moss between the succulents. You want the soil to dry out between waterings and if you want to take it off the wall, that's totally up to you.

Their hats are awesome--I'm the proud owner of one similar to the one on the left and my little Mabel has an infant sized cherry print. Too cute and so well made!

Oh wow! I'm a little slow catching up these days, but never too late to show a whole buncha appreciation! Thank you so much for sharing my print!!

I'm so glad to share the recipes, if anyone tries the zucchini pasta let me know! I LOVE IT! And one day I'll get to try eating the flowers, too!

"Exhaling into summer" I've been thinking a lot about that these days, and how we, as adults, need to enjoy summer vacation, too.

Shari--You're quite welcome, and thank you! I love reading your posts on The Stir.

dang--the link didn't show up: http://www.flickr.com/groups/rawkgardens/

Thanks everyone! If you do make one (or any of the other projects I talk about on here) I'd love to see them posted on flickr in the Punk Rawk Garden group!

tea tree oil is great, but there seems to be conflicting advice on using it on animals. do you use it on your pets?

thanks for the link, what a fun site!

Jamie--I don't have much experience with compost tumblers, but some thoughts: put it somewhere you won't forget about it; keep an eye on the moisture--the plastic bins are a little trickier to keep with the right amount of water, too much and it'll stink something awful, too little and the compost process will be slooooow; put several shovels of dirt from close by into the bin to feed it some of the local soil organisms.

Yep--add me to the lazy asshole roster. Just recently I've started making pitchers of green tea to keep in the fridge here at work, then I sip on that throughout the day. Trader Joe's has a cranberry green tea that's soooo good cold, and no need to sweeten it up. It boosts my water intake and keeps me from drinking too much coffee. And at home I've been keeping carrots and hummus in the fridge for a healthy, addictive snack that's so much better than the Luna bars I used to get as a grab-n-go snack. I'd also like to second (third, fiftieth?) the farmers market suggestion. The food is so deliciously fresh you don't really want to over-cook it, just do a little something to enhance the flavor like a 5 minute saute instead of a full-on hour long meal making session.

Claire-I've read arguments for and against pressure treated wood, and also about the trick to use plastic. I still wouldn't recommend it {my personal opinion} because the chemicals don't actually disappear, just seep into the ground and, subsequently, the groundwater while the plastic is off-gassing straight to the roots of your plants.

dang--my sun is out, but it sure isn't telling me to do fun things like that. wanna trade suns?

Make sure they have American wisteria and not the Japanese or Chinese varieties--those put up an uglier fight than ivy! Goats would be fun way to get rid of the ivy, though!

Hey! we have matching kitchen floors now! I loooove that bottom one with those wood school chairs. Good luck on your search!

Hi Alison--I'm sorry, this contest was in February. There will be more, so keep your eyes peeled.

How wonderful, she's precious!

That's an excellent point. Also the lower the feeder the easier it is for squirrels to jump up and get all the good stuff before the birds do.

Hi Tasha--thanks for the incredible link! Sounds like you have too much greens going on. Do you add extra water? If so, I'd cut back on that (this might be something you already know, if so, maybe it'll help someone else reading). If you can score a bag of leaves from neighbors you could up the browns.

Oh Miss Mimi! Chemicals are so easy to avoid and this book will certainly help! See if your local library has You Grow Girl--there are so many recipes in there that you already have the ingredients for, I'm sure!

Alison--generally you plant bulbs in the season opposite their bloom time (Spring blooming bulbs are planted in fall). Mmmm, apple tarts sound amazing, send me one! Anjuli A--Thank you! I'm so glad you've found my posts helpful, and I'm already looking forward to coming back in the Spring :) Christine (C&S)--You're so sweet, and thank you for the momma perspective and advice! I need all the words of wisdom I can get!