NOTO's Weekly Green by Carrie

GREENSCAPING
It’s spring!  The time for renewal, cleansing and new beginnings.  Mother Nature is flourishing, and we can see this in the blossoming and budding all around.  We are tasting just enough warm weather to have us brainstorming all of the ways we will enhance our lives this year. 

How will we create a healthier NOTO?  By diving headfirst  into greenscaping! 

This is NOTO now  

Over the next few months we are going to see how much of nature’s goodness we can cram into our tiny urban sidewalk space. 

Why should we bother you ask?  Well, lots of reasons.  First of all, because it’s springtime! We’re inspired by all the blooming and blossoming happening everywhere.   We are also working toward lessening our impact on the planet and improving our own health.  Plus, we’re excited to see how adding some foliage can transform our space.   

The second great reason is our desire to produce some of what we’d normally buy.  Our hope is that overflowing planters will hold herbs and flowers, utilizing our windowsill spaces and providing refreshing sun-brewed beverages, stevia to sweeten those beverages, and flowers for bouquets.  Also, dark greens like kale and rainbow chard to provide for some of our power smoothies.  We are hoping that herbal teas will replace much of the tea that we normally purchase over the summer months, while adding bulk to our compost.  Ever heard of goji berries?  We’ll be growing those too!

Creating a more aesthetically pleasing area is important to us as it benefits all of the people who share our downtown space everyday.  We are hoping that by crafting a more inviting viewscape we can invite people in to linger, relax, and most importantly, do more shopping! 

We invite you to watch our gardening joys and sorrows as we work hard planning and planting over the next few months.

In Joy!

Carrie