Green Daily

Our neighborhood enjoys regular play dates with our children, both planned and spontaneous, and impromptu dinner parties, including backyard barbecues in warm weather. We lend tools, provide child care, and share tips about home life. Among the women, the conversation often turns to grocery shopping. Yes, I guess we're a bit old fashioned.

But every day, I feel extremely fortunate to live in my neighborhood. And those I tell about it are usually envious, saying they wished they lived in a place like I do. Well, as Gandhi said, you must be the change you want to see in the world. And that starts in your own back yard. Or front. Or porch. Anyway ...

As neighbors who have become good friends, Lauren, Jennifer and I (in that order from left in photo) share passion for keeping our planet and families healthy, which has led to driving many miles to various places in the quest for fresh local and organic fruits and vegetables. The Farmer's Market provides an array of local goods on Saturdays, but few organic options. Local grocery stores provide more organic options, but they're often wrapped in plastic and/or travel long distances before making their way to shelves. Specialty grocery stores offer more local organic options, but you're burning a lot of gas to get there.

We decided none of these options were allowing us to do our best for the Earth and our families. We looked into CSAs, but they were pretty pricey and we wanted more control over our choices than receiving a box of random produce each week. Thus, we decided to do it all ourselves and the Neighborhood Garden Project was born and we got to work. We started making compost, researching crops and how to start seeds in our basements, planned the site and decided to use the lasagna style method. We are dividing costs and chores among the three of us. This package of posts marks the beginning of what will be biweekly updates on our progress. We hope our experience will provide inspiration and information to help others cultivate a neighborhood, or at least a garden, like ours.

Tomorrow: read about making compost.